I can definitely see how this is so popular. While I wasn't head over heels, I still really enjoyed my time with this book and can see myself recommending this to a friend who likes heavy fantasy with major romance subplots. I found the world quite compelling and well built on (with the cute touch of the map; adored that), the characters to be well built on and all exciting to read about in their own unique ways, and the writing to be very descriptive which fit what the book was going for well and coherent. There was nothing wrong with this inherently, I just can't bring myself to give it an extra star since it didn't offer anything that would make it 5★, but I've heard from many people that ACOMAF and ACOWAR and better than ACOTAR so I'm interested to see if they will in fact be better once I get to them.

BUT FINALLY I CAN SAY I'VE READ THIS AFTER IT'S BEEN SHOVED IN MY FACE ON YOUTUBE, TIKTOK AND INSTAGRAM