Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, 4)

Well, holy cow. I don’t even know where to start…, This book. This series. These characters. THIS AUTHOR., We are in full on queen mode in Queen of Shadows, obviously. Hence the title. Calaena shows up some, for the sake of appearances, but she has completely accepted her heritage and now goes by Aelin. She’s still the intense, no nonsense, scary-as-heck chick we’ve all grown to know and love, but there’s tons more to her character that we only got a glimpse of in Heir of Fire. She’s ready to go and taking names. Like literally taking names as she crosses the ocean back to Adarlan. Her cockiness and downright meanness in the first two books really rubbed me the wrong way at times. You can’t help but to be drawn to her character, but the things she said and did were.. disturbing, to say the least. And she still has that fire, but there is so much more depth to her now that she has accepted who she truly is and, in the process, is opening her heart again to the people she loves instead of shutting them out and running off of pure rage. Her complexity makes her one of the best female protagonists I’ve ever read., We start out back in Rifthold, and at this point everything is up in the air. We know why she’s there and who she’s after, but how she’s going to go about doing this is anyone’s guess. I will say this, A LOT gets resolved in this book. Granted, there are plenty of other monumental surprises that step into take their place, but I was surprised by how many plot lines got tied up. I was expecting two for sure, but the third one threw me for a complete loop. If anyone says they predicted that to happen, they are a liar. And my goodness, these last two books are going to be downright scary. I was on pins and needles the entire time. You thought present Erilea was bad.. it’s about to get wayyyy worse., And as for the book being 650 pages.. Why are people upset about this?! I say, the more the better!, Now onto the other characters, because there are quite a few POVs in this book…, I’ve always been partial to Dorian, so being in his POV was absolute torture. The ending of HoF about sent me over the edge and I didn’t even want to think about what what was going to happen in this book. I was a nervous wreck. And then PAGE ONE happens. Like, literally as soon as I open the book, there it is. Chapter One. Pretty sure my heart dropped into my stomach. And then every time we were back in his POV after that. I did not handle it well. I hate Valg demons., And while I’ve never particularly liked Chaol’s character (I know I’m in the minority here), he sort of takes on a whole new persona in QoS. Maybe it’s the fact of what all he’s given up and how he sees the world changing that makes him into the person he’s become. He’s always seemed to me like a guy who is scared of change, and has an incredible ability to pick and choose which parts of people to accept. And I’m not just talking about Aelin, but also the king and Dorian. He sees only what he wants to see, and if he doesn’t understand it or like it, he just shuts it out completely. He doesn’t like magic. He’s scared of it. He’s also very scared of what will happen if people with magic have free reign again. We’ve known this since Crown of Midnight so I’m not sure why his continuing dislike of it surprises anyone. Chao is not going to be the same person he’s been for the first three books. His life has completely change, so while his character is infuriating to me at times, he’s still a vital part of this story and I don’t dislike him. His character, by the end of this book, grows leaps and bounds and I was glad to see it happen., Now for Rowan. Ah, Rowan. I still don’t know how Sarah Maas did it. She gave us Dorian and Chaol in the first two books and everyone was on their respective team. Then in one book, ONE BOOK, she made me toss all my loyalties aside fall in love with Rowan’s character. How anyone can not like him is beyond me. He’s like the male version of Aelin, and the interaction between those two are some of the best dialogue of the book and they just work very well together. With his character showing up in Rifthold, you see him having to adjust to life without magic. And as the bond between them grows, you see different, softer sides of the Fae warrior. I love him., We didn’t get too much from Aedion in this book apart from the first few chapters as he awaits his execution. His reunion with Aelin was everything I thought it would be.. I ain’t ashamed to say I may have teared up a bit. They are the only bit of family each other has left and they totally had their moment. It was perfect., Manon’s POV scares me. (Besides Abraxos, because who doesn’t love Abraxos?) She is dark and wicked and infuriatingly loyal to that wretched grandmother of hers. I know she’s redeemable, but for a good chunk of the book I was hoping Asterin would just overthrow her and become the new heir.. assuming that’s how it works. Which it probably doesn’t. BUT Manon has some feels going on that she’s not even aware of and I think in this next book she will most definitely have to make a choice of which side she is on. It very well could’ve happened in this book, but we have no resolution where this is concerned. And that scene with Aelin.. on the edge of your seat stuff right there. I’m not sure how I feel about some illusions of her character, but I’m not completely against her playing an even bigger role in the last two