Spoiler free, just a few non-spoilery quotes! 
 Once again, I find myself in the Post-Maas What Do I Do With My Life Crisis. As of right now, I'm sort of in denial and have convinced myself that everything is okay. I just got off a totally crazy roller coaster but I am going to be okay. 
 "A storm is coming. A great storm." 
 Oh boy, is it. Prepare yourselves because it. Gets. Real. Without saying too much, the stakes are extremely high for Aelin and The Gang, and you can feel it in every single page. Like I said, this book is an emotional roller coaster filled with turns and turns and loops that will turn you upside down while you love every second of it. 
 EMPIRE OF STORMS is absolutely epic. It is the opposite of an in-between book; in fact, I might even say it holds more action than all the other books combined. There is no peace, there are no holds barred, no punches pulled. I was both a sobbing mess and a giggling mess, sometimes at the same time. Above all, I was a terrified mess because I've come to care about each and every one of these characters so much. 
 "There was no force in any world that could keep her contained." 
 I do have to say that there was a cost for all of the action - we didn't get to see the inside of the characters' heads as much. When compared to the previous books, I really missed being able to see what each character thought about a certain situation or be able to completely understand what motivated them. Because of this, I thought some of The Gang acted a little bit out of character and I couldn't fully understand some of the decisions they made. 
 The characters themselves are absolutely glorious so it kills me to kick a half star off but I am doing it because I just didn't see as much character development. A lot is happening but because we didn't get to intimately know what everyone felt, I feel like any changes went unnoticed. You could tell a lot of them were growing due to the events happening but I wish we had gotten to experience more of that from their perspective. I felt particularly distanced from Aelin, who we have always been close to in previous books, although there is a much larger cast of characters now. 
 "The fear of loss . . . it can destroy you as much as the loss itself." 
 Everything is weaving together effortlessly. Those novellas you may or may not have thought twice about? Maybe it's time you go ahead and check them out. How long has this all been planned out because seriously, plots and things I never expected to converge come together and it's a masterpiece. Also now I realize so much foreshadowing. 
 It may not have broken our rating scale like A COURT OF MIST AND FURY, but EMPIRE OF STORMS is an installment you need to get your hands on immediately (if you haven't already, I'm a little late to the game this time.) If you've already read it, what stage of grief are you in after that cliffhanger? (No spoilers!)