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just-a-freaking-booknerd · 5 years ago

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Throne of Glass.....I just.....I can’t anymore.

I wanted this to be a new favorite series and I wanted to be more hyped but....I’m not. The first 3 books were super entertaining and I had grown to really enjoy some of these characters, but then it all went to hell. I can see why people enjoyed this series, but it just wasn’t for me.

Please keep in mind that these are just my own thoughts and feelings and yes, I know they’re not perfect. I’m not trying to offend anyone, so don’t @me

SPOILERS

Aelin is one of the most obnoxious characters I’ve ever read about. At first I thought it’d be fine and she’d hopefully get better as the series grew, but she just got WORSE! She lied to everyone all the time and was extremely arrogant and snarky.

Rowan....Rowan Rowan Rowan. Where to begin. I can hardly remember a thing about him because he was just another model-status love interest with a sad backstory. He was a jealous, territorial asshole and I didn’t care whether he lived or died in the end. That’s it.

Their relationship was really annoying. I got so bored during kingdom of ash that I started counting how many times they used any variation of the word ‘mate’ toward each other. ONLY with Aelin and Rowan. I got over 100. 🤮. And what was with that smut she threw into EoS? No thanks! If I never read someone describe a penis as “velvet wrapped steel” again I will be eternally grateful

Dorian was a character I loved at the beginning, but as the story went on I kind of lost interest. The only thing that kept me going was his journey with his magic and the fact that he was chilling with Manon.

Manon was awesome! I loved her story, from black beak heir to Queen of the witches. She’s such a badass! I’m so happy that she was able to break off from her grandmother’s ways and recognize her true self. I also really loved her story with the thirteen. I must admit, I don’t really ship Dorian with Manon, and that’s mostly because I was not happy about Manon being turned into “the love interest for Dorian” during EoS. I’m so glad that turned around.

I absolutely LOVED Chaol in book #1 but he quickly grew to be my least favorite character until ‘Tower of Dawn’. He acted like such a butthurt fool throughout this series and it just got exhausting! I’m glad he finally grew out of the King’s mindset and I’m so happy that he ended up with Yrene.

I knew Yrene (and most of the people from the assassin’s blade) would make more appearances in the series, but I was the most satisfied with how she turned up. I was so proud of how she’d grown and achieved with the healers and I absolutely adored her story with Chaol. I really enjoyed them as a couple and they ended up being one of the only things pushing me through ‘kingdom of ash’.

I didn’t like Aedion. I never really did to be honest. There was kind of this point in QoS and EoS where he was okay, but then he just turned out to be such an asshole. I know he’s been through a lot and anyone on his situation would probably act the same, but I still cannot stand his existence. He’s just like Aelin and that just ain’t it. I really didn’t like how they mentioned he was bi ONCE and then it was never spoken of again. What’s up with that? Not my fav.

Lysandra turned out to be one of my favorite characters. Though her shape shifting abilities totally came out of nowhere. I enjoyed seeing her friendship grow with Aelin and watching her grow and become her own confident and independent self. Once again, I did not ship this couple. I didn’t feel that Aedion deserved Lysandra and she should’ve just turned him down and left it at that. He treated her like such GARBAGE and then he takes it all back like that after they almost die. He hardly has any consequences for everything he did to her. She still chose him in the end.

Another favorite character of mine was Elide. I know lots of people find her boring but I adore her. She was strong and she made it through everything without magic. Though it is a shame that SJM didn’t expand of her witch heritage. I love her determination and sass. When she went and got the first job she’d ever applied for? Iconic. When she went into Doranelle and figured out how to save Aelin? A queen. We stan. My biggest problem was when she refused to forgive Lorcan even after he explained everything.

Lorcan was my favorite of all the guys. I know he’s NOT perfect, and I know he’s just as territorial and jealous as all the other males, but I just have a thing for the dark brooding guys being a total softy for the person they love. He deserves all the happiness after what he’s been through. You can probably tell that Elide and Lorcan are my favorite couple of the series. They’re not perfect, but I live for their story and I love the way it turned out. Also Lord Lorcan Lochan? An icon.

