I entered this books with my own biases about Chaol. Biases, as in he's a piece of sh**. But I was encouraged to read this book by a friend before I dived into KoA. I put this book off for months, but I finally made myself read it.

My verdict:

Read this book for Nesryn, Sartaq, and the Ruk riders.

Yrene is fine, but I feel like she exists to be the opposite of Aelin. Yrene is everything that Chaol wants: strong but meek, a vow to never hurt anyone, supportive but submissive, and a healer vs a solider. I'll probably get a lot of angry comments about that. But that's how I feel. Yrene is great. But she exists to be Chaol's possession. Yrene went from powerful and smart to "oh Chaol I'll do anything for you!" and I feel like that's the biggest waste of a character that SJM has ever done. Chaol is so obsessed with the opposite of Aelin. He hates that Aelin killed people that hunted her down (Grave), kidnapped Chaol (Ren/Murtagh but before they knew each other), or LITERALLY ENSLAVED HER (Endovier, Aroybnn). Did he want her to just lay down and accept the beatings, the whippings, and eventually just die? How disgusting of a human can you be? Then at the end of the book (spoilers) he decides hey, maybe protecting what you love is a good reason to kill someone. Give me a break. Chaol is a guy that thinks that because daddy threw him out as a kid that's a personality trait.

Nesryn and Sartaq, however, are amazing. I loved the way SJM delved into Nesryn's character and brought her from quiet, fierce soldier to someone who loves her people and family deeply. The ruks were an awesome addition, and the entire storyline of hers in the mountains was awesome. It kept me on my toes and unable to put down the book because I just needed to know what's next. I also enjoyed Yrene's interactions with Hasar and Kashin (ya know, before she became a pretty little doll to sit at Chaol's side).

All in all, it was a good book, and f*** Chaol.