Title: Queen of Shadows
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Pages: 656
Series: Book #4 in the Throne of Glass series
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Adventure
“She was a whirling cloud of death, a queen of shadows, and these men were already carrion.”
Goodreads synopsis:
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.
My Review:
The Fire-Breathing Bitch Queen is Backkkk!
Celaena-the assassin we love has returned to Rifthold with a plan to right the wrongs done to herself and to her people as she’s also embraced her heritage, both as a Fae and the rightful Queen of Terrasen, and is now Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. Upon arriving in Rifthold, Aelin once again slips into her role as Celaena the assassin, she finds that while she will do what she must to spare what she cherishes, she can no longer a puppet of the king or the killer Arrobyn molded her to be, she is becoming who is was born to be: Aelin –the heir of fire, the queen of shadows – and she is out for retribution.
But it was the relationships in this book that made it really stand out.
“And Aedion grinned at his queen as the entire world went to hell”
Aedion may be a big pain in the butt sometimes, but he’s still ferociously loyal and protective of his cousin, his Queen. I adore their natural chemistry and how they can bicker like siblings yet forgive one another a heartbeat later. It’s a much needed connection for Aelin. He can provide that sort of natural comfort for her that is complimentary to their unique bond.
“You make me want to live, Rowan. Not survive; not exist. Live.”
HEART STOPPED. This is the kind of romance a Queen needs not some sully, blame it on the world former Caption of the Guard. He is the badass male to Aelin’s female, but the sexual tension is undeniable.
“Rowan was still staring up at the ceiling, teeth gritted as he calmed the roaring in
his veins that was steadily shredding through his self-control.
That gods-damned nightgown.
Shit.
He was in such deep, unending shit.”
Rowan and Aelin are dancing all around the subject, teasing and torturing one another but have yet to truly act on any of the feelings. I mean HELLO! The probability of them dying is astronomical, yet instead of spending the night in great steamy passion the two decide it would be better to not get emotionally tangled so that they don’t worry to much about the other in the battle field instead of focusing soling on returning alive. DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THE PROBLEM HERE?! Now if only he had dropped that towel…
“He shifted his arm so he could brush her hair back. His fingers lingered along her jaw. “You make me want to live, too, Aelin Galathynius,” he said. “Not exist—but live.” He cupped her cheek, and took a steadying breath—as if he’d thought about every word these past three days, over and over again. “I spent centuries wandering the world, from empires to kingdoms to wastelands, never settling, never stopping—not for one moment. I was always looking toward the horizon, always wondering what waited across the next ocean, over the next mountain. But I think … I think that whole time, all those centuries, I was just looking for you.”
Chaol and his Jekyll-Hyde crap started to really piss me off. All he does is whine and place blame on everyone else besides himself, I can understand he’s suffering from the loss of his best friend Prince Dorian, who is now collared to a Valg Prince. Going from Captian of the Royal Guard to a wanted Rebel leader must be quiet an adjustment but heck grow some balls and be a man! I was relieved towards the end when he seems to regain a sense of self.
I loved how Maas brought Lysandra’s story to life, she added a devastating back story and a cool supernatural twist I never saw coming. I truly felt for Lysandra; I found her to be one of the bravest characters in the entire book.
“If you’re a monster, I’m a monster.”
When Lysandra’s ghost leopard showed up and saved the asses of all the ‘big bad Fae’ men I literally wanted to clap with joy but that would have required putting down the book – so not gonna happen. The females in this book didn’t let the guys tell them what to do or let any personal grudges get in the way of having each others back. Aelin and Nesryn (Dorians second). Aelin and Lysandra. Lysandra and Evangeline. Manon and Asterin. Talk about some girl power. Speaking of Manon and Aelin- that meeting-fight-kiss & make up was EPIC! Fingers crossed that the next installment of this series has a bit more witch-queen screen time.
“But perhaps the monsters needed to look out for each other every now and then.”
From straight up brawls, to planned assassinations and rescue missions, Queen of Shadows can only really be described as wild and completely captivating! Aelin and her court grow so much throughout, Queen of Shadows brings a lot of the missing puzzle pieces from the previous stories together to create a completely badass story that I found incredibly hard to put down.
Maas writing makes it easy to just fly across the pages, I found myself on the final chapter wayyy before I was read. Upon closing the back cover my mind was reeling.
I Seriously.Cannot.Wait. for the next book!!
Looking for a new series to read?
I would 100% recommend any and ALL of Sarah J. Maas Thrones of Glass series.
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