* * * * *Here we are. I'm going to keep this non-spoiler section nice and short because this review is giant!
Kingdom of Ash is the seventh book in the series and is the best finale in existence! If you've ever struggled to get through the previous books in the series, I can say, without a doubt, that this book is completely worth it. I was laughing, I was crying, I was hysterical and I wouldn't change a single word in this masterpiece!
Book Talks:
Throne of Glass | Crown of Midnight | Heir of Fire | Queen of Shadows | Empire of Storms | Tower of Dawn
I'm overwhelmed as to how I'm even going to structure this book review so I'm going to try and go through it both chronologically and character-wise. Chronologically, I'll go through the book with every 100 or so pages and break those 100 page sections into the different characters. There's just so much going on in this book, so many characters crossing paths at so many different times, I think this will be the best way to break it all down. Hopefully, this review won't just be a jumbled mess.
So, without further adieu...
First 100 Pages
We start off with a fuck tonne of Aedion which is fine but just not what I wanted!!! Out of all the characters, Aedion's plot line was just the least interesting (Sorry, Aedion) and Sarah starts with him on purpose because we're so impatient to see how everyone else is! I also hated how Aedion was so distant from Lysandra in the beginning. Yes, I understand that she lied about knowing she'd need to pretend to be Aelin but.... it's been two months! Kiss and make up already!
Manorian
We switch to Manorian pretty early on and I was happy yet a little disappointed in the progress of their relationship while we were gone. They weren't really any closer to each other and were pretty much using each other for a sexual release every now and then. Manon is more interested in finding any left over Crochans and Dorian just wants to find the third and final Wyrdkey, so they're both kind of split into two different directions they want to go.
And I couldn't help but feel really sorry for Dorian. We really got to see the extent of how hopeless and depressed he feels. He's seen Aelin sacrifice everything to try and make things better for her kingdom and, in comparison, Dorian feels pretty useless. He's in such a dark place and was planning to sacrifice himself, not thinking anyone would miss him. And Gavin certainly didn't help either! Dorian summons Gavin for guidance and he's so harsh on Dorian. "At least you've taken good care of my sword. Though, I cannot say the same for my kingdom." Cut the boy some slack, Gavin!
What also struck me was the question at the end of their conversation. Dorian asks if he's human and it completely threw me! I had never even considered he wasn't human despite him having magic! Why am I so oblivious!
Dorian makes a case for the Stygian Spider- Cerene- and, after a heated debate with Manon, they decide to let Cerene guide them to where Crochan witches are supposed to be.
Chaolrene
We see Chaol, Yrene, Nesryn and our bundle of Southern Continent headed for Terrasen and, the entire time, I was so excited for them to arrive. I was patiently waiting for a Dorian/Chaol reunion from the very beginning.
Chaolrene is one of my favourite ships in this series and I loved watching every interaction they had together. And when we got that sentence "Yrene's hand drifted over her abdomen and lingered..." I was 100% on board with her being pregnant! Sure, war is a dangerous time to be pregnant but Chaol and Yrene totally deserve to have that family!
Watching Rowan and co. search for Aelin was a gruelling process. Elide was completely hating and ignoring Lorcan which broke my heart for starters. Elorcan was such a strong and developing ship in Empire of Storms and to see how angry Elide was and how sad and ashamed Lorcan was... it pulls at the heartstrings! As much as I understand where Elide was coming from, I was really just hoping they made up soon. I mean, Lorcan was crawling towards Aelin in Empire of Storms, not Maeve! That has to count for something right?
And reading about Rowan's mental state was just unbearable. He's been tricked for hundreds of years by Maeve and lost his mate, who's currently being tortured and he can't reach her... it's bound to mess with your head a bit. But what really broke me was Rowan dreaming about the family he could have with Aelin, their children and her both being swept away by a darkness he can't stop. I almost cried at that part.
Aelin's story line was maybe the hardest to read, especially at the beginning. Aelin was being tortured so horrifically and Fenrys was forced to watch, unable to do a thing which was terrifying! While I hated that Fenrys was still stuck under Maeve's thumb, I'm happy he was there with Aelin, being able to blink a code and reassure her that he was there with her. It would've been even worse for her otherwise.
But the next part was so heart-breaking that it made me cry for the first time in this book. Maeve brought Fenrys' brother, Connall, out and Fenrys was forced to watch Connall kill himself at Maeve's command! Just thinking of Fenrys' wolf whimper tears my heart out and it was so painful to read.
