Reviews

/sigh

I enjoyed the story, but I just can’t give it five stars.

Nesta was NESTA before the cauldron did anything to her, and magic doesn’t solve the equivalent of health problems just because it’s fantasy. Yes, I read the acknowledgments, and I applaud the author for taking care of herself because mental health can be a rough road and affects everyone around you. I just can’t get fully behind a Nesta redemption arc. We’ve had four books already to make us seethe with hatred.

I loved the library’s priestess arc, and the female Illyrian. The Illyrians are absolutely fascinating, if brutal, but we knew that.

I enjoyed the fitness-y aspect of the book, and while I struggle with my own fitness journey, this was a delightful aspect to wander through.

Suspicions from previous books were finally revealed. I do love being right, but whether I really enjoyed being right is beside the point. It is what the author had lined up.

Oh, and the spice is definitely spicy. I liked it.

Content Warnings

mkat254's review against another edition

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4.25

Really enjoyed the change in perspective here. I’m sure this is what the author was going for but I, like Nesta, found Feyra and Rhys (especially Rhys) to be slightly insufferable. As a side note, I’m still unsure why they all hate Tamlin so much I feel like he generally reacted fairly reasonably given the circumstances. Lots of mental health threads/parallels here. I thought the enemies to lovers trope was done well. Not sure how she’s going to avoid an Elain book though. There was a lot left unanswered about Elain and maybe Az?

angievdbroeck's review against another edition

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4.0

I finished this book on December 21st, which is the winter solstice and that couldn't be more perfect.

To be honest, I was not looking forward to reading a whole book about Nesta. I liked her, sure, but wasn't sure I could endure her for 700+ pages. Somehow I did, and enjoyed it!

I loved to see Nesta's character development, but I don't feel like she has fully redeemed herself yet. Also,

Spoiler

WHY did SJM have to take her powers away? I feel like there was so much more to be seen with Nesta and how she learns to actually voluntarily wield her powers, but I guess that plotline is a dead end now.

There were some major deus ex machina moments (again) where bad situations seemed to resolve themselves, but that was to be expected by SJM. Everything seemed to work out just fine, and I knew they were going to work out, which made me less shocked when SJM wanted the reader to be shocked.

Spoiler

The metaphor of Nesta going down the stairs in the House of Wind being a representation of her inner healing was so so cool. Especially when she reached the bottom the first time but didn't feel like it counted, because she was driven by rage and fury.

Also, the smut. In the previous instalments of the series, the spicy moments were relatively contained to spicy scenes. But ACOSF was wholly different. There was spice everywhere, all of the time. Even though I was sceptical of nessian at first, I did like the tension between them. The forced proximity, the mutual pining, I ate it all up. I also weirdly enjoyed the more explicit language SJM used to describe the spicy scenes, and the fact that there was sexual tension in non-spicy scenes. I feel so stupid for saying this, but it made the characters feel a bit more human. Fae? Relatable? Anyhoot, it was a filthy, nasty book and I was here for it, period.

jacsyn246's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kiittycatt's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

lsimons08's review against another edition

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3.0

I have a lot to say and there may be some minor spoilers. I’m somewhere between a 3-4 star. Most of this book was 3 stars for me. The side characters redeemed a lot for me as well as the plot that was evolving that did not center on Cassian and Nesta’s relationship. Cassian and Nesta were typically around 3 stars for me. While I liked understanding Nesta better I didn’t feel attached to her character at all during the story and didn’t become invested in the story until over halfway through. I could go on but overall this is a 3.5 with parts of it being 4 stars. I can’t in good conscience give this 4 full stars though when it is not on the level of other 4 star books I’ve read.

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