Queen of Shadows

WARNING: THERE ARE DEFINITELY SPOILERS HERE!!!

Oh my goodness. Oh. My. Goodness. SARAH J. MAAS IS A WRITING GENIUS!!

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I had to let that out.

I just finished Queen of Shadows today and… oh my goodness.

That’s all I can say right now. I’m at a loss of words.

Gosh this book is just so… S:LDUBHPOSG SODFJOPSIDJGOPIGSODFJ:SLDKJF!!!! You get me, right?

Honestly, I’m not sure how I’m going to make this review because there are no words to explain how MAGNIFICENT this book is.

Gosh where do I start?

So much has happened in this book. So much.

Can we start off by talking about the time when Rowan comes back to Aelin? I had a mini freakout when I read that Rowan came back. It made me so happy I was internally crying tears of joy.

And the time when Rowan and Aelin visited Sam’s grave… Yeah I was crying internally but for a different reason. Sarah J. Maas really knows how to bring out the sensitive crybaby out of me.

And even though the whole book was rather serious (with all the chain of events that happened), there was still that element of humor that made the book even better, if that’s possible.

“Your hair! You cut it all off!” She pulled off her own hood as she crossed the distance between them. Indeed, the long silver-white hair was now cropped short. It made him look younger, made his tattoo stand out more, and…fine, it made him more handsome, too. Or maybe that was just her missing him.

“Since you seemed to think that we would be doing a good amount of fighting here, shorter hair is more useful. Though I can’t say that your hair might be considered the same. You might as well have dyed it blue.”

“Hush. Your hair was so pretty. I was hoping you’d let me brain it one day. I suppose I’ll have to buy a pony instead.” She cocked her head. “When you shift, will your hawk form be plucked, then?”

(Maas 237)

I don’t know why, but I found this part hilarious. It was when Rowan and Aelin are back inside after he made an appearance and they were catching up.

Speaking of Rowan and Aelin, I ship them. So hard. As a hard-core fangirl of Throne of Glass and Sarah J. Maas in general, I ship them so much!!

Is it weird to think that I hated Rowan and all he stood for when he first made an appearance in Heir of Fire? It wasn’t until the last part of the third book where I started to be okay with him.

And Manon! And Aelin! When they fought! You’d think I couldn’t be breathless when I was reading that part but let me just tell you, I needed to take a break to catch my breath. That part was like watching an action-packed movie!

And then Aelin unexpectedly (and expectedly, at the same time) saves Manon after their fight.

And then there was the plan to save Dorian by killing him! And how Manon paid her life debt to Aelin (when she saved her) by telling the rebels that Dorian was still in there… somewhere.

Dorian (well, actually, the Valg prince that was possessing his body) almost killed Aelin at the end of the book, and I was actually terrified that Dorian will kill her, but thankfully, he pulled out and helped Aelin fight the king.

AND THEY KILLED THE KING OF ADARLAN!

The whole plan with Arobynn was freaking amazingly clever. It was so well thought out, even I was surprised. Aelin just pulled a Sherlock when she changed Arobynn’s will and the demon ring. Gosh, it was so fantastic!

One thing that relieved me was the unexpected friendship between Lysandra and Aelin. I was so happy that they worked it out, because they’re such a good team together. Plus, you wouldn’t want to get on Lysandra’s bad side because she’s a… *dramatic pause* SHAPE-SHIFTER!!

Honestly, Sarah J. Maas dumped so much into this book that I still haven’t wrapped my head around everything, but hot dang, is it good.

Going back to Manon, in the beginning, she was acting… off… when her grandmother was gone and leaves Manon in charge. Some messed up people *cough cough Vernon and Perrington cough cough* wanted to breed Valg and witches together, and Manon let that happened. She knew it was a terrible thing to agree with, but she felt as though she should follow her grandmother’s orders and let them do what they want. Which definitely backfired.

But then Asterin changed Manon’s mind and heart when she told her the story that changed her view on her grandmother.

Some characters died in this book, and all of them deserved it, whether it was mercy or revenge. Here is a list of the ones I can think of at the top of my head:

• King of Adarlan
• Arobynn
• Kaltain
• a whole bunch of rebel soldiers
• a whole bunch of regular people in general

There were new characters that were introduced as well. Elide, who’s uncle is Vernon and was around the Blackbeaks in the duration of the book, was one main one. You later on figure out that Elide’s mother helped Aelin escape when her parents were murdered.

My head is still spinning with all the events that happened.

I’ve got to go and nurse my reading hangover now.