Fenrys didn’t stand out to me. He was just kind of chillin until he and Aelin were taken to Maeve, then it turned into Fenrys having a super obnoxious friendship with Aelin which consisted of them being rude and making crude comments. I liked how they were strong for each other before they escaped, and way to go Fenrys for breaking the bond, but after that it wasn’t the best.

#justiceforGravriel because that man deserved better. He was so chill and helpful. All he wanted was a relationship with his son, and when he got it he died immediately. What’s up with that shit?

Nesryn was boring. I don’t know why we followed her around at all in the last book. I enjoyed her POV in ‘tower of dawn’ but that’s pretty much it. I feel like she deserved to get more character development than she got and it really sucks that we didn’t get to see it.

Sartaq is basically the same. I didn’t feel any connection to his character at all and I didn’t see the point of him other than being Nesryn’s love interest.

I don’t really like SJM’s writing in this series. The dialogue between characters made me cringe so much and she uses the same few phrases over, and over, and over. I can’t even tell you how many times she compared someone to an Asp. It wasn’t necessarily bad, it just isn’t for me

The romance in this book kind of sucked. EVERYONE had to be a couple by the end. Not even the side characters could stay single. I hated that Aelin had a new love interest every five seconds in the first half of this series. She fell in love with literally every guy she knew! Sarah j Maas could have spun it to be a pathological need that Aelin has to be loved, and to love anything that loves her back, but alas. It would have been a really interesting thing to see her work on and overcome but all we got was a new boyfriend every book and then some random faerie smut when she finally stuck with one of them. And why does it ALWAYS have to be ‘mates’ in SJM’s books? I find it so unromantic. It kind of makes everything they went through to be together.....pointless. What’s the big deal with all of it if they’re mates and they’d just end up together anyway? Maybe that’s just me🤣

Okay I should probably get into the actual books. Starting off with Throne of Glads, I was intrigued, I was excited, and it simply did not deliver. It was still enjoyable for the most part, but it did not feel like it matched the description at all.

It would’ve been cool if SJM had started off with more Endovier, because throughout this series we hear about it and they talk about how awful it was, but we never actually see it. Kind of disappointing. I called who the bad guy was and we all knew Celaena would win, so really all I had was the wyrdmarks.

Nehemiah didn’t really stand out at first, and I didn’t like how fast her “friendship” formed with Celaena.

I think that there was supposed to be some kind of love triangle between Celaena, Dorian and Chaol, but it wasn’t very noticeable. She was all about Dorian and Chaol was just kind of there. The final contest wasn’t that tense or entertaining because, hello, there’s seven other books obviously she lives and becomes the champion.

So, she lives and breaks it off with Dorian and that was that. Not my fav but I was entertained and left wanting more of her story, so I ended up giving it around 3.75 stars

The Assassin’s Blade was alright. Obviously just a setup for characters we’d need to know about for future books and a little of her backstory. I liked Sam a lot but didn’t really ship him with Celaena. Everyone already knew Arobynn was the bad guy so that was no surprise. 4 stars for the novella collection as a whole

Crown of Midnight was probably my favorite at that point. I loved how Celaena chose to defy the King and started working with Archer. Even though he was totally sus and I thought it was obvious that he was up to something.

My heart was broken for Celaena after Nehemiah’s death, and I absolutely hated that Chaol and Celaena never really got a chance to be together. If Chaol has just done the *smart* thing and told Celaena, maybe he wouldn’t have ruined it for everyone.

I will be honest, Dorian having powers came out of the blue. Out of all the obvious things that happened, I didn’t call him being magical. It is really great amd it added some much needed tension.

The ending was crazy. Celaena is Fae. That’s so crazy! SJM has hinted at Celaena having powers, but I never expected her being full on fae! Of course then Chaol has to be a butthole about it all, but at least he tried to save her by shipping her off to Wendlyn. Even though it wasn’t the best idea. And then.....the best plot twist ever....Celaena is Aelin. The entire time I thought Celaena would join forces with Aelin, so you can imagine how absolutely shocked I was. And so, she goes to wendlyn to train with fae and that is that.

i gave this book a very low 4 stars

Heir of Fire, we get to Wendlyn and Celaena is just doing nothing and letting herself waste away. It was really annoying to watch ngl. She goes to Maeve, Maeve makes her train with Rowan, Celaena has a lady boner for Rowan, and that’s really all I remember from the first part of this book.

