Every Spiral of Fate (TWK #4) by Tahereh Mafi

4 stars

this review contains spoilers!

the best in the series so far.

the plot was simple, but there was an appropriate amount of action in this one.

imp plot points in this book: their wedding—which was beautiful by the way, what with the dragons and rose petals flying round the sky— then their journey to arya mountains, their time there, and finally Alizeh's search for her magic. and of course, we get to know of Cyrus's deal with the devil.

his aura in this book is unmatched!!! he just walked to that humongous door and it came crumbling down?

What do you know of sacrifice?” he said.

BURNNNNNNNNNNN

this is something that applies to Kamran and me because we both felt—and still feel—that his actions in the book 1 were justified:

You might care for her, but you have not yet proven that you’re capable of living for anyone beyond yourself.”

of course, all of his badassery was balanced with his loser boy personality. he's a shite poet and a dusty moth to the core. and performance anxiety? every book made an attempt at humor but this one succeeded, i'm afraid.

I’m sure she won’t make you feel bad about it.” “That’s not—” “And it’s a lot of bloody pressure, isn’t it?” he said sympathetically. “She, being the literal savior of our people, and so on? I’d likely have a bit of performance anxiety myself—” “I don’t have performance anxiety,” he said murderously.

and of course, his love for Alizeh. i would always love the quiet way Cyrus reveres Alizeh. this is something Kamran failed to do, and the very reason he got pushed aside in the last book.
Cyrus talking about Kamran here (mind you, he absolutely hates that guy)

The queen never would’ve favored him had he been unworthy; it is in fact a credit to his character that she esteems him

and one of my favorite things about this book? the foxes, locusts, spiders, owls, snow leopards, and his dragons ofc, hanging around the palace worried for him, and bringing apricots in his absence.
his relationship with his dragons is just so precious :(

Cyrus had become their king long before he had a crown.

also, side note, Cyrus did actually thank Alizeh for killing him xDD. third book stands proven.

Cyrus in all his perfection—somewhat unrealistic perfection, i must admit—is quite an inspiring character. not doing things by half measures, committing himself to a fate that he never imagined nor desired, setting aside his emotions and thinking logically about things.

there were 2 stupid things about this book. one was how easily Alizeh defeated the devil. what reason could the devil possibly have had to accept her terms? two, Alizeh actually seriously considering marrying Kamran and laying the bed for it. like. you made progress about it in the last book? did the author forget about it? one step forward, two steps back?

I hate that I have to wait another year for the finale, and I always drop the series when this happens because I cannot be bothered to invest myself into it again, but yes, I have some expectations for the next book.

The premise so far: there's been centuries of animosity and bloodshed between the jinn and the humans, and now, they have settled on a peace agreement, called Fire Accords, which, while doesn't fix the animosity, fixes the bloodshed a little. the humans seem to have an upper hand, and jinn—because of their association with the devil—are the ones who are repressed and live in fear despite being far more powerful.

I hope there is a satisfactory—simple even—resolution to this. On the romance aspect, I hope that there is a shitton amount of fluff for Cyrus and Alizeh because we have had enough of yearning and holding back.

blue turtle music that i listened to for the entire series:

(esp the mountain library bit)
going back to this playlist is one of the biggest reasons i'm waiting for 5th book now