𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Assassin's Blade
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Throne of Glass (Book 6/8)
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Sarah J. Maas
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Young Adult, Fantasy
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: October 23, 2023 @ 3:35 PM
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★☆

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

sᴏ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴏᴏᴋ ɪs ʙᴀsɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴍᴘɪʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ sᴛᴏʀɪᴇs ᴛʜᴀᴛ sʜᴏᴡᴄᴀsᴇs ᴄᴇʟᴇᴀɴᴀ's ʟɪғᴇ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɪɴ sᴇʀɪᴇs, ɪ sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ'ᴠᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴇᴍᴘɪʀᴇ ᴏғ sᴛᴏʀᴍs ʙᴜᴛ ɪᴛ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ʙᴏᴛʜᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴍʏ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ sᴏ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴍɪɴᴅ. ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ᴛᴏᴘ ɪs ʙᴀsᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀᴀʟʟ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ sʜᴀʀᴇ ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ғᴏʀ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ɪɴᴅɪᴠɪᴅᴜᴀʟ sᴛᴏʀʏ ʙᴇʟᴏᴡ.

｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ｡
ﾟ。𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝘼𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙
　ﾟ･｡･

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★☆☆
This one is about 16 year old Celeana acting like the bratty teen that she is, her silly little antics come off as annoying rather than understandable because “she's young and this and that” though her actions did almost cost the lives of her and Sam. I didn't find much thrill reading this part of the book but it was still a fun short read because c'mon, assassins on a mission to find their fellow guild members in the territory of pirates? Great idea and could've been done in a very whimsical way but still better than the next one.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Assassin and the Healer
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★☆☆☆
This is just filler, there was nothing about this that intrigued me or gave me any worthy information for when I read the main series again. This felt more like a one shot fic that's tagged hurt and comfort, not to say that fanfiction is in any way shape or form a lesser media, there are tons of fanfiction out there that have the potential to be their own novels and some being better written than the series that they are a fanfic of. But this was like, a fanfic without the strong feeling of a fanfic. It wanted to evoke softness and compassion, but it couldn't reach it.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Assassin and the Desert
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★☆
Now this is the part of the book that is about Celeana's character development. She reaches the Silent Assassin's fortress and meets the Mute Master wherein her stay makes her slowly realize all the abuse that she had gone through in her life and how all of that suffering and pain was not normal nor okay. The side characters here were also more fun than the first two stories, they had a certain way of writing in them that made them sound more believable at least to me, more human than just characters. Or maybe it was because of the tone of the book, who knows? 🤪

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Assassin and the Underworld
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★☆
She's back at Rifthold and she's with Sam. Like, there is nothing more I could say that would explain the four stars. Celeana and Sam is my pre Celeana and Chaol. I don't understand why SJM chose to write her with someone like Rowan, there isn't a reason for them to be together. Also, fuck Arobynn.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Assassin and the Empire
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★☆
The start was very dry but the moment the feel rolled in, it steamed on without mercy. Sam and Celeana plan to leave from Rifthold and perhaps start a life somewhere else but they need money to do so, luckily they are offered a job that will make them both rich. Seems like a pretty sweet and simple plot about two teens trying to make it out of their shitty lives hoping for better in the future, UNTIL THE PLOT TWIST AND THE ENDING. This part of the novella alone can go against the entire main series and win istg. 𝘐𝘛 𝘞𝘈𝘚 *𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘗𝘓𝘖𝘛 𝘛𝘞𝘐𝘚𝘛* 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘐𝘛 𝘞𝘈𝘚 *𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘐𝘕𝘎*

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#SarahJMaas #SJM #throneofglassseries #throneofglass #assassinsblade #novella #YA #youngadult #books #book #reading #YAseries #octology #bookseries @bookstodon

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Queen of Shadows
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Throne of Glass (Book 5/8)
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Sarah J. Maas
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Young Adult, Fantasy
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: October 19, 2023 @ 11:57 PM
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★☆☆☆

