Kingdom of Ash Book Review: Epic Conclusion To The Series

This is a review on the last book in the Throne of Glass series. Make sure you have read books 1-6 before reading this review. Here are the links to my reviews on the previous books in the series.

Cover of Kingdom of Ash

Synopsis

Aelin has risked everything to save her people – but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day….

With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation – and a better world. 

And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen – before she is lost to him forever. 

As the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.

Review

This book was a great finish to the series. It’s going on my list of favorite series because I loved it so much. You must be prepared before starting this book though. It is very dense, emotional, and almost a thousand pages. I would check for trigger warnings before reading it.

Writing Style

The author’s writing was just as beautiful as always. Sarah J. Maas has a way of making you laugh even in the darkest times of the book. The multiple POVs were a lot and hard to get through at times. It was done well though as all of the POVs slowly combined throughout the story as the characters made their way to the final stand. The pacing was good and there was a good balance between action scenes and non-action scenes. It was long but I was hooked throughout the whole book.

Characters

It broke my heart to read what Aelin went through in this book. Being tortured is terrible and we had to watch as Aelin struggled to find herself again. I liked how realistic her journey to recovery was though. She wasn’t just magically better after all that pain she went through. She is truly much different than the Celaena we first met.

I loved Rowan in this book as always. It broke my heart even more watching him try to find his way back to Aelin. They compliment each other so well and I love that he loves her unconditionally.

Aedion had it rough in this book which kind of made him seem like a jerk at times, especially to Lysandra. I get that he was having a tough time but there is no excuse for how he was treating Lysandra. I didn’t like that Lysandra was taking Aelin’s place and that they were lying to everyone about where Aelin was, but I can also understand why they did it and Lysandra was brave for doing it. She’s also a great role model for Evangeline.

I really started to love Dorian more and more throughout the series. I think he had great character development and he played a key role in the plot of this book. Manon also had great character development and I will always love her, Abraxos, and the 13.

Yrene and Chaol are one of the more boring couples but I still like their romance. Yrene’s healing powers are amazing and she played a significant role in the end battle. Even with his back injury Chaol was not afraid to fight and do what must be done. Both Chaol and Yrene had so much faith and trust in each other as well. Chaol’s reunion with Dorian was so sweet too.

Nesryn and Sartaq’s romance felt a little underdeveloped to me and I just would have liked to see more chemistry. Meanwhile, Elide and Lorcan’s relationship was dramatic in this book. Elide was still mad at Lorcan for the beginning of the book but there was one epic scene that turned the tides for her.

The cadre has become one of my favorite things. It’s amazing how they are all basically best friends but won’t admit to it. There was one scene at the end with them that absolutely broke my heart and almost made me cry and I never cry when I read.

Plot

This is the last book so the plot in this book was about fighting in the end of the war. There were many different side plots that came together throughout the book. The characters also had to confront a couple big revelations from the last 2 books. There were a lot of battle scenes and action and most of them had me at the edge of my seat. I will never stop being amazed at Aelin’s power. The battle scenes with Aedion were not as entertaining and more just really sad to read about.

I love how the ending of the book turned out. It was really satisfying besides one little thing that I can’t say for spoilers. I also understand why it happened though and I can’t really be mad about it.

Overall Thoughts

I’m sad to be done with the series and I’m not sure I will ever get over it. I highly recommend this book and the whole series. It was difficult to read emotionally and it’s come a long way from the first book about a little competition with assassins. Sarah J. Maas is worth the hype and I’m very glad I finally decided to read this series. I will definitely be reading ACOTAR soon. Let me know if you prefer ACOTAR or Throne of Glass.

“To whatever end.”