In the second-to-last book in Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher series, except for the prequel, Ciri's journey takes a wild turn as she continues wrestling with her destiny. The setting is all about war and political drama, and Ciri faces some seriously dangerous enemies while finding some surprising allies.

This book really puts Ciri in the spotlight, which is a nice change from the last one where she was kind of sidelined. The first half of the book is pretty gripping with some intriguing plot twists, but unfortunately, the narrative sort of drags in the second half.

Honestly, Dijkstra’s political scheming felt like a slog. His parts just didn't add much excitement and made those sections kind of tedious.

On the flip side, the dynamic between Ciri and Vilgefortz was fantastic. Vilgefortz is such a fascinating character—charming and layered, which really makes for some engaging reading.

However, a major downside was the frequent sexism and female-unfriendly remarks scattered throughout the text. These elements were not only irritating but detracted from the enjoyment of the story. The frequent eye-rolling and sighs these remarks stirred up became too frequent. It’s a testament to the beloved characters that I persevered through the book, but these issues are becoming harder to ignore.