Opinion Piece (Practice)

Kingdom of Ash Review

If you’re a book lover, you’ve probably heard of the fantasy series written by #1 New York Times Bestseller, Sarah J. Maas. Maas has written both the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, and the Throne of Glass series. She knits together fantastical worlds that suck up her readers in a whirlwind and keep them guessing for more. Sadly, Throne of Glass has finally come to an end with Kingdom of Ash, book seven, as the grand finale to the wildfire that was book one. This novel was released on October 23^rd and was a staggering nine-hundred and eighty-four pages. Wrapped in gold, this book was not one that any fans will soon forget and was a heart-stopping finale to the tale of Celeana Sardothian.

                After I finished Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn, I knew that I just had to get my hands on the next volume written by the wild force that is Sarah J. Maas. I was heartbroken after the cliffhanger that was presented to me and saddened that I had to wait until October to get a chance to devour the last book. When the cover for book seven was revealed, I immediately pre-ordered it on Amazon, and spent my time reading interim books in the meantime. I was ecstatic when the package appeared on my doorstep, and immediately delved back into the world of Erilea.

                I was pleasantly surprised when I officially closed the gates on this fantasy series and was slightly depressed as well. I felt like some of my best friends were being torn from me, that I would never get to read about my fireheart ever again. However, the ending more than soothed that hurt, and I was satisfied by the end.

                Maas left us off in book five with the heroine, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, being captured by the devilish Fae queen Maeve. Book six was not a continuation but was instead a narration of what occurred with the injured Chaol, while he was seeking treatment in the southern continent. Tower of Dawn had lots of imperative information and should be read after Empire of Storms if you want to understand certain things that happen in the new novel. Kingdom of Ash picks up where the other two volumes leave off and give us an insight into what kinds of tortures Aelin endures while in the clutches of Maeve in Doranelle. We see how much Maeve manipulates Aelin to try and break her, but also how strong she truly is. Maas shows that Aelin will not let anyone break her and includes elements of PTSD in the story as well, to add a more real component to her confinement. She also shows healthy ways to work through PTSD, and why you never want to bottle up traumatic experiences. Because of this, Maas gives us even more reasons to look up to Aelin as an independent female role model.

                One of the only parts in the novel that I found to be a bit confusing, was that the book was split up into five different groups. Some of the other books from the Throne of Glass series were this way as well, since it’s written in third person. However, that didn’t make this book any less difficult to keep up with. It may have just been me, but when the author jumped to Aelin, to Rowan, to Aedion, and then to Dorian every other chapter, things started to mix together in my head. That being said, I did enjoy how Maas found a way to merge all of the character’s paths together at the end and liked seeing what was happening with each individual person.

                I’m not going to talk about much more than that, just so that I don’t give too much away for those of you who haven’t yet read this gem of a book. All and all, the thing that I want readers to take away from this, is that Kingdom of Ash is worth your time and will give you a satisfying ending to this beautiful series. I will dearly miss Aelin and Rowan most of all, and hope that Sarah J. Maas publishes more fantasy novels in the future. Aelin’s heart of wildfire will keep beating through the endearing devotion we have for this series and will never snuff out.