Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: October 23, 2018
Pages: 992
Format: Hardcover/Own
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.
*Spoilers if you haven't caught up with the series, and some spoilers to this book, I tried really hard not to spoil too much. At the least I kept the spoiled things vague. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED*
Review: Wow. Just wow. This book was so emotional for me. I cried at least four separate times throughout this book. There was just so many heartwarming and heartbreaking scenes. This book just broke me. So, surprisingly, the person that brought tears to my eyes the most was Manon. I never thought her scenes were gonna be the ones to bring me to tears so often, but they were. Manon has grown so much on me throughout the series and just all the heartwarming and heartbreaking scenes regarding her just got to me so much. I just love the tremendous amount of growth you see from her from when we first meet her in Heir of Fire to who she is now in Kingdom of Ash. Out of all the characters, I think she makes one of the biggest changes. Honestly, my heart breaks for her at the end of this book. She gains so much, but loses so much as well. My poor poor Manon. I have to say, things that made Manon my favorite in this book... Her standing up to the Matrons for the Crochans, what Manon and the thirteen did for for the Crochans, her willing to risk her life to turn some of the Ironteeth, her being so determined to keep her promise to Aelin, her genuinely opening up to Dorian and showing her feelings. Guys. Manon over her just blew me out of the water with her actions in this book. And the thirteen.. Guys.. I'm gonna cry again. I just can't. The thirteen.
Aelin. The other person we see go through a tremendous amount in this book. She suffers so much at the hands of Maeve. Nasty, evil, Valg Maeve. What she had Cairn doing to Aelin was absolutely disgusting and horrifying. And then worming into her mind, showing her things that would never come true or things that were outright lies to try and break her. Poor Aelin suffers tremendously because of Maeve. So much so, that when she does finally get away, she seems to be suffering some PTSD. Nightmares, feelings like she's back in that coffin, feeling like the torture is happening. This poor girl. And then the pressure of having to forge the lock knowing her fate if she does it. She just crumples. In the end, she does pick herself back up and continues to fight for everyone, for Terrasen. But I just feel so bad for her. She just keeps giving and giving while everyone takes and takes. And of course I'm glad she finds a way to survive forging the lock, but it just came at such a tremendous cost to her. At least in the end, despite the loss to her and all those around her, she at least gets to take her throne. And of course, Rowan. Sweet Rowan. He never stops looking for Aelin. And the poor guy literally doesn't want to live if Aelin isn't alive. After the whole thing with Lyria, he just can't do all that again. I felt so bad for Rowan and his heartache not knowing where Aelin was or if she was going to have to die after finding her. Ahh. My poor heart.
And of course, we have to talk about Aedion and Lysandra since they are the other two big people. God, I feel for them too. They are pretty much battle the brunt of Erawan's forces. They are having to take on wave after wave after wave of them. Thousands upon thousands of valg and even with all the allies Aelin got them before Maeve took her, they suffer a lot of losses. They even end up retreating a number of times. And in the midst of this they have to deal with Lysandra shifting into Aelin but not being able to use her power. So there's questions about that. And then we have power hungry Darrow for most of the book. Talking about how he and lords do this and that. And how he treats Aedion and his rank despite all he's done for Terrasen. Honestly, despite his change of heart by the end because of Evangeline, he still left a sour taste in my mouth. At least he did freaking decide to do the right thing in regards to Aelin and her throne. But back to them, there's also the fact that the tension between Aedion and Lysandra is so thick you could cut it with a knife. They are so angry with each other and neither of them let anything go until the last like quarter of the book. That in itself was just a huge issue since they were the ones leading the forces for Terrasen. It's hard to work together like that when you're that angry. However, they do finally let stuff go thank god. And guys, my heart. Poor Aedion. He suffered losing someone he never realized he didn't actually want to lose and it just breaks his poor heart. So much pain in this book. :( :( :(
And Chaol and Yrene. Omg. They were such a bright spot in such a dark time. Their happy news made all the bad stuff a little better. I absolutely loved Yrene and how hard she worked to save people and even the role she took on in confronting Erawan. My girl Yrene over here is a freaking badass and I love her. And I just love how she took no shit from Chaol's dad and stood up to him. I LOVED THIS. And Chaol definitely wasn't awful in this book. I actually genuinely liked him in this. I think it's because he got past so many of his issues in Tower of Dawn so he's a pretty decent person now. And Dorian was great too. He's definitely grew some since the beginning of the series. I love how determined he was to find the third key and how brave he decided to be to freaking go into Morath to get it. That honest to god takes a lot of strength. And I absolutely just loved the emotional reaction to seeing Chaol for the first time since his injury and seeing him walk. Those two are like brothers and it was just such a beautiful reunion between them.
