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mangofraiche's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, Vomit, Confinement, Grief, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Xenophobia
liesthemoontells's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is also the first book that starts to get properly horny.
Many of the descriptions are starting to become repetitive - there are only so many times that I can read that someone was "covered in black blood" or had "eyes lined with silver" (just say they're filled with tears jfc). Also the way that Maas describes territorial Fae males is already exhausting, and the lack of nuance between familial vs romantic territorialism makes a big middle chunk of the book seem uncomfortably incest-y.
Overall this is stronger than the first two entries in the series and makes me excited to continue reading, but imo, a small step down in quality from Heir of Fire.
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, War, and Vomit
Minor: Incest
anndreya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Slavery, Miscarriage, Vomit, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, and Pregnancy
Minor: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Grief, and War
booksalacarte's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
No Written Review
Reread- 4.5⭐️ 1.5🌶️
Multi POV
Slow burn
Found Family
Mythical Creatures
Magic
War
Tw: discussion on infant loss
This series is a lot. There is always a lot going on, but the multi POV shifts solidly enough that you don’t feel jostled all over the place. Every character has an important viewpoint and unique voice.
I do think that some of the characters had kinda big personality shifts from the last book to this one. Mainly Chaol and Aelin. No maybe they aren’t endgame… but all of a sudden finding out that Chaol was having an illicit affair the summer before the champions competition and acted in a way that he had quickies in alleys??? I don’t buy it.
And Aelin while I appreciate the grief that was focused on in Heir of Fire… in Queen of Shadows she was working well below her standard badassery. As if her entire personality became dependent on Rowan.
And what is up with the “he seemed to say” and “she seemed to say” conversations?! Full blown, detailed conversations all with facial expressions. I bet they looked like absolute idiots to the people around them when they happened………… so weird. Just make them telepathic already.
Starting the story with Dorian’s POV was so important to see his depression and mindset since his situation was the last we read about in Heir of Fire. It definitely put in some tension and anxiety when it came to no one else knowing what was going on.
Knowing everything definitely makes the reread fun and heightens my ratings… but I am definitely not blowing through them on a binge the way I did on the first read.
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Confinement, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
annamary54's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
it’s later:
honestly reading these back to back i can’t remember what was heir of fire and what was queen of shadows, but i’m gonna try my best. in the last one i struggled to care about the witches at all, and the first 3/4 i thought were very slow. this one definitely moved a lot faster from the beginning. i did start to care about the witches in this one, but like i said it took me until the last quarter to really care about that whole story line. all of the books before this one felt like exposition and this one actually had some action in it. i gave it such a high rating because i really was engaged and didn’t want to stop reading basically the whole time. (except the witch chapters, i’d usually use those as a stopping point)
Graphic: Physical abuse, Gore, Body horror, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Violence, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Pregnancy and Miscarriage
Minor: Sexual content, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcohol, and Excrement
booknerd_life's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Ableism
im_eebee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Ableism, Sexual violence, Classism, Grief, Gaslighting, and Murder
yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
So many characters developed. I love all of them. They all have loveable qualities and witty banter. (Chaol is eh. He was pissing me off in the beginning). The women in this story are absolutely amazing. Aelin is so smart and cunning. Kaltain’s story was so sad and beautiful. Lysandra really surprised me and I love her. Manon is an absolute icon. Asterin made me want to cry.
I can’t wait to see these characters win this war.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Grief, Physical abuse, Slavery, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Violence, Child death, and Blood
Moderate: Miscarriage, Body horror, Child abuse, War, and Torture
Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual content, Vomit, Emotional abuse, and Genocide
rafacolog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Slavery, Death, Violence, Murder, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Torture, Blood, Racism, and Sexual harassment
britwalsh16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Watching Aelin become who she was always meant to be & fight for her loved ones & what is right, is inspiring! The growth she has had since book 1 is in incredible!
And the bromance between Chaol & Dorian is like my favorite bromance ever! Coming in second only to my bat boys.
All the characters have incredible growth in this book! & I could go on about how much I love them all, but then this will get really long, so I won’t.
But my favorite character is Rowan! & having him not being in the first third of the book gave me serious withdrawal! My heart just leaped out of my chest when he finally showed up! I was so ecstatic! I can’t wait to read more of him, & more of his relationship with Aelin! My heart! 💜
Graphic: Confinement, War, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Grief, Physical abuse, Slavery, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Genocide, Cursing, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, and Excrement
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy