⭐6 stars. Wow. This was absolutely insane. I have never read a more fleshed out series than this one. Every single detail has a purpose, the way everything leads up to something else, it's one big domino effect. Like the need inside me for these characters to have their happy ending is crazy. And the evolution of each character not only throughout this book, but from the first time we met them is absolutely insane.

beware of spoilers

Like oh my gosh, poor Dorian. He was going through it. Like he was still in there but he was so lost and he couldn’t even remember his own name 😭😭. Plus, the worst part was when Aelin was asking him for any sign that he was still in there, and he tried so hard to tell her but he couldn’t. All until, he saw the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, Manon. Like I knew it happened, but to actually read about him coming back to life even for that small interaction was mind blowing. And then when he FINALLY came back, I swear my heart stopped for a second and jumped for joy. Then, as if he hadn’t gone through enough, he got one freaking huge truth bomb dropped on him by his father!!! Like WHAAATTT??? Oh gosh, the poor king 😭😭. Everything he did was for HIS SON, the few times he gained control back of his body. 

Then with Chaol. I understand why people were annoyed with him, but I don’t understand the hate. Like don’t get me wrong, I was absolutely enraged when he said every bad thing that happened in Rifthold was Aelin’s fault, basically called her a ticking time bomb, and then a MONSTER?? I was flabbergasted. But then after that he grew so much. Like I think Chaol is the most realistic character who doesn’t always have the perfect reactions or decisions, he is just a human. He was just afraid of all this change even though he was 100% for it, but fear can do crazy things to you. Then when it all mattered, he was there for Aelin, supporting her, understanding her, helping her and Dorian especially at the end when facing the king, ready to sacrifice his life. And then when he finally got to see Dorian again, ugh my heart took a hit, especially when Dorian told him that he never did anything wrong and to hurry up and get healed so they can rule Adarlan together 😭😭. I swear they better get their happy ending, to be by each other’s side for the rest of their life.

Y’all Lysandra?? Oh gosh, I’m so glad we got to see a new side of her, the side Sam got to see and Celaena didn’t see. Like the story of how she helped Evangeline 🥲. And how she had nobody after Sam and Wesley were killed 😭. Then, we find out she’s a full on shape shifter?? And she got stuck in her current form when magic was banned and she can’t remember how she originally looked, that hurt more than I thought it would. But I was absolutely living for the new friendship between her and Aelin. Because Aelin deserves a female friend that will stay 😭And the fact that she came back for everyone before magic was returned, oh my goodness, she’s amazing. Plus, she was so cute when she saw Rowan and Aelin kissing and she was like “I’m going to have that one day” 😭😭. I can’t wait.

Of course, one of the best relationships in this book was Aedion and Aelin. Like the amount of loyalty he had for her for 10 years and it never once waivered. Like that is unconditional love if I ever saw it. But my heart broke for him when he found out that Rowan had made the blood oath to Aelin because his entire life, he looked forward to it, it was his life’s purpose, that sacred act belonged to him and to find out it went to someone else, broke him 🥺. But then we find out Gavriel is his father?? Wow. Plus, I loved towards the end when Lysandra would chase after him in her ghost leopard form 🤣.

Then the obvious stars of this book were Aelin and Rowan. Both separately and together. Like the way Aelin stepped into her role as Queen was perfect even though the poor girl was overwhelmed at times until Rowan came. Because as soon as they were reunited, how lively she became was utterly amazing. Like she didn’t even light up this much when she saved Aedion, but with Rowan, she was an entirely new person. Like a weight was literally taken off her shoulders and she was able to be just Aelin and he would be there right by her side. And then she had so many iconic moments in this book. Like how she set up a trap for Lorcan because he was following her, she used the dead arm of the wyrdhound to wave at Rowan and said it could be a back scratcher, wearing her tiny nightgowns to tease Rowan, going to sam’s grave 🥲, manipulating Arobynn’s will, the fight with Manon, saving Manon, paying off Lysandra’s debt, left the eye of elena with chaol with ultimately saved his life, putting the ring on dorian, working with dorian to defeat the king, telling all of rifthold everything, giving Lysandra a territory in Terrasen officially making her a part of her court, and finally returning home 😭. And then all the tension, the teasing,and just the relationship growing between her and Rowan was perfection 😘🤌. Like she was making Rowan SWEAT with the nightgowns, the undergarment comment, and teasing him to the point he had to pour cold water all over himself 🤣. But the hints at the mate bond between them?? But Rowan had his iconic moments too like when he placed a stone at Sam's grave 😭, told Arobynn thank you for the oil, and how he was always there for Aelin, no matter what.