Maeve, god I hate her. She was just so evil and manipulative and full of lies. UGH. Lets put it this way, I have no sympathy whatsoever for what happened to her. And I thought it was absolutely perfect Aelin and company used some deceptions to defeat her. She absolutely got what she deserved in the way she deserved.
This whole book guys. It was beautiful. The ending, though with sorrow hanging over everyone, was beautiful. I thought this book just tied up the series so well. Sure we are left with wondering how Dorian is going to rebuild Adarlan and what Manon is going to do with the wastes now, but it's not necessarily huge loose ends. And what Aelin offers Manon about the thirteen. That was such a heartfelt moment and such a beautiful thing to offer.
Aelin. The other person we see go through a tremendous amount in this book. She suffers so much at the hands of Maeve. Nasty, evil, Valg Maeve. What she had Cairn doing to Aelin was absolutely disgusting and horrifying. And then worming into her mind, showing her things that would never come true or things that were outright lies to try and break her. Poor Aelin suffers tremendously because of Maeve. So much so, that when she does finally get away, she seems to be suffering some PTSD. Nightmares, feelings like she's back in that coffin, feeling like the torture is happening. This poor girl. And then the pressure of having to forge the lock knowing her fate if she does it. She just crumples. In the end, she does pick herself back up and continues to fight for everyone, for Terrasen. But I just feel so bad for her. She just keeps giving and giving while everyone takes and takes. And of course I'm glad she finds a way to survive forging the lock, but it just came at such a tremendous cost to her. At least in the end, despite the loss to her and all those around her, she at least gets to take her throne. And of course, Rowan. Sweet Rowan. He never stops looking for Aelin. And the poor guy literally doesn't want to live if Aelin isn't alive. After the whole thing with Lyria, he just can't do all that again. I felt so bad for Rowan and his heartache not knowing where Aelin was or if she was going to have to die after finding her. Ahh. My poor heart.
And of course, we have to talk about Aedion and Lysandra since they are the other two big people. God, I feel for them too. They are pretty much battle the brunt of Erawan's forces. They are having to take on wave after wave after wave of them. Thousands upon thousands of valg and even with all the allies Aelin got them before Maeve took her, they suffer a lot of losses. They even end up retreating a number of times. And in the midst of this they have to deal with Lysandra shifting into Aelin but not being able to use her power. So there's questions about that. And then we have power hungry Darrow for most of the book. Talking about how he and lords do this and that. And how he treats Aedion and his rank despite all he's done for Terrasen. Honestly, despite his change of heart by the end because of Evangeline, he still left a sour taste in my mouth. At least he did freaking decide to do the right thing in regards to Aelin and her throne. But back to them, there's also the fact that the tension between Aedion and Lysandra is so thick you could cut it with a knife. They are so angry with each other and neither of them let anything go until the last like quarter of the book. That in itself was just a huge issue since they were the ones leading the forces for Terrasen. It's hard to work together like that when you're that angry. However, they do finally let stuff go thank god. And guys, my heart. Poor Aedion. He suffered losing someone he never realized he didn't actually want to lose and it just breaks his poor heart. So much pain in this book. :( :( :(
And Chaol and Yrene. Omg. They were such a bright spot in such a dark time. Their happy news made all the bad stuff a little better. I absolutely loved Yrene and how hard she worked to save people and even the role she took on in confronting Erawan. My girl Yrene over here is a freaking badass and I love her. And I just love how she took no shit from Chaol's dad and stood up to him. I LOVED THIS. And Chaol definitely wasn't awful in this book. I actually genuinely liked him in this. I think it's because he got past so many of his issues in Tower of Dawn so he's a pretty decent person now. And Dorian was great too. He's definitely grew some since the beginning of the series. I love how determined he was to find the third key and how brave he decided to be to freaking go into Morath to get it. That honest to god takes a lot of strength. And I absolutely just loved the emotional reaction to seeing Chaol for the first time since his injury and seeing him walk. Those two are like brothers and it was just such a beautiful reunion between them.
Maeve, god I hate her. She was just so evil and manipulative and full of lies. UGH. Lets put it this way, I have no sympathy whatsoever for what happened to her. And I thought it was absolutely perfect Aelin and company used some deceptions to defeat her. She absolutely got what she deserved in the way she deserved.
This whole book guys. It was beautiful. The ending, though with sorrow hanging over everyone, was beautiful. I thought this book just tied up the series so well. Sure we are left with wondering how Dorian is going to rebuild Adarlan and what Manon is going to do with the wastes now, but it's not necessarily huge loose ends. And what Aelin offers Manon about the thirteen. That was such a heartfelt moment and such a beautiful thing to offer.
