Book Review: Queen of Shadows

Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4): Written by Sarah J Maas

Release Date: September 1st, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children

Format of Novel: Hardcover

Rating:4.8/5 Stars

Summary (From good reads): 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 rescues 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 a 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.

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I had a difficult time reading this because lately I wasn't really in the mood to read really long books after a day from work. But, after taking my sweet time with this novel, I finally read this beast completely. Let me just say, you all probably have finished this before this review, but hell what a action-packed event huh? So many things occurred during this installment and they were fantastic. From the rescues, to the rebellion against the King of the Glass Kingdom, to Celaena/Aelin's upcoming reign as queen, to new chapters of Manon and the Thirteen. The fight scenes were on point and the drama between the cast of characters were executed

This book was in my opinion, the second best novel of Sarah J Maas (top one is ACOTAR). So much occurred that I can't say much since this review is spoiler-free. I will say that you will not be disappointed because we are learning how Aelin's court is finally rebelling against the Glass King with her old friends and new allies appearing in such an unexpected way that it makes you scream "What the hell!?" in a excited fan girl mode. And the characters, oh my god I just want to hug Carol and Dorian so freaking much right now. They are my babies and this book almost emotionally destroyed me with the changes these two made, especially Dorian. 'Cause, holy shit right in the end? (If you already read the book before me). Rowan and Aedion were great for this book because we see them becoming more developed as characters and I'm glad they're on Aelin's side because it would be more crazy if they weren't, yet at the same time, I sort of want to see them be cursed into being on the dark side or something I dunno.

What I also enjoyed was the Manon chapters. Compare to the third book to the series, I was finally able to understand more of her and her coven of thirteen. I was beginning to feel sorry for her when she learned the twisted secrets her grandmother hid from her throughout her life. But at the same time, since Aelin is the main protagonist of this epic series, I have a gut feeling that Manon is going to be the grand antagonist that we are all waiting for in the final two books.

Queen of Shadows overall was filled with great action, sass, and emotional outlooks that made my heart break, mend, break again, and cheering for the entire story to keep on going.. This story was an amazing installment to the series and I seriously cannot wait for more in the next year because I want to see how far Aelin is going to go as Queen. Is she going to keep kicking ass or did she start a new world war? Only time will tell..

Happy Howling fellow readers.