"Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue 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 an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return."
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Had revision to do for my upcoming exam.
Epicness. That's the only word I can think of to describe Queen of Shadows in order to encompass its complexity and awesomeness. While I loved all the previous books neither of those instalments felt as grand as this one. Worlds collided, debts were paid and a queen rose to her glory.
You will be completely astonished with the unravelling of Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, because in reality you haven't exactly met her until now. You see, she's the same heroine we've come to love during these past books and yet a different persona. Every trait of Celaena Sardothien's is magnified and combined in such a masterful way to create a unique character. She's still an arrogant, stubborn, brave and sassy young woman, but she undergoes a spectacular character-development into a cunning, determined and fierce queen. Aelin is completely in control and she makes a statement in bold capital letters that she doesn't buy any bullshit and that she's ready to reclaim back everything that was taken from her and oh, boy, she does it in style. In addition to that, she has matured a long way and, for the first time, she shed her impulsiveness for being open-minded, calculating and often kind.
Now onto the next awesome woman and quite possibly my favourite character from this book: Manon Blackbeak. She was completely fabulous in a mind-boggling manner. I never would have expected her wonderful character-development: she is not all about discipline and obedience anymore. She starts wondering. She starts plotting. She starts taking a stand, slowly but surely. She's gloriously wicked, but she's not evil and I utterly loved her. I cannot wait for when her defiance will leave the witches kneeling at her feet.
The attention falls equally on some other ladies. Prepare to fall helplessly in love with Asterin. She's so strong and loyal and her story will move you to tears. We finally get reacquainted with Kaltain and she's not in a place full of flying unicorns and pink rainbows -- she's basically in her own hellhole. There were a few fascinating developments that transformed her into a worthy, lethal player. Nonetheless, her inner strength was awe-inspiring and I ended up regretting that we didn't get to know her better before. She was hands down amazing and she has my unwavering respect and admiration.
“She did it for herself. To free herself. And she was entitled to. After what they did, she was entitled to rip the entire damn world to shreds.”
This book allowed us to meet new kick-ass females: Lysandra, who was nothing short of amazing and surprising; Elide Lochan, who was determined and immensely brave; and Nesryn Faliq, who was simply awesome in every way. I loved and cheered for them all.
Now over to the boys. Firstly, Chaol. His reunion with Aelin was all sorts of shit, no, this-can't-be-happening, and I was mad at him for his demeanour. With that being said, I can assure you he remained true to his character throughout the whole book. Dorian, he killed me in this book. Killed me with his few and far between chapter POVs that had him in pure, unaltered agony and pain. Killed me with his loneliness, with his sense of being lost, with his acceptance that he'll drown in an ocean of misery and cold. Aedion's boundless love for his queen and his loyalty and sarcasm made him an instant hit.
But the best part about these characters is not even themselves.Their intricate relationships are the real deal. The BROMANCES ARE FLAWLESS - Dorian and Chaol redefine friendship, Aedion and Rowan set the backbone of a brotherhood for ages, Aelin and Manon bring a delicious and unpredictable frenemy dynamic to the table and the queen regains female companionship through Lysandra. Aelin and Aedion are even more amazing then I ever would've imagined and their reunion was all kinds of splendid. The Thirteen prove again just how much of a family they can be. Besides these, the original trio crawl their way to being once again a marvellous team -- Dorian and Aelin is possibly the best thing ever, maybe only topped by Dorian and Chaol. Banter and kinship and support and dedication are all etched deeply in every single relationship, giving them a magical quality.
All my talk about characters shows how incredibly balanced QoS is, because this book is very much plot orientated. The Valg plotline is an endless well of terrifying territory and it seems that we'll venture further into their scary world. The entire book is thrilling, jaw-dropping and fabulously written. Brilliantly woven with plot twists and thrilling from beginning till end, and also an absolutely beautiful journey sprinkled with countless gut-wrenching moments. Enthralling, action-packed and heart-warming (yes, you read that right), this book deserves praise.
Age rating should be 14+. It is dark, bloody and has generous sprinkles of romance.
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