A Book Review: Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J. Maas

Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J. Maas

5 Stars

Blurb

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.

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Pages: 656 (Hardcover)

Publishing Company: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Series: Throne of Glass (#4)

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The “fire-breathing bitch-queen” is back again, just as (if not more) badass as before. How is that even possible? Ever since I encountered Aelin in Throne of Glass… well technically Heir of Fire, because she was Celaena in ToG… ANYWAY, the main point is that Aelin/ Celaena has become one of my favourite heroines. Being able to kick her enemies out-of-town is only one of the many reasons why I love her character.

When she decided to become Aelin again in Heir of Fire, I felt like Aelin was all that different from Celaena. I expected Aelin to be different from her persona, Celaena, but I didn’t really notice the different between them at first. However, Queen of Shadows has dealt with that problem. In this book, Aelin switched between the two personalities, and this really enabled me to see a distinct difference between the two personalities.

QUICK INTERRUPTION: One of my ships has officially become canon in this book. It was sort of predictable, but they are SO ADORABLE together.

Another thing I really liked was the new-found friendship between Aelin and Lysandra, a character who is reintroduced in this book. I noted that Lysandra was similar to Nehemia- not in terms of their personalities, but in terms of what they meant to Celaena. Lysandra is a multi-faced character who I felt was an excellent addition to the plot of this book.

Speaking of reintroduced characters, I thought Arobynn was one of the most interesting characters that I read about. When Aelin interacted with Arobynn I could never be really sure what this interaction would lead to. Basically, Arobynn pulls some strings in a way I would not have expected him to. I admire his calculative nature, but he is still a nasty guy who I feel deserved the outcome he got in the end.

After reading Heir of Fire, it was no secret that Chaol wasn’t exactly my favourite character because of his inability to accept Celaena’s true identity. In the first half ofQueen of Shadows, Chaol is still not too friendly with Aelin. Even though he wasn’t that friendly, I find Chaol to be one of the most realistic characters of the set. I started to like Chaol more again in the second half of the book, because his undying loyalty to Dorian is truly wonderful. Their friendship is something I hope will prevail through the entire series.

The ending of the book came to me as a great relief. Dorian is a favourite character of mine, on par with Aelin. I think that Dorian will still continue to be troubled though, especially considering what he has gone through. I am glad he has still got Chaol by his side though. I am also surprised about a certain evil character she decided to kill off. This is a really interesting decision, and it leaves me uncertain about the direction of the over-arching plot of the series.

Manon was also a superb character. She underwent excellent character development in this book. Her bond with her thirteen also becomes much stronger throughout the course of this book. She also meets Dorian in this book. I feel like Manon and Dorian might be a thing. Hmm, I’ll have to wait ’till the next book to see!

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