Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas - MAJOR SPOILERS

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas - MAJOR SPOILERS

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis: Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. Now she returns to the empire - to confront the shadows of her past ...Bloodthirsty for revenge on the two men responsible for destroying her life, and desperate to find out if the prince and his captain are safe, Celaena returns to Rifthold, the seat of so much evil. She has accepted her identity of Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, there are dark truths to learn and debts to be paid. Aelin must stay hidden beneath her assassin's hood and draw on her mortal strength as Celaena to prevent the King of Adarlan from tearing her world apart. Only then can she fight for her people.

Review: Wow. So much happened in this book you guys. So much amazing, bad-ass, insane stuff! Which means that this review is going to be ridiculously long and I am not even sorry because I need to discuss this book in detail. There isn't much else I can say that won't spoil what happens because this is book 4 in the Throne of Glass series so if you haven't read these books and don't want to be spoiled then go away and read the books and then come back and discuss.

WARNING. THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD...

Okay, so lets start at the beginning. So, lets start with Dorian. My poor baby! All of the short Dorian scenes that we get scattered through the book are heart-wrenching to read, because you can see Dorian fading away and the Valg prince taking over. I knew going in to this book that Dorian would be saved, but we'd have to wait until the end of the book for Aelin to save him. Knowing that didn't make the wait any easier but at least I knew he'd be okay.

Chaol is still a douche. When he sent her to Wendlyn and realised who she was, he knew she would end up in Doranelle which means he could also have predicted she would have been able to practise magic or at least be around magic users. His whole speech about her 'antics' made me so mad because we all know that Aelin wasn't playing around. It took her half of Heir of Fire to even start to use her magic because she was scared of it. And she was dying. What else did he want her to do in that situation? (Yes I know Chaol wasn't there so he doesn't know this but, my point still stands). Despite everything that has happened between them, Chaol should know that Aelin would never deliberately harm him or Dorian. They're her friends and, in a way they're her family. In all fairness, he does grow throughout the book and comes to accept Aelin for who she is but those opening chapters with the two of them were horrible to read because I just wanted to slap some sense in to him.

I'm interested in Nesryn. She is such a strong person who ends up being a really good ally with Aelin. I liked that Aelin and Nesryn hit it off early on and even when Nesryn tried to stop Aelin from killing Dorian in her great escape from the castle, she was doing it on Chaol's orders. At that point, she didn't know who to back and Dorian seemed like the good choice and I think Aelin realised this and decided to show Nesryn that she is the safer choice to put her faith in right now than Dorian. I think I'm also on board with the Chaol and Nesryn relationship because Nesryn will not take any of Chaol's ridiculousness. She will call him out when he's being a douche and she does it frequently in this book, so I think it could work really well.

I want to talk about Aedion. I adore him. Watching him try and sacrifice himself to save Aelin was so sweet. He hasn't seen her in ten years and he has been loyal through that whole time. The rescue itself was amazing to read. The dancers throwing the powder on the floor that ignited at the end of the dance and Aelin sneaking through the guards and the crowds and stealing Aedion from under the Kings nose was such a great scene. They work so well together as well. Both feel guilty about their actions in the ten years since they last saw each other, especially Aelin, but neither judges the other. Aedion goes out of his way to tell Aelin that he understands why she stayed with Arobynn and became an assassin. It kept her safe and it made her strong enough to come back and rule her territory. As soon as Sarah brought up the blood oath though, I knew we were going to see them argue about it. It was something that never occurred to me before now but of course Aedion is going to feel put out that Rowan took the blood oath that was meant for him. He'd pinned his hopes on to taking it when they were reunited. What I loved though was that Sarah didn't drag the argument out. They fought and said things they didn't mean but the next morning they apologised and made up. I thought this was so refreshing. In YA this doesn't happen. People fight and then don't speak for the next 200 pages. Having these two characters who are so close realise that actually there is a way around this problem and it doesn't have to be a big deal as long as it is acknowledged that it hurt that the choice was taken away was so refreshing to read.

Before I talk about Rowan and Arobynn, I want to talk about Elide and the witches. I had tentatively come round to Manon and her Thirteen at the end of Heir of Fire but I just could not get in to their scenes in this book. I really didn't enjoy reading about what was happening in Morath and again I think it was because of Manon, I can't get in to her headspace. I wasn't invested in the witches or in Elide and didn't particularly care what happened to them throughout the book. The one scene I did enjoy was Manon and Aelin meeting in the clearing. I spent the whole of Heir of Fire and the majority of this book waiting for the two of them to meet because I knew it would be epic. And it was. These two strong willed, powerful women pitted against each other was amazing to read about because you honestly didn't know who would win the fight. I loved that Aelin went back for Manon. A moment before she was willing to let them die, but Aelin realised how much Asterin cares for her leader. I liked that it led to a debt where Manon told Aelin that Dorian was still there, despite the Valg Prince taking over.

The Dorian and Manon thing was a little strange to me. I liked it better than Dorian and Sorsha but it really was strange to me that Manon went to Rifthold to see if Dorian was still him. I think this relationship will definitely play a part in Empire of Storms though I don't know if it will be anything more than a friendship between the two.

