A little late to the party, but I’m jumping on the train to read this before I start watching the Netflix series. Enjoyed it more than I expected to! For better or for worse, it feels exactly like a ya fantasy book - chosen one, magic school, dark one - nothing too surprising here. But it was well done and didn’t miss any beats. The tone and world of the novel feel consistent and enchanting, and I enjoyed the writing. The characters all sort of fit into the normal ya fantasy mode, but I had fun reading about them. And I know she's making the right choice, but am I a bad person for kind of wanting Alina to run off with the Darkling and rule the world together? He's not entirely wrong... I’ll have to pick up the other ones and see what happens!

Liked this as much as the first one. It was a little slower paced, but for its length it still went by quickly (though not a lot happened for the whole middle period of the book). The plot was a little more fun and way less "magic girl goes to magic school." Alina's still great - and still conflicted. I don't really care for Mal, and think he's just as controlling in this one. I still kind of want her to ditch him and run off with the Darkling (even though I know she made the right choice in the first book and he's terrible, but the heart wants what it wants...). I loved Nikolai too - he was a fun addition to the story (and he would also be a better choice than Mal ha!). We'll see how it all wraps up in the next one.

This was an interesting end to the trilogy. She really went there in a couple of places! I had fun with the side characters, and was still fascinated by the Darkling. I didn't love all the choices at the end, but I get why it all wrapped up that way - and it does fit the story. Still not really a fan of Mal though.