"Only you can decide what breaks you, Cursebreaker. Only you."
This book was very nearly a 4-star review for me as I hit a big slump in the first third of this book. But to my relief, it picked up and pulled me right out of the slump I was in hence another 5-star review from this set. This book, like the previous one, had a very slow start to it, and unlike ACOMAF it took slightly longer to pick up.
This book starts with Fayre going back to spring court in order to get her revenge on Tamlin. I understand her anger towards him, but when she also betrayed Lucian it made me slightly mad. On a side note: the book mentions when a couple ‘mate’ the male becomes protective and territorial of their mate, if that’s the case why did Rhysand let her back into that court? I did enjoy seeing her powers come into action during this book, I especially love when she went up against Ianthe, although I wish she killed her. Am I right?
A scene that I enjoyed was the battle on the ice with Lucian’s brothers and the description of the use of her powers in these scenes makes it easy to picture it. I did like finding out more about Lucian and his history. I was also very happy that she took him with her to Valaris. After all, I do think she owed him that much.
Skip forwards, and Fayre’s back at Valaris, Nesta’s still grumpy, Elaine is still silent and not much has changed for the other members of the inner circle. I want to make it clear that from the moment Cassian met Nesta in the house, I knew they would mate. This became clearer in this book but still no mating bond. On the note of a mating body, I feel for Lucian as he’s really Trying, but also what’s going on between Elaine and Azriel? I think that Azriel gave one of my favourite quotes of the series in this book when he said "We -Rhys, Cass, and I--will occasionally remind each other that what we think to be our greatest weakness can sometimes be our biggest strength. And that the most unlikely person can alter the course of history."
Personally, for me, I think the reason I struggled to enjoy this book as much as the other 2, was it was heavily battle based which isn’t something I enjoy. When it came to what powers the sisters now possessed I was very confused about Nesta’s. They spoke about it and mentioned that she was death, however, I didn’t understand. Elaine's powers were clear and I think they suited her character perfectly. That is something I think Sarah J.Maas has done very well with these books, she’s matched the character's personalities and descriptions to work well with the abilities they have.
Rhys and Fayre, for me, lost a lot of their fun and spark in this book. I feel that they because slightly mundane, despite some spice, I just feel they lacked something in this story. I did enjoy how Sarah J.Mass brought Jurian and Eris into the book but has left it so open that I keep questioning whether they are good or bad. Very clever. It was the scene with Eris at the court of nightmares that pulled me from the slump. It went from nothing happening to everything happening all at once.
When they finally got to the battle with Hybern, it was full steam head and I didn’t put the book down. The details that Sarah J.Maas uses for the characters and the battle is some of the best descriptive writing I’ve ever read. All I’m going to say about the scene with the Suriel is that I cried like a baby, some of the best quotes from this book came from that moment. And how the things he said in the first meeting with Fayre clicked into place. One this that really does irritate me in this book though is how Fayre is always putting herself in danger without considering others.
As I have said many times in this review (and the other reviews of this collection), the thing that I love most about them is the descriptive writing. So when we get introduced to the creatures like the weaver and the bone carver it's so easy to picture what these creatures would look like. An edge-of-the-seat moment in this book is with the weaver and Ianthe.
The ending of this book really is beautiful, captivating and heartbreaking all at the same time. There are a bunch of really emotional scenes here. 4 words that broke me in this book were “And Rhys was dead” my world broke. Another moment that stuck out was when Varian came to save Amren, wow what a moving ending. Or when Nesta simply called out Cassian’s name to save him.
In conclusion and looking over this book as a whole, I think it was a fantastic ending to this series. The way that the Author brought all the characters in so that they had all of their own battles, whether physical or emotional made me appreciate them as a group.
I don't think I will ever stop raving about these books and the impact they have had on me and the introductions that they have given me into the Fantasy book world. Sarah J.Maas is one of the greatest descriptive writers I’ve encountered. But also the rollercoaster of a ride that she takes you on. The plot for these books isn’t the strongest, but the characters really make up for that. I am looking forward to the final 2 books (if you count ACOFAS as its own book).