erika 🧸🏹🌤️

a near perfect ending for an emotionally destructive trilogy. to have a book portray both sides of war and have you personally invested in all characters from either side has been such a wonderfully harrowing experience. i could not even fathom how that was done so masterfully and with such heartfelt send off to every single character. there is something about the world and plot wise that may have felt a bit muddled and blurry at the edges but i will be damned to give this book anything less than 5 stars for the effect it has had

show-stopping, shocking, incredibly fast and easy read. i’m actually in disbelief about how much this exceeded my expectations. dark horse of the random tbrs i pick up. does it have a very unique story arc? tbh not really. BUT somehow it does it in a way that i LITERALLY did not see it coming. i am almost mad at myself for the slack. need to have read book 2 yesterday.

the most wholesome book!! i haven’t really read much cosy fantasy books before so this was so so refreshing. such unforgettable characters, incredibly funny, and just jam packed with whimsy. i did find that the middle dragged on for longer than needed but that could honestly just be me not being used to stakes being so low lol. otherwise, would absolutely recommend. they are to die forrrrrr

honestly such an underrated series that i can only see getting better and better!!! the first book was enough to grab my attention but this one really reeled me in with all the action which was so so exciting. we’ve strayed away from the trials trope a bit more and all the exploration of the politics is so interesting. holy cliffhanger, i can’t wait for the next book

i was soooo keen to get into this book and tbh i think that really worked against it. i sadly felt close to nothing throughout which is crazy considering all the emotional turmoil that was consistently being pushed onto the page.

it definitely still had some gripping plot points, like hello i read it THAT fast. but i found myself just getting icked out for far too much of the book bc bram is absolutely just an irredeemable character. not to mention that for tormented lovers trying to reconnect, we needed a lot more ivy and emmet to build up to that ending. just felt so disconnected with the characters. kinda disappointed :(