Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas Published by Bloomsbury USA on October 23, 2018
Genres: Action & Adventure, Epic, Fantasy, General, Romance, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 992
Goodreads
Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas's #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an epic, unforgettable conclusion. Aelin Galathynius's journey from slave to king's assassin to the queen of a once-great kingdom reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world. . .
Aelin has risked everything to save her people-but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day...
With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they've gathered to battle Erawan's hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation-and a better world.
And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen-before she is lost to him forever.
As the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.
Yeah, I have no idea what happened. I guess my leaving the blog for a while meant that I never got around to reviewing the last book in the Throne of Glass series. Weird. So anyway, here’s KINGDOM OF ASH by Sarah J Maas.
This is not my favorite book in the series. That distinction will always go to HEIR OF FIRE, closely followed by QUEEN OF SHADOWS. Still, I’m not one of those people who felt they were let down by this book. Quite the opposite. KINGDOM OF ASH is a great book. It ticks the majority of the boxes it needed to, ties up loose ends, and gives the reader one hell of a final battle. So why is it not 5 nuts?
The biggest reason? Aedion and Lysandra. More specifically how Aedion treats Lysandra throughout the book. What an absolute bastard. I mean for real. While I understand why he’s upset the way he treats her is unforgivable. Especially since he expects her to just get over it and be cool with him the moment he decides he’s moved past it.
As in EMPIRE OF STORMS we also have Darrow acting like a pompous jackass through most of the book as well. I can’t stand Darrow, regardless of his love for Orlon. For that matter it ticks me off a little that one of our few gay characters here is such a prick. Can we not?
For the most part the rest of the book hits all the right notes. Aelin’s captivity is horrible to read through, which its supposed to be. Maas clearly wanted to be sure that no one had even a shred of appreciation for Maeve left by the end. She certainly succeeded. Later on after he release, I love Maas’ portrayal of the PTSD both she and Fenris suffer after the fact. It is fantastically well written and teeters on the edge of being too real sometimes.
There are so many moments in this book that had me in tears, and I am not a crier when it comes to books. Despite that Maas always seems to get under my skin and make me tear up no matter how hard I try not to. Between Aelin’s captivity, the lock, the Thirteen, Gavriel, and whatever else I’m forgetting, Maas has your heart gripped in her fist the entire book.
All in all, a solid book in the series but definitely not the best. That’s okay though, not every book in a huge series can be perfect.
What’s your favorite Throne of Glass book? Share yours in the comments below!
From my shelf to yours,
Erin
Leave a Reply