Anyways, I loved Nesta’s journey so much and I think SJM did such a good job with her character and it really resonated with me. I need more Nessian fluff though!

– Nestas recovery. Very, very slow at first and then suddenly very fast. No real explanation of her trauma or why she acted the way she did.
– Her being “rescued” and forced to train and work felt like a story told a thousand times before and as a previous commenter wrote: Why did she have to redeem herself? It feels like she was forced to be likeable, or else…? I would have loved a strong female character that did not worry about being liked, forgiven etc. I SO wish she would just have walked away and had her own adventure.
– The romance between her and Cassian was partly well written and partly just… boring. Tbh, Cassian mostly made me think of Joey in Friends, and that’s probably not a compliment.
– The sex scenes was just a big no. It was too much (as when Nesta fantasizes about two guys) and there was no real anticipation. We all knew what was going to happen and then it just happened, happened again and again and it wasn’t remotely interesting.
– Herpower was one of the most intriguing things and it would have been so much more interesting to read a story about how she learned to live with that, but of course she gives it away in the end. Just like Amren did. So, the strong male character – Rhys – is still unthretened by any strong females.

It’s not a bad book, but it’s definitely not what I expected from SJM.

I really enjoyed Nesta and Cassian’s arch. You got to see the development of their romance from their view rather than Feyre’s which is lovely and I think Nesta’s friendships and ending relationships with her family are well deserved. I sympathized with her in the first few books, she had been the oldest when the family went to ruin, so would have suffered the most when adapting to a new life, especially they way her mother had raised her. I also love how her family was supportive of her, trying to help her recover and be there for her even if she didn’t want it. Nesta and Cassian’s relationship developed beautifully as the trauma Nesta had started to change, we got to see how the war had affected Nesta in the way of their relationship and how her journey to healing allowed her to find someone that understood. Her journey also allowed us to see we all have shadows and pasts we are scared/ashamed thanks to the house of wind, and showed Nesta’s realisation that she is worth saving, even if she treated people poorly or was self destructive for a long time.

All-in all I love the direction Maas is taking the book series, an Azriel arch, Elain and Mor arch would be beautiful (and learning more about Amren and Varian) and maybe even Tamlin and Lucien Arch would be really great to tie it all up, especially with the human queen’s and the continent’s Fae lands. I really love Maas’ writing so I’m about to read the Cresent City series to fall in love with more beautifully written characters!