Book review: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

Finished reading: 9 May 2024
Rating out of five: 4.75/5

The seventh and final book in the Throne of Glass series, Kingdom of Ash is the culmination of everything we’ve learned, experienced, and felt throughout the whole journey. This is it. The end. And it’s really fucking good.

Not 5/5 good, but we’ll get into why a little later (although I’m sure you may hazard a guess from my previous reviews so far).

As this is the finale, I cannot emphasise enough the spoiler warning on this one. If you don’t want to be spoiled, then look away. Otherwise, let’s get right into this bloody good crescendo of a finale.

After the ending in Empire of Storms, I was ready to skip over Tower of Dawn and rip this book open because what do you mean Aelin is locked inside an iron coffin? And not only that, but also with an iron mask on?

I’m sorry but that’s terrifying. And Aelin just waltzed right in to protect her people. She also endures months of torture at the hands of Maeve and Cairn, and is unable to protect herself due to being smothered by the iron.

It’s not just physical torture either. Maeve is also manipulating her mind throughout this time, causing psychological torture too.

On top of that, Lysandra uses her shapeshifting to pretend to be Aelin, so that the plans can still go ahead with their allies to fight against forces of Erawan and Maeve.

And on top of that, Aedion has to pretend that Lysandra is Aelin, even though he absolutely loves Lysandra, and has this whole inner crisis with his feelings of betrayal as he was never told that this was going to happen.

Lysandra pretending to be Aelin is a façade that can only go for so long. As you can expect, while she can shapeshift into her, she cannot wield her powers. So, as Aedion leads the fight with their armies and allies, there is discontent and worry that Aelin hasn’t come into battle with her fire magic. This puts further strain on Aedion and Lysandra as they try to navigate keeping morale up while also blatantly lying to their allies.

But it doesn’t end there as we also have the Dorian’s side quest in finding the final Wyrdkey alongside Manon and her Thirteen. This also aligns with Manon’s quest in finding the Crochan Witches (being half Crochan herself).

I want to also mention here that the dynamic between Dorian and Manon is really interesting to read. They’re clearly attracted to each other, but they’re very different characters that have experienced so many different things—Dorian in particular has changed quite significantly since the first book.

Their seductive, lustful attraction is just so much fun on top of this complex character development, and I lap it all up.

However, I can’t forget to mention that Rowan, Elide, Gavriel and Lorcan are on a mission to get Aelin back. Being Aelin’s mate, Rowan has a deep connection with her—they’re literally bound together in heart and soul. It’s through this that he’s able to find out where she is, and results in an incredible rescue/escape scene that had me on the edge of my seat (quite literally).

I’m going to say right now, I’m really skirting along the edges of this storyline. There is so much in this book, and it’s 100% epic from beginning to end. And, once Aelin is freed and returns to Rowan and his group, this is when things reach a whole new level.

But before it cracks up a gear, I’m super appreciative and grateful that Maas gives us a moment to truly acknowledge the trauma that Aelin has had to deal with over the past few months. We see her breakdown, become distant, and it’s recognised that through the process of being physically tortured and healed back up again, she’s lost parts of her identity.

We eventually meet back with Chaol and Yrene after their adventure in Tower of Dawn, and it’s really nice to see Aelin reunite with these two characters. And, in the first major battle that Aelin joins in on, we see her completely let go and show off her power… but at what cost?

Dorian eventually obtains the final Wyrdkey, which includes a ‘how the turn tables’ moment between him and Maeve, and we eventually find ourselves at the final battle in Orynth.

And, can I just say, due to my undying love for Manon’s character, I don’t think I’ve finished crying over what happens with her Thirteen. I’m not going to go into details—if you know, you know. And if you don’t, do yourself a favour and read this series just to read this damn book!

The final battle is truly epic, and while a ‘good ending’ is assumed and expected, the journey to it is full of so many twists and turns, as well as a really nice nod to the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.
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As I mentioned before, I’ve skirted around some really important plot points and twists, but what I hope is obvious in all of this is this is a massive book with so much going on and it is a truly epic finale to this seven instalment + prequel series.

So, what did I like? Just how EPIC the story is. And, while there are some really neat action sequences, there’s also really sweet, slow moments where the interaction between characters is really meaningful.

It’s in these moments you realise just how far these characters have come, and how much they’ve all developed.

Aelin is still a bit of a brat, but she’s shown just how much she is willing to sacrifice for her people as well. There was a time where she completely shut out who she truly was. She hid herself away as an assassin by the name of Celaena Sardothien, and that was that.

She loved a man named Sam Cortland, and through their love and his death began the domino effect that would lead her to becoming the rightful queen. She is Aelin Galathynius, and she will not be afraid.

And, of course, my favourite character: Manon. From her strict beliefs as part of the Blackbeak witch clan, to accepting her role as the Crochan Witch Queen and finding a kindness and love within her. Honestly, I don’t think she deserved what happened to her Thirteen, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.

With that being all said and done, what didn’t I like? What do you think kept it from becoming 5/5? You guessed it: too many perspectives.

As this is the finale, I totally expected to be overwhelmed by the perspectives like I was in Empire of Storms. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the epicness of this story and just how much we’re fed regarding plot, lore, and how we get to the ending.

But I also think we could’ve had the same level of epicness without all the perspectives. And I don’t know how popular I’ll be with that opinion. 

Jumping from one location to another can also be quite staggering with the perspectives. And, I had plenty of moments where I thought to myself “Noooo don’t move from that character, I need to know what happens next with them/how they feel about this!”. This can sometimes be a good way to keep people invested in reading the story to eventually get back to said character, but for me it sometimes felt like the complete opposite.

Luckily, I was so invested in this book and story that I found it very hard to put it down, regardless of my issues about how many perspectives we are given.

So with that, we finish up the series here. It seems like so long ago we met Aelin (Celaena back then) in The Assassin’s Blade at the young age of 16 (still not over this fact, by the way). Now, she’s on the throne and married with quite the mouthful but beautiful name: Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius.

What were your thoughts on this epic conclusion? Were you as heartbroken as me with the fate of Manon’s Thirteen? What was your favourite part of this finale? Let me know in the comments!