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

ᴊᴜsᴛ ғᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇʀɪᴇs ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏᴡ ɪ'ᴍ ʙᴜʀʏɪɴɢ ᴍʏsᴇʟғ ɪɴ sʜᴀᴍᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅɪsᴀᴘᴘᴏɪɴᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ɪ sᴀɪᴅ "ɪ ʜᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ sᴜʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴡᴀs ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇʀɪᴇs ʀɪɢʜᴛ" sᴜᴅᴅᴇɴʟʏ ɢᴇᴛs ᴛʜʀᴏᴡɴ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪɴᴅᴏᴡ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɢᴏᴏɢʟᴇ ᴅɪᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴ ғᴀᴄᴛ ᴀᴅᴊᴜsᴛ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇʀɪᴇs ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴘᴇʀ ᴏʀᴅᴇʀ. 𝙄 𝙈𝘼𝙔 𝘽𝙀 𝙎𝙏𝙐𝙋𝙄𝘿™ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʜᴏɴᴇsᴛ, ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ sᴇʀɪᴇs ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ɪ ɴᴇvᴇʀ ɢᴏᴛ ᴄᴏɴғᴜsᴇᴅ, ɪ ᴡᴀs ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴀɴɢʀʏ. ᴅᴏᴇs ᴛʜᴀᴛ sᴀʏ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴍᴇ? ᴍᴏsᴛ ᴅᴇғɪɴɪᴛᴇʟʏ, ᴅᴏᴇs ᴛʜᴀᴛ sᴀʏ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏɢʀᴇssɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ? ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ sᴏ. A̶l̶s̶o̶ G̶o̶o̶g̶l̶e̶ b̶e̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ a̶r̶r̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ b̶o̶o̶k̶ s̶e̶r̶i̶e̶s̶ i̶n̶ t̶h̶e̶ c̶o̶r̶r̶e̶c̶t̶ s̶e̶q̶u̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ I̶ c̶a̶n̶'t̶ a̶n̶y̶m̶o̶r̶e̶

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ﾟ。 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝘼𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙
　ﾟ･｡･

At first I thought that once I read this book, maybe it'll clear out what Empire of Storms was all about and maybe once I finish, it would make me less angry. It did not. The shift between this and Empire of the Storms hurts because this book was as close to the original story as it can get, there was the idea and there was character. There was a yearning for love and intimacy that was never present in the next book. There were emotions, despite being the emotions that you wouldn't understand why the character is feeling that way, you'd still go along with it because those parts are what makes them a character, the way they act and feel predictable and unpredictable at the same time makes them sound realistic and grounded with how we perceive parts of people and their own ways of feeling and living. There were parts of this book that was never present in Empire of Storms and it just cemented my anger.

Chaol is present in this book and this is the part where he and Aelin meet each other again, and oh boy, I love the way that their characters had this friction because of how Chaol is going through this arc of trying his best to find where he must stand in the conflict and Aelin heartbroken because the person that she once loved sees her as a threat and as monster. They never miss, when they're together it's always so personal and character driven and I love every bit of it. This is also the part where they break up and it kinda pisses me off on how it was only a single page long when the author can manage to write 17 pages long of unfiltered sex scenes. It's weird but okay, sure why not.

𝖳𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗀𝖾𝗋 𝗐𝖺𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀: 𝖲𝗍𝗂𝗅𝗅𝖻𝗂𝗋𝗍𝗁, Asterin Blackbeak, Manon's cousin reveals that she fell in love with a mortal man and got pregnant. She carried the baby full-term, which is rare for witches. But the baby was stillborn. Manon’s grandmother was furious and beat her, branded her with the words “unclean,” and cast her out of Blackbeak Keep. I did not expect such a thing to happen in a book like this, it is not that shocking at least to me because it is a story about war and all that, but something like this in a YA book caught me off guard. Not to say YA mustn't include topics like these but the way that it goes:

𝘈𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺. 𝘈𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘈𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥:

𝘜𝘕𝘊𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘕

In the middle of it all, why must you add in the description of her breast? Not to say that you can't and you shouldn't, but it made it sound so weird especially when the scene is literally about the trauma that a woman went through in giving birth that also led to her family casting her away. That it was the moment that I realized, SJM would randomly describe boobs in random. Even with the way that Aelin wears a necklace, boobs would be shoved it there for no reason. I would understand it if it was for imagery, but the way that it's phrased and handled in context sounds more like the way that men write women more than anything.

There was also a part where Aelin flat out went:

𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝘈 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦—𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 … 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳—𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳—𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵. 𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵.

𝘖𝘩, 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦?

Which is absolutely hilarious to me because in the following book, she exactly becomes that foolish and stupidly unaware because they had sex in the middle of a war on a beach. It altered my brain chemistry in a way that shouldn't be. And this is the first and last time that the book acknowledges the age difference between the two, hell, it ain't even an age difference at this point, it's a whole century gap. The Twilight era never disappeared, it only evolved. Dear heavens... This is one of the main reasons why I took out a star from my rating, it could've been an easy three stars but this had to be in the story.

One of the things that I adored about this book though was about Chaol and Dorian, their bond was solidified in this part. I don't want to get too detailed in case someone wishes to read the series P̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ d̶o̶n̶'t̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ m̶e̶r̶c̶y̶ o̶n̶ y̶o̶u̶r̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ but when one of them was severely hurt to the point of death, but they weren't actually dead, one of them thought that they were and they lose absolutely every bit of patience and sense of honor in their soul and they go absolute apeshit. Like YES! THE TROPE OF ALL TIME. I love them your honor, they deserve the world. 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.

