Spoiler free. Sort of. Well, I don't know. Be careful.
This book finally grasped the potential I saw in the previous installments, and wow, it was incredible.
I'm usually not to keen on YA fantasy, especially as a fan of Middle-Earth. Whenever I read one it's just meh, or I can't even finish it. But this is just so good.
Let's start with the few things I didn't enjoy.
Okay, I lied, I kinda loved these aspects too.
It took me a long time to read. But I almost enjoyed that, because it was the slowly building plot, the intricate and wonderful world building, and the painstakingly beautiful piece by piece character development. I'm not actually a very fast reader, and I love being sucked into a world where you want to soak in each and every word. Heir of Fire did that for me.
The different point of view chapters really worked here, giving you a much wider scope. However, I can't say I liked reading from the new addition, Manon. Her story was interesting, with the different clans and all. I'm very intrigued to see where it goes, and how Manon develops. Every time I would get to one of her chapters I would sigh and force myself through so I could get back to the characters I love. That being said, I wouldn't change anything.
Let's talk about Celaena. Wheeeew.
Sass? ON POINT. Seriously. How does she even
Character development? ON POINT. Diving into her past was AMAZING, and I feel like I can finally understand her fully. Throughout the book she's slowly, and I mean slowly, piecing herself back together after the events of Crown of Midnight. What she becomes in this book, while still holding onto everything she was...it's just awesome.
Also her training was a lot of fun. There's not much I can say without spoiling, but that ending?! Guuuuuuurl. I cannot wait to see her reach her full potential.
Then of course there's Rowan. I'll be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of him. He was a good introduction to all the new things happening in Celaena's life and his character was somewhat intriguing. Unfortunately to me he seemed robot like and I hated the way it was mentioned over and over that his relationship with Celaena was not romantic. Like, yes, I can see that from the way they interact you don't have to tell us every other page! Gah. I don't really care for him but I am glad Celaena has someone like that in her life now.
Lastly, let's talk about everyone in Adarlan. These were my favourite chapters, which surprised me. Previously, Dorian was my least favourite character. But now that he's seemingly moved on from things, and has much much bigger worries, I did really like him. He's really grown, and continues to. I felt he was rather childish in the first two books but here he really is growing up and coming into his own.
Reading and watching other reviews, I feel like I must be the only one who loved the new character Sorscha. However the reveal that she was a rebel made me very upset. I was so excited to have a new character who was totally in the dark about all the crazy background things happening. And then she died anyway. IT ACTUALLY MADE ME CRY. THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN OFTEN OKAY SO YEAH BUT IT WAS SO DRAMATIC I DID NOT SEE IT COMING AND THEN DORIAN ASJDVJSJSVAJKDF. Yes, I did love their relationship, because Dorian really needed someone like her. I loved how sweet and caring she is. Even though she isn't a fighter, and not trained with a sword, she's just as strong as everyone else.
Okay so next of course would be Chaol. Wow, what a mess. He doesn't know who he really is anymore, or where his loyalties lie. Everything he's ever known is falling to pieces. He really was quite horrible in this book, especially to Dorian. Their friendship was already hanging by a thread but Chaol only seems to destroy things now. I hope he gets his head screwed back on in the next book. His character is so complex and what he brings to the story is fantastic.
Another new character, Aedion. He is so freaking awesome. Not much I can say without spoilers, but I think my most anticipated part of the next book is that reunion. It better happen. I need it.
Where this book ended leaves a lot of unanswered questions and so many directions for the series to go in. I cannot wait. This just became my new favourite ongoing series, and that's kinda a big deal.
I think that's it for this rant!