Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas Book Review
“And when Aelin lifted her head to survey the cheering crowd, when she smiled, Queen of Terrasen and the Faerie Queen of the West, she burned bright as a star.”
About
Author: Sarah J Maas
Genre: High Fantasy
Series: Throne of Glass Book 6
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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
Spoilers contained below
Dear Throne of Glass Fans,
I knew once school was over, I wanted to read Kingdom of Ash so that I could read it in all its glory without the distraction of school work. So over Christmas break I read Kingdom of Ash! And this girl lived, she sobbed, she laughed outright, she cringed, she screamed, I was a mess of all kinds of emotions! The Throne of Glass series holds a special place in my heart because it was the first book series I bought and then read consecutively within each year a new book was released. I started this series when I was a freshman in high school and now I’m a freshman in college and it just feels full circle. What was something you read over the holidays? Any book series that holds a special place in your heart as well? Let me know below in the comments.
So where do I even start with this book? I’m not even ashamed to say that this review will run suppppppeeerrr long because this book was almost 1,000 pages and so many things happened within the span of this book. So it’s kind of like how do I not mention everything I loved? ; )
I’m going to start with the ending because the ending was absolutely my favorite part and was just sooooo good!
This series started with Celeana Sardithion, an assassin and has ended with Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius, Queen of Terrrasen and Faeire Queen of the West. What a mouthful! But I love a double title queen! Like I was cheering for her at her coronation where she wore Mab’s old crown and the new Terrasen crown made for her. Literally Aelin is 19 years old and she has lived, fought, and endured way more than any 19 year old should and now she has not one, but two titles! She’s more accomplished than I’ll ever be!
I truly felt like if anyone deserved to feel at peace and to just live happy it was Aelin. I feel like with this book we really saw a vulnerable side of Aelin and how she kept emphasizing how tired she was and just wanted everything to be done—–the war and sealing the wyrdgate. And when Aeiln just kept saying things like that, I understood where she was coming from in feeling so much weight on her shoulders that she alone had to lead the war, close the gate, and save her people because she was what inspired the people to fight. And that’s such a big burden to carry on anyone’s shoulders. So I really liked when Rowan would be there to remind Aelin that they would figure things out together. I also appreciated how no matter what went on in the book, everyone was right there with Aelin trying to help. And I just loved the overall sense of kinship, loyalty, and family in such a dark time. To me it really highlighted that message that you never have to go through anything alone in life and that there will always be people there to support or fight with you. That’s why the ending farewells brought me to so much tears and panged my heart! All these people who have lived, endured, and found each other in the most unsuspecting places were now going off in different directions to build a better world. I think so many things came full circle with this books. One of them being Yrene and Celeana, in how they both met at Innish and gave Celeana gave Yrene that note all those years ago. And now they found each other again. And boy, have they both come far with the positions/roles they hold now. No one would have even guessed that two girls who met at Innish would be a double-title queen and one the greatest healer.
My heart swelled so much during the scene at the coronation when Aeiln walked out of the castle and she asked all her friends to walk with her. To me it symbolized how she wouldn’t have been able to take on this war and the fate that was destined for her alone. She had to do this with her loyal friends and family—they had to do this together. The part that really got me during the farewell scene was when Aeiln said goodbye to Dorian and Chaol. Dorian, Chaol, and Aelin were the original three main characters from the start of the series and they all survived everything together in a world that they will remake. And what started as a competition with Dorian as the Prince, Chaol as the Guard, and Aelin as Ardalan’s assassin, now stood Dorian the magic-wielding shape shifter, Lord Chaol, and Aelin the double title queen. And they’ve all literally, physically, and emotionally come so far from where they started and met. But I love how their farewell was not a goodbye because they promised to see each other later.
I also love how Elide and Lorcan tied the knot at the end and how Lorcan was like “I’ll think about it,” when Elide asked him to marry him. I also loved how he said after they get married, he will bind his life to hers (because she’s mortal) because he wouldn’t want to live a day without her. Awwww! That’s true love my friends! But what’s super funny is the fact that Lorcan’s name was going to be Lord Lorcan Lochan! Even Elide laughed! But Lorcan’s so sweet and was like I’ll wear that name with pride.
Overall, I feel like Loran was really underrated in this series because no one knew if they could trust him, but I could tell he was really trying to change and it sucked that everyone ignored or hated him when he was trying so hard. But I just loved how happy he was with Elide after they confessed their love for each other.
