Reviews with content warning for Death - Queen of Shadows

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

175 reviews

kamrynkoble's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Omg, this took me two months. I feel like I owe myself a prize for finishing it. It’s still so, so good.

I still consider myself a baby fantasy reader—I haven’t really ventured outside SJM yet. My brain sometimes struggles with keeping track of all these moving parts as the magic system is so foreign to me. I’m always afraid to google anything, but sometimes I just have to do it. It doesn’t help that SJM loves those gotchya moments where Aelin retroactively tells you of the genius, secret-from-the-reader move she made last chapter that conveniently saved her/her people this chapter. Oh well.

I just . . . I feel like I’m finally getting it. I felt like a fan girl when Aelin and Manon met. SJM does sacrificial gestures like no other and they always stab me right in the heart. I feel like Aelin is my baby and when she wept after the King died I literally wanted to hold her. I’m insane. Nothing is real. I just loved everyone in this book. It’s 2:30am and I didn’t mean to finish this so late.

🗣️GIVE US MORE ROMANCE!

~the most cohesive, insightful, well-written, 5-star review I’ve ever penned

Content Warnings

shellballenger's review against another edition

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dark inspiring tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Type of read: Lunch/Weekend Read.

What made me pick it up: Maas sucked me in with ACOTAR and now I just want more of the Maasverse and let's be honest, to prepare for the interconnection of all her literary worlds.

Overall rating: I think one of my favorite things about Maas is how they can create a world and all of these beautiful, broken, horrific, relatable characters but still make you feel like you're transported a million miles away while you read. 'Queen of Shadows' was another builder for me. Honestly, it wasn't until the last one hundred pages or so that I was literally sitting there gasping, squirming, screaming, and frustrated. I don't think 'Queen of Shadows' sucked me in as much as some of the earlier in the series, but I did really like that we got so many varying perspectives and experiences. We also get some great backstory and additional insight on multiple characters, which is always nice. Overall, not mad. It's not a throw-across-the-room book by any means, but I feel like we're getting to a place where the story is going to stab me in the heart here soon.

EDITED TO ADD: I've had a couple days to think on 'Queen of Shadows' and I'm getting angrier that literally all the good parts are stuffed into the last 150 pages or so. Grrrrrr.

Reader's Note: 'Queen of Shadows' includes themes of death, dying, forced pregnancy, kidnapping/capture, and torture.

My extended reading time of 'Queen of Shadows' has nothing to do with the content and more to do with the fact that I was working through buying and selling our house when I started. My nights and weekends were spent packing instead of in Rifthold. If I squished all my reading sessions together, it'd be about two weeks' worth.

Content Warnings