First of all, I LOVE THIS SERIES. However, this book was...a slogfest to finish and a bit of a disappointment. The writing just felt self-indulgent and in need of an editor chop about 150 pages. So much about how perfect Aelin is, how utterly awesome Rowan is, how amazingly good-looking everyone is...it just got old after the first hundred or so pages. The ending was good because Maas always writes captivating endings, but it was quite similar to her other book released this year. 
 And then all that sexual content. I love Sarah J. Maas' romance. I HATE her sex scenes. They're melodramatic, overwritten, and unnecessary. The book felt way too much like her other series, which is more for the new-adult crowd. More nuance and fewer explicit details would serve Maas well, like how she wrote Calaena and Chaol's relationship in Crown of Midnight. 
 And poor Chaol. I get that Maas' has permanently demolished my Calaena/Chaol ship, but for him to not even get an appearance in this book?? This series really feels like it's divided in two--the BEFORE Rowan books (which I enjoyed more) and the AFTER Rowan books. 
 I get that Maas wants me to love Rowan like she loves Rowan, but I just haven't bought in. And until I've bought in, it appears Maas will hit me over the head with a hammer repeatedly telling me how amazing Rowan is.