Review: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
Synopsis:
Aelin Ashryver Galathynius is back from Wendlyn and ready to claim her title. She is ready to bring death - and justice - to all who deserve it.
But nothing is as she left it. Everything has changed and it's time for Aelin to face the same things she's been running from for years. And to make things worse, a few things from her old life might just be coming back to haunt her.
Thoughts:
It took me freaking forever to finish reading this, but when I finally sat down to read it, I really enjoyed the book. I like how everything is finally starting to fall into place, and I'm starting to see where the story might go, but I'm excited for the surprises that the other books will bring. Be warned, I will be ranting a little bit in this review because I hate Rowan.
There's something about the way Sarah J. Maas writes her fight scenes that make me really happy. It's really smooth and vivid at the same time, and I'm really glad that I got to return to this world in which so many people are skilled fighters.
One thing that I did find really annoying was the way Rowan acted in this book. I have never liked him and I doubt that I ever will. To me, he was brought in to make things more complicated, and while I can see his worth in where the storyline in going, I hate his character with a passion. I hate that Sarah J. Maas completely ruined Chaol in order to bring Rowan into the story, and I hate the romance between Rowan and Aelin. I was really hoping that there wouldn't be a romance between Rowan and Aelin, but I already knew from many other readers that he was going to be her latest love interest. From the way things look at this point, I really don't want him to be her future because I see nothing good about him that he could possibly bring to Aelin's life.
A huge reason why I took 0.5 stars off my rating for this book is because of Rowan and how he treats Aelin. He spends so much time talking about how strong she is and how much she's gone through and how he can't imagine what she's experienced, but then he does so little to respect the power that she has from everything she's been through. Even when she makes decisions that are obviously good, he chooses to act super protectively and possessively over her. It pisses me off that he would treat her this way because she's such a capable character and there's so much that she can do if it weren't for his annoying immortal butt getting in the way and having to prove his alpha male dominance by growling and behaving like an actual animal.
That rant aside, I did really like seeing how much more complicated this world is becoming and how the backstory is starting to fit into the present timeline. The mythology, though I know it's not really supposed to be called that, surrounding this world is so interesting. I love how much more of a mystery this book was, and how cool it was to see everything start falling into place from the different POVs in the book.
I'm really excited to see where the rest of the series will go. I'm definitely going to try to pick up Empire of Storms while I'm on summer break because I don't want to drag it halfway around the world with me when I go back to college. I'm not sure what to expect from Chaol's book, Tower of Dawn, because I have no idea what Sarah J. Maas is going to do to his character now, but I can only hope that he will get back on track to being the character I fell in love with so much from the beginning.
Character(s):
I still really like Aelin, especially now that's she's grown so much from being the vengeful, hate-filled Celaena to a woman who can really be called a queen. Sure, she has her moments of being child-like, but after everything she's been through and how little of a childhood she really had, I can't blame her. It's still one of my goals in life to be able to persevere through hardship like Aelin does, and it's another goal for me to cosplay as her one day.
There's not much to say about Dorian in this book, but I am really excited for what the rest of his story will be like in the next book. I can tell that there are some really great things ahead for him.
Okay, let it be said now that I have loved Chaol from the very beginning and there is very little that could be done for me to hate him. I will always say that it should be Chaol and Celaena/Aelin because I do believe that he is the best possible person for her. Which is why I'm going to say that any character introduced as his new love interest is automatically going to be someone I dislike and disregard. The fact is that he and Aelin balance each other out perfectly, and of the three guys, I firmly believe that Chaol respects her and the decisions she makes the most.
I like Aedion, but I want to see him in a setting that isn't him being injured or fighting. I want to really get to know his character and what he'll bring to the story.
I admit that I like Lysandra more now, which I didn't think would be possible, and I'm also excited to see what her story will be like.
Finally, one of the biggest character developments, in my opinion, was Manon, whom I was very unsure about at first, but I grew to like as time went on. She reminds me a lot of the Celaena in the first book, but she has so much more to her. I enjoyed her chapters a lot and even though we've had two books to get to know her, I feel like this book is where she really grew.
4.5 stars. I'm definitely keeping up with this series. I think it's probably one of my favorite series, but I can't say for sure because I haven't really done much reading lately. I love seeing how the characters grow (except Rowan, he can go die in an ancient hole) and how the story progresses. I can only hope that as we get closer to the end of the series, Sarah J. Maas will make it a great and powerful ending.
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