As a book, it was strong but not perfect. The structure of the 10 days was smart because it built such an immense level of dread in me but it made it so that some scenes felt like they were there to fill a day. It was a long book and as I’ve said before there were some parts that I think could have been done either in a different way or more concisely. I don’t have any problems with the endings which is usually the case with Sanderson and I’m glad that he pulled it off. I did expect more emotional damage but that was only because of everyone else talking about it as if it was the final book in the series.

The only character that had an ending was Dalinar (and Leyten </3). Everyone else was either changed a lot in the course of this book which makes me excited to read about them more (Kaladin, Adolin, Shallan) or had their main arc begin in this book (Jasnah, Renarin, Rlain, Yanagawn) who we know or expect to play a bigger role in the 2nd arc. I still think that although it wasn’t as engaging in a lot of parts, Adolin’s arc in this book is the strongest and most fleshed out. Kaladin’s was beautiful but expected, Szeth’s was interesting especially realising that he mirrored Tien but I didn’t connect to it that much, Shallan is such a great character that she never fails to make me care about what she’s going through and seeing her confront her trauma and heal herself was beautiful but less extreme compared to Adolin. Dalinar learned a lot of things but he didn’t have as big a change as the others. I loved seeing more of Jasnah and seeing her fail (although it made me angry because it was avoidable in my opinion). It made sense for her because what ultimately caused her to lose the debate was her own inability to acknowledge her mistakes when Taravangian pointed them out to her. She didn’t have to renounce her entire way of thinking because she’s right about some things, just to acknowledge that she regrets the things that Taravangian was using against her. Taravangian got on my nerves because of how much of a hypocrite he is. I understand him and I hate him at the same time. And he himself accepts that at the end. Rlain and Renarin were the highlight of this book and their romance was so cute and heartwarming. I had a few moments where I got excited, once or twice with Kaladin and a lot at the end with Adolin. Otherwise I was mostly either locked in when we were in the Spiritual Realm trying to understand and remember everything or feeling an immense sense of dread and anxiety as the days went by and everything was going terribly. I love that we got so many answers about the past. The next books are gonna feel a bit different because of that I think. 

In conclusion, I liked this book because it’s a Stormlight book and I love this world and these characters.It had some issues but also some amazing things. Right now it is my least favourite of the books but that could change when I eventually reread the series. Rereading The Way of Kings is gonna feel so weird now. Both because of the scale difference and also the things we know now but also because of knowing how much the character’s change and grow.