But Aelin took the opportunity to throw a shard of glass at Maeve which reminded me a tad of how Feyre threw the Middengard Wyrm bone at Amarantha (which was equally as epic) and she drew blood from Maeve! Which was black!! I think I actually stopped breathing. Aelin thought she was simply hallucinating but we know!! Since Tower of Dawn, we know Maeve is freaking Valg Queen and, oh my God, I couldn't even deal at this point!!!!
Pages 100-200
Lysaedion
We had a bunch of smaller battles go on with Aedion and Lysandra and they were doing good, they were holding there own. But again, this plot line didn't excite me as much as the others because it's all strategising where to march and what to do and blah, blah, blah.
Enter Nox and suddenly I'm super excited!!! I've been waiting for Nox to come back since Throne of Glass and was desperate to see him figure out who Celaena truly is. And now we're here and it's so satisfying!!
Nox instantly knew that Lysandra wasn't actually Aelin because she didn't recognise him and he still offered to help them!! From that moment on, I was counting down the pages for a Nox/Aelin reunion... which we never got. But I'm not bitter about it. Definitely not.
Meanwhile, Aedion and co decided that they were going to march south and Aedion slowly starts talking to Lysandra again which I loved to see! They're relationship is so precious and it was so frustrating to read about Aedion pinning all the blame for what happened to Aelin on Lysandra.
Manorian
We see Manon and co find the Crochans and it was tense! No one knows who to trust and suddenly we have the Ironteeth attacking them as well! We later find out that Manon orchestrated the whole attack and, sure, it was brutal, but an efficient way to try and sway the Crochans to our side. I completely agree with Manon that we don't have much time to make allies- we have to take risks. I will admit that I quite liked Glennis- she was cool.
(Glennis and Dorian both throwing weapons at an Ironteeth- one arrow and one spear of ice, both hitting the Ironteeth witch.)
Glennis: "I struck first."
Dorian: "I wish you were my great-grandmother"
- I just love how Sarah J. Maas can fit such effortless humour into fight scenes!!
I found reading about the Crochans so fascinating. In this series, we've kind of been conditioned to think witches=brutal but the Crochans are so soft-hearted! It was a little disconcerting.
Dorian went to have a chat with a friendly neighbourhood Stygian spider and ended up killing Cerene when he knew she's only going to betray them. What really surprised me about Dorian's character in this book was how cold and brutal he's become. It's easy to understand after everything's he's been through but it's so weird to see sweet and harmless Dorian killing people without even blinking! We all thought Manorian would work because Manon would grow so much more heart and humanity but I don't think any of us expected it to go the other way- Dorian becoming more brutal.
And, honestly, a lot of the time, the reason Dorian shuts down and becomes more harsh is because he thinks of what happened to Sorscha and the guilt he still carries over her death and, while I do understand that, it's also a really annoying thing to keep coming up. Sorscha died in Heir of Fire! Ages ago! None of us really cared about her and barely blinked when she died so, Dorian going on and on about the guilt he still feels for her death doesn't really phase me either. It's difficult to read Dorian still mourning her when I got over her death about a second after it happened.
Chaolrene
Chaol and the others planned to fight for Anielle and, when they arrived, they were instantly met with Chaol's dad and this scene was so much fun to read! As always, Chaol's dad is an absolute ass and Yrene just ripped into him! Yrene is such a feisty characters and this is such a major reason why I love her. She defended Chaol to his intimidating ass of a father and I had such a wide grin on my face the entire time!
We saw more of Aelin and Fenrys and these scenes were so painful to read!! Seeing Aelin cry was heartbreaking because she's usually so well put together and confident. Seeing her cry makes me want to cry!! Especially as she was crying because Maeve said that Rowan wasn't coming for her! I've said it a thousand times and I'll say it again: Maeve is such a bitch! I hated seeing Aelin lose hope and believe that Rowan- her mate- wasn't coming for her. I just wanted to reassure her that he was!
Aelin completely broke apart and smashed her hands against the iron door again and again which... was painful but so worth it!! Because, in that action, she sent a feeling down the bond that let Rowan know where she was! I was so excited at this point- a rescue was definitely on the horizon.
I found it interesting how Maeve gave Aelin a vision where she tells the story of the three Valg Kings and a Valg Queen. Honestly, the way she put it kind of gave her actions some justification which I love in a villain. All she wanted was to be free of the dark world she'd been forced into and, in that world of darkness, all she wanted to see was colour! How can you begrudge her wanting to escape such a world?
