Summary

“Before” is narrated in the third-person past. The narrator talks about a boy and a girl living underground in the White Cathedral.

Chapter One is narrated in first-person past with Alina as the narrator, as is the majority of the novel. Alina was weak and powerless after the battle with the Darkling during the last novel. She and her friends had escaped to the White Cathedral, an underground city run by the Apparat. However, the Apparat was running a cult of soldiers dedicated to his cause, and he delighted in keeping Alina isolated and powerless. While Alina’s ex-boyfriend, Mal, trained with the Grisha and the human soldiers, Alina was kept alone in her bedroom. She was allowed to come out to study Morozova’s ancient journals so she could figure out where the firebird was. She already had two of Morozova...