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A review by mxcopmy
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.25
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
Review later, now just crying because it's done and for this ending ❤️🔥
Update 18/02/2024:
After a night of sleep, I can start my final review for the throne of Glass series. What an adventure this has been! This series will always have a special place in my heart, especially because this is my very first fantasy series that had a strong storyline and distinct characters. Throughout KoA I laughed, was angry and shed a lot of tears. Although I must admit that I had to lower my rating to a 4 after reviewing my recorded thoughts and seeing that there were quite a few parts that disappointed me. So strap in, this is going to be a very long review (including ratings at the end!).
I dove into the first part of KoA with full courage and a small heart, which got off to a good start. You also immediately notice that KoA is much more gruesome in terms of violence than the previous books. When Aelin was tortured several times by Cairn, I often had to swallow hard and look away from the pages. Especially because you built up a hellish bond with her through the books, so you could feel her suffering through the pages. There was also a huge build-up of tension throughout part 1 with the fights, the scene where Aelin escapes from the army camp and the iron coffer (I could really see everything in front of me! This was really a MASTERPIECE) and the parts where Manon found her way to her people , the Crochans. I absorbed everything in part 1 very hard and was really blown away at several moments. But unfortunately I have to admit that part 1 was one of the highlights of KoA.
First of all, I would like to agree that the romance between the characters seemed very repetitive. The couples had sufficient chemistry, but many sentences were reused to explain their love, such as: “I Will always be with you, I am always here for you” or “from the moment I saw you….” which, to me, made the relationships no longer unique. I also noticed that as the half went on that this romance also became sort of a focal point in the story and it became quite grueling. All romances were lumped together for description, while this could also be spread out over the length of KoA.
One of the biggest disappointments of KoA was how easily Dorian was able to retrieve the third wyrdkey from Morath and deceive Maeve, while Erawan and Maeve as two powerful people were usually described as 'always one step ahead'. Morath was also always described as inaccessible and how the third wyrdkey was simply in a girl's arm... SJM really let me down here. I expected more of a spectacle, because ofcourse getting the third wyrdkey back is something you've been aiming for since the very first book. So to keep it so incredibly short made me even think about whether a 7-book series was necessary to get to this point (hell, my thought?).
As a final negative point, I also thought that KoA did not show enough coherence. You felt physically and figuratively that there was a division between part 1 and part 2. It would have been nicer if the quest and war were somewhat mixed up throughout the story, because part 2 was too weak and described too quickly for me .
But back to some positive points, because you might start thinking “why the 4 stars?!”. Well, SJM made me feel emotionally connected to the characters on an even higher level for 80% of KoA than in the other books. You literally feel that you want to stay with these people or that you want to keep this series for a long time. In addition, there was so much good foreshadowing that was already given in book 1 or even in TaB and fed back in KoA. This gave you the feeling that you had fully 'experienced' Celaena/Aelin and that you were there from day one. Everything hit me a thousand times harder because of this. The amount of detail was very satisfying and felt very complete. Not a single moment throughout KoA (which was 980 pages long) did I feel like it was boring or that I wanted it to end. So with that said, KoA was the correct length for the ending!
And oh god... how Maeve and Erawan were defeated made me forget all the disappointments, because this was so phenomenally presented. I was actually genuinely happy that for once it wasn't just Aelin who was presented as 'hero', but that it was genuinely a team effort. How friendship was reflected in this... wow! This really warmed my heart and had tears streaming down my cheeks. You experience an adventure with these people in an evil world, so it was only right that they also contributed with defeating them. Simply POWERFUL! I just spent the last 100 pages crying every 5 minutes because of how beautiful the ending was and how happy I was for these characters that they have found their home, but also a bit out of sadness that I now have to leave them for a while...
With that said, KoA, and therefore the entire series, was a keeper for me. Overall a 5 star series that I would recommend to everyone. For now on, I will let these characters have their peace and let it all sink in for a while. In any case, it is not goodbye to them and their world, because I am convinced that I will grab this series again in a few months. So, see you soon…
Ranking of the books in the serie (it was so hard to rank the books, hence many shared ranks!)
