Review: Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (Spoiler-Alert)

** spoiler alert **

'Tell him it was borrowed time anyway. Even before today, I knew it was all borrowed time, but I still wish we'd had more of it.' This averaged to around a 3.75 stars to me, but do note that despite the significant lulls, there are some INSANE highs. The first half of this book was incredibly solid, the second is where it lagged a little for me. The relationship between Aelin and Rowan and the plots surrounding them started to feel a bit stale honestly, but that just made me all the more excited to get to the chapters about Elide, Lorcan, and Manon. Those three stole the show in this installment. I can't BELIEVE what went down regarding Manon towards the beginning of this book- IT WAS INSANE!!!!! Asterin's repeated almost-deaths really got me every single damn time. I'm so, so excited to see where Manon's character continues to go. While Manon does excite me, she's no match for the love I have for Elide. Elide is a QUEEN. She's so incredibly smart and resilient and rational, and of course I ship her with evil, broken Lorcan. The part when she schooled him about what thunder really means- that's queen material right there. I don't think I'll ever get over it. Besides that stuff though, I found the rest of the book to drag a bit. Too many chapters were about Aelin and Rowan and how wildly in love they are and blah blah blah. But that ending, though. THAT ENDING. I- I honestly don't even think I've fully comprehended it yet. So much happened at once that I honestly wish had been dispersed throughout the book a bit more; that would have kept me hooked instead of causing it to feel really slow. BUT ANYWAY IT'S FLIPPING INSANE. LYSANDRA SHIFTING INTO AELIN. THE SILENT ASSASSINS ARRIVING. ANOTHER ASHRYVER. THE SECRET MARRIAGE. AEDION NEEDING TO SIRE "AELIN". AELIN IN A LITERAL COFFIN. MAEVE TRICKING ROWAN. NEHEMIA AND THE WHOLE BACKSTORY. IT'S SO MUCH. I don't think I'm ready for Tower of Dawn quite yet, but boy am I excited for when I will be.

Song I was reminded of while reading: hope for the underrated youth