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A review by mxcopmy
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
I apologize if there are some translation errors in this review. English is not my first language so there may be some linguistic errors.
I can hardly believe that the next entire book I will read will simply be the end of this entire quest, of this incredible adventure that I have been able to experience. EoS, the beginning of the adventurous end…
Also a quick throw in: halfway through ToD & EoS, I decided to try the tandem read. Ultimately, I really regret doing this, because it made me feel like I couldn't sink my teeth 100% into one adventure. I blame the 4/5 stars a million percent on the tandem read, because of this I missed a lot of the emotional impact that EoS should give you. The tandem read was too big of a thing for me. It was very tiring to switch between 2 continents and have to remind yourself where the other book ended. Also, I didn't think EoS ended on the “huge” cliffhanger that was said. Okay, something very impactful has happened, but I don't get the impression that you HAVE to start KoA right away to get an answer. I also just think that the end of EoS was relatively closed and that you then have to discover further (as in every book, I think) how it goes. I would perhaps recommend the tandem read as a re-read kind of thing rather than as something you do for the first time as a reader of the ToG series.
As already mentioned, EoS did not have the emotional impact that I had thought or perhaps even hoped for. Only the ending that we know that Aelin would actually have to pay for her life to bring everything to a successful end really made me gasp for air. I also have to admit that I sometimes found it difficult to understand what happened towards the end. I also don't think I've 100% figured out where it all ultimately led yet...
Another reason why EoS wasn't worth 5 stars for me was because I felt like SJM was a bit repetitive when it came to one plot. The fact that Aelin had secretly slipped the wyrdkeys into Manon's pocket so as not to give Maeve the opportunity to receive them was so similar to the event when she saved Chaol by secretly putting the ring in his pocket during the end of QoS, I thought was a bit floppy. When I read it I thought 'not again... we already know this'. So, in other words, not strong enough to really bring it out like the OMG-feeling.
A final criticism was also the sex scenes... don't get me wrong, SJM really pulled me to a level where I was really eager to get to the more spicy books. I had the expectation that it would still be constructive and romantic, but I actually thought that they were thrown in more. For example, I found the spicy scene between Manon and Dorian to be quite intense without, in my opinion, any reason for them to come to that part so quickly. I expected SJM to start more with the romantic ending than the sex-kind-of-stuff. Except for Rowan and Aelin it was welcome, hu-hummm.
BUT as always, every SJM book is quite strong. I found it so thrilling that every page was so action-paced! Once again this book was a page turner, like almost all the others! She certainly did not disappoint me about the relationships between Lorcan-Elide and Lysandra-Aedion. I freaking love them!! Also how the ending settled you in having to continue to KoA gave me an empty pit in my stomach... I'm so curious, but also so sad that the series almost has come to an end.
But first I will read the other half of ToD before we get to the real shit! Controversial perhaps, but I'm still looking forward to having to read a slower and more character-development part now before I delve into the dark side of the ending.
I apologize if there are some translation errors in this review. English is not my first language so there may be some linguistic errors.
I can hardly believe that the next entire book I will read will simply be the end of this entire quest, of this incredible adventure that I have been able to experience. EoS, the beginning of the adventurous end…
Also a quick throw in: halfway through ToD & EoS, I decided to try the tandem read. Ultimately, I really regret doing this, because it made me feel like I couldn't sink my teeth 100% into one adventure. I blame the 4/5 stars a million percent on the tandem read, because of this I missed a lot of the emotional impact that EoS should give you. The tandem read was too big of a thing for me. It was very tiring to switch between 2 continents and have to remind yourself where the other book ended. Also, I didn't think EoS ended on the “huge” cliffhanger that was said. Okay, something very impactful has happened, but I don't get the impression that you HAVE to start KoA right away to get an answer. I also just think that the end of EoS was relatively closed and that you then have to discover further (as in every book, I think) how it goes. I would perhaps recommend the tandem read as a re-read kind of thing rather than as something you do for the first time as a reader of the ToG series.
As already mentioned, EoS did not have the emotional impact that I had thought or perhaps even hoped for. Only the ending that we know that Aelin would actually have to pay for her life to bring everything to a successful end really made me gasp for air. I also have to admit that I sometimes found it difficult to understand what happened towards the end. I also don't think I've 100% figured out where it all ultimately led yet...
Another reason why EoS wasn't worth 5 stars for me was because I felt like SJM was a bit repetitive when it came to one plot. The fact that Aelin had secretly slipped the wyrdkeys into Manon's pocket so as not to give Maeve the opportunity to receive them was so similar to the event when she saved Chaol by secretly putting the ring in his pocket during the end of QoS, I thought was a bit floppy. When I read it I thought 'not again... we already know this'. So, in other words, not strong enough to really bring it out like the OMG-feeling.
A final criticism was also the sex scenes... don't get me wrong, SJM really pulled me to a level where I was really eager to get to the more spicy books. I had the expectation that it would still be constructive and romantic, but I actually thought that they were thrown in more. For example, I found the spicy scene between Manon and Dorian to be quite intense without, in my opinion, any reason for them to come to that part so quickly. I expected SJM to start more with the romantic ending than the sex-kind-of-stuff. Except for Rowan and Aelin it was welcome, hu-hummm.
BUT as always, every SJM book is quite strong. I found it so thrilling that every page was so action-paced! Once again this book was a page turner, like almost all the others! She certainly did not disappoint me about the relationships between Lorcan-Elide and Lysandra-Aedion. I freaking love them!! Also how the ending settled you in having to continue to KoA gave me an empty pit in my stomach... I'm so curious, but also so sad that the series almost has come to an end.
But first I will read the other half of ToD before we get to the real shit! Controversial perhaps, but I'm still looking forward to having to read a slower and more character-development part now before I delve into the dark side of the ending.