Rating: 5 Stars
I have been waiting for this book and now it is finally here. I can’t help but be excited! I have wanted to know more about Cassian since he was first introduced into the story. Now that his story is intertwined with Nesta’s, I am more intrigued. Note that I have not a Nesta fan; yet, I am coming around to like her, a little bit anyway, after this book.
Nesta is angry with being forced into the cauldron and becoming High Fae. She is angry with her sister Fayre, she is angry at Cassian and most of all, she is angry at herself. She has a lot to be angry about and all this angry is destroying her from the inside out. She turns to drinking and men to deal with it all. Yet, we know she is not dealing with it and so does Fayre.
After Rhysand and Fayre receive an astronomical bill for one of Nesta’s particularity bad night of excesses, Fayre says enough and cuts off Nesta. No more funds to act like the spoiled brat she has become. Instead, Nesta will live at the House of Wind and will train every morning with Cassian and work every afternoon in the library. Will this be what Nesta needs or will it only lead to more trouble?
The best part of this book is the character development. Kudos to the author for taking a character I love to hate and turning her into something so different I couldn’t help but reverse my opinion of her a little bit. As I said earlier, I am still not on Team Nesta, but I do feel much different about her. I understand her better and can see how she became the spoiled brat and how her nature has worked both for and against her. I loved that in this book she has learned how to control the aspects of her character that even she does not like. She still has a ways to go, but I feel she has finally found her place and she is beginning to accept herself and love herself. This needed to happen for her to move on.
There is not a lot in the way of plot in this book. It is totally a character driven story and that is okay. The descriptive prose and the characters more than made up for this. There are also no big plot twists. However, there are a few unresolved things so I know there will be more in the future. I am totally excited about more books in this world because I am just not ready to let these characters go yet.
I highly recommend this book for lovers of fantasy, especially epic fantasy. However, you need to read these books in order. The story continues to build upon past events and you will not grasp everything going on if you have not read the prior books. If fantasy is your thing and you have not read this series, you are missing out on an exceptional tale.