books., I’m not even going to spend time on Arobynn because I hate him. But some of the other characters, I loved. Calaena has been surrounded by a troupe of men for far too long and it’s about time the women came out to play and they did not disappoint! Lysandra, wow. Love her. So much more to her character than meets the eye, and her and Aelin’s relationship was refreshing. Nesryn, even though we don’t get anything from her perspective is also a pretty bad chick and helping Chaol with the rebels. It’s safe to say, unless you’re in denial, you will know why she’s there from the get go. And lastly, Elide, Lady Marion’s daughter, is brought into the picture and hanging with the witches, no less. Very much excited about what role she will be playing in the future. She’s got some surprises in store, I think., For the most part, the book felt like long build-ups. Part one was a build-up and it was resolved. Part two also felt like a build-up, and it wasn’t as cleanly resolved as the first. I still have some lingering questions about that. Prepare yourselves for part two. Big time game changer coming your way., AllI can say, is that if you truly love this series, and I mean disregard the romances and all that, and are in love with the story, this book will not disappoint., Some spoilers ahead…, I’m going to rant just for a sec. I keep seeing some low to mid reviews on this book and they all have one thing in common: Chaol Westfall. I know people shipped Calaena and Chaol really hard, but being this distraught over the downfall of their romantic relationship does a disservice to this series. And I can say that because I am completely Team Dorian and have had to put up with Chaol from day on. Not to mention Sorscha from HoF. Was not a fan of that little surprise. Never once have I given these books bad reviews simply because things weren’t happening the way I wanted them to. If the romance aspect is your biggest concern, go read romance novels. The growth and maturity of the characters is wonderful, and I’m glad that Maas is not scared to kill off characters we love or sever relationships if it means progressing the story to where it needs to go. I’m completely okay with the direction Aelin and Rowan are headed because they work. Even if in my heart of hearts I had this small hope of King Dorian and Queen Aelin falling love… yada yada yada… Rowan is the dude and I’m okay with that. So if all you’re going to do is get on here and rant about, “I want the old Calaena back,” “Maas completely ruined Chaol’s character,” “These books are too long,” Guess what? Go read another series! Or some watered down YA novel where everything works out just as it should in the end., These books are gold. Sarah Maas is a genius. And you can’t convince me otherwise.

Well, holy cow. I don’t even know where to start…, This book. This series. These characters. THIS AUTHOR., We are in full on queen mode in Queen of Shadows, obviously. Hence the title. Calaena shows up some, for the sake of appearances, but she has completely accepted her heritage and now goes by Aelin. She’s still the intense, no nonsense, scary-as-heck chick we’ve all grown to know and love, but there’s tons more to her character that we only got a glimpse of in Heir of Fire. She’s ready to go and taking names. Like literally taking names as she crosses the ocean back to Adarlan. Her cockiness and downright meanness in the first two books really rubbed me the wrong way at times. You can’t help but to be drawn to her character, but the things she said and did were.. disturbing, to say the least. And she still has that fire, but there is so much more depth to her now that she has accepted who she truly is and, in the process, is opening her heart again to the people she loves instead of shutting them out and running off of pure rage. Her complexity makes her one of the best female protagonists I’ve ever read., We start out back in Rifthold, and at this point everything is up in the air. We know why she’s there and who she’s after, but how she’s going to go about doing this is anyone’s guess. I will say this, A LOT gets resolved in this book. Granted, there are plenty of other monumental surprises that step into take their place, but I was surprised by how many plot lines got tied up. I was expecting two for sure, but the third one threw me for a complete loop. If anyone says they predicted that to happen, they are a liar. And my goodness, these last two books are going to be downright scary. I was on pins and needles the entire time. You thought present Erilea was bad.. it’s about to get wayyyy worse., And as for the book being 650 pages.. Why are people upset about this?! I say, the more the better!, Now onto the other characters, because there are quite a few POVs in this book…, I’ve always been partial to Dorian, so being in his POV was absolute torture. The ending of HoF about sent me over the edge and I didn’t even want to think about what what was going to happen in this book. I was a nervous wreck. And then PAGE ONE happens. Like, literally as soon as I open the book, there it is. Chapter One. Pretty sure my heart dropped into my stomach. And then every time we were back in his POV after that. I did not handle it well. I hate Valg demons., And while I’ve never particularly liked Chaol’s character (I know I’m in the minority here), he sort of takes on a whole new persona in QoS. Maybe it’s the fact of what all he’s given up and how he sees the world changing that makes him