Photo Credits: Anthony Intraver
Edited by Vaishali
Title: ‘Queen of Shadows'
Author: Sarah J. Maas Series: (Throne of Glass #4) Genre: Fantasy Fiction, Young Adult, Romance Publisher: Bloomsbury Year of Publication: 2014 Version: Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4088-5861-5
Themes: Romance, oppression, slavery, faeries, friendship, hope, freedom, redemption, loss, revenge, grief, strength, courage
Warning: 'Queen of Shadows' is the fourth installment in the 'Throne of Glass' series, so i would highly recommend that the previous books be read as this review will contain spoilers for this series.
R E V I E W ...
“Then she smiled with every last shred of courage, of desperation, of hope for the glimmer of that glorious future. “Let’s go rattle the stars.”
Sarah J. Maas...a Queen of Shadows? ...more like a Queen of foreshadowing! ...'Queen of Shadows' is intelligently and thoroughly written. Reading this book was like collecting and pocketing pieces of treasure to untie and decrypt along the way. The reading is fun, engrossing, apprehensive, cunning and much like a puzzle with few pieces flying at you but most securely locked away waiting to stab you when you least expect it, and Sarah J. Maas so loves to hide her treasures and secrets hoping for us to find them. A crazy ride and one I am still reeling over. F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C!!
“A wall of night knocked them back. But they could not be contained. The darkness paused for breath.
They erupted.”
After months spent in Wendlyn, Aelin Galathynius returns to Rifthold – the place of her enemies and friends to collect owed debts and wreak havoc on those who caused her years of pain. Aelin is hell bent on justice and retribution, to right wrongs and destroy evil. Determined to take back her throne, claim her birth right and rebuild the court of Terassen , Aelin must first confront her master to take back what was hers and unleash her vengeance upon Rifthold’s underworld – those who betrayed her and were elemental in Sam’s death. She doles out long-awaited punishment. Aelin must suffer her most vicious memories and walk through scars that never healed.
“What do I do?”
“You light up the darkness.”
Aelin faces the persecutors of her past, old enemies, meets new friends and reunites with old ones. Her enemies are calculating, cunning and manipulative but Aelin has been planning and plotting and is always one step ahead, one step above, her shrewd, ingenious mind paving the steps to execute her secret schemes. Well versed in her master’s games, Aelin knows how to play. She is slave no more, but she is the Queen of the chessboard in her elaborately mastered manoeuvrings using what pawns she has and taking down any obstructions in her path. With the weight of a kingdom on her shoulders, Aelin’s responsibilities are bigger than herself, her decisions being one step away from failure. Coming to understand this burden, her priority is with her people, forsaking selfish desires and doing all she can to initiate their survival
“For her friends, for her family, she would gladly be a monster.”
With the dark Queen hunting her, valg soldiers on the prowl, one of Maeve’s warriors pursuing her movements, with the King of Adarlan hell bent on destroying her, Aelin has multiple threats to contend with including that of the master focussed on controlling her. The odds are endless and with each new impossible secret unleashed Aelin’s doom seems more and more feasible. Rowan’s weakness is Aelin, Aelin’s weakness is Rowan, and though distance is the logical approach to resist what they feel for each other, they cannot deny what is emerging between them. Submitting to it above all else is a path less chosen
“What do you want me to tell you, Fireheart?
“Tell me that we’ll get through tomorrow. Tell me that we’ll survive the war. Tell me-“ She swallowed hard. “Tell me that even if I lead us all to ruin, we’ll burn in hell together.” “We’re not going to hell, Aelin,” he said. “But wherever we go, we’ll go together.”
Secrets are Aelin’s support, and if she has to keep them even from her court then so be it. She struggles with relying on those other than herself, and one of her biggest challenges is trusting other people. She can’t stomach the idea of her loved ones being hurt in any way, so she functions under trickery and deceit even if it means lying by omission to her court.
“You will make mistakes. You will make decisions, and sometimes you will regret those choices. Sometimes there won’t be a bad choice, just the best of several bad options. I don’t need to tell you that you can do this- you know you can.
“Whatever you had to do to survive, whatever you did from spite or rage or selfishness…I don’t give a damn. You’re here – and you’re perfect. You always were, and you always will be.”
Dorian’s mortality hangs in the balance and drives a huge wedge between Chaol and Aelin. Dorian is in a battle of pure will in this 'Queen of Shadows', fighting against his own darkness so as not to be devoured by it. He is but a puppet bound in mind and body to a Valg prince and he can’t repel the darkness calling to him much longer.
“It did not seem like a weakness to fight for those who could not defend themselves.”
Follwing from 'Heir of Fire' Chaol is struggling with his character, with finding his place in the world now that he has nothing left - only the hope of saving his best friend enthralled to a valg prince. A traitor to the crown, and now a rebel leader, Chaol’s sole mission is to save Dorian by planning and plotting with rebel company. Fighting for his own survival and the restoration of his kingdom, Chaol is also on a mission to save the innocents who are being executed. After Chaol and Aelin’s relationship fractured so devastatingly 'Queen of Shadows' amounts to them regaining their trust in each other very slowly.
“We do not look back, Chaol. It helps no one and nothing to look back. We can only go on.”
“What if we go on.” He said, “only to more pain and despair? What if we go on, only to find a horrible end waiting for us?” “Then it is not the end.”