Rowan and Aelin kill me. The constant flirting and the silent communication thing they have going on is so entertaining to read. I love that Aedion is in awe of Rowan and despite his feelings about the blood oath, he still respects Rowan and wants to learn from him. He never thinks to contest the relationship either like most people would in YA books. He's simply happy for his cousin and I loved seeing the two guys come together as brothers to protect Aelin. The scene where Aelin comes to bed wearing that short nightgown was hilarious. Sarah has built up this image of Rowan as a calm and lethal warrior where nothing fazes him and yet the first sight of Aelin in this nightgown sets him off and he can't cope was pure comedy to me.

The scene in the theatre where Aelin and Rowan sit in the rafters and then Aelin plays her favourite piece of music from the symphony was beautiful. I love that we're told the chairs are still in the same position as the night when the orchestra protested the killings in Endovier and Calaculla, I thought that tiny detail was a really nice inclusion because it reminds us of what happened and of that short scene in Heir of Fire which is so easily overlooked because of everything else that happens without Sarah giving her characters a long speech about how awful it is that the theatre is still the same. It's a subtle detail but I loved it. I liked that Rowan was interested not just in watching Aelin play the pianoforte but he was interested in the piece she played. He wanted to learn how she played it which again is another small detail but one that I think really added to their relationship. Chaol enjoyed the music she played him, Rowan wanted to share it with her.

The whole game with Arobynn was so well written. This book made me so glad that I pushed through the Assassin's Blade because so many of the characters from that book were mentioned here. I loved this whole section where we were in Arobynn's house after delivering the Valg prisoner because we finally got to see the end to the game, where all the cards are shown. I thought Aelin pretending to be Arobynn was a stroke of genius. Something as trivial as dying her hair red which I overlooked every time it was mentioned suddenly had a deeper meaning. Seeing how Aelin manipulated her old master at every turn by destroying the Vaults and then endearing him to the new owners all played in to her plan and Arobynn never suspected until right at the end. I loved getting to see her take her revenge in such a subtle and clever way.

The silent conversation between Rowan and Aelin might be my favourite part in the whole book. Watching them flirt right in front of Arobynn about how their 17 year old selves would react to meeting each other was so well written and so entertaining. Hearing Rowan say that 17 year old Rowan would be scandalised by Aelin and Aelin replying that he'd be even more scandalised to know she wasn't wearing underwear was brilliant. Rowan hitting his knee off the table in response was hilarious. I loved it.

Arobynn putting that Valg ring on Aelin's finger didn't surprise me in the slightest. I knew he'd do it when he cut it off the prisoner. What did surprise me was that Aelin had planned for that to happen and that the ring was a fake. Despite knowing it would happen, I don't think I've ever turned a page so fast in my life. I definitely agree with Aedion, it would be nice to be let in on some of Aelin's plans.

I'm glad that Lysandra got to kill Arobynn. I'm glad Lysandra and Aelin became friends actually, but I think she deserved the chance to do it herself after everything Arobynn did to her. Aelin came out of being Arobynn's assassin well - she has Rowan and Aedion and Dorian and the knowledge that she is strong enough to protect them now. Lysandra watched as the two men she loved were killed and she was left alone with the man she hates. I'm glad she got to avenge Wesley. I had wondered why Aelin kept going to the bank and it all became clear when Arobynn's will was read. It was a clever way of getting the money she needed for her armies and for Terrasen.

Rowan and Aelin's fight broke my heart. Rowan's reaction was instinctive but because Aelin doesn't know how he truly feels it really hurt her when he backed away. Watching her do the same to him after that; ducking away when he went to touch her and barely talking to him killed me to read. I liked that there was never a point where she didn't accept his help though, she simply kept her distance because that's what she thought he wanted. Sarah's portrayl of relationships in her books is wonderful to read about because they're so realistic.

The final fight with Chaol and Aelin in the palace and Rowan and Aedion taking the hellfire in to the sewers was so tense to read. Finding out that Lorcan betrayed them was horrible because for a long time there wasn't really a way out for the guys. When they managed to blow up the clock tower and free magic, it freed Lysandra. I love that she chose to become a ghost leopard I thought it was such a fitting form for her to take and I love that she saved the guys butts. Seeing Chaol's men hanging from the battlements was awful. They risked so much and we heard that many of them were young. I liked that Chaol took on the King despite knowing he wouldn't succeed in his task, I thought it was kind of fitting that, if he had to take on anyone, he stood a small chance (we assumed) of killing the King. Watching Aelin fight to get Dorian back was the tensest part of the whole book and I was so pleased when he managed to do it. I also liked that Dorian killed his father but Aelin took credit for it so that the people of Rifthold wouldn't start rioting against him. The display of power from both of them at the end was amazing and I'm not surprised they both slept for three days straight. As for what the King said at the end, I was shocked. I never even considered both Perrington and the King having Valg princes inside of them and I wouldn't have considered that the Valg King was inside Perrington. It makes me incredibly nervous for Empire of Storms because the King was awful, Perrington is going to be ten thousand times worse.

Okay, I think that is everything I wanted to discuss about Queen of Shadows. Let me know your thoughts on this book and the series so far and what your favourite parts are.