Hello lovelies!

This book. This series. Oh, my god. I don’t know where to start. First off, if you haven’t read this series, go pick up the first book Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, because I promise that you will not regret it. Even if you aren’t into the YA adventure/ fantasy genre, you will enjoy this book. It has romance, it has action, it has humor, it has everything you want in a book. The story telling is amazing, and Maas has the ability to weave these incredibly involved and intricate plot lines together, making all of us rip our hair out when we find out was is actually going on instead of what we thought was going on.

But seeing as this is the fourth book in the series, I can’t really talk much about it without throwing out spoilers for the other books, but take my word for it, you’ll want to read this book.

Bye people who haven’t read the book yet! I love you, but get out and come back once you have read the book so that we can discuss together!

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS BELOW

To start from the beginning, I have a huge hole in my heart for Dorian this whole book. Because he’s trapped with a powerful demon prince in his head. Like, talk about crapped living. And you thought that dorm rooms were bad. And the fact that he’s sharing his head isn’t the worst part, it’s the fact that he’s sharing it with a demon prince who is actively trying to make his life a living hell. While his father is just sitting by watching it happen. Oh, the king… We’ll get to him later.

The first Aelin chapter that we get opens with her entire royal title, “Aelin Ashyver Galanthenis, Queen of Terresan, Heir to Mala Fire Goddess, and lots of other powerful sounding shit.” Like, wow Aelin, we know that you’re cool, calm down, it’s okay to be a princess and not flaunt the crazy-ass titles in the first chapter you come in. It’s sounding a bit to Targareon. Then we are introduced to the idea of Arobynn Hamel, who was the man who taught Celena how to fight/kill. Now, I didn’t read The Assassin’s Blade, so I didn’t know Arobynn at all at the beginning of this novel, but she’s talking about how she never knew what Arobynn was trying to be for her, in the sense of his being a father, a brother, or a lover. No. Ew. And since I hadn’t read the prequels where you interact with Arobynn, I had no idea that he was a creepy ass mother fucker. No idea. But now I do, and the whole thing with the oil and the dinner was just nasty af, and I hated everything that Arobynn did to her brain. Even in just her first interaction with him in this novel, after he met with Chaol in the Vaults (I think they’re called the Vaults), he makes her question every motive that she’s had, makes her question everyone she knows. It’s terrifying that someone could have that much control of the assassin that we have come to love and fear.

But while we’re on the subject of Aelin being absolutely badass, let’s just talk about how she, like, BLOWS UP the Vaults, or whatever the hell they’re called. She just decides to release her fury for Sam being killed on all these people, the King’s creep-tacular guards in particular. And Rourke Farran (the guy who killed Sam)’s apprentice just runs into her knife, repeatedly. Okay, this is the monster that we have just come to enjoy so much, because besides the bloodshed and the absolute horror that would resinate in our hearts after seeing these events actually occur, we still love to see her absolutely tear her enemies to shreds, and have no difficulty doing it. But she’s running through slums of Rifthold, leading this pack of scary-as-shit demon soldiers, and she’s just letting herself into apartments of couples sleeping together, but’s it’s fine because she tossed a silver coin as she was sprinting for her life. Like, “sorry that I led a group of ravenous demons through your home, but I hope that this one little coin will cover the potential emotional damage that I just inflicted.” Okay, Aelin. AND, she’s just running through the streets some more, not necessarily thinking about an escape plan, but just thinking about what an inconvenience it is to be running with a group of 20 strong swords after her. She’s got this serious issue with swords that comes up later with Manon. Aelin, for all of her amazing qualities, has some boundary issues, and seriously needs to straighten some of her proprieties.

Then we meet Chaol in this novel, and it’s the first time that she has seen her ex-lover since she left for Wendlyn, and it is cheesy crap. Like, they see each other in the tunnel, and just stop. Then she counts down the steps away from her that he is. Like, Aelin, calm the eff down. We get it. But the thing that I really like about this book, and their plot line in particular, is that they have this antagonistic relationship throughout most of the book until they come together for one end goal. Aelin is still mad at him for following the king, but then Chaol is mad at her for wanting to shred the kingdom, and the worst part is THAT THEY ARE BOTH TOTALLY JUSTIFIED.

Now, lets put this on the table, loud and clear so that there is no question on my feelings: I HATE Chaol, and I honestly wished that she had killed him in the second novel when she had a dagger to his heart. He’s just this whiny little douche canoe, and he has no sort of grasp on any situation that he enters, and his only goal (which I will admit is noble) is to keep Aelin from killing Dorian. But he only focuses on that one goal, and is stubborn as an ox, which normally I admire, but not here. Not him. And I can’t find it in my heart to hate him for that particular reason, simply because I still have one foot on the Dorian-Aelin ship. And it’s gonna take a serious incident for me to jump that ship, despite how much I adore my other ship, which we’ll get to in a minute.

