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hxlleann's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
faithsbookreads's review against another edition
- 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
Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Miscarriage, Torture, and Vomit
Minor: Gore, Excrement, and Grief
spatterson7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Slavery, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
singingshooter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and War
oxfordcommas91's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Excrement
booksalacarte's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
No Written Review
Reread- 4.5⭐️ 1.5🌶️
Multi POV
Slow burn
Found Family
Mythical Creatures
Magic
War
Tw: discussion on infant loss
This series is a lot. There is always a lot going on, but the multi POV shifts solidly enough that you don’t feel jostled all over the place. Every character has an important viewpoint and unique voice.
I do think that some of the characters had kinda big personality shifts from the last book to this one. Mainly Chaol and Aelin. No maybe they aren’t endgame… but all of a sudden finding out that Chaol was having an illicit affair the summer before the champions competition and acted in a way that he had quickies in alleys??? I don’t buy it.
And Aelin while I appreciate the grief that was focused on in Heir of Fire… in Queen of Shadows she was working well below her standard badassery. As if her entire personality became dependent on Rowan.
And what is up with the “he seemed to say” and “she seemed to say” conversations?! Full blown, detailed conversations all with facial expressions. I bet they looked like absolute idiots to the people around them when they happened………… so weird. Just make them telepathic already.
Starting the story with Dorian’s POV was so important to see his depression and mindset since his situation was the last we read about in Heir of Fire. It definitely put in some tension and anxiety when it came to no one else knowing what was going on.
Knowing everything definitely makes the reread fun and heightens my ratings… but I am definitely not blowing through them on a binge the way I did on the first read.
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury
annamary54's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
it’s later:
honestly reading these back to back i can’t remember what was heir of fire and what was queen of shadows, but i’m gonna try my best. in the last one i struggled to care about the witches at all, and the first 3/4 i thought were very slow. this one definitely moved a lot faster from the beginning. i did start to care about the witches in this one, but like i said it took me until the last quarter to really care about that whole story line. all of the books before this one felt like exposition and this one actually had some action in it. i gave it such a high rating because i really was engaged and didn’t want to stop reading basically the whole time. (except the witch chapters, i’d usually use those as a stopping point)
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, and Alcohol
britwalsh16's review against another edition
- 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
Watching Aelin become who she was always meant to be & fight for her loved ones & what is right, is inspiring! The growth she has had since book 1 is in incredible!
And the bromance between Chaol & Dorian is like my favorite bromance ever! Coming in second only to my bat boys.
All the characters have incredible growth in this book! & I could go on about how much I love them all, but then this will get really long, so I won’t.
But my favorite character is Rowan! & having him not being in the first third of the book gave me serious withdrawal! My heart just leaped out of my chest when he finally showed up! I was so ecstatic! I can’t wait to read more of him, & more of his relationship with Aelin! My heart! 💜
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Genocide, Misogyny, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
laura_nel13's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Slavery, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War