Maeve told Aelin how she was leaving for a few days to go in search of Wyrdstone collar rumoured to be on the borders of Doranelle and I instantly knew it was Rowan's distraction to get Maeve away from Aelin. And after the satisfying wave of victory for how well that plan went, I was drowning in anxiety because this was our one shot to get Aelin back when she's free of Maeve's control... and I was hella nervous because we had to make that one shot count. The time with Maeve gone was vital and I was so ready for a rescue already!!!
Pages 200-300
Lysaedion
In Terrasen, things were looking pretty dire as we had a Morath army of 50,000 (!!!) headed their way and morale was very low. I hated how all the soldiers were bitter about Aelin's absence and that she wasn't using her powers to help them on the battlefield because they just don't know!! They don't know that Aelin was actually being tortured- they just thought she was being a coward- and I hated it!
Aedion and the others decided that their best option was to retreat to Perranth to try and reduce Morath's numbers in the journey. Also, Aedion battered into Lysandra, blaming her for everything that happened with Aelin and it made me so mad!! How dare he blame Lysandra! Lysandra is brave and sacrificed so much to fight for Aelin and Terrasen and he just threw it back in her face! I understand that Aedion's mad and upset but... give her a break, already!
Over by the Crochans, Dorian was practising with his shapeshifter abilities and managed to change his eye colour!! Baby steps, I suppose...
He also admitted to Manon that he cares about her and I was so happy because Manorian was finally happening! Sarah J. Maas' ships are just to die for and I also really love that we found out Narene (Asterin's wyvern) is Abraxos' mate! Isn't that just the most adorable thing ever?!?
Dorian tried to summon Gavin once more and Kaltain showed up! I used to hate Kaltain completely- especially in Throne of Glass- but I think the whole fandom has grown to respect her and actually admire here because she went through a lot and, in the end, she rebelled against Erawan in the most spectacular way.
Dorian told her his plans to go to Morath to retrieve the third Wyrdkey and Manon heard the whole thing!
Rowaelin/Elorcan/Fenrys/Gavriel
And then we had the first paths crossing and I was on cloud nine!!!
Elide went into Doranelle to see if anyone knew where Cairn (and therefore, Aelin) might be because she's our cunning little liar and spymaster. She found Essar (who we're supposed to know? but I honestly couldn't remember her from previous books) and she confirmed that Maeve had gone.
The whole plan to rescue Aelin had me completely on edge because it was our one shot and I was terrified it wouldn't work!
And then we had the spectacular scene of Fenrys breaking out of the blood oath by sheer force of will!! I have never loved Fenrys more than in this moment. He attacked Cairn and gave Aelin the opportunity to run which changed everything! Aelin ran and Lorcan and Gavriel found her and helped her get away and it was all so epic!!!
And suddenly... Rowan was by her side and it was the moment I'd been waiting for for so long and... he just left again to find Fenrys and deal with Cairn! Not exactly the emotional reunion I was hoping for but I'll take it anyway.
Rowan tortured Carin which was absolutely brilliant and, as a bit of a sidenote, I love how Cairn's name is so similar to Cain. I don't know if this was intentional by Sarah J. Maas or not, but having Cairn so similar to Cain kind of makes me feel like we've come full circle from the first book. It's just a little detail that I like.
I was so happy that Aelin was back but... she wasn't back at the same time! Obviously, everything she's been through caused a lot of emotional trauma and it was so painful to watch! I was torn when Aelin was screaming for anyone to take off her shackles and mask and Gods, it was just as awful to watch Rowan so helpless in trying to calm her down.
Fenrys was on the brink of death because he fought against the blood oath and the only way to save him was for Aelin to offer him the blood oath! This was such a nice moment because Fenrys has always wanted to be free of Maeve and, while he doesn't have his brother, he's at least in a court who loves and appreciates him now.
Aelin and our crew were led through Doranelle by the little folk (who just pop up randomly now and then when useful), and every step was painful because Aelin was so out of it! All I wanted was a full Rowaelin reunion and I just felt like Aelin thought she was in one of Maeve's illusions.
Pages 300-400
Lysaedion
We had a major battle in Perranth and my heart was in my throat the entire time! They managed to drown a couple thousand of the Valg army by melting the ice river and drowning but... that didn't really faze Morath at all... they just waited for the ice to reform and then trampled over all of their forces still drowning. Charming.
