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abby_ace_of_books 's review for:
Kingdom of Ash
by Sarah J. Maas
It's crazy how much harder I cried over certain scenes when I wasn't reading them at gym class or band practice like I did the first time I read this.
As the conclusion to the Throne of Glass series, Kingdom of Ash acts as an epic finale to a beloved fantasy series for many. While I've admittedly not been enjoying my second read-through of this series nearly as much as I did the first time, this book is probably the best in the series. That being said, I completely forgot a certain subplot in the middle of it (Dorian's chapters about 50-65% through...I literally have no memory of it). Also, this book definitely could've been 400 pages shorter.
This is it. It's the finale, the epic conclusion. I can't say much about the plot without major spoilers, but now that there are, like, 10 different POVs, the pacing picks up compared to past books. However, the constant state of battle in some sections doesn't work well with keeping tensions high (especially past the 70% mark). There aren't many plot twists, but I do like the focus on final character developments and how some characters are forced to address their trauma. The last 70% is pretty fast-paced but so emotionally damaging that I had to time my reading so I wouldn't end up crying in class.
There are so many characters that I'll have to be brief here, but most of my opinions remain relatively similar to past books. Dorian is probably still my favorite (we love depressy boys), and I really enjoyed Manon and the Thirteen in this book especially. Fenrys gets an honorable mention (see my reason for liking Dorian). Rowan and Aelin were less annoying in this book, as were Elide and Lorcan. For some reason, I was more invested in Aedion and Lysandra this time around, but I don't know why. Chaol gives me the ick a bit in this one, but I still love Yrene as well. I think that's everyone (if I missed some, I obviously didn't care for them much).
The Throne of Glass series is not without its flaws, but I do appreciate this book and how well it writes a finale for one of the longer fantasy series that I've read. Kingdom of Ash is probably my favorite book in this series.
4.25/5
As the conclusion to the Throne of Glass series, Kingdom of Ash acts as an epic finale to a beloved fantasy series for many. While I've admittedly not been enjoying my second read-through of this series nearly as much as I did the first time, this book is probably the best in the series. That being said, I completely forgot a certain subplot in the middle of it (Dorian's chapters about 50-65% through...I literally have no memory of it). Also, this book definitely could've been 400 pages shorter.
This is it. It's the finale, the epic conclusion. I can't say much about the plot without major spoilers, but now that there are, like, 10 different POVs, the pacing picks up compared to past books. However, the constant state of battle in some sections doesn't work well with keeping tensions high (especially past the 70% mark). There aren't many plot twists, but I do like the focus on final character developments and how some characters are forced to address their trauma. The last 70% is pretty fast-paced but so emotionally damaging that I had to time my reading so I wouldn't end up crying in class.
There are so many characters that I'll have to be brief here, but most of my opinions remain relatively similar to past books. Dorian is probably still my favorite (we love depressy boys), and I really enjoyed Manon and the Thirteen in this book especially. Fenrys gets an honorable mention (see my reason for liking Dorian). Rowan and Aelin were less annoying in this book, as were Elide and Lorcan. For some reason, I was more invested in Aedion and Lysandra this time around, but I don't know why. Chaol gives me the ick a bit in this one, but I still love Yrene as well. I think that's everyone (if I missed some, I obviously didn't care for them much).
The Throne of Glass series is not without its flaws, but I do appreciate this book and how well it writes a finale for one of the longer fantasy series that I've read. Kingdom of Ash is probably my favorite book in this series.
4.25/5