Queen of Shadows

Book Title: Queen of Shadows

Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #4

Date Started: September 1st 2015

Date Completed: September 4th 2015

Genres: Fantasy, Action, Romance, Adventure
Quality Rating: Five Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Final Rating: Five stars

Review:

Queen of Shadows was a phenomenal addition to the Throne of Glass series: the characters were more courageous, the action was more epic and the plot went in a direction I never would have expected. So why do I feel like it wasn't quite right? It was probably my favourite book in the series so far, but it had more issues than the others as well.

The big thing I kept thinking while reading Queen of Shadows in relation to the whole series was that the story was getting better and better, but the writing started feeling... careless? Some issues were dealt with in frankly overly-convenient or coincidental ways that just didn't feel as thought-out as I'm used to from Maas. I understand how important it was to keep on the path she had planned, but some of the realism was sacrificed in my opinion to do so.

On the other hand, I didn't think the world building could grow any more from the first three books but the way Maas manages to introduces even more landscapes and make them just as stunning and vivid as everything we already know is just astounding. I love exploring Erliea, and even being shown new places within Rifthold itself which have been under our noses the whole time. In fact the development of everything if you look back on the series it amazing and for that I can overlook little inconsistencies, however much they irritated me.

While I was reading I felt like this book was very much about the relationships between everyone and the way their recent developments had changed their intentions and actions towards each other, but looking back it's about a lot than that. There really were genuine problems between people, and admittedly some of it felt very easily resolved and was just the characters being stupid but it just demonstrated how hard it's going to be for Aelin to actually start being queen (and maybe bring into question whether she would be a good queen or not - in fact quite a few of the characters seem to have changed for the worse).

However, there were ultimately two big problems: firstly, you can't keep saying 'actually this happened earlier but I didn't tell you' to get out of tight corners. Deus ex machina only works if you use it sparingly, and was close to frivolous and felt a bit like cheating - the tension supposedly created wasn't even there in the end because I knew there was going to be a catch. [SPOILER WARNING] And second, I felt robbed that the two biggest antagonists are just gone now. I appreciate the shock of it being quick, but for all they've done to Celaena and her friends it was just anticlimactic that they were dealt with so... easily? It was really unsatisfying for me and probably the biggest disappointment of the series so far [END OF SPOILERS].

I really enjoyed the climax of Queen of Shadows. I was so happy when everyone got a piece of the action, despite the fact that it really felt the whole series was drawn to a close. But you never quite know how Sarah's going to carry on the story at the end of each book, but she always manages to do it. And because of that I'm very excited for what's to come.

Queen of Shadows introduced even more new characters than before. Maas is one of those few authors that are able to manage huge numbers and keep them relevant and interesting to the reader - most of the time. I sometimes felt an inclusion of a particular character wasn't needed or perhaps took away from the pace of the plot, and there were some I didn't really care about when I was reading.

Aelin (who will always be Celaena to me, not matter how awesome Aelin also is) had a very interesting arc in this book. Though I do find Celaena more fascinating as a character because of how volatile and unpredictable and conflicted she is, Aelin still takes on the world and won't let anyone push her around. It actually presents more problems than it has in the past because of how everyone expects her to act as a queen - she's still kick ass and wonderful and confident in her own skin.

I really like Rowan and Aedion, and their relationships with Aelin are so entertaining to read. I think especially in Queen of Shadows they became the people Aelin really needed around; everyone else practically abandons her but they trust her and her abilities and will stick up for her anyway. I have to say it did feel like the others characters were a bit neglected when it came to who was featured because of this.

As much as I like the new characters, I miss the original three. I miss Nehemia too, but I miss Celaena, Dorian and Chaol together. They've all changed, and while it's kind of sad I really appreciate how much they've developed. But even so I want to see them together again.

There were some absolutely fantastic female characters this time, and their positions in the story just enhanced the brilliance of the book. I'd been missing female friendships since Crown of Midnight, but then we got Lysandra. I missed having female characters that weren't necessarily powerful but still brave and developed, and then I got Elide. I missed having female character that leant on each other for support but didn't have to be romantic or could be, and we got Manon and Asterin. And then I didn't realise how much I missed female characters standing up for the abilities of other people, and may I present to you the awesome Nesryn.

This book was definitely in two parts, as all the other books have, but it felt like these two didn't really click together as well. I get how they wouldn't really have worked as singular books and I respect Maas for not drawing each story out for the hell of it, but it felt quite strange to have such an climax (or anti-climax depending on how you felt about it) follow on to another climax. Having said that, when I was looking back over the story almost every chapter still had me engaged and excited - it may not have been conventional but I guess it did work in the end.

I had lots of little issues with Queen of Shadows, but in the grand scheme of things it was still fantastic and I can't bring myself to rate it any lower even after some time to reflect back on the book. This is the first time I feel that reading the prequel novellas to the series would enhance the experience, but even without having got through those you can still enjoy the next awesome instalment in the Throne of Glass series.

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23848145-queen-of-shadows