And I was absolutely loving the Manon, the 13, Elide and Kaltain chapters. Especially when Abraxos saw Elide and immediately loved Elide, and acted like a happy puppy when she’s around and protects her 🥹. And finding out that Kaltain had killed the valg prince was so badass. But what absolutely shocked me was that one of the wyrdkeys was INSIDE Kaltain’s arm??? Wow. I’m so glad she got revenge on the people of Morath, if only she took Perrington with her. But I’m glad she’s finally at peace, her and Roland. And as her final acts, she saved Elide’s life and asked her to give the wyrdkey to Celaena as a repayment of the kindness that Aelin had shown her in the dungeons all that time ago. And y’all the story about Asterin, her hunter and her witchling 😢. Oh gosh. I’m so glad she told Manon. And I absolutely fell in love with Manon when she went back to save Elide and when she visited Dorian 😭. I NEED more scenes of them together because we only got one interaction and that final one.

Once again, this book was absolutely amazing. The goodbye between Chaol, Dorian and Aelin was so bittersweet 😭, and I can’t imagine what it will be like when they’re all reunited again 😩.

Favorite quotes/scenes:

"Tell me what I must do to atone; tell me to crawl over hot coals, to sleep on a bed of nails, to carve up my flesh. Say the word, and it is done. But let me care for you as I once did, before... before that madness poisoned my heart. Punish me, torture me, wreck me, but let me help you. Do this small thing for me— and let me lay the world atyour feet."

“Monster. And yet...For her friends, for her family, she would gladly be a monster. For Rowan, for Dorian, for Nehemia, she would debase and degrade and ruin herself.”

"When you shatter the chains of this world and forge the next, remember that art is as vital as food to a kingdom. Without it, a kingdom is nothing, and will be forgotten by time. I have amassed enough money in my miserable life to not need any more— so you will understand me clearly when I say that wherever you set your throne, no matter how long it takes, I will come to you, and I will bring music and dancing."

"You soft-hearted worm. A crippled leg and a few chains, and you're in love?"

"Whatever you had to do to survive, whatever you did from spite or rage or selfishness... I don't give a damn. You're here—and you're perfect. You always were, and you always will be."

"This city still needs protecting.”
"Or maybe this city should burn. Maybe the world should burn.”

Aelin was laughing as she cried, and the male was just holding her, his hooded head buried in her neck. As if he were breathing her in.
"Who is that?"
"Rowan."

"Is there a specific color you'd like me to wear? If I'm going to scandalize you, I should at least do it in something you like."
"You're a menace. Gold. Not yellow— real, metallic gold."
"You're out of luck. I would never own anything so ostentatious."

That gods-damned nightgown. Shit. He was in such deep, unending shit.

"Even before I knew who you were, Aelin, I knew that what you were working toward.. It was worth it."
"What is?"
"A world where people like me don't have to hide."

"I miss you. Every day, I miss you. And I wonder what you would have made of all this. Made of me. I think—I think you would have been a wonderful king. I think they would have liked you more than me, actually. I never told you how I felt. But I loved you, and I think a part of me might always love you. Maybe you were my mate, and I never knew it. Maybe I'll spend the rest of my life wondering about that. Maybe I'll see you again in the Afterworld, and then I'll know for sure. But until then ... until then I'll miss you, and I'll wish you were here."

“I'm beginning to admire Lysandra more and more. Seventeen-year-old Aelin must have been a delight to deal with.”
“I would pay good money to see seventeen-year-old Aelin meet seventeen-year-old Rowan.”
“Seventeen-year-old Rowan wouldn't have known what to do with you. He could barely speak to females outside his family.”
“Liar—I don't believe that for a second.”
‘It's true. You would have scandalized him with your nightclothes— even with that dress you have on.”
“He would probably have been even more scandalized to learn I'm not wearing any undergarments beneath this dress.”
The table rattled as Rowan's knee banged into it.