Celaena was begging for someone to knock her on her ass, so Rowan being there was nice. Watching her deal with her powers toward the end was really entertaining and I loved the introduction of the Valg men.

I actually did enjoy the climax of Celaena’s storyline in this book. The flashbacks and her breaking through that wall she had set up and finding out Rowan was her carranam was great. Then the end with Maeve and how Celaena convinced her to set Rowan free was just *chefs kiss* and at this point I shipped Rowan and Celaena so hard. There was a good set up for the cadre to come into play again so I was really looking forward to that.

The introduction to Manon Blackbeak was great. I was instantly in love and so excited to see this character grow in future books. I could already tell that she wasn’t going to be a bad guy and she might even have an arc similar to Zuko from Avatar. The thirteen were so great and I loved abraxos. It was perfect to get me out of the slump with Celaena’s chapters.

Dorian and Chaol’s POV wasn’t the best, though their finale was probably my favorite. I didn’t like Aedion from the start, and even after he was revealed to be a rebel I still couldn’t shake my dislike for his character.

Dorian and Sorscha were so cute! They did not deserve what happened to them. Dorian deserves happiness and all he got was pain and a Valg demon living in his body. Their finale was so emotional and I’m not ashamed to say I cried. I did not expect Sorscha to actually be killed so my heart was absolutely breaking.

This was by far one of my favorite books of the series. I gave it 4 stars

Queen of Shadows was my favorite of this entire series. I was never bored with the plot and it was just a really fun story. My big issue was that her first interaction with Arobynn didn’t go at all like I thought it would. I just expected a little bit more.

Seeing Dorian with the Valg broke my heart. I hated how he suffered all that time and no one knew to help him. SJM really should have waited to reveal that he was still alive for a little while. It would’ve made things more tense when they were having the whole ‘do we kill him, do we not’ conversation.

This was the only book where I actually enjoyed Aedion’s presence. His reunion with Aelin was great, though I don’t think they’d act like that after being apart for 10 years. Finding out Gavriel is Aedion’s father was so random and I did t really care for it, but at least we knew the cadre would have to make another appearance eventually.

Lysandra came out of nowhere in this book. I loved it. I have so much respect for her after reading her full story and seeing everything she’s been through and everything she’s done for Evangeline. I love that Aelin let Lysandra get her revenge on Arobynn in the end. Though I think his death wasn’t fitting for everything he’d done to them both. Her powers came out of nowhere but I love them anyway. A shapeshifter, how cool is that?

The story line with Manon and Elide was so wonderful in this book. Again, we get more of Manon questioning her grandmother and we can see that she’ll split off from the iron teeth mindset eventually. I loved how Kaltain was able to break free and get her revenge on Erawan and allowing Elide to escape. It was so awesome. The worlds finally collided in this book and it did not disappoint! The fight between Manon and Aelin had me on the edge of my seat!

I loved the entire thing. The end of this book had me completely shook. The revelation of Perrington’s true identity was like🤯. Really, the entire ending of this book had me like🤯. I love love loved it all. From the freeing of magic to the set up for Chaol and Nesryn’s journey and Kaltain destroying part of Morath. My favorite book of the series! 4.5 stars

Empire of Storms is where it all went to shit. I was bored of Aelin’s group the entire time and all I looked forward to was Elide/Lorcan’s chapters. With the exception of Manon’s first chapters with the Thirteen and the battle with Lysandra turning into a sea dragon, I was pretty bored until the end.

The most frustrating bit of this entire book was that CHAOL WAS BARELY MENTIONED. Like???? SJM cripples him and then doesn’t follow up with anything? How messed up is that? I hated it so much. Why not just kill him if you don’t want to write about him anymore? It’s stupid but I digress.