This series toys with destiny; destiny being the tool which links each and every character in this book together. Everybody’s lives are intertwined in some way, predetermined connections like single threads to be woven together, reaching some final destination. Everybody’s fates seem inextricably connected to each other, no encounters occur by chance and every meeting has a bigger purpose already laid out for the final instalment, which I know will be extraordinary if Sarah J. Maas keeps outdoing herself every time she writes a book. It’s not always a common thing for a series to get better book by book but this continually does. Its astonishing to think how much this series has changed since the first book. Four books in and the first seems like a lifetime ago but it never feels like it. Her characters are so young (excluding the old grumpy immortals) yet so mature and headstrong that its surprises me to consider that they are only young adults!
“She was the heir of fire. She was fire, and light, and ash, and embers. She was Aelin Fireheart, and she bowed for no one and nothing, save the crown that was hers by blood and survival and triumph.”
'Queen of Shadows' is chock full of magic, overbearing Gods and Goddesses, malicious creatures, new comprehensions and additional weapons to be wielded. There are many factored integers at play with war so imminent. Vows, promises, oaths, unlikely favours, hurtful words, bloodshed, heart - faltering action and strongly written battle scenes. There is always something happening, and all stories/plots tie into each other. The terrorisations are sky high, the stakes are dangerous, efforts are insurmountable and amidst all that we have significant character development, emotional encounters, night gown fiasco’s, snarky mockery, sarcastic remarks, heat, veiled threats, outright slaughter, and dramatic rescues.
“What was it like?” Manon asked quietly. “To love.”
“It was like dying a little every day. It was like being alive, too. It was joy so complete it was pain. It destroyed me and unmade me and forged me. I hated it, because I knew I couldn’t escape it, and I knew it would forever change me. And that witchling…I loved her, too. I loved her in a way I cannot describe – other than to tell you that it was the most powerful thing I’ve ever felt, greater than rage, than lust, than magic.”
Aelin always finds herself knee deep in sewage but she always finds a way to deal with it. I am with her every step of the way, when she falls I’m right there with her, and when she succeeds I feel just as ecstatic, rejoicing along with her. This is the kind of book that stays with you long after you’ve read it and the feelings and characters linger. Sarah J. Maas navigates relationships very well however complex they may be, and her tales aren’t wholly character driven at all; there Is much world building and external conflict coupled with matters of the mind and character depth – though I think that all are equally important. Another work of brilliance by Sarah J. Maas!
“That wildness, that untamed fierceness…They weren’t born of a free heart, but of one that had known despair so complete that living brightly, living violently, was the only way to outrun it.”
The writing in this book is beautiful , the characters are beautiful (well most of them), Rowan and Aedion are extra beautiful , the story is beautiful and Sarah J. Maas is beautiful for creating something so beautiful!
“Dorian said, “So here we are.” “The end of the road.” Aelin said with a half smile. “No,” Chaol said, his own smile faint, tentative. “The beginning of the next.”
“I spent centuries wondering 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.”
I gave this book 5 stars -
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R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● Book Review: 'The Assassin's Blade' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Throne of Glass' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Crown of Midnight' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Heir of Fire' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Empire of Storms' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Tower of Dawn' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Kingdom of Ash' by Sarah J. Maas _____________________________________________________ --------------------------------------- M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read ---------------------------------------
F A V O U R I T E Q U O T E S:
“When you shatter the chains of this world and forge the next, remember that art is as vital as food to a kingdom. Without it, a kingdom is nothing, and will be forgotten by time. I have amassed enough money in my miserable life to not need any more – so you will understand me clearly when I say that wherever you set your throne, no matter how long it takes, I will come to you, and I will bring music and dancing.” “She was a whirling cloud of death, a queen of shadows, and these men were already carrion.” “Clothes are weapons, too.” “Artists are essential.” “She would find that love again – one day. And it would be deep and unrelenting and unexpected, the beginning and the end and eternity, the kind that could change history, change the world.” “I kept thinking about how you might never know that I missed you with only an ocean between us. But if it was death separating us…I would find you. I don’t care how many rules it would break. Even if I had to get all three keys myself and open a gate, I would find you again. Always.” “But perhaps the monsters needed to look out for each other every now and then.” “Gods, without his magic…Humans were remarkable. To be able to survive without leaning on magic…He had to give them credit.” – Yes, we are remarkable indeed Rowan. “Even when we’re apart tomorrow, I’ll be with you every step of the way. And every step after – wherever that may be.” “She smiled at last. And damn if it didn’t kill him, the quiet joy in her face. They had walked out of darkness and pain and despair together. They were still walking out of it. So that smile…It struck him stupid every time he saw it and realized it was for him.” “But she held onto him, so fiercely she could feel the weapons beneath his clothes. It would all be fine, even if it went to hell, so long as he was with her.” “Swords are boring.” The queen said, and palmed two fighting knives. Manon sheathed Wind-Cleaver along her own back. She flicked her wrists, the iron nails shooting out. She cracked her jaw, and her fangs descended. “Indeed.” The queen looked at the nails, the teeth, and grinned. Honestly- it was a shame that Manon had to kill her.” “You make me want to live, Rowan. Not survive; not exist. Live.” “To a new world,” the Queen of Terrasen said. The King of Adarlan lifted his glass, such endless shadows dancing in his eyes, but – there. A glimmer of life. “To freedom.” “It was worth it,” he said, his smile fading. “You were worth it. All these years, all the waiting. You’re worth it.”
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