Mollee

God this book was awful. 
It was so boring, and there wasn't a “twist” I didn't see coming. 
It took me forever to get through and it threw me into a few slumps. 
Had it not been a Riley Sager book I probably would have DNF'd it but I should have anyways. 
It felt like NOTHING happened in the 300+ pages. 
Anytime anything started to get interesting it was explained away almost as quickly as it'd come up. I feel like any of the other suspect's being the  culprit would have been more interesting than the actual culprit and their story was. 
Riley Sager has always been a hit or miss author for me ranging from 2 stars (Lock Every Door) to near 5 Stars (Survive the Night and The Only One Left) but this was the biggest swing and a miss I've ever seen from him and boy am I disappointed. Even prior works that I rated low feel like 5 stars in comparison to this one. 
My worst book of the year so far. 

Why did I low key kind of like this? 
I had read so many negative reviews of people hating this. But I didn't. 
Maybe it's because I know the main character (not literally obviously) but I know the type of person he is. I know him. I've loved him. And relating the MC to someone I know so deeply helped me connect to the horrors of the book. 
Maybe in 2006 this type of man was more shocking. But in 2024 this type of man is so common place in the world I wasn't really shocked by anything he said or did and I think that's the true horror of this book. 
The fact that something that was created to be so horrific and shocking has become so commonplace that not only did the actions and thoughts of this man didn't phase me, but I felt as if I knew him intimately in the men I've dated. 
I know that what I took from this book is very different from what most people probably have, but it allowed me the capability to actually sort of enjoy it so I'm okay with that. 

Wondering why it took me so long to finally pull the trigger on reading this book because it was SO good. 

I loved the competition element, the castle, the training montages, the mystery element. This book was giving everything I wanted and I'm hooked. 

Shaping up to have ACOTAR be the least favorite of Sarah J Maas series for me. 

Reread 2022: I still adore this book and it ripped out my soul again. I know it's extremely controversial and so many people don't like it, but I love it with every fiber of my being.


I sat down and read this entire book in one sitting, and woah I am shook. I'm still reeling. My brain doesn't know how to process what just happened. Let's attempt a somewhat cohesive review though.

I read like half of this book when it first came out, but never really got around to finishing it. Recently I'd heard some stuff about it on booktube and decided to give it another chance. I knew that there was a huge plot twist at the end, and I was attempting to prepare myself for that. I didn't. I absolutely did not prepare myself for that. I reached the beginning of the end and was slightly disappointed because I thought that was the big reveal! The entire thing! But nope! There was more. So much more. And I was a sobbing, snotty, blubbering mess through it all. I was rocking back and forth. My breathing was ragged. I couldn't comprehend what was happening. I couldn't see I was crying so hard. This book was absolutely amazing. I love that I went into it not knowing anything, I love that no one spoiled it for me. I'm still shaking and my brain is a mess right now. Absolutely incredible. Amazing.