You best believe Manon and Asterin has me SOBBING in those chapters. I knew this would be the final straw and that Manon would have to choose to leave the Blackbeaks. Sadly, after she left and we find out she isn’t dead, I was bored with her for the rest of the story. It kind of felt like she was only there so she could screw Dorian. I really didn’t like that whole situation. There could’ve been more progression for her character but we get nothing but disappointment.

Fenrys and Gavriel were just chillin in this book I guess. Nothing about them really stuck out to me. Just the angsty Gavriel/Aedion situation. And did they forget that there was supposed to be another member of the cadre? Is that just me? They’ve completely forgotten about Roland at this point too.

The rest of the book was boring until they meet up with Lorcan and Elide. This book is when I started disliking Rowan/Aelin relationship because all the could think about was doing the do and it consumed the entire middle section. I don’t know why SJM decided this book needed to be full of fae porn and jealous men, but here we are.

The ending was the best part of this story. We figure out how to get rid of Erawan but it requires Aelin’s entire being. Yay tension, even though we know SJM isn’t going to kill her main character. Nobody important has died anyway.

I hate that Lorcan brought Maeve to them, but I understand it. The only chance at happiness he has might die soon. Desperate times call for Lorcan’s desperate measures I guess.

The scene on the beach broke my heart. We find out that Rowan and Aelin are actually mates (yay? I guess) and then they get separated by Maeve. It sucked. And I hated everyone’s reactions. Freaking Aedion is such an asshole to Lysandra after he figures out the plan. Does he not realize that Lysandra is sacrifi cing her freedom to play queen for Aelin? And Elide’s anger toward Lorcan. My otp is once again ruined by SJM.

Aelin is snatched, we find out she married Rowan, and then all of Aelin’s old friends show up like she’d been hinting at all book. The end. This book was such a disappointment for me and I ended up giving it 3.5 stars.

Tower of Dawn is where it’s at. I thought I would hate it because I didn’t really want an entire book dedicated to Nesryn and Chaol, but it became a favorite. I loved it SO much. It was a great break from all that angsty crap that had been happening with the rest of the gang.

Out of all the characters from The Assassin’s Blade, I wanted to see Yrene the most. I needed more content for her and I’m so happy with what we got. Yrene was so fun to follow and it was great to see that she is making her dreams come true.

I immediately knew that Chaol and Nesryn wouldn’t last. They never made a good pair in my opinion. I’m glad they decided to go their separate ways (at least in a romantic sense) because they both needed more. Nesryn finally gets her happy ending with Sartaq, even if they’re both dull as dirt for the rest of the series.

Who else saw Yrene and Chaol’s relationship coming from a mile away??? I know I did. I think they’re great together! They’re my second favorite relationship of the series. In fact, my favorite scene of the entire book was Yrene getting Chaol to walk around the room. It was so cute! Cute and....hot? it was hot.

Chaol finally started to see things for what they were and he became less idiotic. We stan. How is it that SJM takes some of my favorite characters and makes them trash and then somehow redeems my most hated characters?

The rukhin clans were a really interesting addition to the story. They were really entertaining and i just knew that theyd fight with Aelin

I was NOT expecting the Maeve plot twist. That made everything so much worse for Aelin and the cadre. I was super excited to see how she’d play in with the rest of the story. I loved that SJM made a way for the Valg to be destroyed and I just knew that Yrene would be able to play a bigger part in Kingdom of Ash. Finding out that the princess was possessed by Valg was such a surprise and I really loved it.

My biggest gripes about this book were that Falkan coming back into the story AND being Lysandra’s long lost uncle, and the fact that Chaol isn’t really healed. How disappointing. After all that work he’ll never be fully healed again. Groooossss. I gave this book 4 stars😂

Here we are....the worst book of the series, Kingdom of Ash. This book only had 450-500 pages of good content, WHY did she make it that long? I lost interest at around 150 pages and I wasn’t that into it until around page 600. That’s so sad.

Aelin and Rowan ain’t it. I counted how many times they used any variation of the word ‘mate’ *ONLY* in the chapters from Rowan or Aelin’s POV. It was over 100. Why. Let’s calm down and never even think of that word ever again. By the end of the book I was kind of hoping one of them would die, because then at least their relationship would be interesting again, but no. We were left with the most boring relationship of all time.