Lysandra turned into Aelin as a last ditch effort to rally our army because all the soldiers were practically shitting themselves at the sight of Morath's army. But, I was so scared, because Lysandra doesn't have Aelin's powers and was instantly struck by some Valg! My heart was pounding when Aedion was racing for her, screaming her name. But, when you don't think things can get any worse...
The witchtowers.
I'd completely forgotten these witchtowers were a weapon that Morath had and they became one of the worst things to see in this damn book! A witch completed the Yielding and, along with the witchtower projecting straight at Perranth... it just obliterated everything and my heart stopped! Aedion used his body to try and shield Lysandra but, honestly, I thought they were goners for sure.
Manon went off to the Ironteeth witches, specifically Petrah Blueblood and her clan, and tried to sway them onto her side, revealing her grandmother's true plans to become Queen of the Wastes and what Morath will really do to the witches after the war. This scene actually got me quite emotional! It's so amazing to see how far Manon's come since we first met her in Heir of Fire and I'm so damn proud of her! She spoke like a true Queen and her promises for a better world really got to me.
With Morath's armies coming for Anielle, we had a lot of planning and worrying and, amongst all this, Chaol's dad obviously thought that the few moments before going into battle was the perfect timing to reveal that you think your son's wife is pregnant?!?! Well done, Chaol's dad, well done. So, Chaol found out that Yrene was pregnant (maybe not in the best way) which just makes him fighting even more scary! Because if Chaol died, so would Yrene and so would the baby!! But no pressure or anything...
In terms of fighting for Anielle, I was so proud of Chaol this entire time! He has to fight on a horse and really struggled the more and more Yrene used her powers but he doesn't complain once and he got on with it!! He's truly an inspiration and my love for him knows no bounds.
Rowaelin/ Elorcan/ Fenrys/ Gavriel
This was actually quite a hard section of the book to get through- not hard because it was boring but hard because it was so emotionally painfully!! It's so difficult to see Aelin struggling so much and to see Rowan completely helpless on what to do to make her feel better.
I found that Aelin's scars being gone was maybe the worst thing about this all. Aelin has always used her scars to remind herself that she's survived through everything and uses them to ground herself to who she is and what she's experienced. But, without her scars, she felt even more lost in herself. She had nothing to remind herself of who she was and what she'd been through. She didn't even recognise her own skin!! Sarah J. Maas, why do you have to put her through this pain?!?!
When they got on board a ship to Erilea, we finally had a proper Rowaelin reunion (and you know I mean the smutty stuff) and I was fangirling a lot. I especially liked how they re-did the bite/claiming marks on each other because, while Aelin no longer had her scars, she had the bites to remind her who she was.
Fenrys: If I tell you he's a prick and a miserable bastard to be around, will it change your mind?
Aelin: Isn't that why we all love Lorcan, though?
The fact that these two characters can still be hilarious after everything they've been through is a feat!!
So, at this point, Rowan, Fenrys and Lorcan had the blood oath and I was over here feeling very sorry for poor Aedion because he wanted it first and is getting a little left out at this point.
Something I really appreciated in this section was Fenrys and Aelin's friendship- it was so much more important than I ever could've expected when first meeting Fenrys. They used their blinking code to reveal the truth about how they were not okay. They've been bonded through such unspeakable horrors and their friendship was so precious in this book.
Pages 400-530
This section was mainly focused around the Battle of Anielle and I loved every second! This was the mid-point, mini-climax of the book and it was just written so perfectly, I don't even known where to start.
Lysaedion
We found out that, miraculously, Aedion and Lysandra had both survived the Witchtower attack from Morath and poor Aedion was so damn worried about her! He finally realised what an ass he'd been to her and I absolutely loved that Lysandra didn't cave in easily. When she finally woke up, she ripped into Aedion for only realising he'd been an ass when she nearly died! I love that the girls in this series (Lysandra and Elide, for example) don't just forgive the males after one apology because they know they deserve more than that! If that's not girl power, I don't know what is!
However, I did feel a little bit sorry for Aedion as he told Lysandra that he meant what he said in Skull's Bay (that he wants to marry her). And, while I love Lysandra's independence and power, I was still desperately hoping that she forgave him and they got together.
Manorian
Meanwhile, Dorian continued to practise his shapeshifter powers and.... this was maybe the funniest scene in the entire book. I was in stitches! Because, good ol' Dorian, shifted into a woman and the first thing he does is feel himself up!!