I also loved the fact that Lysandra and Aedion got married towards the end after a few months after the war. Rowan called it! But I think we all knew Aedion and Lysandra were bound to happen because they loved each other but weren’t willing to admit it. I also enjoyed how other men started to respect Lysandra as a lady rather than what she used to do. Men were so cruel and rude to her just because she used to do something that might be seen as ‘bad,’ but those men had no right to judge her when she was shape shifting and fighting like no one’s business to defend Orynth. I’m also happy Lysandra got to finally meet her uncle and how they both cried.
Shifting gears, I wanted to mention Evangeline who is such a feisty sweetheart. She was able to melt Darrow’s cold Jack Frost heart by making him see how kids like her see Terrasen as a place of hope where people can live in peace. Darrow understood that message and ideal and gave Evangeline a title because she embodies everyone Terrasen stood for. I also highly respected Evangeline because for such a young girl to witness all the loss and blood shed of war, I think she was quite strong. I liked how Aedion acted like a father figure for her in reassuring her that they fight for something they love and how they have so much to lose because they love something so much. And that really connects to the reason why all these people fought; Everyone was terrified, but they have so much love in their heart for a a better world, that that love outweighed all those fears.
I’m happy that Aedion got to rectify and see his dad in battle one last time before Gavriel ran to the Western gate as a sacrifice to close the tower. Like they were having such a great father-son moment talking about doing things together and possibly creating a life together. And my heart when Aedion saw his dad! Speaking of sacrifices, Manon and her 13 witches who all sacrificed themselves to close the witch towers. Like they all flew to the tower knowing they weren’t coming back, and yet they did it because they wanted Manon to live and to create a better world. And my heart really tired for Manon because those witches were her family and they loved her so much that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for her. It was such a breathtakingly beautiful scene. What made it even more beautiful was how people came with flowers and offerings and laid it where the 12 witches sacrificed themselves. With all the flowers and offerings laid there, a flower was blooming in the Wastes, which meant that the curse was broken and all the witches could return home in peace. Later on in the book, Aelin and Manon have such a cute intimate moment outside where the 12 witches died. Manon laid her head on Aelin’s shoulder because they understood all the loss and pain they felt. I just thought it was a very great queen-to-queen moment.
I felt like everything ended pretty romantically for everyone except Dorian. Like the most he got was a promise from Manon that she might come visit to train the wyvern hatchlings in Rifthold. And then we have Yrene who’s like “You could just marry each other.” I am totally with Yrene! ; )
But even though it would be nice if they did get married or that Dorian and Manon had a happily ever after, I understood why they didn’t. Dorian wants her to focus on her kingdom of witches and to rebuild a better world. Manon has also lost so much of her loved ones that she needs time to heal and figure out things for herself. They both have a lot of self-acceptance or self-discovery to come to terms with before focusing or giving love to each other. But I like how Manon’s only response to Yrene was “We’ll see,” so there’s still hope that maybe one day they’ll find happiness together. I feel like there could be a separate novella on that. : )
My love for Yrene has grown tremendously ever since we met her in the last book. She kicked so much butt destroying Erawan. WHILE PREGNANT. Like wow! WOW! She really raged her healing powers against Erawen and brought the light of life in him.
During the Erawen take down scene, Dorian wanted to know his dad’s name because his dad—-I never realized this—-never had a name. He was nameless and Erawen said his dad remembered it once—the first time he held Dorian. My heart! < 3 When I read this part, I was taken back to The Mortal Instruments and Sebastian and Johnathan. I feel like Dorian’s dad would have been a good father like Johnathan would have been a good brother if they were not enslaved by a demon, or in this case a valg.
I also loved how Dorian finally defined himself. All throughout the book he kept wondering if he was human or valg because of his powers and his father. He was always scared to ask Daramis and have it warm up, indicating he was valg or human. But at the end he decides and knows deep down that he’s human because he would never stoop so low like Erawen. Dorian wouldn’t have torn down the world or enslaved so many people just to see his brothers again. He wouldn’t have done that for Hollis or Chaol, and that was the defining difference—–Dorian was still humane enough to see reason. And I just felt like that was such a big step for sweet Dorian to understand and find himself.
