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A review by ghoul_library
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
5.0
I'm gonna keep what I've written below just to remind myself how delusional I was when I read this the first time in 2018! I think a mix of reading but not READING, a massive reading slump and a weird time in my life all combined into me not having a good time with this book, and an even worse time with the next one BUT THIS TIME!! THIS TIME!!
This time I genuinely could not put this down at ALL, like this was SERIOUSLY INSANE! I couldn't stop reading this, it was absolutely insane. I genuinely do not know what was wrong with me the first time, I definitely didn't READ it properly because I hardly remembered any of this!
All the character development in this book, the progression of the story and my LOVE for these characters made this such an enjoyable read! I wanted to just devour it all in one sitting but I had to pace myself once I got going. It did take me a bit to get into because I was worried after last time but I had absolutely nothing to be worried about. I think this might be my favourite of the series so far! All the WILD shit that happened with Manon and the coven (my bbg Manon I LOVE), Aelin and the crew (who I ALSO love so much, plus mega bonus points for Rowan) and how everything started to merge and intertwine the further in I got.
The last 100ish pages of a SJM book are indeeed crazy as always and this did not disappoint at all. A crazy easy 5*!! I was so right about liking it in a re read. Now onto the tandem read...
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Actual Rating: 2.5 stars (After attempting book 5, a 1.5 star after thinking more about my feelings on this book.)
Well that was a ride. I have such conflicting feelings about this book...I didn't completely hate it but I wasn't an all-consuming fan and hyped as much as the last one.
When I started reading I was enjoying it just as much as Heir of Fire (5 Stars!!)but once I got around the 200-page mark I just started to lose interest so fast. I don't know if it was me starting to fall into a reading slump or if I was just really bored. It took me about another 150 pages for me to be interested again. For me, the book changed the point of view between 3, sometimes even 4, storylines so much and it was just starting to confuse me!
I'm still in love with Manon and the witches storyline was probably one of the most interesting for me! I just love her, she's so strong and powerful and ugh! My angel! Weirdly I think my main problem with the book, aside from the constant PoV change, was Aelin...she just felt really ~high and mighty~ in this one and not much like the Aelin of the previous books, I started to hate her somewhere in the middle but once I started enjoying the book again I didn't dislike her as much anymore. (Small mention for Rowan but ugh damn he's great.) Some of the characters in these books, just drive me insane but others I absolutely adore so its a 50/50 battle on this series from here on out.
I'll still be reading Empire of Storms and the conclusion to the series, I just think that maybe I was in a bad reading place when starting this book and it just kinda pulled it down for me. The PoV's though man...just not a fan. I'm actually really proud that I managed to finish the book in the end and didn't give up despite the hate reading at some parts.
The ending of the book did kind of bring it back for me and save it, I'll be carrying on with the next book next month probably to give myself a break and calm down about this one. Maybe I'd like it on a re read in the future.
This time I genuinely could not put this down at ALL, like this was SERIOUSLY INSANE! I couldn't stop reading this, it was absolutely insane. I genuinely do not know what was wrong with me the first time, I definitely didn't READ it properly because I hardly remembered any of this!
All the character development in this book, the progression of the story and my LOVE for these characters made this such an enjoyable read! I wanted to just devour it all in one sitting but I had to pace myself once I got going. It did take me a bit to get into because I was worried after last time but I had absolutely nothing to be worried about. I think this might be my favourite of the series so far! All the WILD shit that happened with Manon and the coven (my bbg Manon I LOVE), Aelin and the crew (who I ALSO love so much, plus mega bonus points for Rowan) and how everything started to merge and intertwine the further in I got.
The last 100ish pages of a SJM book are indeeed crazy as always and this did not disappoint at all. A crazy easy 5*!! I was so right about liking it in a re read. Now onto the tandem read...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars (After attempting book 5, a 1.5 star after thinking more about my feelings on this book.)
Well that was a ride. I have such conflicting feelings about this book...I didn't completely hate it but I wasn't an all-consuming fan and hyped as much as the last one.
When I started reading I was enjoying it just as much as Heir of Fire (5 Stars!!)but once I got around the 200-page mark I just started to lose interest so fast. I don't know if it was me starting to fall into a reading slump or if I was just really bored. It took me about another 150 pages for me to be interested again. For me, the book changed the point of view between 3, sometimes even 4, storylines so much and it was just starting to confuse me!
I'm still in love with Manon and the witches storyline was probably one of the most interesting for me! I just love her, she's so strong and powerful and ugh! My angel! Weirdly I think my main problem with the book, aside from the constant PoV change, was Aelin...she just felt really ~high and mighty~ in this one and not much like the Aelin of the previous books, I started to hate her somewhere in the middle but once I started enjoying the book again I didn't dislike her as much anymore. (Small mention for Rowan but ugh damn he's great.) Some of the characters in these books, just drive me insane but others I absolutely adore so its a 50/50 battle on this series from here on out.
I'll still be reading Empire of Storms and the conclusion to the series, I just think that maybe I was in a bad reading place when starting this book and it just kinda pulled it down for me. The PoV's though man...just not a fan. I'm actually really proud that I managed to finish the book in the end and didn't give up despite the hate reading at some parts.
The ending of the book did kind of bring it back for me and save it, I'll be carrying on with the next book next month probably to give myself a break and calm down about this one. Maybe I'd like it on a re read in the future.