Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: September 1, 2015
Pages: 648
Format: Paperback/Own
The queen has returned.
Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…
She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.
She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.
The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.
Review: I enjoyed this book just as much as I enjoyed Heir of Fire. I love that compared to the first two books, these have had more action and plot development. It's made for a much better reading experience. I absolutely loved the character growth (most characters anyways), the new plot twists, everything. Such an enjoyable book!
I absolutely loved that Aelin has embraced being the lost Queen of Terrasen. She is determined to help those she cares about and even finds new allies. She is also acting a lot smarter in this book compared to the beginning of this series. we see her kinda fall into some easy traps in previous books and she's learned to be A LOT more careful in this one. First things first, I'm so glad she found a way to rescue Aedion. He grew on me in Heir of Fire and I was so worried about him. I'm so glad Aelin has her cousin back by her side. I'm also glad she's standing up for herself. She wasn't tolerating Chaol's bullshit about her having changed and her not helping them. Granted she also gave him some shit, but he had some nerve with some of the stuff he got angry at. She wasn't falling for all of Arobynn's bullshit either. She grew so much. I also love how she embraced trying to find allies and helping the rebels escape when she could. I also loved Aelin's new friendship with Lysandra. I really didn't like her in The Assassin's Blade stories, but I genuinely liked that she and Aelin were able to put things in the past and work together to deal with Arobynn. And I also loved that Aelin finally had another female friend. Because that's important with the fact everyone else around her is male.
Ok, lets cut the bull. Freaking Chaol man. This a hole right here. He's got some freaking nerve. He literally made it where Aelin got sent to Wendlyn in the first place, and now tries to use all that against her. He has the nerve to be upset and angry with Aelin for changing and embracing her Fae heritage. He doesn't like that she's put her kingdom ahead of Dorian, even though he still is a concern for Aelin. And on top of that he seriously had the nerve to bitch her out about not being there to help the rebellion or to help plan saving Dorian sooner. Like is he seriously for real??? He literally sent Aelin into the lands of her ancestors and then has the nerve to be angry once she comes back?? Hypocritical bastard. I liked him well enough in the other books, but he really grated on my nerves in this one. The only thing that made him tolerable in this book was Nesryn honestly. If it wasn't for her being around with him I probably would have glossed every section with him in it. Is it bad I kinda don't feel sorry for his current predicament at the end of the book?? He deserves to have to go far away just to get fixed up. Take your attitude with you and don't come back until it's changed! I don't think he's overall a bad person, but he definitely needs to work on himself.
Aedion. This poor guy. He did but yet didn't want Aelin to save him. Obviously he didn't want to have to die, but he would have rather done that then have Aelin risk her life for him. She did anyways and saves him but still. And then the whole ordeal with him and the blood oath that was supposed to mean so much to him. I did feel a bit bad for him over this, but would I have Rowan take it back for Aedion to do it? No. Aedion is such a good guy though, he gets passed it and goes back to being a good and protecting cousin. And Rowan, sweet Rowan! Ahhh. He came to Adarlan. Rowan is just amazing. I love that he came to Adarlan because he was trying to protect Aelin from someone he found out was looking for her and the wyrdkey. I absolutely ship Rowaelin!!
Dorian, omg. Poor Dorian. It was so heartbreaking reading all his chapters with the Vlag Prince stuck in his body. I felt so bad for him. And he struggled so hard to try and get through but could only manage a few words when he managed it. And the fact that Aelin couldn't know for sure if Dorian was still in there until they were about to set their plan in motion. Like Chaol was so angry that Aelin had no issues with killing Dorian, but Chaol also didn't see the Vlag Princes that Aelin took on before coming back. If there was any reason to believe Dorian was totally gone, the Vlag with his body would have needed to be killed. Chaol didn't seem to understand that. Luckily, Dorian was able to get through and let everyone know he was still in there.
I really grew to enjoy Manon's character in this book. She might be wing leader of the ironteeth witches, but she also seems to have a decent moral compass on her compared to her grandmother. I really liked that Manon took Elide under her wing. Her uncle was treating her like crap and at least Manon was able to try and protect her. And when she couldn't, she found a way to fix it and help Elide get away. I also loved that she was against the witches breeding with the vlag and only assigned a coven for it to get everyone off her back. The fact even she thought the breeding wasn't right speaks volumes.
Wow. The ending. Just wow. The revelation about the king and Duke Perrington. Definitely wasn't expecting that and honest, I was kinda disappointed the king was only possessed and it was the duke in control. I really felt it should have been flipped. But we needed the king to die for Dorian to take over so it kinda had to be written this way. But the bringing the tower down. The magic. The revelation about who is possessing Duke Perrington's body. Just wow. That was a fantastic ending. And Aelin finally getting to head to Terrasen. Her homeland. Yay!