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𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Empire of Storms
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Throne of Glass (Book 4/8)
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Sarah J. Maas
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Young Adult, Fantasy
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: October 12, 2023 @ 12:45PM
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★☆☆☆

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

ᴛʜɪs ᴏɴᴇ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ᴍᴇ ᴀɴ ᴇɴᴛɪʀᴇ ᴡᴇᴇᴋ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ, ɪᴛ ғᴇʟᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ sᴜᴄʜ ᴀ ᴅʀᴀɢ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛɪᴍᴇ ɪ ᴛʀʏ ᴛᴏ ᴘɪᴄᴋ ɪᴛ ᴜᴘ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ɪᴛ ᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ ʙᴏʀᴇs ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ ᴏғ ᴢᴏɴɪɴɢ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡɪᴛʜ ғᴜʟʟ ʜᴏɴᴇsᴛʏ, ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴍᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ʀᴇᴛᴀɪɴ ᴍᴏsᴛ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ, ᴏʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪᴛ ᴡᴇɴᴛ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀʏs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴍᴇ sᴏ ᴅɪsᴀᴘᴘᴏɪɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ʜᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴜᴛ ɪᴛ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ғᴏʀ ᴀ ᴘᴇʀɪᴏᴅ ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ. ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ʀᴀɴᴛ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪғ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟᴇᴛ ɪᴛ ᴏᴜᴛ, ɪᴛ'ʟʟ ᴅʀᴀɪɴ ᴍᴇ.

｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ｡
ﾟ。 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙
　ﾟ･｡･

I genuinely thought that since this book was 600 pages long, the plot would start at the very beginning because the last time, it ended where they were preparing for the war that I assumed would happen in this sequel. I expected action and battle about a book that is said to be about action and battle but I expected to much because literally nothing happens for the first hundreds of the book. The first three books were slow but this one is slower that I had to double check if I was actually reading the right sequence thinking that I picked up the wrong one.

Pushing through with the pace with utter stubbornness, I gave it a chance to build up the idea of recruiting fighters and training warriors or the likes that is what one would assume that'll happen, but no, it gave us an erection 5% through. I already shared my thoughts about Aelin and Rowan's relationship and this book just cemented my hatred for them. Their relationship never had the gentleness of Chaol/Celeana or the thoughtfulness of Dorian/Celeana, the patience of Dorian/Sorscha. They're straight up written as if they came from an erotica novel. Not to say that I am against erotica or dislike the idea of steamy romances, I don't mind explicit scenes in literature however, if those scenes are inserted in ways that doesn't help the pacing of the plot, show the dynamic of the relationship or add any nuance to the characterization of the characters at play then what is the point? m̶y̶ a̶s̶e̶x̶u̶a̶l̶ a̶s̶s̶ h̶a̶s̶ s̶t̶a̶n̶d̶a̶r̶d̶s̶ t̶o̶o̶ y̶o̶u̶ k̶n̶o̶w̶ There may be a character that is said to be hot headed and impulsive becomes hesitant in bed because the narrative may have them ruin everything that they commit to and they're afraid of ruining a moment between them and their partner, in which their partner reassures them. But no, it was just sex for the sake of sex. It was too physical and not enough emotional, not enough connection, for all the flowery language that SJM describes their longing for each other carnally, she never wrote them as anything else.

Dorian and Manon also become a thing in this book and somehow SJM places the poor guy that has trauma from witnessing Sorscha flat out getting guillotined right in front of him get: "𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯," 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥. "𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦." 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮. in the context of flirty banter/sexual tension with another woman. SJM remembered enough of what happened in the last book and decided to bring back for what should've been in a more painful and personal scene, but she decided it'll be better if she would just use it as a bridge for the two to have sex in the future (they did half way through the book).

Apart from Dorian's character assassination (he is no longer his own character rather a copy paste of all the other e̶r̶o̶t̶i̶c̶a̶ men in the series and ACOTAR) Manon gets more spotlight only to have her become Aelin 2.0, a very special white woman who came from a very special bloodline that is destined to rule and ends up with a great warrior who they have constant arguments and sexual tension.

Apart from the never ending weirdly good looking white cast of the book, the plot wishes it was Game of Thrones with its continuous talking of politics and war. They keep talking yet nothing is ever happening until the last few chapters of the book. It's quite literally crammed in 85% in or so. The amount of things that happen in this book are plenty but at the same time nonexistent, one would think that with the number of plotlines told in a single book, it'll be a fun and engaging with many loops and turns but alas, with too much going on, nothing really came of it.

Oh and side note, this book is full of words like “mate”, “female”, “male”, “masculine”, “feminine” and all the other weirdly specific animalistic terms that ended up becoming annoying as it progressed than be a little enjoyable part of the worldbuilding. It's almost like SJM wanted to write an A/B/O novel but wanted it to be for non-furries and straight white couples who adhere to strict beauty standards.

Just four more books to go and I'll finally be free.

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