Monday, August 17, 2015

Queen of Shadows: Complete and Utter Epicness

Title: Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4)
Author: Sarah J Maas
Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy, EPICNESS
Release Date: 1 September, 2015
Source: Bloomsbury Sydney. THANK YOU!!
Goodreads


Sarah J. Maas's New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series reaches new heights in this sweeping fourth volume.

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 will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. 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.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.
Review by Nara

**SPOILERS FOR CROWN OF MIDNIGHT AND POSSIBLY HEIR OF FIRE I CAN'T ACTUALLY REMEMBER WHICH BOOK STUFF WAS REVEALED IN**

In keeping with my tradition of not being able to properly review books I love without sounding like a gushing fangirl (#sorrynotsorry #noregrets), I'm going to break this flail-fest up into separate sections.

First,
ALL ABOARD THE S.S. ROWENA
Yeah, I'm 100% sticking with my ship from Heir of Fire.
Aelin and Rowan are made for each other and NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE.
What even is the official ship name for them anyway? Rowena? Rowaelin? Rowlaena?
WHATEVER IT IS THEY TOTALLY BELONG TOGETHER.
I will make no other comments about the romance progression and whether Celaena makes a choice about who she wants to be with, because you should read the book yourselves, people.

Dorian
Oh my god, seriously my heart just broke every time we got a point of view chapter from Dorian.
We all know what happened to him at the end of the previous book, and JESUS THE FALLOUT.
Honestly, the feels I got from just page one of the book were ridiculous. I don't even get feels that often from books, and to get them from PAGE ONE my god, Sarah J Maas you master of manipulation.
ALSO DEM DORIAN/CHAOL BROMANCE FEELS.

Manon
SUCH A BADASS.
There's a certain encounter that occurs in this book between Manon and another main character and HOT DAMN IT'S AWESOME. I mean, I was sitting there completely tense about what was happening, all the while dying of epicness, and not even sure who I was rooting for. Come to think of it, Manon's plotline crosses quite a few other POV characters, and there's even a hint of romance hidden in there along the way.

I kind of swung from really liking Manon to kind of liking her, then going back to really liking her, and so forth, and it's because Sarah J Maas portrays her as a bit of an antihero- we the readers are obviously mostly going to be on Aelin's side, and we're warily watching Manon to see where her allegiances lie. I'm definitely hoping their encounters don't end in (too much) blood.

Aelin/Celaena
My queen.
I mean, literally my queen because of her birthright and all.
But also figuratively my queen, because she's probably my favourite female protagonist in any book I've read. She's scary and powerful as heck, but she's unfailingly loyal, and sometimes surprisingly kind. She has to make a lot of tough decisions in Queen of Shadows, and I love how she's able to accept the help of her friends (new and old) while simultaneously being an independent badass.

Sarah J Maas
Also my queen.

Seriously, Sarah J Maas is the goddess of fae high fantasy. First the Throne of Glass series, and then A Court of Thorns and Roses, and my god, she can do no wrong. Her writing is just so fantastic: she's one of the few authors who can actually make me visualise scenes in my mind (I'm normally really not a visual reader), and no one can deny that her stunning writing really aids in the world building and setting the atmosphere.

The way she builds up to the final scene is also just incredible, with the final twists making you question everything the series has been building up to so far, with moral ambiguity being thrown left and right and with the events just punching you in the feels again and again.

And good news everyone! No major cliffhanger at the end of Queen of Shadows!
Although that being said, I'm still completely dying for the next book, so maybe that makes no difference whatsoever.

Also, sidenote: why the heck is it that every time I'm reading a crap book, no one interrupts me, and then every time I'm reading a freaking awesome book, everyone under the sun suddenly wants to contact me?? I'm sitting there in my room peacefully reading Queen of Shadows and honestly it seemed like every five minutes someone wanted to talk to me and I'm all

So there are things in this "review" that I've probably forgotten to mention and some I haven't mentioned on purpose, and won't until the book has been released. I've mostly not really discussed the plot, because I feel at this point in the series, that's something you should experience for yourself by reading the book rather than getting too many hints from me about what happens.

Favourite
Lookie at that, the full seven stars. Been a while since we had that on the blog.
Totally deserves it 
Ratings
Overall: 10/10
Plot: 5/5
Romance: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 5/5