Synopsis from Goodreads:

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

My review:

“She could forgive the girl who had needed a captain of the guard to offer stability after a year in hell; forgive the girl who had needed a captain to be her champion. But she was her own champion now.”

There’s not much I can say about the plot without giving away spoilers. Bad things will happen to the characters that you love. People will die. There are so many players in the game now, it’s sometimes hard to remember who you’re supposed to love and who you’re supposed to hate. I’ll leave it at that.

This is by far my favourite book of the series! I thought Crown of Midnight was good, but gods-damned, this must be what hellfire feels like. I’m so fired up. Again, I am sorry for the excessive references to flames but they are difficult to avoid when fire is so significant in this story.

If I had to describe how this book made me feel: “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.”

I loved reading the interactions between Aedion, Rowan, and Aelin. Aedion’s really grown on me in that annoying (but lovable) big brother kind of way. And let’s face it, everyone is waiting for Rowan to put his moves on Aelin. The tension is real.

I also wanted to highlight a question posed by Manon: “Do you believe monsters are born, or made?” — I’ve been thinking about this a lot today, but that’s a conversation for another time.

★★★★ (4.5 stars) because now I know what all the fuss is about! Empire of Storms needs to come out sooner.