I absolutely loved that Aelin has embraced being the lost Queen of Terrasen. She is determined to help those she cares about and even finds new allies. She is also acting a lot smarter in this book compared to the beginning of this series. we see her kinda fall into some easy traps in previous books and she's learned to be A LOT more careful in this one. First things first, I'm so glad she found a way to rescue Aedion. He grew on me in Heir of Fire and I was so worried about him. I'm so glad Aelin has her cousin back by her side. I'm also glad she's standing up for herself. She wasn't tolerating Chaol's bullshit about her having changed and her not helping them. Granted she also gave him some shit, but he had some nerve with some of the stuff he got angry at. She wasn't falling for all of Arobynn's bullshit either. She grew so much. I also love how she embraced trying to find allies and helping the rebels escape when she could. I also loved Aelin's new friendship with Lysandra. I really didn't like her in The Assassin's Blade stories, but I genuinely liked that she and Aelin were able to put things in the past and work together to deal with Arobynn. And I also loved that Aelin finally had another female friend. Because that's important with the fact everyone else around her is male.
Ok, lets cut the bull. Freaking Chaol man. This a hole right here. He's got some freaking nerve. He literally made it where Aelin got sent to Wendlyn in the first place, and now tries to use all that against her. He has the nerve to be upset and angry with Aelin for changing and embracing her Fae heritage. He doesn't like that she's put her kingdom ahead of Dorian, even though he still is a concern for Aelin. And on top of that he seriously had the nerve to bitch her out about not being there to help the rebellion or to help plan saving Dorian sooner. Like is he seriously for real??? He literally sent Aelin into the lands of her ancestors and then has the nerve to be angry once she comes back?? Hypocritical bastard. I liked him well enough in the other books, but he really grated on my nerves in this one. The only thing that made him tolerable in this book was Nesryn honestly. If it wasn't for her being around with him I probably would have glossed every section with him in it. Is it bad I kinda don't feel sorry for his current predicament at the end of the book?? He deserves to have to go far away just to get fixed up. Take your attitude with you and don't come back until it's changed! I don't think he's overall a bad person, but he definitely needs to work on himself.
Aedion. This poor guy. He did but yet didn't want Aelin to save him. Obviously he didn't want to have to die, but he would have rather done that then have Aelin risk her life for him. She did anyways and saves him but still. And then the whole ordeal with him and the blood oath that was supposed to mean so much to him. I did feel a bit bad for him over this, but would I have Rowan take it back for Aedion to do it? No. Aedion is such a good guy though, he gets passed it and goes back to being a good and protecting cousin. And Rowan, sweet Rowan! Ahhh. He came to Adarlan. Rowan is just amazing. I love that he came to Adarlan because he was trying to protect Aelin from someone he found out was looking for her and the wyrdkey. I absolutely ship Rowaelin!!
Dorian, omg. Poor Dorian. It was so heartbreaking reading all his chapters with the Vlag Prince stuck in his body. I felt so bad for him. And he struggled so hard to try and get through but could only manage a few words when he managed it. And the fact that Aelin couldn't know for sure if Dorian was still in there until they were about to set their plan in motion. Like Chaol was so angry that Aelin had no issues with killing Dorian, but Chaol also didn't see the Vlag Princes that Aelin took on before coming back. If there was any reason to believe Dorian was totally gone, the Vlag with his body would have needed to be killed. Chaol didn't seem to understand that. Luckily, Dorian was able to get through and let everyone know he was still in there.
I really grew to enjoy Manon's character in this book. She might be wing leader of the ironteeth witches, but she also seems to have a decent moral compass on her compared to her grandmother. I really liked that Manon took Elide under her wing. Her uncle was treating her like crap and at least Manon was able to try and protect her. And when she couldn't, she found a way to fix it and help Elide get away. I also loved that she was against the witches breeding with the vlag and only assigned a coven for it to get everyone off her back. The fact even she thought the breeding wasn't right speaks volumes.
Wow. The ending. Just wow. The revelation about the king and Duke Perrington. Definitely wasn't expecting that and honest, I was kinda disappointed the king was only possessed and it was the duke in control. I really felt it should have been flipped. But we needed the king to die for Dorian to take over so it kinda had to be written this way. But the bringing the tower down. The magic. The revelation about who is possessing Duke Perrington's body. Just wow. That was a fantastic ending. And Aelin finally getting to head to Terrasen. Her homeland. Yay!
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