We last saw Feyre and Tamlin heading off into the sunset. Tamlin, no doubt, has his own demons to deal with. After a few hundred years of suffering he's finally free of the grips Amarantha had over him. Feyre, on the other hand, a nineteen year old with a lifetime of suffering herself, has to deal with the two innocent Fae she was made to kill to release the courts of Prythian from their tyrannical rule.
All is not well in the Court of Thorns and Roses.
New to the party is Ianthe, a High Priestess who appears to have a hold over Tamlin, though Feyre can't tell him what she see's for fear he'll ignore her. Just like he's ignoring her other problems. Namely, nightly visions of her time Under the Mountain and her frequent use of the bathroom to vomit her guts up.
Slowly but surely, our couple begin to implode. On the day of her wedding to Tamlin, it dawns on Feyre that life with Tamlin cannot possibly continue the way it used to. Things have got to change. He has got to change. She begs, in her head, for an escape. Lo and behold Rhysand hears her plea across their bond and whisks her away to the nightmares of the Night Court.
She's heard the rumours of torture, chaos and the bloodied high hand of the High Lord who likes nothing more than to shatter minds. She's surprised when she arrives for her week-long stint to find nothing could be further from the truth. The Night Court as she sees is lovely, peacefully and Rhysand is kind.
Although she fights it in the beginning, Feyre begins to have an understanding with Rhys. He neither mocks her, nor threatens her. Instead he promises her that he'll teach her how to write. Something she's never had a chance at doing because she was too busy looking after her family. Not being able to read nearly cost her one of the tasks Under the Mountain and reluctantly Feyre knows she will not be defeated in this way again.
Finally Feyre stays at the Night Court. Tamlin locked her up and refused to see that she needed help as much as he did. The Feyre he knew died at Amarantha's hand. The Feyre who return, with the kernels of all seven courts, is not that girl. This Feyre is something else entirely.
This is a story of building. Of understanding that you can change. You can grow from whatever horrible things you've done in your past. You can reach new heights. You can become better. Better than you've ever been before. And soon the people you were trying to please become smaller. You surpass them to a higher level.
The whole book is a story of growth. Feyre and Rhys start on unsteady sand and at the end the stand together on solid ground. They are a partnership, an alliance. Neither better nor worse than the other.
When they try to invade the Hybern territory, a foolish quest to me but hey, I'm just the reader, you can just tell the action hasn't finished yet. The bite of the story is still to come.
And it does. In epic fashion. That was one I didn't see coming.
The book leads us with a cliff-hanger as Feyre goes back to Tamlin's court. But she's a different person altogether than she once was. How long she can keep up the ruse if anyone's guess...