Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

Review:

I feel like I kind of have a love/hate relationship with this book. I read it remarkably fast. I had to know how everything would conclude for everyone. Yet, at the same time, it weirdly dragged. I loved the beginning. Stuff was so intense! Some of what Aelin went through was almost too painful to read. The beginning for me, though, really captivated me and showed me how insanely strong Aelin really is.

The middle of the book dragged. I think I’ve determined it’s the longest novel I have ever read. It’s 992 pages! That beats the 5^th Harry Potter book and The Mysts of Avalon  (the two I always think of when I remark on novel length). And I’m not really certain if the biggest fault here is that of the author or the editor. So many things repeated in the plot and development of the story. I get sometimes that repetition is needed. It really drives a point across. But, I swear to God, if I read about her scars being missing, or the pull/not-pull of the mate bond, or Manon’s heritage, or how awful the court is, just one more time, I would have stopped reading. I’m not going to lie; I did stop reading a few times, to go, “Again??” Like, I get it. I’m not a moron. I seriously think maybe a third of the book was repetition…and could have been cut out. And repetition is one of my biggest peeves in a book. It made me question whether the book was edited at all.

Also, all the characters are mostly separate through most of the book. So, some character storylines were obviously stronger than others. I mostly skimmed Chaol’s chapters. I found his to be the most repetitive and dull. It was all about how much he’s overcome and how much he loves his wife. Instead of being cute and romantic, it felt forced. Like, I was being persuaded to think he was happy, instead of actually watching him be happy, if that makes sense.

I was actually very into Dorian’s storyline. I liked that he had the mission he did. And I actually feel like he’s overcome so much more than Chaol has, but none of his achievements were repeated or over-emphasized at all, so I felt like I could enjoy things a lot more. I also have come to love Manon and the witches, and I found their stories to be interesting too, though very predictable.

And then of course it’s all action for the last 150 pages or so, and I had a feeling I knew how it would end, and I was surprisingly wrong. So, points to Maas for surprising me there. I do think she did a good job of the end in general, wrapping up all the loose ends and characters. There was even closure with characters I thought long-gone and over. So, that was nice too. I really enjoyed reading the beginning and the ending of this book. I guess it was more the middle that needed the work.

Everyone, literally everyone, is coupled up at the end. I have come to expect this now…though, it still feels almost silly and too good. Maas still uses the word, “prick” rather often. And there were a few things that came off as very vague, mostly about the Gods. But, overall I was impressed with the end. I liked that things ended a little past the final battle, so we got to see how things changed.

All in all, the beginning and the ending were great. So much was repeated and felt like unnecessary filler in the middle that I almost stopped reading the book entirely. I skimmed everything about Chaol. I loved the stories about everyone else. I loved how everything tied up. It’s rare for me to love a book so much in parts, and in others parts really loathe it. I give it a 7/10.