Review: Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J Maas

Title: Heir of Fire
Author: Sarah J Maas
Series: Throne of Glass
Book #: 3
Pages: 565
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 4.59
Published: September 2nd, 2014

Lost and broken, Celaena Sardothien’s only thought is to avenge the savage death of her dearest friend: as the King of Adarlan’s Assassin, she is bound to serve this tyrant, but he will pay for what he did. Any hope Celaena has of destroying the king lies in answers to be found in Wendlyn. Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King’s Guard, has sent Celaena there to protect her, but her darkest demons lay in that same place. If she can overcome them, she will be Adarlan’s biggest threat – and his own toughest enemy.

While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love?

Taschima's POV:

"When they'd let me out, so much of my mind had shut down in the darkness that the only thing I could remember was that my name was Celaena. Celaena Sardothien, arrogant and brave and skilled, Celaena who did not know fear or despair, Celaena who was a weapon honed by Death."

Such a good, long, satisfying book. Heir of Fire is so far my favorite book in the series, I am not even kidding. I love how Sarah J Maas has slowly but surely gathered all the pieces of all her previous books, and novellas, together to make this one shine the brightest. I would definitely recommend anyone reading this book to pick up [book:The Assassin's Blade|18243700] because there are a lot of references to the novellas you might not get otherwise. Heir of Fire is the darkest and brightest of her books, full of despair, sadness, and sacrifice, but by the end there also full of hope.

Heir of Fire is told in like, seven different POVS. The book is in third person POV though so it isn't bothersome at all. It was just interesting to be able to see what everybody was thinking, where their alliances lied, what they were planning... and even then Sarah J Maas managed to keep some vital information secret from us. She is SUCH a good writer I can't even. The story is more than 500 pages long, but I swear I would have kept on reading even if it was 1,000. I hope the next book is just as long!

Celaena is utterly devastated after she lost Nehemia. But than again, aren't we all? She pretty much spends her time in Wendlyn picking fights and drinking wine while laying atop roofs. She just can't seem to foster the energy to do anything productive, until one person comes and picks her up to bring her back to confront a side of herself she had been hiding from for 10 years. At Adarlan Chaol is questioning everything he has been sworn to protect and Dorian is trying not to loose his shit. Oh the happy trio. We are also introduced to some new characters like Aedion, the ruthless Wolf of the North and general to the king who so happens to be Celaena's cousin, Manon, a Blackbeak witch who has been summoned along with her clan to aid the king in the war, Sorscha, the quiet healer who nobody paid attention to but who is full of secrets, and Rowan, the Fae warrior who came out of nowhere to create havoc in Celaene's life (and to steal my heart, if I might add). I enjoyed every single one of the new characters in their own way, and I even rooted for the ones that are toying the line between potential good and damnable evil.

She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius--and she would not be afraid."

In Throne of Glass Celaena was competing to be the king's champion. It was a game, a deadly one but still just a game. The stakes were relatively low when comparing with this title. Heir of Fire is about so much more, and the stakes have never been greater. Celaena is not just Celaena anymore, she is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius and she has a fuck ton of people to protect and a lot of time to make up for. She is not just fighting for her freedom, or for love, she is fighting in order to free her entire kingdom. We are talking big scale here, and it shows. But it is not only her who is upping her game, all the characters are. Chaol is making big life altering decisions, and Dorian is already there but he is standing his ground against his tyrant of a father. I love Dorian, and Chaol is all right I guess. A bit too confused for my liking, you would think he could reach a decision a bit quicker.

When it comes to romance there is a lot of heart ache, but other than notorious Dorian who managed to find himself another girl to make googly eyes after (they are actually REALLY DAMN CUTE and they deserve each other) Celaena didn't really spend much time thinking about her love life. She spent a lot of her time grieving, for her dead friend, for her lost family, for her lost identity. There is a lot of learning and training and picking herself up. She is the weakest and the strongest she has ever been in this novel and I love her for it.

THAT ENDING

It was BRUTAL. Sarah J Maas doesn't spare feelings. As I told my friend, Sarah J Maas is like the George RR Martin of the YA scene, if she must kill her beloved characters to make the story progress, character who we have come to love and cherish, she will. She has already killed so many, it just scares me for the future of the series. There are still three books left! Who else will die?! I don't know, but I am seriously dying to find out. I want everything to work out so badly, but I know casualties are bound to happen. I don't know if my heart will be able to handle it.

