Book review: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Finished reading: 23 February 2024
Rating out of five: 4.75/5

The fourth book in the Throne of Glass series, Queen of Shadows absolutely blew my socks off—what a book! There’s a lot to get through, but trust me, this book is 100% worth it.

Celaena (now going by her actual name, Aelin) is back in Adarlan after her incredible journey over in Wendlyn, and she’s ready to fight for those she’s lost, those she loves, and her people. And, she’s going to fight for that damn crown that is rightfully hers.
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I’ll keep warning y’all—there be spoilers in this one, including choices and plot twists from the books that have come before this one. For those who are reading along, have already read it, or don’t have any want to read these and don’t mind being spoiled, let’s get into it!

Aelin arrives back in Rifthold, disguised and everything, and sets about trying to figure out what’s been happening. After a catch up with Aelin’s previous boss, Arobynn Hamel, Aelin eventually makes her way to meeting Nesryn Faliq (one of many new faces in this book), who takes her to Chaol.

While I didn’t mention it in the last review in case of spoilers, let’s make it clear: the end of Heir of Fire was incredible, devastating, and I think my heart is still recovering. To quickly summarise as best I can: Aedion (Aelin’s cousin), Chaol and Dorian confront the King, and in the fight that ensues:

• Chaol runs for it
• Aedion is imprisoned
• Dorian watches Sorscha, who’d he’d basically fallen head over heels in love with, die right in front of him, and then gets forced to wearing a collar which puts a Valg demon basically in control of him.

So, when Aelin reunites with Chaol, there’s quite a lot discussed between the two of them, but after time spent a part and wounds not quite healed between them, there’s a loss of trust. And, in this moment together, Chaol doesn’t give her all the information he knows about how to restore magic because of this lost trust, infuriating Aelin (and me!).

We also find out that Valg soldiers are everywhere. And, after everything we saw in Heir of Fire, that is definitely a cause for concern.

Fast forward and we’re in an intense rescue mission to get Aedion out of prison. In the process of doing this, Aelin comes face to face with the enslaved Dorian. Testing to see if there’s anything left of him, she goes to try and kill him but is foiled by Nesryn. You see, Chaol doesn’t want his buddy killed (fair enough), and believes there must be a way to save him.

Anyway, that results in more tension and unhappiness between Chaol and Aelin, and it really feels like there’s no way they’re going to get through it together. We’re miles away from the days where they were very cutesy in Crown of Midnight, and I must admit I had really high hopes for them as I felt their chemistry in the second instalment was just beautiful. So it goes, but on the otherhand, I can understand why a muscly fae man like Rowan would catch Aelin’s interest instead.

I digress. Moving forward, Aelin and Aedion have a very nice reunion, Rowan arrives in Rifthold (much to the happiness of Aelin), we find out Lorcan is in town, and a whole lot more. Trust me, I’m not even scratching the surface—this book is filled to the brim with so much plot and action.

For example, Dorian: he’s enslaved by the demon inside him and controlled by the collar around his neck. Does that stop the omniscient narrator giving us his point of view? Nope! So, we get the devastating view through his eyes as he watches terrible things happen (even, at times, by his own hands) while he slowly loses himself and his memories to the demon.

I haven’t even mentioned Manon and the Ironteeth Witches. Honestly, Manon and these witches are such a good inclusion to the books and series as a whole. They bring such an important view to the story by taking us behind enemy lines. Anytime I would see the story shift to Manon’s perspective, I wouldn’t put the book down until I was finished with that section. She had my full attention, and I loved every second of it.

And the plot line with the Ironteeth Witches and the implantation with the Yellowlegs? Talk about seeing what the enemy is up to and being absolutely gagged by it.

I was remiss in not listing the other fae warriors that we meet in Heir of Fire, but boy was I glad to see Lorcan coming back into the picture in this book. He was a character I liked instantly, and his ability to navigate around his blood oath to Maeve and push and pull on loyalties is so much fun to read.

And the link between Aedion and Gavriel added another layer upon multiple layers of plot, and I was eating it all up.

Oh, and we meet another character called Elide, who is stationed at Morath where the baddies are gathering their forces. This includes the Ironteeth Witch Clans, and Elide and Manon end up with an alliance of sorts due to Elide having some witch blood in her veins.

You may recall Duke Perrington from Throne of Glass, who is also hanging out with the baddies alongside Elide’s Uncle—Vernon Lorchan—and Kaltain Rompier. And, she’s very different from when we last saw her. Poor, poor Kaltain.

But, I think one of my favourite characters coming back from The Assassin’s Blade is Lysandra. Seeing her and Aelin reunite and turn into good friends is so nice to see, and Lysandra ends up having a huge influence in the story, including her little secret that’s unleashed with the return of magic to the realm.
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It’s hard to summarise a book like this, but let me just say, there’s so much. There’s intrigue, mystery, epic fights, plot twists, and a whole lot of things going BOOM. And, once again, that ending… I don’t think I can say enough. What I can say, however, is that Maas really shows that she knows how to write some good crescendos, making for very memorable endings.

So, without rambling on for longer, let’s go into what I liked. Almost everything, but not quite, hence the 4.75 star rating. And you can tell by the time that passed between Heir of Fire and this one—I was locked in, and cursed every second I couldn’t just sit down and read the damn thing. Adult responsibilities can jump in the trash when there’s a book like this one out there, let me tell you.

The dynamics between all the characters was fun to read through, and while I’ve been frustrated previously for the wrong reasons when it comes to characters not saying everything, this time it was done in the right kind of way. I was frustrated, but it didn’t make me want to put down the book.

I think it’s important for me to cover off w hat I didn’t like , because there’s clearly something that meant this book didn’t reach a full 5 stars. And, for me, it was the amount of perspectives.

I’ve said it before that I am an absolute sucker for an omniscient narrator. Tie that in with a good smattering of drama, romance, and all that lovely stuff, and I’m drooling. But, dare I say it, this was just a bit much.

And, when it gets a bit much, you start to dread certain perspectives in the book and the commitment to read through their sections. Elide comes to mind for me, for example. I didn’t quite hit it off with her in Queen of Shadows. I appreciate and understand why her perspective is important, and why the omniscient narrator includes her perspective, but there were times her sections just didn’t hit me with all the right vibes.

But, don’t get me wrong, some of the things we learn through her perspective are truly significant to the story and jaw dropping. If it wasn’t for that, I think I would’ve really struggled through her parts.

That’s where I’ll leave this review. Honestly, I feel like I didn’t even scratch the surface with just how much is in this book, so do yourself a favour: read this series just so you can read this book—it’s a wild ride, and it’s so much fun.
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Did you rate this book highly like me? How do you feel about the number of perspectives we’re starting to see with the omniscient narrator? Let me know in the comments!