But. Chaol. And his stupid. Ass. Discrimination against Aelin. He bitches about how she was off with her “warrior prince” while they were still on this continent “suffering,” and I was like, Son, what the hell are you talking about? You sent her over to Wendlyn to find her family and to learn about the Fae. Get your ass in gear. Oh, I was pissed off at him at this point.

*Side bar: In Heir of Fire, we see her Ashyver cousin Galen in the streets, and then Chaol talks about him for like one sentence in this book, but I kinda want him to come in. I think that he would make a fun addition to Aelin’s court, or maybe a spy for his family, or maybe even Maeve. I dunno, but I do know that I want him to come into play.*

Anyway, Chaol. Oh, my god. I could just… AHHHHHHH! He’s like, “Oh, I found a way to release magic in this realm,” and Aelin is like, “Omg, no way. Tell me,” and Chaol is like, “Uh, no because you’re a monster and blew up the fighting pits/whore house.” Like, for shiz, Chaol? Why you gotta do that? Gahhhh. I can’t even express the amount of frustration I was feeling toward him at this point. Like, when do you get to be all high and mighty? What made you so perfect that you can effing decide when Aelin gets to know how to release effing magic into this land? Like, goodbye. Why don’t you hop onto a ship to Wendlyn? No one wants you here.

After this tense-as-shit meeting with Chaol, we cut into a Manon chapter, and I love Manon, but just like in Heir of Fire, I don’t love her right at this moment. I have other things going on in life, and I don’t need your drama to mess with my head. I have too many things to think about in Rifthold, please stay in Moranth (or whatever the mountain is called. God, why can’t I remember these names?) But nevertheless, her story continues, and we find out that Duke Perrington, the creep from the first book who’s champion was Cain, is in control of the witches and wyverns. And he has this shell of Kaltain with him. She’s there. She’s breathing. She’s thinking, but we never see any emotion or actual thought come out of her, until that scary shit comes out of her hands. Like, shadow fire? Nope, that stuff scares the living daylights out of me. But, I thought that Maas would have kept her around so that we could see Kaltain’s shadow fire mix with Aelin’s actual fire. But who know? Maybe we’ll find someone else who can wield shadow fire. But more on her and Manon later, since I’m just going straight off my notes, and it’s going in sequential order of what happens in the books.

While Aedion is trapped in a cell, because he wanted to save Chaol (my heart), and he has a festering wound, I’m not going to lie: I was panicking that Aedion was going to die before meeting Aelin, and it was hurting my heart. Because despite the shady shit that Aedion did when he was a general, I honestly believed that he was completely devoted to his queen once he knew that she might still be alive. And it was so sad to think that he would never get to see her. But. The fan-freaking-tastic escape heist begins, and we knew that it was dangerous to trust Arobynn, but we also knew that Aedion was about to die, and so we just had to go along with it, and trust whatever messed up giz that Aelin was planning. And that is so hard because we never know what she is planning! Like, how are was supposed to know if things are going according to the plan when we don’t know what the plan is? And this happens ALL THE TIME in this book. The whole thing is a massive scheme, but do we know what is actually going on? No. Why would we? Where is the fun in knowing if everything is going to hell or not? Maas, you’re killing me. However, we do get Aedion out with this amazing heist, and we have a close call with Dorian, at which point I was bawling because he’s still in there but he’s not. And even though I do hate Chaol, I’m glad that he talked to Arobynn and stopped Aelin from killing Dorian/ Demon Valg Prince Thing. Which is a whole new level of twisted.

Now that Aedion has been sprung from his death bed, we get this glorious reunion between Aelin and Aedion. Being completely honest, I didn’t like Aedion until about half way through this book. In Heir of Fire he was working with Chaol, and anytime that Chaol was involved, I just checked out and didn’t care, so I kinda had negative feelings toward Aedion at the beginning of this book. But he slowly grew on me, once I realized that he wasn’t romantically interested in Aelin, and I really didn’t want him stepping on Rowan’s toes in that department. But I was feeling so bad for him when he was talking like a big, tough man, and saying how he was going to have to lay down the law for Rowan once he showed up in Adarlan, and how that blood oath was his and no one was going to take it from him. Oh, poor baby. I just wanted to tell him. I felt so bad that Aelin was keeping it a secret from him.

