emilie's Reviews > Chain of Thorns

“We have been in the crucible, and come out as gold.”

just like that, one of my favorites series has reached its conclusion. i am incredibly sad to have had to say goodbye to these characters and know their story is over. i will miss them dearly and they will forever hold a piece of my heart. i laughed, i cried, i grieved, and i felt so deeply alongside them.

“We are not here just to forget, but also to remember that there are good and beautiful things in this world, always. And mistakes do not take them from us; nothing takes them from us. They are eternal.”

the ending was bittersweet, and while there are definitely things i wish changed or were paid more attention to, i think this was a perfect conclusion to an epic story that transported me through both time and magic. the characters all had such beautiful, incredibly meaningful arcs and were all wrapped up as nicely as possible given the world they live in.

“I have always thought that every one deserves a second chance. We are each given only one life. We cannot get another one, we must live with the mistakes we have made.”

the writing was incredible, it was definitely one of her most well written books to date and the plot never dragged despite being almost 800 pages in length. in fact, i wish it was even longer because there was something about it that dragged me in and wouldn’t let me go. i’ve never felt so anchored to a certain story before, so enamored with a cast of characters that feel so real and special to me. i cried so hard and long that my eyes were puffy for two days afterward, and my chest hurt almost as much. cassie outdid herself on this, it was absolutely phenomenal.

“Have you ever wanted something, something you knew you should not have, but that you could not keep away from? Something that occupies all your waking and dreaming thoughts with reminders of how much you wanted it?”

the relationships! the development both singular and together for each main couple was amazing, and i had so many moments of screaming into my hands as i read the words exchanged. the love shared between her characters is so pure and genuine, it made me cry just reading certain quotes and knowing how deeply they felt for each other. i wanted nothing but happiness for everyone, even though some did not receive their happy endings 💔.

just look at these quotes!

“My heart beats for you, only ever you.”

“I love you, I love you. Without you, I cannot breathe.”

“It means I would rather have a home with you than all the world.”

“Never a chessboard, nothing so plain. You are a brightly colored pachisi board. You’re a backgammon set with triangles of inlaid mother-of-pearl and pieces of gold and silver. You are the queen of hearts.” “And you are the lamp that gives light, without which the game cannot be played.”

“I care about you, Christopher. And I did not think that type of feeling to be real.”

“I love you. Let me love you.”

LIKE??? she invented romance.

also the sibling dynamics >>> had me in shambles.

“I realized, in that instant, that being its wielder would mean you were always the one in danger. You would be the one to take the bigger risks, to fight the harder fights. And I would be the one who would watch you, again and again, walk into danger. And I hated that thought.” this is why alastair is my favorite older brother 🤍🤍


overall, it was an incredible book and it means so much to me. I’m not ready to say goodbye because these characters gave me so much happiness and comfort, but all good things must come to and end. and this was an end worth waiting for. if you’re still reading this, wow, it was just important of me to give this book a review that reflected my personal feelings and thoughts, even though i can’t fully express them here.