1. Queen of shadows
2. Crown of midnight & Tower of dawn
3. Kingdom of Ash & The assassins blade & Empire of storms
4. Heir of fire
5. Throne of glass
Review later, now just crying because it's done and for this ending ❤️🔥
Update 18/02/2024:
After a night of sleep, I can start my final review for the throne of Glass series. What an adventure this has been! This series will always have a special place in my heart, especially because this is my very first fantasy series that had a strong storyline and distinct characters. Throughout KoA I laughed, was angry and shed a lot of tears. Although I must admit that I had to lower my rating to a 4 after reviewing my recorded thoughts and seeing that there were quite a few parts that disappointed me. So strap in, this is going to be a very long review (including ratings at the end!).
I dove into the first part of KoA with full courage and a small heart, which got off to a good start. You also immediately notice that KoA is much more gruesome in terms of violence than the previous books. When Aelin was tortured several times by Cairn, I often had to swallow hard and look away from the pages. Especially because you built up a hellish bond with her through the books, so you could feel her suffering through the pages. There was also a huge build-up of tension throughout part 1 with the fights, the scene where Aelin escapes from the army camp and the iron coffer (I could really see everything in front of me! This was really a MASTERPIECE) and the parts where Manon found her way to her people , the Crochans. I absorbed everything in part 1 very hard and was really blown away at several moments. But unfortunately I have to admit that part 1 was one of the highlights of KoA.
First of all, I would like to agree that the romance between the characters seemed very repetitive. The couples had sufficient chemistry, but many sentences were reused to explain their love, such as: “I Will always be with you, I am always here for you” or “from the moment I saw you….” which, to me, made the relationships no longer unique. I also noticed that as the half went on that this romance also became sort of a focal point in the story and it became quite grueling. All romances were lumped together for description, while this could also be spread out over the length of KoA.
One of the biggest disappointments of KoA was how easily Dorian was able to retrieve the third wyrdkey from Morath and deceive Maeve, while Erawan and Maeve as two powerful people were usually described as 'always one step ahead'. Morath was also always described as inaccessible and how the third wyrdkey was simply in a girl's arm... SJM really let me down here. I expected more of a spectacle, because ofcourse getting the third wyrdkey back is something you've been aiming for since the very first book. So to keep it so incredibly short made me even think about whether a 7-book series was necessary to get to this point (hell, my thought?).
As a final negative point, I also thought that KoA did not show enough coherence. You felt physically and figuratively that there was a division between part 1 and part 2. It would have been nicer if the quest and war were somewhat mixed up throughout the story, because part 2 was too weak and described too quickly for me .
But back to some positive points, because you might start thinking “why the 4 stars?!”. Well, SJM made me feel emotionally connected to the characters on an even higher level for 80% of KoA than in the other books. You literally feel that you want to stay with these people or that you want to keep this series for a long time. In addition, there was so much good foreshadowing that was already given in book 1 or even in TaB and fed back in KoA. This gave you the feeling that you had fully 'experienced' Celaena/Aelin and that you were there from day one. Everything hit me a thousand times harder because of this. The amount of detail was very satisfying and felt very complete. Not a single moment throughout KoA (which was 980 pages long) did I feel like it was boring or that I wanted it to end. So with that said, KoA was the correct length for the ending!
And oh god... how Maeve and Erawan were defeated made me forget all the disappointments, because this was so phenomenally presented. I was actually genuinely happy that for once it wasn't just Aelin who was presented as 'hero', but that it was genuinely a team effort. How friendship was reflected in this... wow! This really warmed my heart and had tears streaming down my cheeks. You experience an adventure with these people in an evil world, so it was only right that they also contributed with defeating them. Simply POWERFUL! I just spent the last 100 pages crying every 5 minutes because of how beautiful the ending was and how happy I was for these characters that they have found their home, but also a bit out of sadness that I now have to leave them for a while...
With that said, KoA, and therefore the entire series, was a keeper for me. Overall a 5 star series that I would recommend to everyone. For now on, I will let these characters have their peace and let it all sink in for a while. In any case, it is not goodbye to them and their world, because I am convinced that I will grab this series again in a few months. So, see you soon…
Ranking of the books in the serie (it was so hard to rank the books, hence many shared ranks!)
1. Queen of shadows
2. Crown of midnight & Tower of dawn
3. Kingdom of Ash & The assassins blade & Empire of storms
4. Heir of fire
5. Throne of glass