Plus, Aedion’s obsession with Rowan was absolutely hilarious. Despite the fact that he had major alpha male issues with him (and still does), he completely idolizes Rowan, and it’s kinda adorable. So that is why I’m not totally sure how Aedion was actually feeling when Rowan did show up in the slums that night. Part of him, I think, was super excited at meeting his childhood idol, but I think that the bigger part of him (at least once he saw how attached Aelin was to Rowan) realized that this was a bigger battle than he thought it would be to fight for the blood oath, and I think that at the moment he saw Rowan and Aelin hug, he knew that he had to put on his game face. And boy, he’s still not backing down.

But now we get to my favorite part of this book… The Rowan-Aelin ship! I love them. I LOVE THEM! In the last book, they are always saying that they are “just friends” and that there is nothing romantic between them, but lo and behold: Rowan is freaking in love with Aelin, and it takes them so effing long to realize it! Just the fact that 3 weeks apart from each other were torture is a big enough sign. The flirting that goes on between them the whole time is absolutely fantastic. And, oh God. The nightgown. The first time that she comes out in a frilly, little nightgown, and he can’t sleep for like hours. I died. I was dead.

Now we get to Arobynn’s dinner, which is tense-as-shit. It starts out fabulous with Aelin and Rowan checking each other out, and he’s just having the hardest time concentrating on anything but her (goals), and she finally admits that he’s damn fine. Like, amen sister.

Now, can I just say that my favorite thing about their relationship is this weird telepathy eye contact thing that they have going on. They do it at the dinner at Assassin’s Keep, and Arobynn is getting pissed off because they’re being all lovey-dovey and shit, and they are just having this little sexting conversation with their faces ? How does one communicate that you’re not wearing any underwear with your face? Something I would like to learn, I’m not going to lie.

Something that I have trained my brain to do when reading these books is to not let myself react to these crazy things that go on, because when Aelin is involved, things are absolutely never as they seem. And that is why I was not surprised when Arobynn put the wyrdstone ring on her finger, but I knew a twist was coming, and I knew that she wasn’t enslaved. And that has held true to every deal or exchange that Aelin has made. Even the fucking will was all part of this colossus plan to undermine Arobynn. But it’s all good because Lysandra killed Arobynn and now we have his fortune. Lucky Terresan.

Oh, my God. The biting scene. I was having flashbacks to A Court of Thorns and Roses, was anyone else? I’m in love with Rowan, and he’s starting to act just like Tamlin, even though Tamlin can transform into a cooler animal. But I still love Rowan. Plus the gold nightgown. Oh, Aelin, you were asking to get bitten. I’m amazed that they haven’t slept together yet, simply because of the SEXUAL TENSION ALWAYS SURROUNDING THEM. Like, Aedion notices all the time, and it’s funny as hell, but I feel for him, because that has got to be awkward.

Breaking back to Manon (God this book and review is bouncing all over the place) we see that Manon might actually have a conscience! What?! *Heart eyes* Asterin is mouthing off, and Manon has finally had enough, but when Asterin is demoted, Manon actually feels… something. What is it? Is this guilt? I thought that witches didn’t have feelings. Huh.

We are introduced to this little girl who is like 14 (JK she’s 18 but she acts like a 12 year old) and I can’t stand her. I get that she is supposed to be the humanity trigger for Manon, but this bitch is annoying. I can’t find it in my heart to try to love Elide. I can’t. The only important thing that she offers the book is her lineage, which is basically just a gateway to more confusing and frustrating questions. So, Manon figures out that Elide is half witch, and that her mother was a witch. This, of course, gets Manon curious about how witches originate and what the significance of a withcling is. She finds out that witches were the product of Valg and Fae mating together, to make these almost as creepy and wicked creatures as Valgs, but not quite so much. And she explains through the fourth wall that witchlings are born because witches get pregnant after their sixteenth birthday. Now, I’m not saying that this is for sure, but is Maas alluding to the fact that all witches were like Jesus babies? Were they all immaculately conceived? Because there are no male witches, so all witchlings born because of sex are only half witch, so full witches must be like, messiahs, and all witches that give birth must be little Marys. Weird. I want to know more about the witches.

