After an absolutely diabolical reading slump of 10 months, I have, at last, completed this book.

And I’m really torn on how to rate it. 4 stars? 3 stars? 3.5 stars? Probably that.

On the one hand, I enjoyed the ending and much of the plot itself, minus the romance. On the other hand, I didn’t feel I connected with any of the characters in HOEAB like I did with the characters in ACOTAR. In fact, I didn’t feel I related to them much at all. Period.

Sarah Maas has such a talent for writing action/fantasy-heavy scenes, and I wish she didn’t always water that down with characters who always have the very same thoughts in their minds about how sexy one another is. Even from series to series, they sound the same, talk the same, think the same things about their love interests. Or maybe I’m thinking too much about it and I’m just not a romance book fan. (I’m not.)

Anyway, fun story. Not too much fun on the romance front but oh well! I might continue the series but it’ll be at a point in the future when I’m really in the mood.