Wow, this is going to be hard to review. Some books just reveal so many things that it’s difficult to avoid spoilers.
I was actually shaking at certain parts

(Mainly those 15 pages of when Tessa got back from the party and Will arrived at Magnus’ after fighting the demon)

All in all, the characters develop, the plot is absorbing (although a bit messy), and the writing style is growing on me.

SERIOUS spoilers

I feel so bad for Will, and I hope he gets some kind of happy ending in the third book, because he deserves it. You thought Gale and Peeta were bad? Allow me to introduce you to Jem and Will. This would have been heartbreaking no matter who she chose.

Hopefully Cecily becoming a Shadowhunter will bring Will some joy, after having to push everyone away for five years and then finding out the person you love is engaged to your best friend. The way Clare describes his heartbreak is just– did you rip my heart out and stomp on it? Both Jem and Will deserve to be happy, neither of them more than the other, which made this all the more painful. This is worse than the ending to Champion. And I’ll probably have to deal with Tessa’s angst every time she looks at Will in Clockwork Princess… Unfortunately I don’t currently have that book so I’ll have to wait to see Will have a chance at happiness.

It’s books like these that require me to remind myself that they’re fictional; the feelings likely exaggerated as well (since I’ve never personally felt such a burning passion for someone where it would absolutely destroy me for something like this to happen), but still, somewhere in the back of my mind there’s a voice saying “Jem will die soon anyway, and then she can be with Will” but somehow I know that wouldn’t work.

This book gave me such an adrenaline rush, genuinely wore me out. I’m going to have such a huge book hangover from this.

There I was, at 4:00 AM, laughing, crying, grinning. No experience is akin to reading a good book. There are some characters who I would do anything for them to be really, truly happy, and this book had that.
This is a good, well rounded book (although it does get a tinesy bit slow at times but that’s likely just my taste). Five stars no question, it’s just an objectively good book. I love Katsa, she’s such a strong, good character, but still with flaws. She would win the Hunger Games if she was in them. Also, what’s it with love interests and some kind of tattoo-like markings? First Will, now Po? The romance here is so good, so nontoxic but still makes me feel something. I love it. Genuinely wish I had that kind of connection with someone. This book reminds me of Legend in how jealous I was of the protagonists. I think this book falls into the traveling trope, and I enjoyed Katsa’s process of self-discovery along the way. And her banter with Po is just great, I laughed out loud a few times.

On the ending:

As much as it pains me to say, I understand why Kristin chose to have Po lose his eyesight, it was to give him a struggle, an obstacle to a happy ending (although in my opinion getting accustomed to his Grace would’ve been enough for that). It just makes me so sad that he’ll never see beauty the same again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, such a well-rounded and complete story. I’m also impressed that the author manages to fit a whole trilogy’s worth of events, character development and world building into one, not much more than 300 page, book. The story is very loosely based off an obscure fairytale called Rappaccini’s Daughter. I also appreciated the Persian mythology that’s used to make a unique combination of a European tale and a Middle Eastern world. I loved Soraya’s story and how well written and multidimensional she was. And of course I’m always fond of some sapphic representation in fantasy. All in all, a great, unique story and a good standalone.

What. The. Actual. Fuck. That ending!

The plot is good, and so is the writing style, but the premise and characters… not so much. Highly recommend you quit when you can, aka after the first book if you don’t love it. At this point I’m too invested to quit but I also don’t want to read two 600 page books that I don’t enjoy at least 80% of, so I’m just going to read summaries and be done with this series. I might get back to it in the future, but for now I’m DNFing it. I have other series that I’m much more excited and motivated to read. It’s just too much effort for just a good plot. Underwhelming and mediocre. Oh and the world building is terrible, I was not even aware that there were other nations that are not Lakeland or Norta, and even if it was mentioned we weren’t reminded of it. She can’t just information dump on us using Julian’s lessons in book one and not reference that and then expect us to remember the whole backstory.

This is the first book I’m DNFing since I joined goodreads (I’ve probably only DNFed one or two before, it’s not something I take lightly) Generally I like reading the entire book to understand it’s full potential, and I’m rarely disappointed (although arguably if a book isn’t good enough to keep you reading past the first 100 pages/30% it’s not worth finishing). I’m DNFing this at 10% because I’m not the hugest fan of the series (I agree that it was a very influential and significant piece of literature, but much like Harry Potter, I didn’t adore it because it’s just not my taste/there are better, newer versions of the same things that didn’t exist when it came out) and it just wasn’t convincing me. Not going to rate it (although if I did probably 2 or 3 stars) because it doesn’t seem fair.

I see why it’s a classic now. Very scary and shocking. I was about two thirds through the book thinking “This is pretty scary, how they brainwash people and watch your every movement.” but then I finished it and was like “You thought that was scary? It’s a fluffy romance in comparison with this.” This book is a warning. I’m sure that it would be near impossible to suppress certain basic human instincts the way that is done in this book, but the ability to control emotions? And convince yourself of things that aren’t true? Shivers It’s a warning to not give up your freedom, to allow your mind to wander and consider things logically, not just out of pure belief. My favorite part was definitely Goldstein’s book, it was just so interesting to learn how the world was and why it came to be that way, although it was dense.

I read this a while ago originally, and all I remember is I liked the story but the writing was so exhausting. Thank goodness its only a little over 100 pages.

The world building is great, there’s a rich history, with complicated relations between the two “Kinds”. It’s fascinating. I also love books with alchemy for some reason.

The romance is a really slow burn, but I still enjoyed it. For Crier it's the external conflict/societal enemies to lovers, i.e. she's not supposed to like Ayla because she's a different 'Kind'. Ayla has more of the original enemies to lovers, similar to The Shadows Between Us, she wants to kill Crier.

The writing style is alright, not really prose but not exceptionally beautiful either. A bit above simple. The plot is somewhat unique (resurrection trope was somewhat unnecessary in my opinion but well done). I really like the characters, they’re very different and multidimensional, and not tropes either.

The cover is so beautiful and unique too. I can’t wait to read the sequel. Also I can’t believe this is Nina Varela’s debut! It’s amazing for a first book. In fact it would be great even if it’s wasn’t a debut novel.