Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, 4) Paperback – February 14, 2023

OK confession time; I couldn’t wait to start reading Queen of Shadows before writing my Heir of Fire review, so this is going to be a joint review of both books.For those of you unaware, Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows are the third and fourth books respectively in Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series. It is YA fantasy series with a kickass heroine and great worldbuilding. If you’ve not yet started it, I highly recommend checking it out.I listened to both books within a fairly short space of time and loved both of them. Because Queen of Shadows builds upon and develops characters and plot points raised in Heir of Fire, they are excellent to read together. Many of the cliffhangers in Heir of Fire are also resolved, which is very satisfying.What I likedCharacter development. We see lots of wonderful character development in our main character, Celaena. When we rejoin Celaena at the beginning of Heir of Fire, she is in a pretty dark place emotionally, reeling from the events of previous book Crown of Midnight. Throughout Heir she along with new character Rowan works to get her mojo back. This is a significant chunk of the book. Such a wonderful character arc.Her success is expressed in the change of name from Celaena to Aelin in Queen – she has accepted her identity, her past and her powers and is going to use them to kick ass. Incidentally, I had no issue whatsoever with the name change – Maas has written the character consistently and her “voice” remains the same whether she is “Celaena” or “Aelin.”Given how much she has progressed in Heir, Aelin’s character development does stall a lot in Queen – the focus is more on kickassedness and achieving the goals she set for herself at the end of Heir. Personally, I was actually far less engaged in Aelin’s story in Queen because of this.In Queen, the character development is expressed far more through the character of Manon, and I absolutely LOVED her chapters. Given the choice between reading about Manon or Aelin in Queen I was far more involved in Manon’s struggles. I loved how her relationship with her wyvern, Abraxos and with her Thirteen and Elide, caused her to rethink the values and attitudes with which she has been raised. The Manon we leave at the end of Queen is not the Manon we meet at the beginning of Heir and it was beautiful. I fully expect to see Manon work to bring down the Matron in the next book.Strong female friendships. There are some pretty cool female characters in the Throne of Glass world; Aelin, Manon, Lysandra, Elide, Asterin to name a few. Each of these are strong women in their own right, but when they get together thrones will fall, names will be taken and asses will be kicked. Our characters are stronger and are changed for the better (cue Wicked medley) because they knew each other. Things would have turned out very differently if it weren’t for the bonds between these women and Maas writes these friendships beautifully.Promises delivered. In Heir, Maas set out some very clear expectations about what was going to happen in Queen and she delivered. What we expected to happen did happen, which adds up to a very satisfying book. It didn’t always happen the way we expected, and often there were many unexpected obstacles in our protagonists’ path, but the expected confrontations took place, goals were achieved and people were saved.Intriguing minor characters. We met some new and interesting minor characters. I was particularly touched by Asterin’s story and I’m really interested to see where Elide’s path takes her. I have very strong suspicions about young Evangeline and her “citrine” eyes. It appears yellow eyes have some power over the Valg, so I’m curious to see what part she plays.What I didn’t likePromises delivered. Yes, I know I had this in my what I liked list. In some ways though, I felt too many loose ends were tied up. Our characters, other than Dorian, are in pretty good shape. I was almost left with the feeling that, if the series were to end here, I’d be quite content. Certainly there are a few open plots for the next book, but nothing that had me thinking I have to have book five NOW. I’m not certain that that’s altogether a good thing given there are two more books to go.The Aelin/Manon confrontation. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that Aelin and Manon finally met, and I loved the developments that came out of their confrontation, but I just didn’t buy how it ended. Aelin’s thought processes just didn’t ring true. Sorry.Despite these slight misgivings, I loved both Heir and Queen. I gave them both 4.5 stars out of five.

Actual Rating 4.5 starsReview:Characters: Celaena's journey continues as she has finally accepted her place as Aelin, Queen of Terrasen. This book deals a lot with Aelin keeping the promises she made in her life and taking vengeance where she is due. Aelin is such a complex and striking character, who just when you think that maybe she can't really develop anymore, she does. Manon Blackbeak is now Wing Leader and has to struggle with the demands of the duke and what is best for her people. I know that there are people out there that don't like Manon, and while I don't really understand that, I accept that. However I love Manon, she's cold, cruel, and vicious, but somewhere deep down there are glimpses of a good and moral person and over the course of this book those glimpses come around far more often. As for Dorian, Chaol, and Rowan, I love them all, their flawed and some are broken but their inner-strength really comes out over the course of this book.Romance: If I had one complaint about this book it would be the romance aspect of it. As if the romance wasn't complicated enough with Dorian a slave to a Valg Prince and Chaol extremely conflicted about whether or not he trusts Aelin after hiding her true self from him and the frightening stunt she pulled in Wendlyn, but now Rowan throws his hat into the ring. I have nothing against any of these characters, in fact independently I love them all, but the plot and world-building of this series is so amazing that needlessly complicated romances kind of distract from the story.World-Building: This series just keeps getting more and more in depth. I definitely regret not having read The Assassin's Blade prior to this book because many things that I'm sure were introduced in that book come back and play a large role in the first half of this book or so. The sinister plot of the King of Adarlan thickens as we discover his true motivations and about a coming threat far more dangerous than a magic wielding mortal king. As this series continues it's as though layers are added that make the world so real and complicated, but not in confusing or needless way. I can't wait to see how the world will continue to grow in these final two books.Predictability: There are a great many things I didn't see coming. In fact I never quite knew what was going to happen. There are a few things that seemed obvious, but other than that I had no real idea what was going to happen with these characters, other than Aelin and Manon I think I had feelings at some point that every other character might die. There are moments in this book that are utterly game-changing. It seems that this series keeps reinventing itself in small ways, but in this book that really rings true.Ending: So the final climax of this book is so incredibly epic. I mean I don't think I can properly put into words what I was felling as I read it. Everything happened so fast and there were moments of fear, moments of excitement and everything was just so amazing. The cool down after the climax sort of shows where the next book is headed and the various journeys that we'll be on with these characters. While there wasn't really a cliffhanger, and it actually ended up being more plateaued I can't wait to continue this series.Rating:If I was rating this just on the plot and world bulding and such and wasn't taking into account the romance this book would not only have gotten five stars but probably would have been my favorite so far. However I felt the romance was needlessly complicated and while things are sort of sorted out by the end it just felt off to me.