I CANNOT stand that Lysandra and Aedion still lended up together. He does not deserve her. She sacrificed her freedom to give the people of terrasin hope and she was willing to live a fake life for all of them, and yet Aedion treats her like garbage because he wasn’t part of the secrets club. Bullshit. It took her almost DYING for him to be sorry. Disgusting.

Lysandra is such a queen but her entire existence for the first half of this book is trying to get Aedion to acknowledge her. Not a fan. And even though I love her, I find it very unlikely that she never died. She and Aedion probably should’ve been dead in every single battle that happened during this book.

I loved Yrene and Chaol in this book. Chaol became a favorite character once again and Yrene was a boss ass bitch. I’m so happy she got her moment of glory by killing Erawan in the end. They deserve the best and I’m happy they’re starting a family.

Lorcan and Elide were once again my favorites. I’m happy for them and I loved them in this book. Though I do feel that Elide should’ve been given a chance to do more in this book. Idk.

MANON. OH. MY. GOSH. I STAN. I loved her arc sooooooo much. Her becoming queen of the witches was magnificent and I loved it all so much. She’s another all time favorite of this series and her relationship with the thirteen was amazing. I cried so hard when they all made that sacrifice for Terrasen. They were wonderful. 10/10. Beautiful. She can finally lead the witches back to the wastes, it’s just really sad that the thirteen will never get to see it.

Dorian was better in this book, though I totally thought he would die. He should’ve died. That would’ve been a death that hit their groups hard. Great motivation I think. We all knew he’d succeed at Morath, because reasons. I did like that but about him shapeshifting though. It’s really great that he gets some closure for his dad as well. His name was Dorian. i cry.

Fenrys was good in this book. Gavriel was fine too, though his ending was not appreciated. I get it, he was the expendable one, but come on. He’d just gotten a chance at a relationship with Aedion and then he died. What is up with that? And hey, they FINALLY remember that there was another member of the cadre. Everyone forgot about his existence. I don’t even remember his name.

I didn’t see the point in Nesryn’s POVs. It was extremely boring. I didn’t like any of the Kaghan family.

We had an alright beginning for this book. Obviously they get Aelin back super fast, then they go and meet up with Chaol in Anielle just in time because they just so happen to run into some of the Kaghan’s other children. Speaking of convenient events, I will now give you a summary of the middle of this book.

Bad people threaten to destroy everyone, good thing happens and everyone is saved. Bad thing happens again, we get a miracle (except for that one time with the witch tower) and everyone is saved and now there’s more time for Aelin to save everyone. That’s all it was.

We got to see Nox again like twice after 5 whole books so that was nice I guess. I don’t even think he gets to see the real Aelin again.

It was obvious that Aelin wasn’t going to die forming the Lock, I don’t think SJM would ever kill her main character. Though her traveling through the worlds might’ve been my favorite part. Also.....HELLO? THAT WAS TOTALLY FEYRE AND RHYSAND ON THAT MOUNTAIN, RIGHT?!?!? Is she pregnant? Omggggg. Despite my dislike of ToG, I really liked ACoTaR when I read it so I was really excited for that Easter egg.

The final battle was good. She destroyed Maeve even though her powers were lost and Yrene killed Erawan. I liked that scene at the end where we see all the little flames and know that the land is blessed. Very nice. Very full circle. Happily ever after for everyone. We stan Lord Lorcan Lochan. And that is that. It’s finally over. After two months of just Throne of Glass, I’m finished forever. 3 stars

I’m very disappointed with these books and I don’t think I’ll ever reread it or recommend it to anyone . I truly thought that this would be a new favorite series, but it just didn’t work out. I think the reason I liked ACoTaR more than ToG is because that series didn’t have as many books so SJM didn’t have enough time to ruin it.

I can totally see why some people would love this series, and that’s cool. Like what you like! This is just an opinion.

If anyone reads this, thanks for putting up with my rant😂

#sarahjmaas throneofglassseries

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