Thursday, March 17, 2016

Book Review: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas

Disclaimer: I read this book back in December and this is my review that I mostly wrote then... with some added things from now, I guess I forgot to post it here, yet I wrote a review on Goodreads... time to upload this review!!!

Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4)
Title: Queen of Shadows
Author: The Queen: Sarah J Mass
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Page Count: 648?
Source: I purchased this from Barnes and Noble.
Rating: 5/5 Stars
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.

The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.


Review:
From Goodreads originally:
THIS BOOK. I have so many things to say, and so many thoughts running through my head. Sarah J Maas is such a brilliant writer and truly knows how to draw you in, tell a story, make you love every character, even the ones you hate, and break your heart a few times and STILL leave you wanting more, wanting to continue this cycle of pain.

I love every character in this series. Every. Single. One. So I am going to break this down by my favorites.

OMG AHHHHH, FAVOURITES: Manon, Lysandra, Aelin, Dorian

OMG YOU ARE SO GREAT SO MUCH LOVE: Chaol, Nesryn, Rowan, Aedion

OMG I WANT TO KNOW MORE: Some of the others plus Elide, ASTERIN,

THERE IS MORE BUT JUST.AHH. I LOVED ASTERIN IN.THIS BOOK.

I LOVED EVERYONE IN THIS BOOK.

I LOVED THIS BOOK.

I LOVE LYSANDRA SHE IS EPIC AS HELL

THIS.BOOK IS EVERYTHING I WANTED AND MORE

THIS.IS.SO GUSHY AND I AM NOT SORRY AT ALL.

my only complaint was there was.times I.just wanted to read about.Manon and others just about Aelin I mean, that's good... but I should always feel that way.

BETTER THAN THE OTHERS. AND I HAVE NO.DOUBT THIS.WILL GET BETTER AND BETTER AND.BETTER.

Added thoughts and changed thoughts:

I wrote this original review after coming off of the high that was Queen of Shadows, and although I still stand by my rating, because boy did I love this book... I am not certain it is my favorite book in the series... It might be but I have not decided.

Because I LOVED Crown of Midnight and the relationships. I also loved Heir of Fire and the addition of the new characters... and as I type this...

There are a few things Queen of Shadows does better than its previous installments in the series. It made the "side stories" more important. Manon was really the star of Queen of Shadows, in my opinion. I can't help rooting for her and everything that she is. She is evil in all of the best ways and I honestly would not enjoy these books as much if she was not in them any more.

The new characters in QoS are some of my favorite characters I have ever met, and I am very thankful they exist. I also think that QoS has a more intricate and complex storyline than the others and Maas' has really stepped up to fill the shoes with the story she has created. My wyrd, Maas has a way of weaving stories.

I think that people's biggest problem with Queen of Shadows was the backtrack in character development in Chaol and a few other characters. I would like to put my two sense in, and politely disagree. If we have paid any attention to the way this series is going, and everything that happened to Chaol in each book, and between them, we can assume that he will change. Plus, I think Maas might have finally found what she wished to find in Chaol... and even if we disagree with the direction she is taking him (not saying I do, but I know a lot of people do.) We need to respect her choices, or the characters choices, cause oftentimes the characters tell us what they want, as writers.

Aelin also had some wonky character development, in regards to she was much more bitchy. It makes sense to me. Pretty much everything Maas does just makes sense to me and I am very thankful for that. I know many of you will disagree but I truly feel Maas knows what she is doing and every character has their discrepancies and inconsistencies, and I think that makes them feel all the more real.

The more real the character the more I connect to that character. Real characters in fantasy novels are some of my favorite things ever, because I am totally a fantasy nerd, and find myself drawn to those stories. So, relating to a character is a phenomenal thing, because it honestly doesn't happen as often.

I love Sarah J Maas as an author, and a storyteller. And I see the problems people point out with her books and frankly, I don't care about them as much as others do. To me, they are forgivable.

It's been a few months since I read this book... and I still remember many details and some of my favorite scenes... I won't say what.. but there is a specific scene involving Manon (there is many I love, but one in the forest is my favorite... and you'll see why...you'll know the scene when you get there.)

I think the only complaint I really have about this series is the intense love triangle that was present... and everything that comes with the many romances that have come and gone. I think they were well written and Aelin's love for each makes so much sense, but I feel it was a little excessive.

Queen of Shadows is a phenomenal fantasy novel with an epic storyline, and I am so glad I finally got to write this review.

- Cody @ Roecker Reviews

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