But the biggest thing that is going to make Manon feel again is… Dorian. And I am so torn on how I feel about it! On one hand, I’m like, Manon has come so far and is almost human with all of her emotions and feelings, but then I’m like, Dorian is for Aelin. And then my heart gets conflicted over that because I still love her and Rowan more than life, so I guess that if Manon steals Dorian from Aelin, it’s okay because Rowan is still very much in the picture. But regardless, I’m quite worried about how this shit is going to end. Because I honestly don’t think that Aelin is going to end up with anyone. Now, you’re thinking: But Aubrey, you just said you wanted her to end up with Rowan. Yes, what you speak is true, by Maas is bringing this relationship in a lot sooner than I thought she would, and it makes me nervous because so much can happen in two books! Rowan could die, we could have another Chaol situation, they could somehow get unblood bonded. All this shiz is possible in this series, and it’s scares the crap out of me. But on the other hand, I don’t think that she will end up with Dorian either, because that just feels like a cop out. She will be queen because she’s a bad ass woman, and not because she’s the wife of a king. That’s just not how Aelin rolls. And Chaol. That ship is sunk. Sorry if you were still on that ship, way to stick it out, but you’re going down. Nope. Actually, you’ve already gone down. And there is no way that this ship is coming to the surface again. What has sunk may never sink.

Between Dorian and Manon, this was looking pretty exciting for me, because I wasn’t sure if Dorian was going to get the collar off before the end of this book. But we do learn a very important bit of information from their interaction: the Valgs are so scared of the witches that they will become the submissive party in the head of their host when witches are around. Like damn. This is big. I thought that this would play a bigger part in Dorian’s story, like maybe he would have Manon around more so that he could be himself more, but he got the collar off, so it’s a moot point now.

Through out the whole heist scene and trying to get Lysandra back, I was just waiting for a fight between the Thirteen and Aelin’s court to break out, but then the witches left, and I was like WTF? But we have Chaol. And who better to screw up and lead us to a huge battle than Chaol? Rooooaaaarrrr! He goes after Dorian to kill him, and then ends up going to wrong way. Are you kidding me?! First, you throw the plan (that we once again didn’t know) to the wind, and second, you run into a coven of the most powerful witches in existence. And you just stand there. Oh, my god, I wanted to kill him. This part brought out the biggest reaction out of me in this entire book, because I already hate Chaol, and then he goes and gets caught by the Thirteen, meaning that Aelin is going to have to go save his sorry ass. I honestly wanted him to die right there. But it did lead to this epic battle scene where Aelin, again, doesn’t like to fight with swords, so her and Manon face of with daggers and nails. Like, this is the most epic cat fight of all time. And that’s not making fun of it. I loved this scene, and I think that is was my favorite fight scene in the entire series so far. It did not disappoint.

All ends well (except that Rowan almost dies *cries for 8 days*) and Aelin actually ends up saving Manon’s life, which was precious and all, but now Manon owes her a life debt! And she gives her the tip about how Dorian is still there, and that keeps us from killing him, and I am so glad that he is still alive.

Finally, we have this crazy last scene at the castle, and all ends well. But I do not believe what the king says about Perrington being the Valg king. Nope, Perrington isn’t scary enough or savage enough. I’m liking Kat’s opinion that it is Dorian’s little brother, the little hell-on-wheels kid, who’s name I can’t remember right now, is the Valg King. Because that boy is twisted.

As we were making our way into the castle with Aelin and Chaol, I’ll be straight up with you, I was excited that Chaol died. I thought that it was so great that we don’t have this annoying and self righteous fly buzzing around Aelin’s every move anymore. But. He is still alive because of Aelin’s damn mystery plans! Ahh! The battle between Aelin and the valg prince continues and we’re all thinking “shit, the tower isn’t blowing up. What is going on down there?” And we cut to Aedion and Rowan being attacked by the damn dogs that Lorcan was said to have killed. Now, I’m not a mastermind schemer, but it seems to me that if such a vital part of your master plan was to use the tunnels originally occupied by demon dogs to get to the tower, then one might consider checking to make sure that there were no more demon dogs down there. Why did Aelin just decide to trust Lorcan on this one? She usually doesn’t trust anyone. And Rowan almost dies because of it. Do you feel bad now, Aelin? Good, because you should. But it’s okay, because Lysandra comes to kick some demon dog ass in by turning into a ghost leopard. Like holy shit, she’s my new favorite girl ever. I love her.

This book ends so nicely, and I kinda wish that it didn’t. I don’t need a cliffhanger, but every plot line seems to be tied up, and don’t get me wrong, there are still some serious threats looming over their heads, but I wish that they all didn’t end with a bow on their story, ya know? Like, give me something to stress about for the next nine months.

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Okay, goodbye my lovelies! I hope that you enjoyed reading this (if you made it all the way through) and please comment and let me know what you think about the book or the series or the many ships! I want to know!

xoxo Aubrey