Lauren Hanbury

There were parts of this book that I really did enjoy, but overall I think it fell flat and missed the mark. I was really excited for the Nesta / Cassian story because there has always been such good tension between them in prior novels. The way he pushed her buttons so well with his swaggering arrogance, and the way she responded with stinging putdowns, but then her surprising and instinctive protectiveness of him always had me excited to read their story. Unfortunately, I think this book tried to do too much. I wanted to see an awesome powerful woman, with a razor sharp tongue, learn to own her newfound magic and go toe-to-toe with a gratingly flirtatious but irresistibly lovable man. I wanted to see more plot driven excitement, more understanding of Nesta's awe-inspiring power, and how her power might play into court schemes and politics. Tell me more about those Made objects and her connection to them and how she could wield them! Tell me more about this High King theory! Instead we got 10,000 steps, meditation, physical training, 2 new characters that served only as props for Nesta's recovery story line, a concert level ballet dance, Valkyries, 3 woman training for about a year and being able to take on 10-20 full grown male soldiers who we have been told train since they are 3 years old, a relationship with a House, a hike to find your soul, a sudden obsession with music, etc etc. The novel tried to be everything and ended up being great at nothing. Nesta's recovery felt bone-crunchingly slow, and then lightning fast in a matter of pages. Cassian had essentially no plot line at all. We didn't get enough of the inner circle characters, and when we did they were doing really out-of-character things (keeping secrets from each other). All to say: none of the topics in the book were bad in and of themselves, but I come to SJM to lose myself in a fast-paced plot driven novel with fun and lovable but damaged characters and some sizzly romance and some life-and-death battles and magic. If I wanted to read a serious novel about a woman's path to recovery from deep PTSD and trauma, I don't pick up SJM. If I want a manual on fitness or meditation, I don't come to SJM. I think she strayed a little too far outside her lane in trying to be too much to too many people and ended up not doing anyone any justice. I'm really disappointed. I'm left completely unfulfilled from a story I was super excited about! And now I have to go back and just read my favorites over again just to remember why I like her books. Big big miss for me on this one. And I feel totally jipped because Nesta deserved a better book!! If meek, pretty Elain gets a better book than Nesta, I'll be pissed. But I guess I just want better than this. Here's to another 3 years of waiting for the next, hopefully better, SJM novel.