This book is a rollercoaster of emotions, peaking with happiness and heartbreak. Celaena is finally in a place where she is happy, she has friends, can help people and her freedom is within her grasp. But there was darkness dwelling within the castle, and this darkness was calling her name, sucking her into its grasps and overturning everything she had worked for.

This book was truly a tale of heartbreak, and it pushed Celaena to her limits, she lost people, was deceived and was exposed to the truths of her past.

I love this book and this is mainly for the last chapter, after Chaol finds out why the date Celaena whispered to him that day on the docks was important. When he finds out who she is, and who she is to become.

Again, there is so much in these books which I missed the first time reading it, I dont know why but I kept thinking the she didn't know about her powers or remembered them...

I know some people struggle getting past these two books, but honestly they are so worth it the second time around and seeing the character development and the little hints to the future books.

FALSE

This definitely maintains the gripping momentum established in the first book, making it nearly impossible to set down.

As the plot unfolds, the twists and turns keep readers on the edge of their seats, eagerly turning pages to uncover the next revelation. While I may have some reservations about the way things ended between Chaol and Celaena (nice guys never catch a break), the captivating storyline more than makes up for any lingering dissatisfaction.

Overall, this book delivers another thrilling installment in the series, leaving readers eager to dive into the next book to see what fate has in store for its compelling characters.

Ok, so the actual rating is 4.5. I wasn't expecting this second book to be so awesome. It's much better than the first one and there is great potential for the next books.
In this one we get to see the real Adarlan's assassin in action and I was like:

Every time I thought I had seen Celaena at her deadliest she surprised me again. It was amazing seeing her going into the darkest places of her soul and fighting with all that rage that she had been accumulating since she was just a child and lost everything and everyone she had ever loved.
I felt so many emotions while reading this and they were more or less in this order:

When the most ruthless and dangerous assassin of Erilea gives Chaol the sweetest birthday's present he has ever received... Aww! During that whole time I couldn't help but having a stupid grin on my face. And later the big change in the nature of their relationship ;) So cute!

Celaena going all berserk on that rebellious group who had kidnapped Chaol, it was one of my favorite scenes.

Nehemia accepting and sacrificing herself knowing that's the only way to get Celaena to face her fate.

The complete meltdown of Celeana and by meltdown I mean going all feral beast and trying to kill Chaol. Wow! Just, wow!

Celaena changing her appearance to Fae when she crosses the portal and being capable of using her magic, even though it was just for a few minutes, it was unexpected and AWESOME!

And finally, the revelation that her real name is Aelin Galathynius, the heir to the throne of Terrasen. I had been expecting it since the first book but now Chaol knows it. I'm curious to how is he going to take it? At the end it seem like he took it as a threat to the king. Anaway, I'm glad she has let someone know who she really is, because she had been hiding it for so long that sometimes she even forgot.

Now I feel like I'm gonna be fangirling all over this series for the next 4 years till the final book comes out!

⭐⭐⭐ 3.5 Stars (Goodreads really need to implement half stars ratings)

Well, this is the first book in this series that actually had my attention.

To be honest the first 200 pages were hard to read, nothing really happened and I started to feel disappointed again, some things here and there that actually made me keep going, hoping it was going to be better, and I know it was the start but there’s 2 books behind this one, we can skip to the good parts now.

But finally, once it started, I was excited with the chain of events finally developing in the second half of the book.

Spoiler

I was not happy it started with the unfortunate death of Nehemia, I really like her and felt very sad for her, but I understood it was necessary for the story and to Celaena's development.

I liked the change the characters had, especially Dorian and Celaena, it’s not a secret I don’t really like her, but this book addresses some of the big problems I had with her, she finally acts like the assassin she’s supposed to be and leaves her selfishness aside to focus on the things that actually mattered, and Dorian’s revelation was shocking, I was not expecting it and I can't wait to read his story in the next books.

I think one of the reasons why I didn’t like the first half it’s that it’s basically all Chaol and I couldn’t care less about him. I can’t stand him, he’s the definition of a stupid soldier, such blind loyalty to the worst person in the kingdom.

Spoiler

I was not surprised when he chose the king over Celaena.

Another reason for my indifference to Chaol it’s just the author. Sarah J. Maas has the tendency to completely ruin a character to justify a change in the romantic interest, so from the start I knew Chaol was going to be that character in this saga since I’ve been spoiled by TikTok

Spoiler

on Rowan (not everything but I know he exists).

Hopefully Dorian doesn’t have the same fate since he and Celaena moved on from their romantic relationship.

The ending was probably my favorite part. I feel like the main plot of this saga it’s finally starting to make its entrance (slow but we’re getting there) and I can’t wait for the next one. Hopefully it’s better and I don’t have to read another 200 pages of nothing.

Spoiler

P.d. I’m waiting for you Rowan, I don’t know when you're going to make your appearance but hopefully it’s not too long because my patience with this saga is holding by a thread.