Reviews with content warning for Blood - Queen of Shadows

This is the first book in the series where I found myself caring for Aelin.

I only started tolerating her about halfway through Heir of Fire - the only thing that kept me reading the first two books is that the side characters were way more interesting than she was. (And yes, I did read Assassin's Blade - and it made my already-dim view of her even worse, oops.)

These "side characters" are starting to become full-fledged characters in this book. It's clear that Aelin is still supposed to be the main character, but Aedion (I know I'm not spelling that correctly), Rowan, Lysandra, and so on are growing on me much faster than our supposed main character did. I am ALL for seeing a full novel from Lysandra's point of view. I know I'm setting myself up for heartbreak, but if Lysandra dies, I'm rioting.

This book wraps up with what seemed to be the end of the story - yes, there are a few unknowns, but I was not expecting there to still be THREE MORE BOOKS LEFT. That leaves a lot of time for people to die/for things to go wrong.

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mangofraiche's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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hollymileham's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this was so big my hands hurt
definitely worth it though it had a really strong storyline im even starting to care about manon finally
im excited for more rowan&aelin
wish me luck im doing the tandem read because i hate myself

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jordan_uhden's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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chapters_and_pages's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My god, these books get better and better (and longer!)! This series is definitely a commitment, given the length of the series, but it is so worth it!

I’m not going to go into too much detail about the plot, because that would make this spoilers central, to be honest, but all you need to know is that it was brilliant.

Aelin continues to be my favourite character of the series, possibly of all time. Honestly, who else could be so cocky and full of it, and get away with it like she does? She’s brilliant!

Chaol got on my last nerve in this book, but the characters are honestly what make this series for me. From Rowan and Aedion, Lysandra and Evangeline, Manon and Elide, I just love the them!

Overall, I can’t wait to continue rereading this series, especially tandem reading Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn.

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becky_anne7's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Throne of Glass series has really been building - and for me, this book is really where the series is starting to hit its stride. I was hooked to this one like I haven’t been to the books that come before it. I love the multiple POVs of this book, and how all the characters’ storylines are folding together and building on to each other. This book also really picks up the action as Aelin and her ragtag band of heroes hatches daring plot after daring plot to try to change the course of their worlds’ history. Absolutely loving the new characters and their development in the storyline (mostly Rowan and Manon). I am now chomping at the bit to pick up the next book in the series!

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liesthemoontells's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Continues the strong character development and worldbuilding that Maas delivered in Heir of Fire, with some satisfying plot twists and emotional breakthroughs for various characters.

This is also the first book that starts to get properly horny.

Many of the descriptions are starting to become repetitive - there are only so many times that I can read that someone was "covered in black blood" or had "eyes lined with silver" (just say they're filled with tears jfc). Also the way that Maas describes territorial Fae males is already exhausting, and the lack of nuance between familial vs romantic territorialism makes a big middle chunk of the book seem uncomfortably incest-y.

Overall this is stronger than the first two entries in the series and makes me excited to continue reading, but imo, a small step down in quality from Heir of Fire.

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