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Book Reviews · re-read

Kingdom of Ash // Sarah J. Maas – Re-Read Fest

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“To whatever end,” he whispered. Silver lined her eyes. “To whatever end.”

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas is the final instalment in the loooong, looong, loong, long storyline of Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius and her band of pals all trying to get her on the throne. Basically. It was, in so many ways, the conclusion we all wanted. In other ways, it was not. This is an absolute mammoth of a book. It is so, so long. Now, I don’t mind that, usually. When I do mind it, is when a book could have been a bit shorter with a bit more critical editing. And as much as I love the world S. J. Maas has built and the narrative she has grown here, it needed that critical editing. For starters – there were definitely some typos in my copy of the book…

All that being said, I did cry multiple times reading this, had a wee giggle and numerous gazing out the windows trying to imagine certain conversations/dialogue/moments between the characters. Don’t trick yourself, we all do it. As with the other S J Maas books, this one lacked some major diversity and ‘shaking things up’ in the way of romantic interests. WHY is everyone getting married at 18/19/20/21?! WHY can anyone who is not portrayed as heterosexual only be bisexual, rather than homosexual? Weird.

But, again, all that being said, I don’t think this actually requires a long review. If you have started the Throne of Glass series, it is well worth persevering and reading the entire thing. And you wouldn’t be picking up this book unless you had already come that far. Every loose end is tied up within this. The pages are teeming with emotion, tensions are high and expectations both built and shattered. Every hinted story throughout the previous books has lead somewhere, and the majority of those ‘somewheres’ are very satisfying.

Aelin/Celaena is a fantastic heroine and arguably my favourite of all time (YES – even better than Feyre… if you know, you know). Her coined ‘motto’ of “will not yield” is really just all-encompassing of the characterisation, and as a now 24 year old, I wish wish WISH I had discovered her earlier so my younger self could have looked to her and used her as inspiration for how I should be living my life. Although, 24 year old Annabelle also learned a major thing or two and I will probably carry them with me forever. The other female characters within this also make a very worthy statement in terms of powerful protagonists and heroines, and for that, I would highly recommend this book to any young women, or men, who are looking to feel inspired, challenged and empowered by a series.

Also – this. This is the quote.

Aelin walked forward. Took Yrene Westfall by the hand to guide her to the front. Then Manon Blackbeak. Elide Lochan. Lysandra. Evangeline. Nesryn Faliq. Borte and Hasar and Ansel of Briarcliff. All the women who had fought by her side, or from afar. Who had bled and sacrificed and never given up hope that this day might come. “Walk with me,” Aelin said to them, the men and males falling into step behind. “My friends.”

Again, a wee PSA for you all though – this final book, and the past 3 probably are not YA anymore. No shockers there, this has a lot of romance in it and all the other parts of relationships that come with that. Tastefully done.

A definite 4 out of 5. The only thing that would have made this stronger is, yep. You guessed it! A near 1000 page book does not excuse bad editing!

Belle xo

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Queen of Shadows // Sarah J. Maas – Re-Read Fest

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“When you shatter the chains of this world and forge the next, remember that art is as vital as food to a kingdom. Without it, a kingdom is nothing, and will be forgotten by time. I have amassed enough money in my miserable life to not need any more—so you will understand me clearly when I say that wherever you set your throne, no matter how long it takes, I will come to you, and I will bring music and dancing.”

Queen of Shadows, the fourth instalment in the Throne of Glass series, is a bit of a whirlwind (final 50% of it, anyway). This sees our main protagonists back in Ardalan, conspiring and orchestrating a rebellion for for a king – literally. New characters are once again introduced, existing ones are tested to the limit (I swear that happens like, every book?!) and there is much more emotional turmoil experience by both readers and protagonists. It ends up being a bit like a big old party in Ardalan of a rag-tag band of mates but it is effective and propels the storyline forward so, I;m not really complaining.

Aelin has officially shed her Celaena namesake, and goes only by Aelin now (keep up!) It’s all a bit confusing. From here on out, the shifting perspectives are back and more mind-boggling than ever. Although I fully respect and appreciate the reasoning behind it, I find it tricky to read. Rowan and Aelin’s relationship develops romantically in this book and it is very cutesy if not slightly slow.

