Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) by Sarah J. Maas

That was a beast of a book! I don't even remember last time it took me a week to finish a book (or last time I touched a book that long). Did I love Kingdom of Ash? Yes, I did! But was it without fault? Not at all. There were a lot of things that annoyed me. It was a good ending, but it won't be the book I will remember from the series in a few years time. It was a well written book while at the same time being forgetful... anyway... lets get on with this blurb and review shall we?

Here is the Blurb: 

Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas’s #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an epic, unforgettable conclusion. Aelin Galathynius’s journey from slave to king’s assassin to the queen of a once-great kingdom reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world. . .

Aelin has risked everything to save her people―but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day…

With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation―and a better world.

And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen―before she is lost to him forever.

As the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.

3 Stars

FYI: This review will not have of spoilers for Kingdom of Ash, but it will be for previous books.

Let's get the bad out of the way first...

As my beautiful friend Ryan (@bdb.for.life.true) put it: "Aedion and his need to pontificate about snow can keep going on without me." She did not finish the book, something I would never have had the heart to do, but her point is a good one. The beginning of the book was beyond slow. The amount of pointless and unnecessary details was torturous.

The battle scenes are also very slow moving. The need to elaborate every darn detail almost drove me mad. I skipped a LOT of this book, which is something I really don't like doing. But alas, it was either that or not reading the book because I could not handle all the repetition and slowness.

The other major complain I have is the bickering that went on between some of the main canons. Holly s*** it was annoying. They are all facing certain death and yet cannot listen to each other, forgive each other, and/or act like grown people. Yes, they are all young, but they are not children. Aedion was an ass to Lys, than she was a b**** to him, and so it went for hundreds of pages. Same thing between Elide and Lorcan (though those two managed to get along a little faster and therefore tortured me a little less). Up to this book Aedion was one of my favorite characters, I think I will choose to remember him as before and not now.

There are a few other minor negative points: for the most part it was predictable; by giving the fans what they wanted and not killing the characters that needed to die SJM made the story a little weird, it made little sense at times; Rowan came across a little dull instead of the powerful moody male we all came to love...

But enough of the negatives! 

It was still an amazing ending.

Aelin Aelin my Queen! She kicked ass. I loved how beautifully  she held on to her believes even when tortured and how SJM portrayed her return to us- hurt, broken, but still one worthy of a crown.

 

There were so many parts of this beautiful story that got me all teary and full of emotion: Aelin and Fenry's silent language (you will know what I am talking about once you've read it) was both beautiful and heartbreaking; what she did for him after she was free; Aelin's scars; Chaol and Dorian's reunion; The thirteen (and I wasn't even a fan of them, so that says a lot); Manon's pain; Gavriel and Aedion; Gavriel again! I died inside; Evangeline changing an old's fool heart all on her own; Aelins's reunion with Chaol (and I don't even care for the dude); Yrene rocked; Dorian's love and jealousness of Yrene was adorable; etc.

It is hard to talk about the positives without giving spoilers so I guess I will stop here...

It took me a while to settle on a score. Throne of Glass has been part of my life for 6 years now and I have not given less than 4 stars to any of the previous books. I knew going in there was a chance of that, SJM has changed her style through the years a great amount and I am struggling with it these days (for example, I really disliked acowar and acofas). 

So it is with a sadden heart that I give it 3 stars. That being said, 3 stars is still a great score, it just means the book had some faults. I still loved most of the story and will forever cherish those characters! 

Go Read Sunnies!