Book Review: Every Spiral of Fate by Tahereh Mafi
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Every Spiral of Fate by Tahereh Mafi
Published: September 30, 2025
Series: This Woven Kingdom #4
Genres: Young Adult // Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 🌶️ (No spice)
Quick Thoughts: After eagerly awaiting Every Spiral of Fate for a year, it did not disappoint. It brings the same yearning and romantic tension between Cyrus and Alizeh that readers of the other This Woven Kingdom books are familiar with. We also finally get answers for huge questions we’ve had since early in the series. Overall, this had such a satisfying plot and has become my favorite in the series.
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Death/Death of Parent
Torture
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Persian inspired settings
Hidden/secret royalty
Love triangles
Prophecy
Quest storylines
What is Every Spiral of Fate about?
A New York Times bestselling series!
The highly anticipated fourth novel in the Woven Kingdom romantasy series, brimming with fiery romance, spectacular magic, and breathtaking secrets, from Tahereh Mafi, the award-winning and bestselling author of the Shatter Me series. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo, and Sabaa Tahir.
At long last, the wedding day has arrived.
The Jinn queen and the enigmatic ruler of Tulan are to be married in a magical, enchanted ceremony—but Cyrus, tethered by a blood oath to his bride-to-be, can find nothing to celebrate in this union. He’s falling ever more deeply in love with the one person oathbound to kill him.
Sworn to an ancient, unbreakable magic, Alizeh can only fulfill the prophecy to free her people by ensuring Cyrus dies by her own hand. And Cyrus is forced to await his end all while Prince Kamran inches closer, ready to take his place by Alizeh’s side.
The countdown to murder coils tensions ever tighter, but the historic wedding has already drawn deadly attention. To prepare for war and protect her people, Alizeh must finally discover her magic—and outrun the enemies trying to stop her.
Alizeh and Cyrus, along with Kamran and their friends from Ardunia, must flee on dragon-back to begin the perilous journey into the legendary mountains of Arya, where a firestorm of revelations, magical discoveries, and fresh allies awaits them. Every allegiance will be tested, every darkness uncovered, and when the shattering secrets of the Tulanian king are finally revealed . . .
Nothing, and no one, will be the same.
Desperate confessions, impossible decisions, unfathomable magical power—and a love so devastating it rewrites destinies—Every Spiral of Fate is the shimmering, breathtaking fourth volume in a saga that continues to transcend expectations.
Every Spiral of Fate Review
This Woven Kingdom is one of my favorite series and Tahereh Mafi is an auto-buy author for me. I devoured the previous three books in this series and book four, Every Spiral of Fate, was listed as one of my top 10 most anticipated fall releases. When I saw the author drop this teaser on Instagram, I knew we were in for an adventure.
Spoiler alert: it did not disappoint.
Plot & Pacing
My biggest hope for this fourth book was more plot and answers as we haven’t had a lot of explanations or huge plot developments since book one. While the pacing remains a little slow and more character-driven for the first half, we do finally get answers to huge questions that have been lingering since the first and second books, like Cyrus's full story and about Alizeh's magic. The book also becomes plot heavy and exciting near the end of the book, setting the intrigue for the fifth book perfectly. However, I do wish the author worked in more reminders some of the details revealed in the previous three books. I found myself having to Google a lot to understand what was happening, especially because some elements like the lore around Iblees and Alizeh's story were mentioned in one scene all the way back in the first book. A re-read of the first three books is definitely not required before reading this one, but if you have the time, I’d definitely suggest it because there were so many small details to remember that even the spoiler recaps don’t catch.
The story returns to the lush Persian-inspired world, drawing from Persian lore and literature. Mafi's signature lyrical prose makes every page feel magical and immersive. One of my favorite things about this series is that you can easily get lost in the story while reading it. And of course, the story wouldn't be complete without Alizeh's beloved ragtag group of friends. I loved getting to see even more of them in this book.
Romance
That said, there were things that I disliked and ultimately made me feel like the author was stalling for more time until book five. The most frustrating was Cyrus and Alizeh's inability to have a single uninterrupted conversation throughout the entire book. Every moment alone is stolen by interruptions, abrupt departures, or plot interference, which prevented them from talking about their relationship with one another. One or two interruptions is fine, but anything beyond that becomes annoying. For a book that centers on their marriage, the lack of actual interaction between them is painful.
The yearning, however, is still 10 out of 10 and heartaching. It's the kind of painful yearning between characters who are in love with each other but refuse to admit it. Truly the best I've ever read.
Does Every Spiral of Fate end on a cliffhanger?
Without spoiling anything, I can say that the ending was so satisfying. It is a slight cliffhanger, but it's the type that causes more anticipation than panic, so no need to wait for the fifth book to come out before reading this one.
So, should you read Every Spiral of Fate?
Overall, I recommend Every Spiral of Fate for fans of This Woven Kingdom series or just fans of slow-burn romance, tension, and yearning. I've already pre-ordered book five and am counting the days until release day!
Check out this review on Goodreads or Storygraph.
Happy reading!
Kim
Every Spiral of Fate FAQs
Some of the answers may be spoilers if you haven’t read it already. Proceed with caution!
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As of this blog post, The Woven Kingdom is projected to be five books. The last book will be published in September 2026.
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Yes. Every Spiral of Fate is the fourth book in the series and picks up directly where All This Twisted Glory left off. The plot is deeply interconnected with events from the first three books, and there's virtually no recap or hand-holding for new readers. You'll be completely lost if you start here—trust me, you need the full emotional journey and political intrigue buildup from This Woven Kingdom, These Infinite Threads, and All This Twisted Glory to fully follow what happens in this book.
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There is no spice in Every Spiral of Fate, so it’s a 1 🌶️ rating.
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Yes, there is a slight cliffhanger but it’s the type of cliffhanger that triggers anticipation for the next book and not panic.
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There isn’t a definitive resolution to the love triangle, but it feels like the story is clearly pushing Alizeh in one direction.
It seems like we’ll need to wait until book five to resolve the love triangle once and for all.
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Iblees takes over Cyrus’s body. Alizeh stabs him and frees Cyrus from Iblees’ bargain.
The book ends with Cyrus thanking Alizeh for saving him.
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Cyrus realizes two things: that Iblees is planning to steal Alizeh’s power once she claims it and that there is no way he can avoid reneging on his deal with Iblees.
Because his marriage vows require him to always act in Alizeh’s best interests, he can’t allow Alizeh to claim her power or he’ll be struck dead. If he gets struck dead, he’ll fail to hold up his end of the bargain. If he doesn’t allow Alizeh to claim her power, he won’t fulfill the last tenant of the bargain with Iblees. This means either way Cyrus will lose.
Having figured this out, Cyrus comes clean and tells everyone his story and the bargain he inherited.
Cyrus also wasn’t allowed to tell people what the bargain was. Because he did, Iblees takes over his body.
Iblees approaches Alizeh but doesn’t hurt her. She realizes he can’t harm her until Cyrus’s spirit is fully dead. Because Iblees is occupying Cyrus’s body, he’s still held to the blood oath to not touch her without her consent.
Alizeh figures this out and tries to bargain with Iblees and failing. She ends up stabbing Iblees and freeing Cyrus. The book ends there.