Dorian was still hell-bent on his plan to go to Morath and Manon was so clearly worried about him going! Honestly, these two resisted their ship so damn much throughout this book! Dorian called Manon out for being afraid of herself and her feelings and I just love how much Dorian challenges Manon. Every other person would be too scared to challenge her like that and Dorian just does it so well!
The Matrons turned up and this was a total 'oh, shit' moment. And frankly, I was hoping that Manon's grandmother would end up dead the entire time. I wanted Asterin to have that kill right then and... it didn't turn out that way.
The Battle of Anielle (Rowaelin/ Chaolrene/ Elorcan/ Nesraq/Fenrys/Gavriel)
Paths began crossing in this section and I was in pieces!
Chaol and Aelin reunited and this was the time I truly cried during the book. It was such a perfect scene with them reuniting and hugging and crying and introducing each other to their wife/mates. And, on top of that already unbelievable emotional reunion, Yrene and Aelin realised that they know each other! Yrene discovered that the Queen of Terrasen was the one to save and help her all those years ago and she told Aelin how far she'd come in healing and that she'd been teaching the other healers defence skills... It was the perfect scene ever! Aelin must've been so proud of Yrene and she was happy for Chaolrene's marriage and this scene was just too beautiful to put into words.
Later, Aelin just cried to Rowan because she was so tired and just couldn't find the strength to fight and it was heart-breaking. She just wanted it to be over and I didn't even blame her because she's been through so damn much and she never had any chance to have a break from all the fighting and dying. My poor fireheart!
Meanwhile, Lorcan was really trying to win back Elide and it was adorable!! When everything else is going to shit, it was nice to smile when reading Elide and Lorcan's chapters. Lorcan apologised to Elide for everything he's done and Elide implied that she loved him!! At this point, I really wanted Elide to give in and just take him back because they're so obviously perfect for each other!! But I did really love how their relationship came together.
Chaol and Yrene finally revealed to each other that they both knew Yrene was pregnant and it was such a lovely moment!! If not a little terrifying that, if one of them went, all three were going.
And, finally, the Battle of Anielle!! I got so excited when the cadre lined up ready to fight because it's easy to forget that these guys are legendary! Stories are told all around Erilea of them, of how they fight, and we'd never actually seen them fight in a unit in battle before! And it was everything!
The cadre was fighting and doing it epically! But Lorcan got a little cocky, a little hopeless, a little arrogant (we're all surprised...) and he got stabbed!! I swear, my heart stopped! Elide was nowhere near him, busy helping the healers, and I honestly thought he was a goner and that we wouldn't get our lovely Elorcan reunion!
Knowing they were going to lose, Morath broke down the dam to try and wipe out both forces- kind of the equivalent of saying 'if we don't win, no one can." I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and was just a constant ball of squealing and crying and clapping.
The dam was so close to breaking thanks to Morath and Elide ran to the plains, got on a horse, and searched for Lorcan! She could easily have been killed and swept when the dam broke but she didn't even hesitate! That's a strong ship right there!
The whole time, I was wondering why the hell no one was going down there and helping her! If that was Lysandra or Aedion or Gavriel or anyone else, Aelin, Rowan and the rest of them would all be running to try and save them. But poor Lorcan was just discarded by everyone but Elide! The truly sad part was when Elide asked where Lorcan was and there was just silence because everyone realised that they hadn't even twigged Lorcan wasn't with them! It made me feel so sad for Lorcan because no one even cared enough to check if he was dead or not! Elide is the only one who ever cared! And it's sad because that's what Lorcan himself thought- that no one would care or miss him if he was gone.
And then, maybe the most part of the entire book.
The whole time, I'd been thinking that Aelin wasn't touching her fire because of trauma and PTSD from being tortured. I stupidly underestimated the Queen and forgot the crucial fact that Aelin is a genius! Little did we know, Aelin had actually been digging into her magic for three months and as soon as I found this out, I had the biggest grin on my face!!! And all of that magic was for Maeve's death blow!
But selfless Aelin sacrificed the whole thing to save Anielle and carry out the most epic act of the whole series! She created an entire wall of fire to block the dam wave and turned it all into steam!! How epic is that?!!? And Rowan used his magic in wind form to stop the steam from burning people into ash. I. Was. Completely. Awestruck.
Stay tuned for the second half of this monster review coming Saturday! (I told you it'd be long...)
Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment your thoughts. Stay amazing!
Chloe
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