My favorite book in this entire series. I said what I said.
Feyre infiltrating the Spring Court and burning it to the ground from the inside? MORALLY GREY QUEEN ENERGY. She was cunning, manipulative, ruthless — and I was eating every second of it. This is the Feyre I'd been waiting for since book one. Gone is the whiny 19-year-old. In her place? A woman who will smile in your face while dismantling your entire court. Magnificent.
The war scenes were EPIC. Like genuinely well done — the scale, the stakes, the chaos. I was nearly screaming. SJM does not get enough credit for how well she orchestrated that final battle.
Nesta pointing her finger at the King of Hybern? BADASS. That moment alone made me a Nesta fan. Raw, furious, untamed power radiating off someone who didn't ask for any of this. Iconic. Elain, on the other hand… she could have stayed human or died and I would not have blinked. Sorry. I just don't care for her.
And Lucien — my sweet, loyal Lucien — mated to ELAIN? He deserves so much better. That man has been through hell and you're telling me his reward is someone who won't even look at him? The audacity.
Now. The High Lord meeting. Tarquin — the Summer Court High Lord with the locs — I LOVED him. Loved his court, loved his energy, loved the ocean aesthetic. One way ticket to the Summer Court, please. But the real moment? Tamlin calling Feyre out for essentially cheating. And listen — controversial opinion — he was RIGHT to be salty. They were in love. Engaged. About to be married. She left and immediately got with someone else. He was allowed to feel some type of way about that. I said it.
Rhysand in this book… look. I like his sass. The "do whatever you need to do to get what you want" energy is attractive, sure. But it was always for HIS gain. Not hers, not theirs — HIS. He used the people around him, including his own mate. Sure, she "wanted" to be used as a pawn, but I never fully got over it. Do I trust him? No. Would I still tap it? Obviously. But the man is manipulative and the fact that everyone acts like he's a perfect angel bothers me.
The Bryaxis — that massive shadow creature lurking in the library — was one of the coolest things in this entire series. Terrifying, ancient, powerful, and somehow became a plot piece I was genuinely invested in. Give me more eldritch horrors in fantasy romance, PLEASE.
And their father. His sacrifice in the final battle broke me. I have daddy issues so that one hit different. Watching him finally step up after failing his daughters their entire lives, only to die doing it? Pain. Beautiful, gut-wrenching pain.
This book had everything — revenge, war, morally complex characters, monsters, political drama, and consequences that actually mattered. The best ACOTAR book and I will die on this hill.
⚔️ 5/5 stars. Feyre's villain era was the best era.