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imds's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Gore, War, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Colonisation, Death of parent, Genocide, Violence, Torture, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Murder, and Physical abuse
Minor: Incest
nicolastrouse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Violence
Minor: Slavery, Torture, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent
hopelessromanticbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
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
4.5
“She lifted her face to the stars. She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, heir of two mighty bloodlines, protector of a once-glorious people, and Queen of Terrasen. She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius—and she would not be afraid.”
This book was written in four pov’s which was different for me as I am use to either one or two pov’s. I found it challenging at first to get use to the switching of characters but I eventually got sucked into the story and how the chapters blended together.
I enjoyed the growing of all characters including Dorian’s, Chaol’s and Celeana’s. And enjoyed meeting new characters such as Sorcha, Aedion, Rowen, Emrys, Luca & Malakai.
The growing stories and personalities of each character was beautiful written that makes you feel like you knew them personally.
There was a few scenes of animal cruelty that I just didn’t like reading which is why I downrated this book.
But as the story progressed you saw a change in each character, how each character is a puzzle piece fitting together for the big plot that I know will be coming soon!
Then of course you have the sweet moments that make my heart happy or laugh 😂
As I got to the end things started to heat up. There was a lot of action/tense moments but of course very emotional moments too. I was not prepared for the emotional ending with so much happened all at once. I know Sarah has a reputation to hurt us all (and I know worse will probably come) but couldn’t she had spaced out the emotional ending/cliffhanger 😅
Either way I am excited to see how the rest of the series goes x
This book was written in four pov’s which was different for me as I am use to either one or two pov’s. I found it challenging at first to get use to the switching of characters but I eventually got sucked into the story and how the chapters blended together.
I enjoyed the growing of all characters including Dorian’s, Chaol’s and Celeana’s. And enjoyed meeting new characters such as Sorcha, Aedion, Rowen, Emrys, Luca & Malakai.
The growing stories and personalities of each character was beautiful written that makes you feel like you knew them personally.
There was a few scenes of animal cruelty that I just didn’t like reading which is why I downrated this book.
But as the story progressed you saw a change in each character, how each character is a puzzle piece fitting together for the big plot that I know will be coming soon!
Then of course you have the sweet moments that make my heart happy or laugh 😂
As I got to the end things started to heat up. There was a lot of action/tense moments but of course very emotional moments too. I was not prepared for the emotional ending with so much happened all at once. I know Sarah has a reputation to hurt us all (and I know worse will probably come) but couldn’t she had spaced out the emotional ending/cliffhanger 😅
Either way I am excited to see how the rest of the series goes x
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty
sugarwookiee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
loup's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Animal cruelty, War, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Self harm, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Genocide
nerdkitten's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Bullying, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Body shaming
Moderate: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, War, Genocide, Alcohol, Racism, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Confinement, Drug use, Classism, Excrement, Ableism, Cursing, Gore, Colonisation, Sexual content, and Slavery
mhairi_reads'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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Torture, Animal cruelty, Death, Slavery, Body horror, Confinement, War, Genocide, Bullying, Cursing, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Excrement
beckyremillard's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.75
I was trying for the “Romantic” read of this series (look it up if you’re going to read it and don’t know what I mean) which means I should have read this before Assassin’s Blade, but that’s not how my library holds worked out. It turned out fine though and I didn’t feel like I was missing anything/getting information out of order.
This book definitely picks up from the first two. I had heard it’s like ACOTAR where it starts off meh and gets better but I was really struggling with this series until this book. It may have something to do with lack of Rowan prior to book three.
This book definitely picks up from the first two. I had heard it’s like ACOTAR where it starts off meh and gets better but I was really struggling with this series until this book. It may have something to do with lack of Rowan prior to book three.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Blood, Murder, Slavery, Death of parent, Torture, Violence, and War
brett311's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
bibliorama's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.0
Enjoyment - 4
From what I've seen from other reviewers, this book is a turning point for whether or not readers like the direction that the series is heading. Some think that it changed for the worse, I would have to say I'm in the camp of enjoying this installment the best so far. This additional felt more magical and had some more horror-esq vibes, which I was in to. It also felt more grown up, which is definitely a different tone from the first two books. The setting was also more interesting and we finally got a ton of history for the world that the story is set in. That history and the exploration of Celaena's past was a lot of fun to read.
Start - 3.5
These books always seem to take me a minute to get fully into and the story seems to take a minute to get going as well. For this book it was in part because of Celaena's mental state, but I still remember this beginning a lot more than Crown of Midnights.
Characters - 4
There were some new additions to the cast, so I'm going to rank them each individually.
Celaena - Still the most interesting and she has a really big character arc in this book that was satisfying to go through. Learning about her history and seeing some flashback scenes really helped develop the world.
Manon - Next fave. I love the animal companion trope in books and Manon's storyline is filled to the brim with that. I also liked her morally gray nature and the expansion of the world the witches brought. It also gave us insight to more of the King's plans, which were very much needed. Plus she has a sick costume what can I say.
