Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas Book Review

This is a review on book 5 of the Throne of Glass series. This review contains spoilers for books 1-4 so do not read this if you have not read through to Queen of Shadows yet. You can read my reviews for the previous books here:

Synopsis

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those don’t. 

As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear. 

Aelin’s journey from assassin to queen has entranced millions across the globe, and this fifth installment will leave fans breathless. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?

Review

This book was epic! I loved it so much but it was also very emotional.

The beginning was a little slow but I was kind of in a book hangover from the last book so once I got going it was better. I really like the author’s writing style and how she is able to add humor into the book. It’s very intense but I still laughed a lot. It’s relatively fast paced and keeps you on your toes wondering what is going to happen next.

I continue to love the characters. The female main characters are all so amazing and I admire them. Elide is one character that I don’t vibe with as much but I’m still interested to see what happens between her and Lorcan. I love how they all hate that Aelin never tells them what she is doing but they trust her anyway…for the most part.

I loved Manon in this book. Her character is growing on me throughout the series and she really hit a turning point in this book. I also like Dorian’s character development in this book as he figures things out after his father’s death.

The plot was interesting because everything was coming together and they were preparing for the final battle. There was a revelation that we got at the end about Aelin which was crazy and I’m wondering what is going to happen with that. While Queen of Shadows was mostly in one place, this book had a lot of traveling which I really enjoyed.

Aelin’s power amazes me more and more each book as she continues to grow stronger. I am in awe imagining all of the scenes with her fire.

I am crying from that ending. It was so painful to read. It felt like everything they had worked towards was all for nothing. That being said, there was still a little hope that came peaking through at the end. I’m really excited to read Kingdom of Ash so that things can hopefully get better.