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britwalsh16's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
5.0
I read this in Tandem with Tower of Dawn. And I am SOOO glad I did! If I had to read TOD between this book & KOA, I would have died! & not enjoyed TOD, cause I’d be obsessing over what’s gonna happen with the characters in this book!
This book was sooo good! I love being able to read from all the different characters POV’s.
I love all the couples & am so thoroughly enjoying them to settle in with eachother. The dynamics between the different couples are just amazing!! But Aelin & Rowan are still my favorite!
But, all the revelations at the end, I AM NOT OKAY WITH THEM!!! This story really can’t end the way it’s leading to!! There has to be another way! I am not okay with that!
This book was sooo good! I love being able to read from all the different characters POV’s.
I love all the couples & am so thoroughly enjoying them to settle in with eachother. The dynamics between the different couples are just amazing!! But Aelin & Rowan are still my favorite!
But, all the revelations at the end, I AM NOT OKAY WITH THEM!!! This story really can’t end the way it’s leading to!! There has to be another way! I am not okay with that!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Death, Murder, Torture, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, and Confinement
d_iris's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
I went into this one in good faith, eager for the unfolding story to reveal another small part of what makes this world wonderful; I didn't get that. Or rather, this book didn't meet my admittedly high expectations.
Let me break it down for you.
In the fantasy genre, or even the light fantasy genre, when an author is constructing a world this big, with many key players and moving parts, the story starts small and begins to expand. Like dropping a pebble in a pond you see the starting point and all of the ripple effects that pulse outward. It goes on and on and if you think about it for even a second, you're impressed by how the one tiny little pebble made such a big impact before finally dispersing and disappearing. The first 4 books do this well...more than well. Some of them were straight excellent. SJM crafted characters and stories that grew her world into a clearly realized vision. Great. Super. Then this book comes and SJM realizes the world can't keep growing; it has to disperse; disappear. And the way that happens is by making the world small again: It has to start contracting. This means characters have to meet, their goals and journeys have to align. They need to all somehow be at the finish for the ending to satisfy in a clear way that makes sense. That's where I think this book fumbles. SJM is pulling plot points and characters out of her ass (her prequel anthology) to suddenly make her story align the way SHE wants it to as opposed to how it would organically.
I think this is most obvious in her handling of Manon's journey. Manon is the Ironteeth Witch we've been following since book 3, and her arch is by far the most compelling. Raised to adhere to cruelty, discipline and obedience, we've seen her question the fidelity of these traits and beliefs. We've seen her wrestle with affection and compassion, forging her own path of loyalty and truth. But the way SJM thrusts her into the path of our MC, and the way our MC handles and treats her, her journey should take a sharp left away from the main cause we're following. But because that would not align with the outcome SJM wants from this story, it is just ignored, and Manon makes decisions outside the scope of her character. It was infuriating to read and confounding to witness. (also, Manon is fucking gay. So her rather out of the blue romance with King useless annoyed the hell out of me.)
Other little things like this are littered throughout this installment. Dorian's grasp on his abilities just manifest into something usable, Aedion's trust in and belief of Aelin randomly disintegrate, Rowan's backstory is ret-conned so that SJM can have her OTP. It all just snow balls into an 800 page waste of the growth that we have seen up until this point. We don't get Chaol at all in this, and though the story doesn't miss him, it made me realize that Aelin does. (No, she doesn't pine for him.) Aelin is not very likable, but you need to root for her to even remotely begin to care about this series. And Chaol was a HUGE part of that. He rubbed me the wrong way so many times that it was easy for me to side with Celaena and excuse her tyranny. But remove him from the picture and what are you left with? Her cruelty and selfish ways. SJM doesn't realize how unlikable Aelin/Celaena is; she hides her lack of morals and compassion behind "good intentions" a "the greater good." But without a foil to bounce off of in this book, she is just the worst.
Now maybe I'm biased: Manon is my favorite character, and I didn't like how she was treated or written in this one, but I think my argument still holds water. The character development slammed to a halting stop for the plot to progress and there is very little linking the two here. The disconnect was too much for me to overlook and it took all of the enjoyment out of an otherwise solid story/series. I can only hope the remaining 2 books correct this error and end the series on a higher note. 2/5
Let me break it down for you.
In the fantasy genre, or even the light fantasy genre, when an author is constructing a world this big, with many key players and moving parts, the story starts small and begins to expand. Like dropping a pebble in a pond you see the starting point and all of the ripple effects that pulse outward. It goes on and on and if you think about it for even a second, you're impressed by how the one tiny little pebble made such a big impact before finally dispersing and disappearing. The first 4 books do this well...more than well. Some of them were straight excellent. SJM crafted characters and stories that grew her world into a clearly realized vision. Great. Super. Then this book comes and SJM realizes the world can't keep growing; it has to disperse; disappear. And the way that happens is by making the world small again: It has to start contracting. This means characters have to meet, their goals and journeys have to align. They need to all somehow be at the finish for the ending to satisfy in a clear way that makes sense. That's where I think this book fumbles. SJM is pulling plot points and characters out of her ass (her prequel anthology) to suddenly make her story align the way SHE wants it to as opposed to how it would organically.
I think this is most obvious in her handling of Manon's journey. Manon is the Ironteeth Witch we've been following since book 3, and her arch is by far the most compelling. Raised to adhere to cruelty, discipline and obedience, we've seen her question the fidelity of these traits and beliefs. We've seen her wrestle with affection and compassion, forging her own path of loyalty and truth. But the way SJM thrusts her into the path of our MC, and the way our MC handles and treats her, her journey should take a sharp left away from the main cause we're following. But because that would not align with the outcome SJM wants from this story, it is just ignored, and Manon makes decisions outside the scope of her character. It was infuriating to read and confounding to witness. (also, Manon is fucking gay. So her rather out of the blue romance with King useless annoyed the hell out of me.)
Other little things like this are littered throughout this installment. Dorian's grasp on his abilities just manifest into something usable, Aedion's trust in and belief of Aelin randomly disintegrate, Rowan's backstory is ret-conned so that SJM can have her OTP. It all just snow balls into an 800 page waste of the growth that we have seen up until this point. We don't get Chaol at all in this, and though the story doesn't miss him, it made me realize that Aelin does. (No, she doesn't pine for him.) Aelin is not very likable, but you need to root for her to even remotely begin to care about this series. And Chaol was a HUGE part of that. He rubbed me the wrong way so many times that it was easy for me to side with Celaena and excuse her tyranny. But remove him from the picture and what are you left with? Her cruelty and selfish ways. SJM doesn't realize how unlikable Aelin/Celaena is; she hides her lack of morals and compassion behind "good intentions" a "the greater good." But without a foil to bounce off of in this book, she is just the worst.
Now maybe I'm biased: Manon is my favorite character, and I didn't like how she was treated or written in this one, but I think my argument still holds water. The character development slammed to a halting stop for the plot to progress and there is very little linking the two here. The disconnect was too much for me to overlook and it took all of the enjoyment out of an otherwise solid story/series. I can only hope the remaining 2 books correct this error and end the series on a higher note. 2/5
Content Warnings
Minor: Toxic friendship and Homophobia
The homophobia in this book isn't on the page, but rather in the manipulation of already established characters. Gay coded characters are suddenly very hetero in this installment.annabeth_jackson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Blood, Death, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Murder, and War
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