Chaol - Now, Chaol seems to be the punching bag of this series and here I would have to say, "No". Bro is literally the only thing keeping the plot going in Rifthold and actually taking steps to figure out the King's power. Without Chaol, no one would know how the King banished magic. This doesn't mean that I want him and Celaena together or that that's why I'm on his side. I'm on his side because for all the talk Dorian and Aedion and everyone seem to give about not being on Celaena's side, Chaol is the only one taking actions that will actually help her for when she gets back. Plus, he is the only one who remembered to let Eyllwe know that a certain person was back.
I said what I said. And in Crown of Midnight, he went back for the dog.
Rowan - Very broody, I like the back and forth between him and Celaena. No real strong opinions have been formed where he's concerned. I would like to see some interactions between him and the other Fae that he's known for centuries. I think that would give me better insight into who he really is.
Aedion - I like the connection he has to Celaena and to Terrasen. That's the extent of my opinions on him.
Dorian - Bro what were you even doing. He felt very bratty. Call it an unpopular opinion and I get he's got certain things going on at the moment, but so does everyone. Let's face it, someone had to be at the bottom of this list and he made it easy.
Atmosphere - 4
This book had the best vibes in the series so far. I love a good forest setting and this is that book. I really enjoyed getting to learn about some other creatures in the world like the Fae. I have to say one of my favorite parts was the storytelling in the kitchen at night. Those were great vibes and I wish we got told more of the stories about Wendlyn.
Plot - 4.5
The plot in this was a bit slower and a lot more character driven. However, I liked the character struggles that were at the forefront of this book and how they shaped the plot.
Ending - 4.5
Really fun battle that felt liked it topped every fight scene that we've seen so far, but not so crazy that we still can't grow beyond it. There feels like there's a nice power crawl happening and hopefully that continues.
Style - 4
SJM has a writing style and she sticks to it what can I say. But I think her style best suits the fairytale nature of this book the best.
Overall - Solid 4
From what I've seen from other reviewers, this book is a turning point for whether or not readers like the direction that the series is heading. Some think that it changed for the worse, I would have to say I'm in the camp of enjoying this installment the best so far. This additional felt more magical and had some more horror-esq vibes, which I was in to. It also felt more grown up, which is definitely a different tone from the first two books. The setting was also more interesting and we finally got a ton of history for the world that the story is set in. That history and the exploration of Celaena's past was a lot of fun to read.
Start - 3.5
These books always seem to take me a minute to get fully into and the story seems to take a minute to get going as well. For this book it was in part because of Celaena's mental state, but I still remember this beginning a lot more than Crown of Midnights.
Characters - 4
There were some new additions to the cast, so I'm going to rank them each individually.
Celaena - Still the most interesting and she has a really big character arc in this book that was satisfying to go through. Learning about her history and seeing some flashback scenes really helped develop the world.
Manon - Next fave. I love the animal companion trope in books and Manon's storyline is filled to the brim with that. I also liked her morally gray nature and the expansion of the world the witches brought. It also gave us insight to more of the King's plans, which were very much needed. Plus she has a sick costume what can I say.
Chaol - Now, Chaol seems to be the punching bag of this series and here I would have to say, "No". Bro is literally the only thing keeping the plot going in Rifthold and actually taking steps to figure out the King's power. Without Chaol, no one would know how the King banished magic. This doesn't mean that I want him and Celaena together or that that's why I'm on his side. I'm on his side because for all the talk Dorian and Aedion and everyone seem to give about not being on Celaena's side, Chaol is the only one taking actions that will actually help her for when she gets back. Plus, he is the only one who remembered to let Eyllwe know that a certain person was back.
I said what I said. And in Crown of Midnight, he went back for the dog.
Rowan - Very broody, I like the back and forth between him and Celaena. No real strong opinions have been formed where he's concerned. I would like to see some interactions between him and the other Fae that he's known for centuries. I think that would give me better insight into who he really is.
Aedion - I like the connection he has to Celaena and to Terrasen. That's the extent of my opinions on him.
Dorian - Bro what were you even doing. He felt very bratty. Call it an unpopular opinion and I get he's got certain things going on at the moment, but so does everyone. Let's face it, someone had to be at the bottom of this list and he made it easy.
Atmosphere - 4
This book had the best vibes in the series so far. I love a good forest setting and this is that book. I really enjoyed getting to learn about some other creatures in the world like the Fae. I have to say one of my favorite parts was the storytelling in the kitchen at night. Those were great vibes and I wish we got told more of the stories about Wendlyn.
Plot - 4.5
The plot in this was a bit slower and a lot more character driven. However, I liked the character struggles that were at the forefront of this book and how they shaped the plot.
Ending - 4.5
Really fun battle that felt liked it topped every fight scene that we've seen so far, but not so crazy that we still can't grow beyond it. There feels like there's a nice power crawl happening and hopefully that continues.
Style - 4
SJM has a writing style and she sticks to it what can I say. But I think her style best suits the fairytale nature of this book the best.
Overall - Solid 4
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Colonisation, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and War
Minor: Vomit