into the person he’s become. He’s always seemed to me like a guy who is scared of change, and has an incredible ability to pick and choose which parts of people to accept. And I’m not just talking about Aelin, but also the king and Dorian. He sees only what he wants to see, and if he doesn’t understand it or like it, he just shuts it out completely. He doesn’t like magic. He’s scared of it. He’s also very scared of what will happen if people with magic have free reign again. We’ve known this since Crown of Midnight so I’m not sure why his continuing dislike of it surprises anyone. Chao is not going to be the same person he’s been for the first three books. His life has completely change, so while his character is infuriating to me at times, he’s still a vital part of this story and I don’t dislike him. His character, by the end of this book, grows leaps and bounds and I was glad to see it happen., Now for Rowan. Ah, Rowan. I still don’t know how Sarah Maas did it. She gave us Dorian and Chaol in the first two books and everyone was on their respective team. Then in one book, ONE BOOK, she made me toss all my loyalties aside fall in love with Rowan’s character. How anyone can not like him is beyond me. He’s like the male version of Aelin, and the interaction between those two are some of the best dialogue of the book and they just work very well together. With his character showing up in Rifthold, you see him having to adjust to life without magic. And as the bond between them grows, you see different, softer sides of the Fae warrior. I love him., We didn’t get too much from Aedion in this book apart from the first few chapters as he awaits his execution. His reunion with Aelin was everything I thought it would be.. I ain’t ashamed to say I may have teared up a bit. They are the only bit of family each other has left and they totally had their moment. It was perfect., Manon’s POV scares me. (Besides Abraxos, because who doesn’t love Abraxos?) She is dark and wicked and infuriatingly loyal to that wretched grandmother of hers. I know she’s redeemable, but for a good chunk of the book I was hoping Asterin would just overthrow her and become the new heir.. assuming that’s how it works. Which it probably doesn’t. BUT Manon has some feels going on that she’s not even aware of and I think in this next book she will most definitely have to make a choice of which side she is on. It very well could’ve happened in this book, but we have no resolution where this is concerned. And that scene with Aelin.. on the edge of your seat stuff right there. I’m not sure how I feel about some illusions of her character, but I’m not completely against her playing an even bigger role in the last two books., I’m not even going to spend time on Arobynn because I hate him. But some of the other characters, I loved. Calaena has been surrounded by a troupe of men for far too long and it’s about time the women came out to play and they did not disappoint! Lysandra, wow. Love her. So much more to her character than meets the eye, and her and Aelin’s relationship was refreshing. Nesryn, even though we don’t get anything from her perspective is also a pretty bad chick and helping Chaol with the rebels. It’s safe to say, unless you’re in denial, you will know why she’s there from the get go. And lastly, Elide, Lady Marion’s daughter, is brought into the picture and hanging with the witches, no less. Very much excited about what role she will be playing in the future. She’s got some surprises in store, I think., For the most part, the book felt like long build-ups. Part one was a build-up and it was resolved. Part two also felt like a build-up, and it wasn’t as cleanly resolved as the first. I still have some lingering questions about that. Prepare yourselves for part two. Big time game changer coming your way., AllI can say, is that if you truly love this series, and I mean disregard the romances and all that, and are in love with the story, this book will not disappoint., Some spoilers ahead…, I’m going to rant just for a sec. I keep seeing some low to mid reviews on this book and they all have one thing in common: Chaol Westfall. I know people shipped Calaena and Chaol really hard, but being this distraught over the downfall of their romantic relationship does a disservice to this series. And I can say that because I am completely Team Dorian and have had to put up with Chaol from day on. Not to mention Sorscha from HoF. Was not a fan of that little surprise. Never once have I given these books bad reviews simply because things weren’t happening the way I wanted them to. If the romance aspect is your biggest concern, go read romance novels. The growth and maturity of the characters is wonderful, and I’m glad that Maas is not scared to kill off characters we love or sever relationships if it means progressing the story to where it needs to go. I’m completely okay with the direction Aelin and Rowan are headed because they work. Even if in my heart of hearts I had this small hope of King Dorian and Queen Aelin falling love… yada yada yada… Rowan is the dude and I’m okay with that. So if all you’re going to do is get on here and rant about, “I want the old Calaena back,” “Maas completely ruined Chaol’s character,” “These books are too long,” Guess what? Go read another series! Or some watered down YA novel where everything works out just as it should in the end., These books are gold. Sarah Maas is a genius. And you can’t convince me otherwise.

