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A review by surbhi_reads
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
4.0
“She was fire, and light, and ash, and embers. She was Aelin Fireheart, and she bowed for no one and nothing, save the crown that was hers by blood and survival and triumph.”
I have been binge reading the “Throne of Glass” series for a while now, “Queen of shadows” being the fourth one in a seven book series. The more I read these books, the more I am amazed by how much this series has grown and how massive and magnificent turns it has taken with every book. I thought “Throne of Glass” was a decent beginning to this story about an enslaved assassin, a crown prince and the captain of the guards but it was one-dimensional and an average read with so much of a story still left to be told. Then came along “Crown of Midnight” and boy! It was good; the story just took off and increased the stakes so much higher than expected. “Heir of fire” on the other hand was a slow-burning plot-driven story, which expanded this world into an epic fantasy tale and left me reeling from the impact of its explosive cliff-hanger of an ending. “Queen of Shadows” though is more action driven, it has more scheming, it has more manipulation, it has more angst, more violence and more surprising and twisty revelations.
The book begins with Celeana Sardothein accepting her real identity as Aelin Galathynius, the lost queen and heir of Terrasen, a once mighty northern kingdom. After months of training with the Fae Prince Rowan, who is now bound to Aelin by blood oath, she is back in Rifthold to finish what the King of Adarlan started 10 years ago. However, things are far from worse in the capital city. Chaol, the captain of the guards is now a traitor, working for the rebels and the crown prince Dorian, is a slave to his father’s will after being bounded by the wyrdstone collar around his neck. Now, Aelin has two most important things to do before she leaves for Terrasen to claim her rightful place as queen. First, destroy the clock tower in order to free magic on the continent and kill the king. Second, retrieve the amulet of Orynth, an object of great power from his former master, Arobyn Hamel. Both these tasks are anything but easy and Aelin must gather all her strength and wickedness to accomplish them.
There are two instances in this book, that honestly stopped my heart from beating. That is to say the least because this book had me on edge from beginning to the end. The plot as usual is woven with extreme delicacy, its rich, it’s meticulous; it’s glorious and even unnerving at times. At this point, I do not have words to describe Maas’s stupendous writing, world building and character building. The content and the characters are so deep and multilayered and the narration with its ever changing perspective adds just the right amount of intricacy and deliciousness to this phenomenal, gorgeous and astounding tale. The friendships, the easy banters between characters, the tensions whether it is verbal, physical or sexual, it is written with such perfection. My initial reaction to this book was actually 5 stars but then I got some time to ponder over it and now that I think of it, it is actually more of a 4 star read because there are a few things which I did not like. Also this book in particular has a lot of reference to the “Throne of Glass” novella and as someone who hasn’t read that book, it took me some time to pick up the past references.
Now, the characters--- I did this in my previous review of this series where I broke down each character and poured my feelings about them and I think will continue to do the same for this book as well. There were a bunch of new characters introduced in the previous book and the same continues with this novel as well.
Aelin- Aelin went through a lot in the previous book; in fact, she went through a lot in all the previous books. Her character was always grey with a mixture of nastiness, callousness, compassion, regret and devotion for those whom she loved and I truly admired her for everything and then some. I loved her resilience, courage and resourcefulness. In this book though, I felt she was a little out of character, especially, how she treated Chaol in the first few chapters and she only mellows down once Rowan arrives. Aelin and Chaol had their difference but Chaol did, whatever he could to insure Aelin’s safety and I thought he deserved better.
Rowan- I really liked Rowan in “Heir of Fire”, in this novel not so much. I thought in this novel he spent more time pinning on Aelin than making himself actually useful also I am not yet sure how I feel about the relationship between him and Aelin. I suppose it was bound to happen after everything they faced together though I always thought it would be down to the original trio. But then again this series has expanded on such a large scale, it seemed only fitting.
Chaol- I loved Chaol in this one, I truly did more than any previous books. His single-mindedness, determination and willingness to go to any length to save Dorian and all those people who can wield magic, is nothing but just wow. he and Aelin just went head to head on so many occasions and maybe he was a little harsh with Aelin but I understand where he is coming from. And his last act of sacrifice omg! I am speechless. Also I am so glad he found Nesryn, as a friend and a support, even though I am yet to make up my mind about they being in a romantic relationship. Nesryn is one of the newest addition in this series full of strong women and for that alone she has all my love
Dorian- Dorian is my favourite character from this series there I said it. But seriously, in this novel my heart was in my mouth every time I read Dorian’s perspective. So dark, so vulnerable, so conflicted and so lost. I think he suffered the most in this book and I felt like constantly hugging him. However Dorian did emerge from the darkness and that too with a bang and obviously, we have to thank a certain witch for recognising the man behind the demon.