I LOVE this series and I would recommend it wholeheartedly to any reader. It is YA fantasy at its best.

Extra YA Content: Bloodlines, Beginning: Adrian's Lost Chapter

*Editor's Note: When Richelle first sat down to write Bloodlines

each chapter was narrated by a different character.
This is Adrian's lost story.



 

From what I read it doesn't give us much of a story (really short), it stops before it gets to the good part. I want to read what happened at the dinner, how Adrian navigated it and how the assassination attempt went. How Adrian felt in real time when he brought Jill back from the dead. Now THAT would be something! But until then any new content is welcome =]

National Book Lovers Day: Which Are Your Favorite 2014 Reads, So Far?

Around these parts we don't need a special holiday in order to kick it back with a 500 page book in our laps, but we love it that there is a day in the year to celebrate book lovers everywhere! Maybe it'll encourage someone who doesn't read to pick up a book, seeing how many of us love the lifestyle.

With that in mind I think it's time for a recap of 2014. Kind of a midway point to list all of my favorite books so ar this year (it also serves as a recommendations for those non readers out there). So far in 2014 I've loved*...

*This list only contains titles published IN 2014.

  

 

Red Rising, a title I've recommended to ALL of my friends (and even some of my enemies). This story of a boy who gets betrayed by his government, was a slave his whole life, only to rise up and fight agaisnt the system is a classic... only it is set in Mars and the boy is a complete and total bad ass. So it is kind of sci-fi needs dystopian, but not like every other title you have read before. Sea of Shadows is the story of two sisters who's sole purpose in life is to take care of their town from evil spirits, only to have their town be destroyed anyways and all their town's children kidnapped by evil bad guys; some might say they did a bad job of handeling things, I just think they were shit out of luck. The characters and dialogue are what sets this story apart. Kiss of Deception, a cleverly written story with a strong female character some might not have classified as a heroine at the beginning of the title but by the end is well in her way to kicking some serious ass.

 

  

 

 

The Winner's Curse is a fantastically written tale of war, and romance. It is simple, elegant, and completely captivating. I would just go ahead and buy it right now if I were you. Of Metal and Wishes reminded me a bit of The Winner's Curse, but it is also a retelling of The Phantom of The Opera with an asian cast. Very dark, and much like The Winner's Curse it has aspects of war and it is completely captivating. Total Win. Salvage on the other hand is unlike every other YA story out there. It is sci-fi and for the most part it has characters with Hindu heritage. Ava is promised to marry someone, only it is not the person she thought she was going to marry. After making a serious mistake she is sentenced to death, only she manages to flee the ship she has lived her whole life in with the help of a friend. It is a very unique story.

 

  

 

The Nightmare Dilemma is the sequel to The Nightmare Affair, and it is so GOOD. It is a little Harry Potter'esque. only instead of a school for just mages it is a school filled with mythological creatures. Both dark and light. The dialogue is witty, the characters memorable, the plot exciting! I loved it just as much as I loved The Nightmare Affair. Good sequels are just so satisfying, which leads me to talk about Silver Shadows. Richelle Mead is an author that hopefully needs no introduction. She wrote The Vampire Academy series, and right after that one she wrote Bloodlines which is set in the same world only with a different main character (a kick ass one). Silver Shadows is the 5th book in ths series, so you might want to start with Bloodlines, or even Vampire Academy, before you get into this one. Let's just say that when it comes to series it is one of the best. White Hot Kiss was a surprising read. I hadn't read many titles by Jennifer Armentrout, though everybody says she is very good, so I didn't go into White Hot Kiss with high expectations. Now I want to read everything else she has written. It is a paranormal romance at it's best, with GARGOYLES! GARGOYLES MAN!

 

All of these titles are vastly different, but they all have one thing in common; they are incredibly entertaining. They keep you glued to their pages with fantastic characters, great plots, and, in most cases, witty dialogue. I can't wait to see what the other half of 2014 has in store for us all.

Total Books Read so Far This Year:

67