Elide and Manon have moved on somewhat from their Morath days and these storylines were probably my most favourite. Manon is still relatively new to the TOG universe in this book but I do find myself being drawn to her slightly more than Aelin… Anyone else find this? She is the opposite but also epitome of Aelin, dark to light, and this shines in a blend of characterisation; development and female empowerment.

I am always invested for that.

Again, a solid 3 (3 and a half?) stars out of 5. At no point did I feel like putting this book away and not picking it up again, no skim-reading, and definitely devoured it in about 4 days? Seeing as I was working full-time alongside that, I’d say that’s a solid effort really.

On a side note – I highly recommend looking up the artworks of Throne of Glass characters there are online. I’ve found this really helps me have a much more connected experience with a story, and can sometimes struggle to envision what characters look like beneath the flouncy description words.

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Heir of Fire // Sarah J. Maas – Re-Read Fest

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“She would light up the darkness, so brightly that all who were lost or wounded or broken would find their way to it, a beacon for those who still dwelled in that abyss. It would not take a monster to destroy a monster—but light, light to drive out darkness.”

Heir of Fire presented us with the magical world of Wendlyn, Doranelle and Rowan Whitethorn’s angst. What a dreamboat. It’s pretty obvious, following the events of Crown of Midnight, that Rowan has been brought into the mix as Celaena’s complete mirror reflection. He’s the new male protagonist (although there are many) and matches her word for word, strength for strength, weakness for weakness.

A running theme in S. J. Maas’ characterisation – Rowan has his own demons and these dictate and guide his actions. As the audience, we are also all still reeling after THAT plot twist/name reveal at the end of the previous book, and this novel provides clarity and closure to that. Celaena’s development throughout the entire series so far is pretty impressive but this is the most personal and defining we have seen so far.

We receive continuous perspective changes throughout this which is effective but slightly confusing. You really need to focus for this one. New characters are introduced (Manon Blackbeak; Elide Lochan; Aedion Ashryver) and their movements in both Ardalan and a shiny (or should I say, bleak) new setting, Morath, are smattered throughout Celaena’s progressive transformation alongside Rowan in Wendlyn. Dorian and Chaol also have altered perspectives throughout this and you can really feel the tension beginning to build up in preparation for what is bound to be a big finale.

All in all, really enjoyable and a solid 3 stars (in comparison to the other books within the Throne of Glass series). My appetite has been wetted and I’m excited to see where these lot go next!

Once again, READ THIS SERIES.

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Crown of Midnight // Sarah J. Maas – Re-Read Fest

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“When you do, I want you to remember that it wouldn’t have made any difference to me. It’s never made any difference to me when it came to you. I’d still pick you. I’ll always pick you.”

I’m going to keep this quick, because if I’m honest, this is my least favourite Throne of Glass book. That is for 2 reasons mainly. 1) The events of this are heartbreaking and painful, I cry every time I read it. That is testament to S. J. Maas’ writing, and the plot of this story. It is remarkable when you find a book that makes you feel so deeply that you cry, the emotions connecting with you on that level to result in a physical reaction. But, I digress. 2) In hindsight, it does contain many plot-moving elements but it’s also a little bit dull. We’re within a setting we have experienced already, with characters we have also experienced already, and each and every one is slightly… stale? They don’t seem to DO much, apart from live it up in the castle.

For that reason, this gets 2 stars. Celaena undertakes her role as The King’s Assasin with all the fervour you would imagine of a trained assassin, which was one of my favourite elements of this book. She develops further with her relationships and there is a sense of comraderie built up which you can definitely see forming into strong undercurrents throughout the rest of the series. We are also introduced to the initial foundations of a rebellion looking for a certain long-lost queen. Little do we know, as readers, that this long-lost queen reveals herself at the end of this book (not a spoiler as it’s pretty intrinsic to the whole franchise). Dorian is depicted as the ever-galavanting Prince but a discovery of flaws fleshing out his own storyline begins to form, alongside that of Chaol. I already know what happens, but this did spark excitement inside me and I can’t wait to see how this plays out (and who with…).

Ultimately, this final 20% were the most interesting moment of the whole book (sorry!) for me. Definitely got filler vibes and second-book syndrome from this, however not enough to totally nullify my interest and I will be picking up the third in the series.