Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads)

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those don’t.

As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

Aelin’s journey from assassin to queen has entranced millions across the globe, and this fifth installment will leave fans breathless. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?

My review:

This book was one big adventure for me. Almost everything was perfectly executed and it was a pleasure to read. Maas delivered everything I wanted and then some. I know it’s huge but it didn’t take me as long as I thought it would because I just couldn’t stop. Seriously it’s that good. I can’t praise this series enough.

Aelin finally steps foot in Terrasen, her kingdom, after ten long years. Unfortunately the lords are not that impressed with her history and refuse to acknowledge her as the queen. Aelin can’t step foot in Orynth, her capital, and instead has to go on a mission to raise an army of assasin and thieves to fight Erawan. Enemies turn into allies and some rather interesting relationships develop. As in every book in this series, there are some OMG revelations that just change everything. Sadly, we find out too late that Erawan is not the only threat to this world.

So this Darrow guy is a real ass huh. I got so mad at him when he gave his little speech but I guess he did make a good point. There need to be checks on someone as unpredictable as Aelin who just so happens to have a crazy amount of magic. I don’t know if he made his declaration for his own gain or because he truly loves Terrasen. I guess one day we will find out. Darrow’s actions are what takes Aelin on her mission which is the focus of Empire of Storms. To raise an army to fight for Terrasen. She will call in life debts which means some characters from past novels will show up again.

So Erawan has finally left the Duke Perrington disguise and is now taking action against Aelin. I will admit Erawan is insanely powerful and I am worried for the gang now. He sends the witches to ruin Rifthold but Manon saves Dorian and gives him time to run. I have wanted this Dorian and Manon ship to happen from the moment they met in the forest so this made me soo happy.

I love Dorian and the guy has a thing for dangerous women. After Sorcha I guess dating someone who can protect themselves is a must for him. He was the only one who stood up for her when the rest of the people on that ship were treating her like a prisoner and I love him for that.

Manon was also quite interesting. I will not spoil anything on Manon’s story but I will just say…there are way too many royals in this story now. Do we really need that many of them? I love Manon and her thirteen and I really like Abraxos. At least that didn’t change.

As much as Lysandra played a big role in Aelin’s plans, I just didn’t like her that much. Her budding relationship with Aedion seemed a bit forced for me. Its like Maas is now just making up relationships unnecessarily. Not everyone needs to be in a relationship. Seriously.

I felt the same about Lorcan and Elide but then these two are way more entertaining so that made them a bit more tolerable. And I was just waiting for their secrets to be revealed. Elide is strong on her own and I love that she has two crazy women ready to protect her.

I do not ship Rowan and Aelin at all. I tried and failed. So all their romance was just not for me. I could have done without the sex scenes in this book. Just take all of them out please. With the whole magic thing and invisible hands and the Aelin’s flames its just weird. It was not sexy at all.

I love Aelin a lot, I really do. I understand how important her relationship with Rowan is. However, I did not like it when they brushed off Dorian’s feelings when he wanted to give Manon a bit of freedom. Dorian compared Rowan’s immortality to Manon’s. I think he made a really good point as they were all being judgy. His little comment made them mad like nothing can ever compare to their great love ( which is a little presumptuous if you ask me). I can already see that Dorian and Manon’s relationship has potential and they have also been through a lot lately and for them to treat him like a child was very disappointing. They are the ones who are supposed to understand him the most.

Aelin was badass, when she wasn’t being all mushy with Rowan. She put her pride aside to serve her kingdom and I am proud of her because I expected her to defy Darrow’s orders without a second thought. I hate that there is too much madness she has to deal with. She can’t get a break. It’s why I hope she gets the happy ending she sooo deserves. No one deserves a happy endimg more than her. After the ending of this book I could do with some rainbows and sunshine.

This book cleared up a lot on what happened in the first war from the flashbacks. There are some things we all needed clarified and you can tell Maas really thought this story through. Nothing is ever out of place. Everything always comes together in the end and I love it. Just having the ohhh moment when you finally understand something. I always say the world building in this series just amazes me. I think if I were to be given a history test on Erilea I would pass. From the witch wars, the war with Erawan there is a lot of content here.

I hate that Maeve has all these loyal Fae warriors and she just takes them for granted. I hate Maeve and I just hope she never gets her hands on Aedion.

Lastly, that ending. Aelin is so good at planning and in this case I think she went a little overboard. Especially when it comes to Lysandra. I get that Lysandra is now a big part of this war but if I were her I might have said no. That girl is now loyal to a fault. This war is going to be very interesting indeed. Even more so now that Terrasen has a shot at winning this.

Waiting for the last book is pure torture. Just thinking about Empire of Storms gives me all the feels. I think at this point I am a bit scared to read the final book. I don’t know how many times I will re-read this book while waiting for ToG7 (this is my second time reading it). It is just that good. I can’t recommend it enough. If you want an adventure you will love it.

xx Fayetino

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