Queen of Shadows

Oct 27

Throne of Glass #4

By Sarah J. Maas

TheStory

Immediately following the ending of Heir of Fire, Aelin heads to Rifthold to exact her glorious plans of revenge and queenliness, leaving Rowan behind in Wendlyn. But there are obviously roadblocks to that path. Magic is still on lock down and Dorian is trapped by the fallout of the end of Heir of Fire. Now Aelin needs to work with the rebels and manage the relations that she left when she sailed off to Wendlyn. She is here to rescue the kingdom and simultaneously deal with the shadows from her past - and deal with them she DOES.

Aedion becomes central to the story here in that he is a part of the plot to capture Aelin. But things upturn for everyone else. Finally. Lysandra enters our story here in magnificent fashion (she may potentially be my favorite character). Maeve’s cabal end up both helping and being not-so-helpful. Elide is a new MC as well, brought to us in Morath. She is imprisoned by her atrocious uncle but becomes a part of Manon’s and the Thirteen’s story.

As things start to heat up, all of our MCs are doing various vital-to-the-survival-of-humanity things. The rebels are not just a rogue band of misfits but essential to the kingdom’s path to the right side of things. As everyone works towards their “right path,” everything comes to a head in a banger of an ending.

TheReview

This fourth installment in the series starts off right in the good stuff. Following the ending of the last book (which was also glorious, as all the endings seem to be), it continues straight into the heart of the action. And just doesn’t let up!

There are a lot of point-of-view jumps following the various timelines throughout the book. Like a looooot. I will give credit to the fact that most of the switches were at good pausing points but there is way too much going on at once.

On top of the various storylines, there are a MYRIAD of characters. I don’t even think I could name (or remember) each one - but we have Aelin, Rowan, Lorcan, Dorian, Chaol, Nesryn, Aedion, Lysandra, Manon, Asterin, Elide, etc. I think those are the main ones - at least for me and at this point in the series. But that doesn’t even include the evil MCs (Maeve, the King, Perrington, Vernon, Manon’s grandmother, and so-on and so-on). So… pay attention to everyone. I’m telling you… f.o.c.u.s. Even with the sheer number of MCs, I was so invested in almost every one of them than in any of the previous books.

This is the first book so far in the series that had a feeling of finality. The main struggles have been wrapped up (mostly) and it looks like a whole new story is going to begin anew. The entire second half of the book slays. Like a nonstop need to keep reading overtook me.

By far, this book has been my favorite of the series. After about the first 100 pages or so, it had me completely wrapped up. An absolute page turner. I’d recommend this series on this book alone (so far). And frankly, you could almost stop the series here and be happy. Just make up answers to any lingering questions and live in your own fantasy fantasy world, happy as a clam. But don’t do that. Keep reading.