*Warning* If you are planning on reading the Throne of Glass series, but haven't started, do not read any further. There will be spoilers ahead and I urge you to read the books before you read this because the overall story is so well written and is becoming a full circle story.
Up to this point we have been following the stories from 4-5 different perspectives and we are starting to feel the pressure of Erawan's forces, not only that, but we are also feeling like time is starting to run out. It feels as if everyone is still on their own "missions," but Erawan's forces are knocking right on their doorstep. There's almost the sense of hopelessness and that time is definitely not on their side. Not only that, Aelin is trying to work on her trauma while providing her court the confidence that they need to believe that they can still win this.
In chapter 43, Manon gives one of the most rallying/war-readying speeches that I've ever read and it made me appreciate the character development that Sarah wrote for her. The growth that Manon has had throughout the story is one of the more interesting ones, in my opinion, because there are so many layers to it. Not only that, she hunted a part of who she was for hundreds of years. So not only is she trying to figure out how to move forward without a true identity, but she's also trying to figure out how to make amends for the lives that she's taken. It's just destroying me on the inside that her and Dorian are refusing to really work through the emotions that they are feeling, because caring is a terrible thing.
While they're trying to figure that out, Aedion and Lyssandra are losing the battle. Their army is not only weak, but they are depleted in numbers and faith. You can feel the stress that Aedion is going through and you can feel his frustration with Lyssandra and Aelin for not considering what would happen if they had been put in a situation like this. As much as I could feel how the strain of the situation was stressing Aedion out beyond measure, I couldn't help but feel overly frustrated with him because he pushed Lyssandra away. I can go into this a lot further, but at the end of the day, I feel like Aedion pushed away his one truly ally and confidant. It isn't till Lyssandra decides to give whatever is left of the army the surge of confidence they need to stand and fight, did Aedion truly realize how much she meant to him. He could no longer deny it. However, not only did his feelings towards her change, but so did the battle, when the Ironteeth appeared with the mirrors that Manon had mentioned. I legitimately started to get stressed out because there is just no way that they can face that.
But then, we cut to Anielle where Aelin and her court met with Sartaq, Hasar, Nesryn, Chaol, and Yrene during the war meeting. Again, there was another full circle moment where Yrene was able to give Aelin the note she had kept with her and this is when one of my favorite lines so far was spoke by Aelin. It felt like that was a piece of her past and who she was and she was able to physically hold on to that. As they put together the pieces of what is really going on and the major players, it honestly felt like a losing battle. It felt like it would be futile for them to stay in Anielle while Erawan's troops were overwhelming Aedion and Lyssandra.
At this point, it just feels like it's too much and there's just so much going against them. Not only that, at this point I am freaking out that Dorian will be the one to ultimately pay the price, which breaks my heart. I want Dorian to have his happy ending to because he deserves it. There is so much guilt that he's dealing with and so much of himself that he refuses to save.
I can feel the tides of the climax slowly flowing in and I'm excited to see what happens, but I'm also sad for this story to end. I'm enjoying this read and as quickly as I want to get through the book, I want to enjoy the story.