This is 100% a comfort book! It's not too stressful, yet it's tense enough you want to continue reading and you fully love the characters and their varying personalities. There are also multiple themes and lessons within, so it is a good reflection book as well.

I felt like this story was disjointed, and I thought the combination of the two mysteries was not done well. I didn't hate it, but I did find it a little boring.

I found the events of the book boring, and I couldn't bring myself to care about the main character.

A five star book took down to three for thee simple reasons... The first being that literally nothing happens in the first half! It took me forever to convince myself to sit down and power through the begining. Another issue I had was the six points of view! I loved all the differing viewpoints, but the continuations of each view were spaced too far apart, especially if you had to pause reading in-between chapters. I constantly had to keep looking back to see what happened to each character in their previous chapter even when reading for extended amounts of time with no breaks. Finally, the last issue I had with the book was

****(SPOILER ALERT)****

the absolutely pointless death of a beloved character. Even though they (keeping it vague to avoid spoiling the story as much as possible) didn't play a huge role in the King of Scars duo, they were an incredibly important character in general, and their death served no purpose as far as I'm concerned. The story and war would have progressed literally the exact same way as it did if the character was kept alive. I fear this may be an ongoing theme in the Grisha Verse. The author seems to be using death to "advance" her stories which makes me fearful of any other book she writes in the future. Killing off characters for plot only works for a couple of times, but it gets real old, real fast.

I loved the storyline and characters. I'm incredibly invested to see where the story goes and to see how the characters' relationships evolve throughout the series. However, the scenes describing how hot Xaden is (i.e. "HOLY FUCKING HOT") and the nickname moaning was really... weird...especially for adults. It struck me as trying too hard to be "relatable", and at times I wondered if the romantic scenes were written by someone who only knows about sex from fanfiction because of how the characters interacted (the conversations made me cringe) and how "perfect" each scene was.

An okay Nancy Drew mystery. It was a bit boring, but not horribly so.

I enjoyed the story, but it wasn't my favorite. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I could have done without the somewhat graphic depiction of a sheep slaughterhouse...

The story was absolutely amazing, and would have been 5 stars except for the interactions between Violet and Cat. I don't believe she added anything to the story besides angst for Violet and to serve as the "jealous bitch". I just don't think a strong woman, note WOMAN not teenager, would care? Also, the constant "can I trust him?" "oh woe is me" from Violet got old...Xaden is literally leading a revolution and it's silly to get upset over the stuff he "hid" from her when most of the time it was secrets keeping her/the nation/himself safe. It's very immature of her, and I fully take Xaden's side in it... Having secrets doesn't mean the person doesn't love you, especially if the secret can get you or someone you care about killed. Lastly, the twist ending makes me a little concerned especially with the "you'll be the greatest enemy" line... I will be forever upset with the author if she makes that a reality and the next book isn't about fixing what happened.

This is definitely worth the read, and I believe it enhances one's pleasure in the story! I loved the "Dawn" section, but I wish it had been included in the previous book since it wraps up the story nicely. This series has become a favorite of mine, and I will miss the characters! I have rated this book by sections and then taken the average of the sections to rate the entire book.

"Dusk" - Prequal: I liked this section, and I believe it gave depth to the storyline. However, I wish I had read it before starting the novels because it would have given me a better frame of reference never reading Chinese myths before. I probably would have enjoyed it more as well because after completing the novels, the section felt kind of boring and repetitive to what is covered/implied in the books. 3/5 Stars

"Twilight" - Retelling of events: I really enjoyed the differing POVs and seeing the characters thought process and eventual growth. 4/5 Stars

"Dawn" - Events after Heart of The Sun Warrior: I absolutely loved this section! The connection between the mortal and immortal, knowing someone is meant for you, was so sweet and heart warming. I'm happy with how everything turns out in the end, and I believe this was a perfect ending to the series. 5/5 Stars

I was happy to see the return of Helen, but I was a little disappointed in this mystery story. It seemed very Hodge-podge and thrown together, and I felt like the story was kind of random. It seemed like the author tried too hard to make the mystery complex.