Reviews with content warning for Murder - Ember Queen

Ember Queen is the final novel of the Ash Princess series and sadly has the same weaknesses that the previous novel had: It’s quite slow and Theo acts more stupid than before. I furthermore had some issues with the ending itself which is why I think that this is the worst novel in the series.

Again, the first 25% of the novel are just spend with our characters planning what they should do next. Soren is again kidnapped, this time by Cress. It’s just so tiring how he’s always in danger and needs rescue. I barely cared for the plot and all and was honestly more interested in who Theo will end up with lmao, even though the romance is definitely not the focus of the story. I had the feeling that this book was in general more character driven this time, which was a bit more boring, to be honest.

The book got only more exciting when

Soren and Eric are back and the poison Velastra is introduced, acting as a true threat

. Sadly, the villains had so much potential but felt flat in the end. I also dislike how it’s implied that the absent mother is partly at fault for Cress’ development. The finale has its dramatic moment with

Blaise dying

but the fact that

Cress again kidnaps someone to pressure Theo

, was annoying. What I dislike about the ending the most is that the status quo is basically not changing:

I mean, Theo becomes the queen and doesn’t decide to change something about the system. Who guarantees that her or her descendants won’t turn into tyrants one day? She even talks about executing the enemies at the end which is not really what a good queen would do, in my opinion

This time, I was in some moments really annoyed by Theo because her actions were not well enough explained. For example, in the first two novels she says that she doesn’t want to use her magic under no circumstances but now she’s suddenly using it without much reflection. In other moments, she was just acting stupid, like when she

revealed who she is in front of this Lord, Ovelgand was his name, I think. I also didn’t understand why she didn’t just kill Cress in her dreams but had to wait for a big battle instead

. Another character that really annoyed me was Blaise with always wanting to protect Theo. Besides those two though, I really liked our main squad that was queerer than I expected. Artemisia is my favorite character, and I was so happy that we learn in this novel that she’s aro-ace.

The Ash Princess series delivered what I’ve expected from a YA high fantasy series – nothing more and nothing less. The best things about it are the world and the cast which includes many interesting female characters. Sadly, the plot and especially the pacing is lacking so that they’re many moments that are just too long and even pointless. Maybe two books would’ve been better? In my opinion, book two and three could’ve been put into one book. The ending itself was a bit disappointing and the story lacked some depth overall, but I was still entertained by the series.

Content Warnings

bzliz's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Ember Queen moves at a faster pace than either of its predecessors, this time with Theo making many difficult decisions as a leader put in an impossible situation.

I found the end appropriate but dissatisfying.

The culmination of the final battle sees Cress using a mind control gas to get Astreans to kill each other and Blaise sacrifices himself to stop more weapons from being deployed. Theo must kill him before he loses control. Cress survives this but it’s the end of the war and she is imprisoned. Theo gives her the opportunity to quietly and privately end her own life rather than face public execution, which she does. It doesn’t feel like an end that the Astreans would find satisfying, given the trauma they’ve endured at both Cress’s hands and the Kaiser’s before her.

I’m glad I saw the series through to the end.

Content Warnings

hapalyn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Content Warnings

agustdefault's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

im gonna miss these characters </3

Content Warnings

savanhahope's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

What a great ending to an amazing series! When I started the first book, I never imagined that I'd love this series as much as I do! This might put me in a reading slump!

Content Warnings

scarlettskyes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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