Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas.

Product details:
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Paperback, 656 pages

Publication date: 1st September 2015.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Ages: 16+
Source: Bought it myself from Waterstones 

Synopsis:
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 will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. 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.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

 

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Before I start this review I just want to clarify that these opinions are all my own and this is just how I feel about the book. I also want to point out that it won't be spoiler free, so if you have not yet that don't read any further, this is just for people who have already read the book. Okay so now that I've cleared that up, time for me to do my review.

 

So let's start off by saying that I was highly disappointed with this book, like I would say that this series is one of my favourite ones, Heir of Fire is one of my favourite books that I have read this year, and I was so so excited to get my hands on this that I went to Waterstones on the day that it came out just so that I could pick up the book and start it that same day but... I wish I had of waited a bit longer, because it wouldn't of made any difference about it. So shall I start off by saying that I felt like this could of been at least 200 pages shorter, because for the first 200 pages at least it was Celaena dropping her assassin name and going by her birth name again: Aelin, then it was trying to figure out how she was going to save Aedion and then it was her actually saving him and then for a lot of it he was recovering from a wound that was half healed anyway but because the stitches ripped it took him even longer to recover even though he was basically nearly healed fully!

 

Then Rowan returned and don't even get me started on their relationship, my god it was such a forced relationship in my eyes, like she was literally swooning over him so much, he returned and she basically bathed him, wouldn't or couldn't leave him alone, was constantly touching him, and Rowan was just as bad constantly thinking to himself just how amazing Aelin was. She also was a complete bitch to Aedion, when he found out about their blood oath obviously he seen his arse a bit and she was just a complete dick about it, saying that even if they hadn't done it yet she would still do the blood oath with Rowan because he earned her trust, what and everything that Aedion went through isn't good enough?!?! I just feel that she changed the characters way too much compared to how they were in the first 3 books, i.e the whole love story between Rowan/Aelin was just too much, they were originally just good friends/mentor and then all of a sudden she isn't wearing underwear just so she could 'tease' him, I'll be honest I thought that was pathetic and didn't like how she did that, I also found it so frustrating how he kept saying that he couldn't do it and didn't want anything to happen with them then as soon as she basically threw herself on him, he couldn't wait to get his hands on her, what happened to them just being friends and him being her mentor! I seriously don't understand where all these feelings came from, from both of them!

 

I also worked out that she has literally had feelings for like 4 different people and she is only 19!

1. Sam
2. Dorian (kinda)
3. Chaol
4. Rowan

And each one of them have in some way or another confessed their feelings, 3 of them have even said they loved her and she hasn't once said it back! Who is she going to move onto in the next one.. :')

I was just getting so annoyed with Aelin all throughout this book, she was far too clingy with Rowan and just disregarded every other character apart from Lysandra who she hated in the first 2 books!
Also, when she kept wandering off and not telling anybody where she was going, or whenever she needed to plan something out she would allow Rowan to know but would never tell Aedion what was going on, she just made out like she couldn't wait to see him and they spent a whole night talking about what had happened with them and then she couldn't care less about him. They also used Lysandra's jeweller a lot to get out of some of the tough situations.

 

Chaol though, I mean it's annoyed me how he has just been pushed to one side. Team Chaol all the way! I really hope that she does more with him next book, and he best be able to bloody walk! I could sit here and type for hours about how amazing I think he is, but I'm just trying to get across all the things I dislike. I will say one thing though, I'm glad that Chaol is happy with Nesryn but I want him and Aelin to be together, I just love them so much :(

 

One of the main stories I was really invested in was Elide and Manon's characters, Manon was my favourite in Heir of Fire, so I was so excited to find out what was going to happen to her in this one and oh I just love her, words can't begin to describe how much I love her, I also am 100% positive that something is going to happen with her and Dorian like definitely. But Elide and Manon where my favourite in this one, I like how she became a bit protective with her. And when Asterin told her about the baby I genuinely nearly cried, it was so heart-breaking. I really don't have anything bad that I want to say about Manon, she's just flawless. The whole fight with Manon and Aelin was amazing though, I loved how badass Manon was, but I could be being bias because I just love her and think she's fabulous! Also the whole Arobynn thing I wasn't too fussed about, I kind of wished that Aelin had of killed him to get her revenge but I wasn't too fussed that Lysandra did it because lets be honest she had just about as much reason too, if not more.

 

The ending was another thing that I liked, I enjoyed the big twist that she did with the king, I thought that was clever and thought it was really well thought out. So with all that ranting out of the way, I would still recommend you read it if you like the rest of them and I will be continuing with them, because I felt similar with the second book but I loved Heir of Fire, so who knows maybe I'll love the next one. Anyone else feel the same? Let me know! Thanks for taking your time to read this :)