I'd like to start all this out by saying that (for reasons I cannot fathom, other than the Amazon gods simply deciding to bless me) I received this book a day early, and finished it this morning. To all who haven't read this book yet, you are in for an exciting roller coaster of both plot and emotions as every single of of the characters grows and changes throughout the book. 
 To start off, the plot takes off right where Gathering Darkness left off with Lucia teaming up with the fire god (whose name is Kyan), Magnus, Nic and Cleo in Limeros trying to decide what to do, and Jonas and Lysandra still reeling from Felix's betrayal. The plot-point that the last book left off on was enough to let me know how exciting this book would be, and it didn't disappoint. Alliances are formed and broken, characters love and lose, and revelations about past events are made. From page one I was engrossed, and I remained so until I read the ending. (Actually after the ending because I kept turning the last few pages forward thinking 'that can't be it!'). 
 Then character development. Anyone who knows me knows that Magnus had been my favorite character since he thought 'small talk was so tedious' in his first chapter of the first book. And in this book he really starts to build on the rebellion he began against his father in the last book. While the path he is following is long and hard, Magnus really grows out of his father's shadow in this book. And then there is Cleo. Cleo can play the political game, as we've all seen throughout the series, but in this book she takes it to a new level. (Not to mention their relationship- well, spoilers). After the betrayal in the last book, and several events near the start of this one, Jonas had become hardened. He's a fighter, but in this book he becomes growingly complex. Jonas' storyline was definitely my favorite of his, and we begin to see his recklessness slowly wearing away to let him become the leader he needs to be. 
 But I was most impressed with Lucia. I loved Lucia in book one, and I have to admit, that in the second and third book, I was less interested in her storyline. This book changed that. Lucia is starting to realize what it feels like to have lost (something which the other main characters are well aware of) and she's starting to follow her own path, not directly chasing one that has been set out for her. She grows more in this book than she has in any of the past books, and there is a point where I was worried we'd lose her completely. 
 But wait....there's more. In this book we get POVs from two characters that have never had them: Amara and Felix. I'll admit, I was not 100% on board with Felix in the last book. I didn't dislike him, I just wasn't crazy about him. This book, however, made me really appreciate him a lot more, as we saw Kreashia through his eyes. His decisions and backstory became much more fleshed out in this book, and I really appreciated the development of his character. And then there is Amara. At the end of the last book, I liked Amara as a villain. She was clever, cruel, and unafraid of getting what she wanted. I didn't think I'd ever feel sympathy towards her, but there were points in this book where I did. Not all of the book, obviously - she is cold and bitter, but I found myself liking her a lot more than I thought I would and truly enjoying all her POVs. 
 I won't even get started on Gaius. 
 Also, we got to se Kreashia! It is as deceitfully beautiful as the Kreashians who came to visit. 
 I realize now how long I've been going on about this book. I would recommend just reading the novel, as it takes all my composure not to type out over-excited spoilers in all caps.