Manon- Manon irked me at the beginning with her temper always ready to flare. Especially how she treated Asterin but she grew on me slowly and gradually as she begins to see the true nature of her grandmother and the vile things that she is supposed to watch as a mute spectator. However she has some truly epic moments and that confrontation between her and Aelin, that was fireworks and everything that happens after that are simply explosion in the aftermath of which I can happily say Manon Blackbeak is my second favourite character from this series.
Aedion- Well, the general is nothing if valiant, brave and an epitome of devotion. I am so happy that Aelin and Aedion found each other after years of living and surviving all on their own. How marvellous was that escape of his? Also, guess who his father is.
Lysandra- Lysandra is re-introduced and guess what she is a shape-shifter, omg that revelation! And the things she does for Aelin. Theirs was the brains of two devils at work and I loved her for being a female friend that Aelin definitely needed in her life especially after Nehemia’s death.
Elide- loved her, loved her, loved her. In a world full of powerful people, witches, vlags, otherworldly creatures, faes, and magic wielders, she is the most ordinary person yet her powers comes from her determination, presence of mind and her convictions. Her story moved me and for such a conventional character, she has a very powerful presence in this book.
Among other characters, we finally meet Arobyn Hamel, the ruthless assassin and Aelin’s former boss and it was certainly a delight to read the dance between him and Aelin. I am glad he got what he deserved. Then of course there is Lorcan, second in command of Maeve, the fae queen and I don’t have much to say about him except we will see. But obviously, the character who turned the tide of events is none other than Kaltain Rompier. Yes! Jealous, insecure and haughty Kaltain who would have known. This was actually a surprise but a very pleasant one.
I feel like I have become a little wordy with this review but what can I say, so much happens in this book and there is just so much I want to write. There are some truly epic moments in this book especially towards the end and a very big and ultimate revelation, which just change the entire course of direction of this series. That’s it I will stop there and because I am already done with “Empire of storms” I am starting with “Tower of dawn” immediately.
Magnificent, glorious and breath-taking!
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I have been binge reading the “Throne of Glass” series for a while now, “Queen of shadows” being the fourth one in a seven book series. The more I read these books, the more I am amazed by how much this series has grown and how massive and magnificent turns it has taken with every book. I thought “Throne of Glass” was a decent beginning to this story about an enslaved assassin, a crown prince and the captain of the guards but it was one-dimensional and an average read with so much of a story still left to be told. Then came along “Crown of Midnight” and boy! It was good; the story just took off and increased the stakes so much higher than expected. “Heir of fire” on the other hand was a slow-burning plot-driven story, which expanded this world into an epic fantasy tale and left me reeling from the impact of its explosive cliff-hanger of an ending. “Queen of Shadows” though is more action driven, it has more scheming, it has more manipulation, it has more angst, more violence and more surprising and twisty revelations.
The book begins with Celeana Sardothein accepting her real identity as Aelin Galathynius, the lost queen and heir of Terrasen, a once mighty northern kingdom. After months of training with the Fae Prince Rowan, who is now bound to Aelin by blood oath, she is back in Rifthold to finish what the King of Adarlan started 10 years ago. However, things are far from worse in the capital city. Chaol, the captain of the guards is now a traitor, working for the rebels and the crown prince Dorian, is a slave to his father’s will after being bounded by the wyrdstone collar around his neck. Now, Aelin has two most important things to do before she leaves for Terrasen to claim her rightful place as queen. First, destroy the clock tower in order to free magic on the continent and kill the king. Second, retrieve the amulet of Orynth, an object of great power from his former master, Arobyn Hamel. Both these tasks are anything but easy and Aelin must gather all her strength and wickedness to accomplish them.
There are two instances in this book, that honestly stopped my heart from beating. That is to say the least because this book had me on edge from beginning to the end. The plot as usual is woven with extreme delicacy, its rich, it’s meticulous; it’s glorious and even unnerving at times. At this point, I do not have words to describe Maas’s stupendous writing, world building and character building. The content and the characters are so deep and multilayered and the narration with its ever changing perspective adds just the right amount of intricacy and deliciousness to this phenomenal, gorgeous and astounding tale. The friendships, the easy banters between characters, the tensions whether it is verbal, physical or sexual, it is written with such perfection. My initial reaction to this book was actually 5 stars but then I got some time to ponder over it and now that I think of it, it is actually more of a 4 star read because there are a few things which I did not like. Also this book in particular has a lot of reference to the “Throne of Glass” novella and as someone who hasn’t read that book, it took me some time to pick up the past references.