“She would find that love again—one day. And it would be deep and unrelenting and unexpected, the beginning and the end and eternity, the kind that could change history, change the world.”

“But if it was death separating us ...I would find you. I don't care how many rules it would break. Even if I had to get all three keys myself and open a gate, I would find you again. Always.”

"I want to take my time with you— to learn... every inch of you. And this apartment has very, very thin walls. I don't want to have an audience when I make you moan, Aelin."

"When we get back, remind me to prove you wrong about every thought that just went through your head."
"Oh?"
"I'll even let you decide how I tell you: with words"—-his eyes flicked once to her mouth-"or with my teeth and tongue."

"Is there a reason you're smiling at me, or shall I interpret it as a death wish?”
"Do I need a reason to smile at a beautiful woman?"

"But would you bleed red, or black?"
“I’ll bleed whatever color you tell me to."

"Why? Why did you save her?"
"Because that golden-haired witch, Asterin...She screamed Manon's name the way I screamed yours.How can I take away somebody who means the world to someone else? Even if she's my enemy. I thought you were dying. It seemed like bad luck to let her die out of spite. And...Falling into a ravine seemed like a pretty shitty way to die for someone who fights that spectacularly."
"You make me proud to serve you."

"Even when we're apart tomorrow, I'll be with you every step of the way. And every step after—wherever that may be."

"You make me want to live, Rowan. Not survive; not exist. Live."

“The message on the wall had only been one sentence. Payment for a life debt. One sentence just for Aelin Galathynius; one sentence that changed everything: WITCH KILLER- THE HUMAN IS STILL INSIDE HIM.”

"For Terrasen"
"For our family."
"For Marion."
"For us. Ten years of shadows, but no longer. Light up the darkness, Majesty."
"Let's go rattle the stars.”

“Dorian. His name was Dorian. Dorian Havilliard, and he was the Crown Prince of Adarlan. And Celaena Sardothien—Aelin Galathynius, his friend... she had come back for him.”

Aelin extended her hand— a question and an offer and a promise.
"To a better future.”
"You came back.”
They joined hands. So the world ended. And the next one began.

"You make me want to live, too, Aelin Galathynius. Not exist— but live. I spent centuries wandering the world, from empires to kingdoms to wastelands, never settling, never stopping— not for one moment. I was always looking toward the horizon, always wondering what waited across the next ocean, over the next mountain. But I think... I think that whole time, all those centuries, I was just looking for you."

She gazed at the closed bedroom door, as if she could still see the prince and queen inside.
"That. That is what I am going to find one day."
"A gorgeous Fae warrior?" Aedion said, shifting a bit.
Lysandra chuckled, wiping away her tears, and gave him a knowing look before walking away.

"You both came back.”
"You pulled me out of Endovier. I figured I could return the favor."
"What do I do now? What do I do?"
"You light up the darkness."

"If I have to be stuck with king duty, then you're going to be stuck right there with me. So go to the Torre Cesme and heal fast, Chaol. Because we've got work to do."

"There is no one else I'd want guarding my back. If my people cannot see the worth of a woman who sold herself into slavery for the sake of a child, who defended my court with no thought for her own life, then they are not my people. And they can burn in hell."
"What's the territory called?"
"I have no idea. Lysandria' sounds good. So does 'Lysandrius, or maybe 'Lysandraland."
"You are out of your mind."

"What was it like? To love."
"It was like dying a little every day. It was like being alive, too. It was joy so complete it was pain. It destroyed me and unmade me and forged me. I hated it, because I knew I couldn't escape it, and knew it would forever change me. And that witchling... I loved her, too. I loved her in a way I cannot describe—other than to tell you that it was the most powerful thing I've ever felt, greater than rage, than lust, than magic." 

"So here we are.”
"The end of the road.”
"No. The beginning of the next."

She smiled. To her surprise, a king smiled back.
“Send me any good books that you read.”
"Only if you do the same."

And the smell—of pine and snow... How had she never realized that Rowan's scent was of Terrasen, of home? Rowan came close enough to graze her shoulder and murmured, "I feel as if I've been looking for this place my entire life."

“Aelin ran a hand over the rough rock, and the sun-warmed stone tingled as if in greeting. Then she stepped beyond the stone. And at long last, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius was home.”