haileyanne's reviews
221 reviews

I loved every second of it, and I could not put it down. I love Nesta’s POV, and it’s interesting to see the others from her lens. I was so invested in Nesta from the beginning that I hated the other characters right along with her.

I was skeptical of making her train just like Feyre, but she still has a different arc. My big frustration was with the mating scenes. It’s honestly unclear if it happens in the river house, because they never say it. I know that’s kind of the point because she won’t accept it, but I kept wondering, did it happen yet? Can other people tell? Do they have that scent? And then at the very end, something clicks into place and they are *officially bonded? And the third act fight that Nesta can’t accept she’s no longer human felt out of nowhere and contrived. To me, Nesta’s only doubt was that she wasn’t worthy. Cassian also says he’s suspected they were mates since they met. Did Rhys? Did Feyre? Selfishly, I wanted more mated Cassian content. We didn’t even get to see the ceremony!! I’m not sure why Sarah keeps taking that away from us!!! 

I love the evolution of Rhys and Nesta. ps I hate Amren and I’m still iffy about Mor.

Obsessed with the friendship love between the girls, but also between Nesta and the house. So sweet. The sleepover was adorable. I could gush about this for ages.

this was such a healing and inspiring read. 

A little disappointing, compared to the rest of the series. I liked the normalcy of the plot, but It was so so sappy. So many tears and I love yous! I see how it wraps up ACOWAR and introduces the conflicts to come, but I still felt somewhat unsatisfied at the end. Definitely built up suspense for Nesta’s story, though. Immediately starting ACOSF!!! 

Actually wanted this to be over so bad I bumped up the speed to 1.5. 

BORING!!! Magic system makes no sense. Hate the characters. Camilla unreliable narrator AF!!!! And this is not a standalone series, if you dare read this than I would start with the other series about Wrath. 

WHAT?! ARE YOU KIDDING?! Enjoyed this so much. Cried at a book for the second time in a month?!  
I’ve come to hate past/present timelines but this was done perfectly. Points off for the somewhat rushed ending after the climax. Those missing details about

what happened to Elliot on NYE

and how the characters processed all of these events present day would’ve made the book even more well rounded.

And points off for the (in my mind) unrealistic plot points that Elliot 1) didn’t know Duncan died and 2) couldn’t get a hold of Macy. You’d think SOMETHING would’ve clued him and his family in.

ok one more thing. We’re not gonna talk about how this guy proposed over the phone at a humble 17 years old?? Had a ring?!! Girl.

This book 😭 I loved it! Plot twists one after another! The emotion! It was so nice to read the last 100 pages in particular, where the family has so many emotional scenes. I love the friendship and vulnerability between Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel.

And nesta and cassian’s last scene had me in tears!!!

Cannot wait to start ACOFS. That being said, I have NOTES!! 

The punctuation in this book is absolutely out of control….there were tons of em dashes and ellipses on each page, many times in the same sentence. Pulled me out of the story so much trying to read the odd usage along with many confusing sentences. So many characters are in any given scene that it was sometimes hard to parse who was being talked about. The story is amazing, and generally I enjoy Sarah’s writing, but I was disappointed in the editing of the text itself. 

So much happens with the magic system in this one. I felt like I was seeing so many new abilities on characters for the first time, out of no where. Maybe I just forgot their mentions in previous books. If so, I would’ve loved a reminder. Who can cast shields, who can winnow,   and so on, and WHY? The amount of power each person had, and also how that power could be drained, seemed somewhat dependent on the scene— convenient.

Pretty good, nothing to write home about! I liked that it was different than typical faking dating, one bed books. The main character’s personality is annoying but also refreshing. Also got some succession vibes, which I really liked. 

Eh. Not going to read the next book. There were constant time jumps, and so many conflicts. Also thought the writing was more cringe. A muscle feathered in his jaw….

Pros: funny, good writing, interesting plot, a bit of thriller mixed in
Cons: morally gray love interest af

who STAYS morally gray

; more than a few  violent actions by said love interest I thought were totally unnecessary to the plot and made me question if I wanted to continue. Sure, this is fiction, but I’m not going to LIKE IT!

genuinely why did he have to kill TWO PEOPLE?!

That all being said (lol), I already started the second book and the vibes are MUCH lighter. You could definitely skip the first book if you are concerned about the trigger warnings. 

Ali Hazelwood you can’t keep getting away with this 😫 I’ve read most of her work now, and they’re just too similar to enjoy. Enemies to lovers with an unrealistic miscommunication trope. Work or school brings them together! Love at first sight.

What really bugged me this time was the weirdly specific mentions of being on an IUD and choosing not to use a condom. This would be totally fine if she didn’t mention not using a condom in every book.

The 🔥 and dialogue was not really enjoyable because it was so cringe. (I also typically avoid audio romance.) I choose to keep reading her books because I do like the general vibe and energy and pace. Hope she mixes up her plot structure a little.

I wrote such a long review and it ~disappeared~