Now let’s talk about Maeve’s takedown because we all wanted her to be taken down! I’m I wrong?! ; ) The whole time Aelin and her crew kept talking about her plan and I kept wondering “What plan?!” But then they created a portal where wolves came out to attack Maeve and Maeve started backing away because she was scared! I loved how Aelin joined hands with Rowan and they erupted in flames and then Aelin was like we’re not the ones who have a bone to pick with you and then Fenrys runs after Maeve and appears in front of her and plunges the sword into her heart—-payback for his brother. Then Maeve has the audacity to beg for mercy from all of them, which I thought was rich how she was like “I’ll go anywhere and I’ll leave you alone.” Aelin’s response was like “Then go to heck!” I was laughing so much! Probably one of my favorite snarky responses from Aelin in this whole book. It was such a glorious moment of triumph after all the work everyone put in to defend Terrasen and when all seemed hopeless, they were able to take her DOWN!
I laughed at the whole scene when Aelin goes to the tower and sees the scorching black spot where Erawen was defeated and she joked about how she would put a rug over it. “I’m thinking pink and purple. Embroidered with flowers. Just what Erawen would have loved” (949). I also loved the part where they all show up to her room and she was like “Did anyone bother to sleep,” and Fenrys raised his hand like an eager schoolboy. Or that other moment at the coronation where they were saying there was one more part to the ceremony and Fenrys was like “the lunch.” Gotta love Fenrys’s humor.
Now let’s talk about the other momentous thing that had to go down in this book: sealing the wyrdgate. Some part of me kept wondering why couldn’t both Dorian and Aelin close the wydgate together? If either person had to sacrifice their life to seal the gate, then they could do it together. So I was so for it when Aelin asked Dorian to help her seal the gate and how Dorian didn’t even bat an eye before saying yes. When closing the gate, Dorian saw his father who’s nameless and supposedly nameless is the price so Dorian’s father takes Dorian’s place and Aelin shoves him out of the circle. I was like Aelin, you don’t have to do this alone! Like my heart broke for Rowan who felt crumbled and hopeless. But for Aelin to close the gate, she had to give up her mortality/ her human essence, as well as a big portion of her magic. I like how during this scene she made a deal with the Gods that Elena would go home in exchange for having Erawen stay. And of course, as a big middle finger to the Gods, Aelin opened up a portal to the underworld in the God’s realm to punish them for betraying Elena and Erilea. I was laughing when all the God’s started running towards her to escape, but then she closed the archway. Like we love a queen and they deserved it!
When Aelin was falling through the worlds, I imagined Aelin’s looking like Alice from Alice in Wonderland when she fell down the rabbit hole. But my favorite surprise scene of this whole book was the Feyre and Rhysand cameo I never knew I needed but always wanted! I always wondered where Feyre and Rhysand world took place because they were far too. I just assumed the whole plot was separate, but the fact that it’s just a separate world—-WE COULD HAVE HAD A CROSSOVER! I’m still holding out for a crossover, but I don’t think it’s likely considering the wrydgate is closed, but a girl can hope! But I just knew it was Feyre and Rhysand by the way Sarah J Maas described the snow capped mountains and a winged male man standing next to a HEAVILY pregnant fae woman gazing up at the stars! HEAVILY PREGNANT!! I’ve been teased! Feyre and Rhysand are expecting! I love the moment where Aelin thinks Rhysand waves at her and how Rhysand shoots his magic to help her find/go back to Erilea. But if only Aelin could have just dropped down and made a pit stop at the Nightcourt. Like that’s what dreams are made of.
I feel like a big part of understanding Kingdom of Ash is understanding why there was a war going on in the first place. I think because I have read this series over the span of so many years, the little details of the war kind of got lost for me, but I knew the main reasons why the war was occurring. So I liked the part when Dorian was in Mortath and he asked Erawen why he’s doing this? And Erawen responds that he wants to see his brothers and punish those who don’t kneel to him. Maeve just wants to rule. In the book we also find out why Maeve is scared of Aelin because she’s a valg and fears the light.
During the time Aelin was tortured, she has been storing up her power for three months. All that power stored up in her was supposed to be the killing blow to defeat Erawen and Maeve but she used that to stop the dam water in Anielle. When Aelin first stood in front of the rushing water at Anielle, I was kind of like “Aelin, you’re not a water bender,” but Aelin wasn’t going to bend water, she was going to turn that water to steam, which I thought was sooo cool! She could have saved all that power for the ultimate defeat, but I felt she knew in her heart that it was more right to save the people of Anielle than to store her power for later.