I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing this book is. I’m sure you’ve heard this by now, but it truly is. At first, I was a little worried because this is a whopper of a book, coming in at 656 pages. I was very concerned that the book might drag, or…and I would hate to say it…be boring. But I had nothing to fear, as this was 656 pages of thrills, adventure, pain, love, and growth. Sarah J. Maas has delivered yet another astonishing novel that you will want to get your hands on as soon as possible. Every single scene blew me away, and I relished every word on the page. Sarah J. Maas has such a unique talent, a talent that allows the reader to become so immersed in the world that she has created that it feels that they are part of the book. I feel like these characters that I have read about over the past 3 books and collection of novellas, have become part of my life. Their heartbreaks are my heartbreaks, and their joys are my joys. Quite simple, every time I pick up a book in this series, I feel like I’m coming home. And very few authors are able to achieve this., Celaena is gone, and Aelin has finally accepted her past and her role in becoming a leader and a Queen. While she is the same, she is different, and this is a very important thing to note. Even though she is no longer the “assassin,” she still has no problem killing or getting rid of those in her way. Aelin is not as ruthless as Celaena was, but still a badass woman that takes no prisoners. She is out for revenge, and no one will prevent her from doing just that. The one thing that was absolutely fascinating for me while reading this book was to reflect on just how far Aelin has come in this series. The amount of character development for her is quite simply something of beauty and something to admire. In some ways, you actually feel like you aren’t reading about the same person anymore because she is so different and has come so far since the first novel. She fully embraces her role as Queen of Terrasen, but she remembers and respects her past and those who have played a role in getting her to where she is today. Many people have shaped Aelin into the person she is now, and while they might not all have been the best of influences, they have all made her into a strong leader that is willing to fight until her very last breath for her people., The other aspect of this book that I absolutely loved was how much of her past came back into the spotlight. Not just things she did in the past, but also the people. Arobynn Hamel is a very prevalent character in this novel, and I loved every scene between Aelin and him. He has played a major role in shaping her into the fierce warrior she is now, and I can see why Celaena loved him in her own way., I was very interested to see where Sarah J. Maas would take Aelin and Chaol’s relationship. Let’s just say I went through a couple of stages of anger, disbelief, and then fury when Chaol came onto the scene. Not because of how Sarah J. Maas wrote it (in fact I thought it was so realistic and the perfect way to go about their relationship), but because of Chaol acted. I knew that he wouldn’t be happy, but by God Chaol, man up a bit! I seriously wanted to smack him for a good majority of this book, and kept wanting to tell him to get over himself. However, this being said, I understood why he acted the way he did. I admire his dedication to Dorian, and I can’t blame Chaol for wanting to try every possible way before doing the worst thing he could ever imagine. Have no fear though, he and Aelin finally come together, and make amends. I think that both of them are in a better place now in terms of their relationship, and fully understand each other. They have a loyalty and bond to each other that is hard to break., Dorian, my beloved Dorian, goes through so much in this book. I can’t say too much on him because I don’t want to spoil anything in regards to his character. However, I will say this…Sarah J. Maas did an excellent job with his character, and set his story up very well for the next book in this series. Dorian is going to be facing some major struggles in the fifth book in this series, but with Chaol and Aelin at his side, he’ll be able to conquer anything that comes his way., And finally there is Rowan. Let me just tell you, I was extremely excited when I heard that Rowan was getting his own POV in this book. I think his perspective was crucial to the story, and it let us in on how his head works. I love him even more after this book, and from the very moment he enters this book, your love for him just escalates. There are some truly breathtaking and beautiful scenes between him and Aelin and they brought a tear to my eyes sometimes. The protectiveness that both Rowan and Aelin have for each other is yet another admirable aspect of this book, and they have quite the development towards the end of this book. I’ll just let your imagination run wild with the possibilities ;), While I wasn’t the biggest fan of Manon’s POV in the last book, I actually greatly enjoyed it in this novel. Perhaps it was because there was more action and development with her character, but I loved her fierceness in this book. There is one particular scene where Aelin and Manon meet, that is AMAZING. The epicness that is that chapter is just mind-blowing. And then there are a couple scenes when she meets a certain person. That certain person makes her realize that there is something more to life than being a bloodthirsty witch. I’m so excited to see where this aspect of the story goes because I think it’s bloody brilliant!!!, Overall, this was such an amazing installment in the Throne of Glass series, and sets up the fifth book in the series very well. There are endless possibilities in which Sarah J. Maas could take this story, and I am so excited and eager to see what happens next! Just a little bit of good news…there is NO CLIFFHANGER! Let us all thank the gods above that this happened because I don’t know what I would have done if there was a brutal cliffhanger like we all know Sarah J. Maas can write. Check this book out as soon as you can because this is not to be missed!, Happy reading 🙂