Kingdom of Ash

Nov 17

Throne of Glass #7

By Sarah J. Maas

TheStory

Aelin has been captured and Rowan and the cadre are scouring the realm looking for her. While their search is long and often seems hopeless, Rowan refuses to give up his search for his other half.

Meanwhile, Aedion and the other part of their group are trying to run interference with Erawan so that there is still a kingdom to save if Aelin is rescued. But at every turn, there are challenges that threaten to ruin everything before a final battle can even be waged against the dark forces surrounding them.

Off on another part of the continent, Dorian and the Thirteen search for the crochans and the third wyrd key. During their travels, they decide that finding the third wyrd key is less pressing than finding the crochans since they will need an army to assist in battle once the third wyrd key is put to use. Upon finding the Crochans, Manon has some serious ground to make up after centuries of hunting down and killing their kind.

During all this, Chaol and Yrene sail from the south with the khaganate army. However, they are about two weeks behind when they are needed so they must take the time to decide where to dock the army and when it will be most effective.

With the heroes spread throughout the land, Erawan on the move, and Maeve preparing to make her stand, time is of the essence and each person’s mission is vital to the survival of the kingdom. But if even one group fails, the entire realm could be overthrown and all hope might be lost.

TheReview

SO MUCH IS HAPPENING! That’s a short version of events transpiring. But what a great way to wrap up the series. Every single question from every single book is finally answered. We have to follow about four different groups and still get a look at Aelin’s capture with Maeve. So it’s just non-stop action. Sooo satisfying.

Can I just “ooh” and “aaahh” for a moment over some of the minor storylines here?!

Lysandra and Aedion… They make me want to CRY! As do Elide and Lorcan. Both of these relationships are so fractured and heart breaking. And they might even be my favorite couples of the entire series.

Nox Owen is back! Awww!! Anyone remember him from book ONE?! He helped Aelin through the poison test and she saved his life when another challenger tried to kill him. He’s the only one to recognize Lysandra as Lysandra. He’s just a sweet baby angel. I always liked him and was sad he had never come back.

On the note of Nox coming back in full swing from book one, all the little stories throughout the series (specifically The Assassin’s Blade) all come together in what can only be described as “fate.” Aelin realizes everything she has done over the last decade has had a purpose and each interaction has mattered more than she ever considered it might.

Maeve?! Maeve is the worst! And the worst part is that she actually believes she’s in the right and is doing the right thing. She plays mind tricks and alters realities. Her little puppet, Cairn, is so freaking demented. I just cannot with these two. Even more than I can’t with Erawan. At least Erawan isn’t completely deluded.

No spoilers but I just have to mention the scene with Fenrys and Aelin. It GOT ME! I legit cried reading that scene.

So onto the actual book story opinions.

There battles raging EV-ERY-WHERE! Like all over the place. And forever. Everything is going to absolute shyte for almost the entire book. Based on my above oohing and aahing over the minor storylines, you know I loved those little tidbits. But there is just SO. MUCH. WAR. Not my jam. I get that six books of strife had to come together in an epic finale, but it was overkill on the war, battles, and general doom.

That being said, the last 80ish pages are phenomenal. It’s a culmination of everything we’ve been working for in our reading, people! Worth it. But it’s still about 300-400 pages too long. But don’t get rid of the last 100 pages. I don’t know what SJM’s obsession is with describing war in such lengthy detail, but it’s a huge portion of the last half of the book. So, pull out some of the middle 400 pages but keep the ending, because the ending was *chef’s kiss.*

For a summarized review of the series, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the book based on the first two books. They were not nearly the best in the series. But the last three were great reads. And the middle two were also really good. (See previous reviews for each book). If you are going to dive into this series, prepare for the long haul, because it takes some serious time to read, and some patience to get into the good part of the entire storyline.