The other cool part about this scene was the Elide-Lorcan rescue. I thought it was so cute how Elide rushed to find him because she said she would always find him. (Doesn’t this remind you of Once Upon a Time with Snow and Charming? If you watched it, you’d know). And she did. She had so much strength to get Lorcan on Farasha, the horse, and that horse ran like the wind to outrun the dam water. And during the ride Lorcan was like “You have to let me go!” My heart broke! But Elide voiced my reaction in saying “No,” and bless her heart for holding onto him so he wouldn’t let go.
Side note, does anyone else view faes as low key vampires in disguise with the whole blood oath thing? Like I couldn’t help myself from always laughing at how Aelin would have the men swear blood oaths to her and they would each cut themselves with a knife and then the man would drink her blood. Or how the mating mark was when a fae bit your neck? Kind of suspicious. ; )
For me the best blood oath that was much deserved was Fenrys. Fenrys broke the blood oath to Maeve so he could help Aelin escape. Fenrys who struggled to stand up because he never saw Aelin look so weak or hopeless and I was like Fenrys, you are an amazing wolf. And he fought for her to buy her time, and when Aelin escaped she cried because Fenrys who was there for her was still fighting for her! I really liked the sacred blinking conversations they had between the two of them in blinking for yes and no and blinking to tell each other they were still there. I thought hope was lost for Fenrys, but then Aelin gave him the blood oath and he survived! And it was just such a beautiful moment because he was so loyal to Aelin. The whole break out scene itself was my favorite part of Act 1 because it was the moment Rowan and Aelin were reunited and that meant everything else could start to fall into place. I loved the end when Rowan’s in the tent with Cairin and Caririn’s so frightened of Rowan. Rowan was so ready to carve him like a pumpkin and I was so for a malicious scene! Speaking of malicious scenes, I love the part when Elide confronted Vernon and everyone was there with murder weapons just waiting for Elide to say the word. Like I felt like out of all of them, Lorcan wanted to beat him up the most. But in that moment, the poise and maturity of Elide was tremendous in how she didn’t have anything left to say to him. Then Vernon’s like “You’re going to leave me here with them?” And Elide’s like “You’re a grown man, you should be able to handle being in their hands defenseless.” I love snarky remarks. But what made this scene better was how Aelin interrogated him for answers in exchange for not killing him. But when she’s done getting answers from him, he’s like aren’t you going to unchain me. And Aelin was like I said I wasn’t going to kill you, I didn’t say anything about unchaining you. Karma sucks! Vernon deserved what came to him for what he did to Elide.
But back to more of the beginning of the book. The expletive and manipulative way Maeve tortured Aelin was torturous to read. Like Maeve would torture her and then heal her to give her this false illusion of what was real and what wasn’t real. It broke my heart that even after she was rescued, she questioned if Rowan was an illusion or not. What also broke my heart was how Maeve wiped Aelin of her scars and everything— as if wiping away everything she ever was so she wouldn’t recognize herself or who she used to be. The last part scar or thing on her body to be erased was the mating mark because that was her final straw of holding onto hope—holding onto Rowan.
Overall, I just felt like I grew up with these characters and all they’ve been through. I’m just so happy that they can all live in peace and just start their lives. At the end, Yrene was like “It’s over,” and Chaol was like,
“But life was just beginning.”
(pg. 927)
Life was just beginning—birth, rebirth, marriage, and growth. And I feel like what Chaol said just really hit the nail on the head with everything good that was sure to come in all their futures. Again, I also just loved the kinship and family Aelin has made over her life.
If Sarah J Maas ever wants to revisit the Throne of Glass series and write a spin off with Evangeline or a novella with Dorian and Manon or even a crossover with Feyre and Aelin, I will be so for it!
Anyway, what were your thoughts on the book? Do you think it was a good end to the series? What was your favorite or least favorite parts?
Here’s to hoping for more books from Sarah J Maas, the queen herself, and I hope you have a beautiful amazing day,
And always, with love,
Rating
5 Full Bloom Flowers
Characters: I loved the kinship/sense of family that these characters have. They’ll honestly always have a special place in my heart.
Plot: Love how everything was resolved and that most of the main characters lived!
Writing: Sarah J Maas never disappoints me with her writing : )
Action: The real question is, when was there not any action ; )
Romance: Besides Dorian and Manon not getting their happily ever after, I feel like everyone had triumphs in their love lives.