Last spoiler warning….ok. So Bryce jumps into a portal to take her to another world to prevent herself from being used as the Asteri wish, and to hopefully gain allies from the armies of Hel. BUT she doesn’t end up in Hel, instead landing…in the ACOTAR world. Right outside Rhysand’s palace. And the book ends with Rhysand introducing himself to her. literally everyone in the group of cormac, tharion, ithan, ruhn, hunt (except for cormac and ruhn obviously because they’re cousins) Honestly, I waited for this book for so long and am slightly conflicted with how I feel about this story as a whole. I have never rated a SJM novel this low before. I was sometimes forcing myself to read it - like it was some university homework . But I also liked how she took this series to an entire new level- I can tell there was a lot of research done. idk if its me no longer being a teenager who adored SJMs books, but so far im finding this series is even worse than TOG & ACOTAR. especially, the writing and the romance. for the most part i support that ship and they’re a lot better than watching bryce and hunt try to be sexy when they are actually just stale 💀

Then there was Bryce and Hunt. I love them. The banter, the chemistry, loyalty, and love they have between them is everything. Nothing will ever come close. I was worried about Hunt, I'm not gonna lie. Sarah has a tendency to bait us into falling for one guy, just for another dude to come in for the win. But no, Bryce and Hunt were everything together. There's nothing else to say. I think Sarah is stepping up her diversity game (about time lol), because I was happy to see more queer characters and more characters of colour added to the cast, and were present for good chunks of the book. Sofie, is about to die with one vital piece of “information hidden in her head, information that could very well be the final piece of this war against the Asteri. The blow that could end it all” and so Bryce, Hunt and Ruhn try to unearth the corruption and the devastating truth that cost Danika her life in the last book and now Sofie in this story. This is not a spoiler as it happens in the first chapter but sets up a storyline that will continue well into the book. This book stressed me. I can't even count the number of times I had to put it down and walk away for a minute because I was scared to read what happened next. Every time I thought I knew where the story was going, a whole other layer of complications and magic and worldbuilding was added to the mix. It was a rollercoaster in every way.Main Characters ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hunt and Ruhn are adorable, and although I liked Bryce much better in book 2, The connection is still not great. I would like to see the female characters portrayed differently from ‘bad ass bitches’.

we’ve managed to go without any “mates” business in book 1, but now so many of them (couple/pairing plot twists) were dropped like bombs in this book. the romance was done very poorly. how did SJM go from Aelin/Rowan, Elide/Lorcan, and Feyre/Rhys to this crap? It is a constant thrill to fans and one that, after a cursory look on Reddit turned into a deep dive on Maas-lore, has churned up hundreds of theories, ranging from the inexplicably brilliant to the not so brilliant. “I often think about these series for years before I end up writing them,” Maas explains: “[It means I have] the opportunity to think, ‘How in this moment can I plant this little detail?’” Her readers are undoubtedly looking for every single one. I would pull up the manuscript on my computer and just write for a couple of hours and the world slowly unfolded Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate the bro club in this book? Ruhn, Declan, Flynn, AND MY PRECIOUS ITHAN. Okay, Ruhn is still my favorite but ITHAN came out of left field, barreled into me with a boyish smirk and a wink, and next thing I knew I was on my knees *cough* He is a must protect. And Tharion and Cormac? SJM just working her magic, that’s all. too many slow-too much talking and banter-and nothing happens-parts but when the good parts hit, THEY HIT. Firstly, Kudos to Sarah for writing such a masterpiece. I think it's going to be one of the best reads of 2022. I don't think I've read a bad review of it so far and rightly so. The book starts off at a good pace which she maintained throughout, especially compared to House of Earth and Blood. This was so much better than what I had expected. If I could have given more than 5 stars, I would.

Reviews

Bryce & Hunt will be “very satisfied” sexually. (She said in a previous livestream it will rival the smut amount/steam level in ACOSF!) the whole reveal was pretty great too even though i already knew who day was (i read spoilers and read the ends of books first because i have no self control ha) Our love is stronger than time, greater than any distance. Our love spans across stars and worlds. I will find you again, I promise.” I saw part of the ending spoilers before the book was released, but it honestly didn’t even matter or take away from the ending as a whole. There were a million other things happening that were just as insane. Although many readers were thrilled at the crossover, Maas stresses that you don’t have to have read her other series to appreciate the ending. “I want it to be satisfying and compelling for both fans of the A Court of Thorns and Rose series and fans of the Crescent City series. [I want] to make sure the story can stand on its own.”

spoiler) i had guessed that Day was Lidia, but that last chapter i really did not see coming. when i said “i needed SJM to pull a Rhysand,” i didnt mean LITERALLY. 💀 does that mean Bryce is in Velaris now? i'm sorry but danika is the busiest girl in the world. after so many of her secrets being exposed in book 1, how does she have a whole nother closet full of them 💀 she's a rebel, she knew sophie, her dads evil, she had a mate, ENOUGH who has the freaking free time Ruhn and his love story. That storyline between day and night was the most surprising and delightful thing out of this book. The way these two have a hold on me right now. That ending elevator scene was one of the best in the book!! I was here for it!!!and i love that she owns her sexuality but it’s kinda gross seeing all these male povs talk about how hot she is etc etc it just feels very male gaze-y and we don’t like objectification of women) I’m in no way ready for what this book will do to me. But I can’t wait for my emotions to be put through the ringer. While I did predict the outcome to several plot twists, like the identity of agent Daybright, there were a billion other twists that I didn't see coming, like that ending for which nothing could have prepared me for!!!!. And honestly, it's because half the time most of those twists were coming entirely out of left field and it was all Danika's fault! I was getting second-hand embarrassment for Bryce every time something new was revealed about her supposed 'best friend'. Danika had a whole secret life, filled with so many secrets and people that Bryce never knew about. After a while, it kinda felt like SJM just wanted to introduce new things and didn't know how so she threw them into Danika's bag of secrets and called it a day.