Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, 4) Paperback – February 14, 2023

All hail the Queen! It's probably my favorite book in the series so far. I’ll admit, the names (especially the ones that change or sound alike) can be a little hard to keep up with, but once I settled in, I couldn’t put it down.The world-building that’s been slowly layered through the earlier books really paid off here, and it all finally started to click into place. Fantasy isn’t usually my strongest genre, but this one challenged me in the best way and kept me hooked. I loved how the characters were brought together and how the storylines connected.Now I seriously can’t wait to see how the rest of the series unfolds!

It isn't often a series of such high quality comes along. Throne of Glass is right up there with the works of GRR Martin. Excellent character development, phenomenal settings and plot. I was wondering if she could keep the quality of the story up over 4 installments and she sure does. I'll have ti say that I am extremely glad that she didn't resort to graphic sex so many of these types of stories now contain. This story stands on it's own and would make a great movie.

OK confession time; I couldn’t wait to start reading Queen of Shadows before writing my Heir of Fire review, so this is going to be a joint review of both books.For those of you unaware, Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows are the third and fourth books respectively in Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series. It is YA fantasy series with a kickass heroine and great worldbuilding. If you’ve not yet started it, I highly recommend checking it out.I listened to both books within a fairly short space of time and loved both of them. Because Queen of Shadows builds upon and develops characters and plot points raised in Heir of Fire, they are excellent to read together. Many of the cliffhangers in Heir of Fire are also resolved, which is very satisfying.What I likedCharacter development. We see lots of wonderful character development in our main character, Celaena. When we rejoin Celaena at the beginning of Heir of Fire, she is in a pretty dark place emotionally, reeling from the events of previous book Crown of Midnight. Throughout Heir she along with new character Rowan works to get her mojo back. This is a significant chunk of the book. Such a wonderful character arc.Her success is expressed in the change of name from Celaena to Aelin in Queen – she has accepted her identity, her past and her powers and is going to use them to kick ass. Incidentally, I had no issue whatsoever with the name change – Maas has written the character consistently and her “voice” remains the same whether she is “Celaena” or “Aelin.”Given how much she has progressed in Heir, Aelin’s character development does stall a lot in Queen – the focus is more on kickassedness and achieving the goals she set for herself at the end of Heir. Personally, I was actually far less engaged in Aelin’s story in Queen because of this.In Queen, the character development is expressed far more through the character of Manon, and I absolutely LOVED her chapters. Given the choice between reading about Manon or Aelin in Queen I was far more involved in Manon’s struggles. I loved how her relationship with her wyvern, Abraxos and with her Thirteen and Elide, caused her to rethink the values and attitudes with which she has been raised. The Manon we leave at the end of Queen is not the Manon we meet at the beginning of Heir and it was beautiful. I fully expect to see Manon work to bring down the Matron in the next book.Strong female friendships. There are some pretty cool female characters in the Throne of Glass world; Aelin, Manon, Lysandra, Elide, Asterin to name a few. Each of these are strong women in their own right, but when they get together thrones will fall, names will be taken and asses will be kicked. Our characters are stronger and are changed for the better (cue Wicked medley) because they knew each other. Things would have turned out very differently if it weren’t for the bonds between these women and Maas writes these friendships beautifully.Promises delivered. In Heir, Maas set out some very clear expectations about what was going to happen in Queen and she delivered. What we expected to happen did happen, which adds up to a very satisfying book. It didn’t always happen the way we expected, and often there were many unexpected obstacles in our protagonists’ path, but the expected confrontations took place, goals were achieved and people were saved.Intriguing minor characters. We met some new and interesting minor characters. I was particularly touched by Asterin’s story and I’m really interested to see where Elide’s path takes her. I have very strong suspicions about young Evangeline and her “citrine” eyes. It appears yellow eyes have some power over the Valg, so I’m curious to see what part she plays.What I didn’t likePromises delivered. Yes, I know I had this in my what I liked list. In some ways though, I felt too many loose ends were tied up. Our characters, other than Dorian, are in pretty good shape. I was almost left with the feeling that, if the series were to end here, I’d be quite content. Certainly there are a few open plots for the next book, but nothing that had me thinking I have to have book five NOW. I’m not certain that that’s altogether a good thing given there are two more books to go.The Aelin/Manon confrontation. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that Aelin and Manon finally met, and I loved the developments that came out of their confrontation, but I just didn’t buy how it ended. Aelin’s thought processes just didn’t ring true. Sorry.Despite these slight misgivings, I loved both Heir and Queen. I gave them both 4.5 stars out of five.

Quick Thoughts: This book was a roller coaster for me. Not only emotionally (maybe especially emotionally) but also my reading experience. I struggled at the beginning of this installment. Maybe this was because of a impending reading slump, but I think mostly because the characterization was off which kept distracting me from the events in the story. After about 150 pages this issue was less noticeable and the rest of the book was fantastic.Full Review:Queen of Shadows was the perfect follow up to Heir of Fire. While I liked Heir of Fire, we did not make a lot of progress in the story. There was a lot of character development, which was necessary, but the plot stalled for the most part in that book.This story in contrast explodes from the beginning with action, adventure and new information. Characters reappear and new revelations drive the plot forward. The female characters in this series are phenomenal! I love them and their relationships with one another. These relationships have only improved as the series goes on. Maas fleshed out several characters that felt flat and underdeveloped earlier in the series but especially Lyssandra and Manon. Their character development was out of this world during this book and I savored every second of it. At first I was unimpressed by Manon but I am almost as interested in what happens to her as Aelin. Her whole life could be another series in my opinion. No one is really a side character in this series. Everyone has a backstory, a life and a story to be told. I love how they all feel important and necessary.On the other hand we had a couple of instances at the beginning of this book where the characterization was out of whack. Chaol especially lot a lot of ground at the beginning of the story. I understand there is a certain amount of tension between him and Alein because they have differences of opinion, they are a former couple, and mistakes have been made on both sides. However, Chaol's character went backwards for a period which frustrated me a lot. His behavior also made me mad at Aelin for a while to because their interactions never seemed to be in character. There was a lot of frustration all the way around for me during their interactions! (Thank goodness I reread books 1-3 and don't ship them anymore)Speaking of ships. I am behind all the ships at this point. Even the ones that may be controversial to some, I am excited for and ready to see how they work out.Lastly I want to compliment Maas' writing in this series. After rereading the first three books and finishing this one, I can see how much planning went into this series. It is incredible to see how well she knows the world and what a deep knowledge of its history she has dreamed up. I love authors that know the history of their world long before any of the characters they write have been born.The events in this story had me on the edge of my seat and holding my breath. There were moments when I had to let out great sobs because the emotions overwhelmed me. I am so excited for Empire of Storms. I love these characters and cannot wait to see what happens in the next installment, but I am also terribly afraid it will hurt me.