I kept seeing this everywhere, so finally picked it up. I didn’t know going in that this was a “YA” book, but it didn’t really feel like a YA book to me. It had some darker stuff here. This is basically a weird darker retelling of Beauty and the Beast - down to the amazing library in the castle and also the “gifting” of the gallery…. But honestly, it wasn't that compelling as a Beauty and the Beast story. I did enjoy the book for it's own thing, but didn't really buy the romance (though parts of it were kinda hot). The book is kind of long and meandering and I didn't really know where the story was going, but once she got to the mountain it got a lot less fun to read. Too much torture. And I couldn’t stand how dumb she was in that whole section - especially with the riddle. The answer was obvious! Also with Rhysand. It was super clear that he was trying to help (even though I'm sure he has his own reasons). It’s just super annoying when the main characters (especially first person characters) are too dumb to see the answers even though the readers have figured it out. It's like the author doesn't have faith in her readers. I also didn't care for the ending - I liked how she was just a human and never gained any special powers. But then of course she gets turned into a fairy. On the other hand, I never wanted to give up reading the story. Something kept me going. It was fun, but the only reason I'd consider continuing with this series is because we're obviously getting more with Rhysand. Rhysand and Nesta were the most interesting characters in this book by far, and we didn't get enough time with them. I'm hoping we get a bit more - especially with her obligations to go to the Night Court.

Again, I'm conflicted about this series. On the one hand, a lot of the problems I had with the first book (e.g., the lack of chemistry in the main relationship and Feyre's "Mary-Sue"ness) were fixed in this one. But it also suffered from the some of the same problems - over explaining and not giving the readers enough credit. Especially in the chapter near the end when Rhys explains his point of view from the first book- we were smart enough to know all of that already! This isn't the direction I thought the story would go, but I'm enjoying it. Anyway, where the first one felt grounded in some sort of reality, this one almost felt like a fan fiction of the first one - and honestly, I was here for it. I loved Rhys and the goofy bat boys and Mor and Amren. It’s a lot of just fluffy hanging out and no real plot for a lot of the book, but I enjoyed it. I'm excited for what comes next - since Nesta is one of my favorite characters so far and Elain also seems very interesting.

Still conflicted about this series. I like the characters enough but the story was odd. The first part with Feyre in the spring court and the escape with Lucien was fun. But then the book suffers from major pacing issues until the end. The stakes are higher in theory, but it just doesn’t feel like it. Especially since our main cast made it out okay. E.g., as much as I like Rhys, I think it would have been better for the story if Rhys had actually died there at the end!
The book still has that “fanfiction-y” less serious tone of the second book, but that’s okay. The author is also not great at the whole “show don’t tell” thing. There’s a lot of info dumps here!
I was less interested in Feyre and Rhys this time, but Nesta, Elain, Lucien are still really interesting characters. Most of the side characters are a lot of fun - though I did think Mor’s coming out story was pretty clumsy.
The writing also seemed much more repetitious in this one. Also I cannot handle the word “mate” anymore. I don’t like the whole “mating” system in the first place, but here she uses that word soooo many times. Also why does everyone need a mate? I thought those were rare.
Still, overall I liked it, even if I wasn’t as into it as the first two.