Now, the characters--- I did this in my previous review of this series where I broke down each character and poured my feelings about them and I think will continue to do the same for this book as well. There were a bunch of new characters introduced in the previous book and the same continues with this novel as well.
Aelin- Aelin went through a lot in the previous book; in fact, she went through a lot in all the previous books. Her character was always grey with a mixture of nastiness, callousness, compassion, regret and devotion for those whom she loved and I truly admired her for everything and then some. I loved her resilience, courage and resourcefulness. In this book though, I felt she was a little out of character, especially, how she treated Chaol in the first few chapters and she only mellows down once Rowan arrives. Aelin and Chaol had their difference but Chaol did, whatever he could to insure Aelin’s safety and I thought he deserved better.
Rowan- I really liked Rowan in “Heir of Fire”, in this novel not so much. I thought in this novel he spent more time pinning on Aelin than making himself actually useful also I am not yet sure how I feel about the relationship between him and Aelin. I suppose it was bound to happen after everything they faced together though I always thought it would be down to the original trio. But then again this series has expanded on such a large scale, it seemed only fitting.
Chaol- I loved Chaol in this one, I truly did more than any previous books. His single-mindedness, determination and willingness to go to any length to save Dorian and all those people who can wield magic, is nothing but just wow. he and Aelin just went head to head on so many occasions and maybe he was a little harsh with Aelin but I understand where he is coming from. And his last act of sacrifice omg! I am speechless. Also I am so glad he found Nesryn, as a friend and a support, even though I am yet to make up my mind about they being in a romantic relationship. Nesryn is one of the newest addition in this series full of strong women and for that alone she has all my love
Dorian- Dorian is my favourite character from this series there I said it. But seriously, in this novel my heart was in my mouth every time I read Dorian’s perspective. So dark, so vulnerable, so conflicted and so lost. I think he suffered the most in this book and I felt like constantly hugging him. However Dorian did emerge from the darkness and that too with a bang and obviously, we have to thank a certain witch for recognising the man behind the demon.
Manon- Manon irked me at the beginning with her temper always ready to flare. Especially how she treated Asterin but she grew on me slowly and gradually as she begins to see the true nature of her grandmother and the vile things that she is supposed to watch as a mute spectator. However she has some truly epic moments and that confrontation between her and Aelin, that was fireworks and everything that happens after that are simply explosion in the aftermath of which I can happily say Manon Blackbeak is my second favourite character from this series.
Aedion- Well, the general is nothing if valiant, brave and an epitome of devotion. I am so happy that Aelin and Aedion found each other after years of living and surviving all on their own. How marvellous was that escape of his? Also, guess who his father is.
Lysandra- Lysandra is re-introduced and guess what she is a shape-shifter, omg that revelation! And the things she does for Aelin. Theirs was the brains of two devils at work and I loved her for being a female friend that Aelin definitely needed in her life especially after Nehemia’s death.
Elide- loved her, loved her, loved her. In a world full of powerful people, witches, vlags, otherworldly creatures, faes, and magic wielders, she is the most ordinary person yet her powers comes from her determination, presence of mind and her convictions. Her story moved me and for such a conventional character, she has a very powerful presence in this book.
Among other characters, we finally meet Arobyn Hamel, the ruthless assassin and Aelin’s former boss and it was certainly a delight to read the dance between him and Aelin. I am glad he got what he deserved. Then of course there is Lorcan, second in command of Maeve, the fae queen and I don’t have much to say about him except we will see. But obviously, the character who turned the tide of events is none other than Kaltain Rompier. Yes! Jealous, insecure and haughty Kaltain who would have known. This was actually a surprise but a very pleasant one.
I feel like I have become a little wordy with this review but what can I say, so much happens in this book and there is just so much I want to write. There are some truly epic moments in this book especially towards the end and a very big and ultimate revelation, which just change the entire course of direction of this series. That’s it I will stop there and because I am already done with “Empire of storms” I am starting with “Tower of dawn” immediately.
Magnificent, glorious and breath-taking!
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