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Having made it through the previous books, you will now be familiar with all of the characters and their backgrounds, unless you have a terrible memory and have to rely on the library delivering the books to you, like me. In which case, there are a LOT of different story threads you now have to follow, each of them vital to the plot in their own way. For the vast majority of the book, the perspective shifts between at least four different spheres of action, and each chapter takes you to a different thread. Given how short the author's chapters generally are, you would be forgiven for getting into a spin trying to keep everything straight! It's not hard to do, but to me it does make the book feel rather choppy - I'm not sure if another tandem read situation followed by a smaller finale book when everyone comes together might have been a better way to go. That way, you could have the choice of taking it all in in one go, or choosing to focus on one or two threads at a time.
I do think a lot of my opinions rest on the fact that I haven't been able to binge-read this series (see library comment above); I'm hoping that I will get more out of it when I finally get around to buying the series and reading it straight through. But right now, I feel like I should be more affected by the Valg, Maeve and the other darker aspects of this book than I am. I can't say I've ever found the Valg part of the storyline that straightforward to follow, but now I'm at the end I found their ultimate story arc to be quite lacklustre. Likewise, I didn't see the need to add another layer to the 'Wicked Queen' storyline; I actually found Maeve worse when she was supposed to be just Fae! Ultimately, although there are dark moments, Aelin's fire shines too brightly to give them any real depth or impact for me.
SJM is a queen of worldbuilding; she has an amazing ability to paint vivid and ridiculously detailed images with her words. While in broad terms this series is no exception, by the time I reached 'Kingdom of Ash' a part of me was thinking that she's almost gone into too much detail, which means I now have a less clear picture in my mind because I've got too much to consider.
I've come to love all of the main characters and their personalities; some are so easy to picture (I'm sorry, but I can only see Tom Hiddleston with his 'Loki' attitude playing Lorcan!) Their personal journeys are so well thought out and executed, it really is a pleasure to watch them mature and adapt. However, in this book it was really only the fate of the various romantic entanglements that gave me any sort of visceral reaction; the need for the right people to end up together became more important to me than the outcome of the war. I feel like a significant shock was needed to properly tear out your heart, but nothing ever really materialised. There is character death, yes, but for once in my life I am slightly disappointed that there wasn't more... I don't want any of them to die, but I just think the story was crying our for it to turn it from good to great. It's also in dire need of an epilogue!!! I need a 'One Year Later' (or similar) update!!!
The series overall is very enjoyable and a great read, but ultimately it does feel like the dress rehearsal for ACOTAR, which I do still prefer. But I'm hopeful we haven't heard the last of Aelin, Rowan and their Court... keeping everything crossed!!!
Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, War
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Torture
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, Gaslighting
Minor: Physical abuse, Pregnancy
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Grief
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Graphic: Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Animal death