Stopped reading on page 271. That was a surprise because I thought I was going to love this book. I'm generally a big fan of SJM's books.
I had two problems:
Nesta
Fuck's sake. She was AWFUL. What an annoying brat. I get that she went through some bad shit, but do you have to be a complete asshole to everyone who's trying to help you? Not to mention just being so childish. “No I'm not going to train with you. I'm just going to sit on this rock and do nothing. BECAUSE!”
Super super minor spoilers from the first ~200 pages: Then she did start training and tried to encourage others to join her, but they didn't. And that REALLY upset her. Seriously, girl? You were a right bitch about refusing to train, now you're upset when others don't want to? Like… this is the same thing? Lol.
Plot
Wow I did not care about the plot.
Annoyingly it felt like a continuation of the original trilogy. I think I expected a completely new story, but instead it felt a bit like, “That problem we already solved is rearing its head again.” This meant two things:
- If you didn't read the original trilogy you'd probably struggle to figure out what was going on. I actually have read the first three books but I was still struggling just because it had been so long. Bummer. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if it was still fresh in my mind.
- And second, it just felt like “been there, done that.” I didn't care.
Overall I think the plot was just really weak and boring. I know this book is meant to be a romance with fantasy elements (as opposed to the other way around), but I almost would have liked it better if it just stopped trying to even pretend with having a fantasy plot. It was so not the book's strong point. (And I say that as an absolute lover of heavy fantasy books.)
Other Characters
It seemed like Rhys got a bit screwed over in this book. I got a little bit of it, but also read a few spoilers and found out some more. In short (and without spoilers for this book): I feel like in the original trilogy, Rhys was pitched as the guy who gave Feyre freedom. Tamlin held her captive and took her freedom away; Rhys gave it back. But in this book, there were very much some Rhys behavioural issues that felt a lot like taking away her freedom. Spoilers: Putting an impenetrable shield on her at all times because of her pregnancy. And the spoilers I read implied he withheld information from Feyre about her pregnancy.