adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“It was war upon them all. Let them tremble in fear at what they had awoken.”

I was hoping to see more of Celaena’s skills as an assassin and this book definitely fulfilled that! There is so much happening and we learn more about the magic in this world. I do like that both Dorian and Celaena are such avid readers, lol.

I was so invested in Dorian’s arc. He is my favourite character without any doubt. We already know that he is a good guy, but there’s more to him and this made me like him even more. His journey in discovering
his magical ability was interesting. It’s not easy to understand this part of him, let alone accept it, especially when his father could have him killed for it.
Can’t wait to read more about this in the other books. I wouldn’t mind having more Dorian and less Celaena, oops. AND why do we still have this love triangle…

Celaena is still guided by Elena. What I don’t understand is why Elena’s hints are so cryptic. Especially now that time is of the essence, I would expect Elena to give as much crucial information as possible to set Celaena on the right path. Instead, she’s sent on a treasure hunt, only to discover at the end that
the king has beaten her to the first Wyrdkey.
But sure, anything for a plot I guess. Or is it all part of a bigger plan for Celaena? I also wonder what kind of troubles Celaena’s actions will bring in the future.
Killing a witch and opening a Wyrdgate are big enough problems that cannot be ignored.


The book is divided into two parts. The first part of the book started off slow, but the pace picked up as the second part drew near. In the second part of the story, grief plays a central role and I found that very interesting. It’s difficult to experience the loss of a loved one. Grief is definitely neither pleasant nor rational, but eventually it has some upsides as well. You might think I'm crazy, so allow me to explain! Grief makes one think about the meaning of life and creates a new perspective. It reminds one of their path and goal in life. If there were none to begin with, it provides an opportunity to set a path or goal. This is what Celaena experiences as well. Celaena is not always a pleasant character and her grief only made it worse. At times, I found her annoying and immature, but then I realised that this is normal when someone’s grieving and of course she is still very young.
“It was hard to care, she realised as she started the trek back to the castle. Incredibly hard to care, when you don't have anyone left to care about.”

We were also in for a bit of a surprise! There will be a big secret revealed at the end, IYKYK. Not fully a surprise I have to say as there were so many clues and suggestions dropped over time, making it possible to piece it all together.
“To escape death, she’d become death.”

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

While I think the book had solid elements, I don’t think it was too much of a change from the last book.
I enjoyed the narrator and think she’s very skilled. Furthermore, I thought the introducing action of the book was very solid. My favourite part was Nehemia’s plot line and how it led to conflict between her and Celeana. It expanded on both characters very well.
However, I thought there was a lot left to be desired.
I was frustrated that Celeana wasn’t allowed to be morally grey. She’s a trained assassin, stopped in her tracks by a man seeming nice. I can’t buy into it. It also just made me really doubt Celeana and her skill, like she’s not everything the book CLAIMS she is.
I also found the foreshadowing and prose to be rather weak. To start, while the reveal of Celeana’s past was well built to, the big twist of the book was not. It caught me off guard in a bad way and I was baffled as to why and what the motivations for such actions were. The writing itself was also very repetitive. There were a lot of repeated words and phrases that would have been an easy fix, but weren’t. It just got old after a while.
I also, personally, didn’t care for the love triangle. It just severed to make me think less of the characters. Dorian and Chaol came across and entitled and whiny. Chaol especially was disappointing in this book, more than usual. Celeana also just felt too passive. It felt like so much of the book focused on this romance and I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Overall, the book was fine. It’s not my cup of tea but I see why people enjoy it.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is perfection. I don't know how this series can get any better (I know it does though).

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional inspiring sad tense 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

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mysterious

The storyline in this one was more interesting than TOG was, though it still kinda feels like a setup to the main stories we will get with these characters. 
Not a fan of
like 85% of the book being driven by the absolute lack of communication between Celaena, Chaol, and Dorian

Also didn't really like
the whole love triangle thing. Just thruple and be done with it y'all smh. ((Half joking 🤭))

I am very very happy that
Fleetfoot is alive and going to be taken care of by Dorian. SJM if something happens to that doggo I will write a strongly worded, tear-stained letter about it!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings