YA in Review: Queen of Shadows (Sarah J. Maas)

First of all, this post will essentially be Spoiler Free, however as this book is part of a series, it will contain spoilers from the previous books that are necessary to explain parts of the plot of this installment. Any comments by other users will not necessarily be spoiler free, so read at your own risk. Ready? Here we go!

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Queen of Shadows is the fourth novel in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. For those eagerly anticipating vengeance and resolution, look no further. It's time for a fight.

What it's about:

Aelin Galathynius is now in charge of her powers and embracing her role as Queen. Returning to Adarlan, she is ready to assemble her court and enact revenge on those who have wronged her and her country. But a queen without a throne has to prove her worth, and a queen without allies has no power at all. With her friends imprisoned, under the watchful eye of the King, and on a different continent entirely, how can Aelin ever hope to reclaim her kingdom?

Why it's worth a read:

• The dynamics of Aelin's court are hilarious and amazing - the banter between everyone is fun
• The jealousy, anger, and betrayal felt by numerous characters felt quite believable, and was well done
• Sexual tension is in full swing, and seriously hot
• You get to see short glimpses of Dorian's perspective while he is collared. These are properly disturbing and devastating, and the very short length of each segment stops them from being needlessly repetitive
• Epic battle sequences!
• Revenge and resolutions to many aspects occur in Queen of Shadows, so it's a very satisfying installment
• Aelin's brilliance and assassin prowess really get to feature here, which is fun
• Aelin has to switch back and forth between her personae as Celaena and Aelin, which she does seamlessly. It is great to see her assassin side and her Queen side used for whichever purpose is best. Bringing back Celaena in full force to interact with past friends and enemies really shows us what her life was like before Endovier

Where it disappoints:

• Even more perspectives were added to Queen of Shadows, and sometimes I just desperately wanted to be done with certain characters. They felt more like they took away from the main storyline rather than added to it. Yes, I know they are useful for certain developments in the future, but I really wish they were featured less
• Well, if you had hopes that things would go a certain way in the past, you will likely be sorely disappointed. Ships are sunk, people die...prepare to re-evaluate your hopes and dreams for several characters.
• Without any particular reasons mentioned, Chaol seems to be a different person. His motivations and feelings are not overly clear. and a lot of his actions are at odds with his past character.
• There were a few relationships that I wish were a bit more developed in this book, particularly between Aelin/Aedion, and Aelin/Chaol. I think there were a lot of opportunities to make some real drama and/or intense bonds that felt a bit lackluster and unfinished by the end. There were definitely some good moments as well, but it could have been so much better.

Final Thoughts:

Queen of Shadows took me the longest to read out of all of the books so far. That's not to say that this is a less exciting book by any means, but there is a lot of build up to certain events, and the switching between perspectives makes it a bit more difficult to read large portions at a time when the action keeps stopping to look at a different storyline. That being said, storylines that were less interesting in the past actually gain a bit of ground this time, so if you didn't like plots such as Manon and the Blackbeaks, they do improve here. I still wasn't personally the biggest fan of these areas, and even more perspectives are added - one particularly that I found boring and repetitive. Once again though, if you aren't a fan of switching perspectives, this will continue be a problem in Queen of Shadows.

One of the major themes in this book is revenge, so expect a lot of that - and it is really satisfying. This does leave a little bit of confusion as to the point of the last book. Going into Queen of Shadows, there are a lot of people we want to see get what's coming to them, and there is a lot less that I strongly feel needs to be resolved for Empire of Storms. Just enough that I'm still reading it, but I'm definitely working at a snail's pace here.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this one, so apologies for any contradictions. What was done well was done really well, and what fell flat was like a deflated balloon - really sad and disappointing to look at. For the most part by the end I felt satisfied, and am glad I read it. Some sections made this one of my favourite books of the series, and some parts made me consider not finishing it. Overall, I definitely enjoyed Queen of Shadows, but I'm a bit worried about what's coming up next. This could easily have been the last book in the series if Maas just wrote a few things a little differently - and it would have been completely satisfying. There are two more books to follow, which has me hesitant to continue. Fingers crossed that she doesn't stretch the series to its breaking point.

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What did you all think  of this book/this series? Please leave a comment if you'd like further reviews of this series, or a more in-depth, highly spoilery analysis.