Review – Queen of Shadows (A Throne of Glass, Book 4) by Sarah J. Maas (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Length: 656 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: September 1, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1619636040
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in the Throne of Glass series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 5/5 stars

This is the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series. It was very well done, although a bit longer than it probably should have been. Still I have been very impressed with how incredible the world building is and how epic the storyline has become. There are six books planned for this series.

Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen (formerly Celaena) has returned to Adarlan with her primary purpose being to free magic and get her revenge on Arobynn. When she arrives she finds out that her cousin has been imprisoned and is scheduled to be executed. Aelin also discovers that Chaol has gone underground and is no longer part of the guard and Prince Dorian has been taken over by a Valg demon prince.

As Aelin plots to free her cousin and take down the King she will need help from both enemies and allies, new and old. Only then will she be able to restore Adarlan to it’s rightful people and awaken magic. However, as darkness stirs outside of Adarlan we find that taking down the King of Adarlan might only be the first step in a long journey against evil.

This book builds a lot on the last one and is told from many viewpoints. It was never confusing or hard to follow and the many viewpoints worked very well. The world building is incredibly well done and has definitely increased in complexity as the series as expanded.

We meet even more new characters in this book and to be honest I love some of the new characters even more than the old favorites. I especially liked the parts of the story told by the Ironteeth witch Manon, who is the leader of the Thirteen. Her parts were just as engaging, if not more so, than the parts of the book told from Aelin’s POV.

I adore Rowen and wish he had been in the book right at the beginning. Some have complained at the lack of strong female characters and that is addressed with some of the new characters in this book. We spend a lot of time with Lysandra, an old rival of Aelin’s. We also meet Chaol’s second in command and she is pretty awesome. Additionally in the portions with Manon we meet Elide who becomes a very intriguing character as well.

Most of the book is pretty dark but things do gain a more hopeful vibe toward the end. There are a lot of well done action scenes and a lot of surprises. It ended up being a pretty emotional read overall.

My only complaint is the length. This book suffers a bit from epic fantasy book bloat; it’s not awful but it is there. The pacing could have been more consistent (there are some parts mid-book that are pretty slow). Hopefully the next book is edited a bit better….although I worry a bit because each book in this series has been bigger and more bloated than the one before it…

Overall a spectacular continuation of this amazing YA epic fantasy series. I love every aspect of this series and this was an amazing continuation of it. I love how complex and intriguing the story has gotten over the last couple books. I would highly recommend this series to both YA and adult epic fantasy readers alike. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge