Review: Kingdom of Ash

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*Throws book across the room*

I'm done. I'M SO DONE.

Huh.

Literally.

So. Let's start with some fun stats!

In this book, the word 'mate' appears 86 times in relation to Aelin and Rowan. (There were at least another ten or so references in regards to other couples.)

There are also 23 missing question marks, and that's after generously conceding that some places made a justifiable impact without one.

I didn't count the number of sentences that were structured in that horribly repetitive way that I griped about in my review for A Court of Frost and Starlight. But that was an equally absurd number.

Honestly, when I read three 'mate's just on the first page alone, I put the book down again and didn't pick it up for another few days. I couldn't face it. I've loved this series since the beginning but Empire of Storms was such a let down for me and I was so worried that this book was going to be equally painful. The romance took such a prominent position in EoS which really detracted from the fantasy elements of the series.

Thankfully, this brought back some of the magic, and while it wasn't the five star conclusion I was hoping for, it wasn't as terrible as I'd feared. There were some real gut-wrenching moments in this one.

WARNING: HERE LIES SPOILERS FOR THE PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THE SERIES.

This one opens with Aelin in that terrible iron box that she was forced to endure an extra year while we all trudged through A-Grade Bore Chaol's story. You can thank SJM for that one, Aelin.

So she's being tortured while Rowan and friends tear up the world looking for her (in a relatively fast but otherwise peaceful manner) and Chaol is headed back to the mainland after Getting The Girl (and an army). Dorian and Manon are looking for witches and keys and meanwhile Aedion is fighting a brutal battle against Morath in Terrasen with the help of Lysandra, whom he treats like dirt. Nice, pal.

DRAMA ENSUES.

The torture stuff is whack. I don't know how to feel about it. I just ... I mean, it gets real dark and she's traumatised and all but I feel like it was too extreme? I dunno. It felt messy somehow. Didn't stop my heart aching for her, though. Or for Fenrys. I love that guy. Wolf. Babe. Whatever.

And of course it's so fkn BADASS when she is freed so that was fun. Rowan is a straight up savage. But just the once. It kinda bothered me that he wasn't more savage more often. Does that make me a bad person? Lorcan, on the other hand, is admirably dark and cold and even with all the Elide drama he still stays true to himself and is like, 'I AIN'T GONNA GROVEL, B*TCH!' which I lowkey appreciated with my stone cold heart. I mean, that whole, 'treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen' stuff is not cool. So good on him for sticking to his guns. Even if I did kinda ship that broken little romance.

Meanwhile, Aedion is up north fighting Morath. Tense battles. He's having a hard time.

Chaol returns to his homeland with his Sweet Lil Thang Yrene who honestly I still don't particularly like. (view spoiler)[It bothers me how important she became in this novel. Like, she popped up in a short story from back in the Sam Days, then guest starred in Chaol's book, but now she's the one that's gotta save the world? SJM YOU TRIPPIN'. (hide spoiler)] But they're all cute together and stuff and everyone's super happy that Chaol has a wife and I am happy that his mopiness has been reduced drastically. I mean he's still a bit dramatic over his daddy issues but at least he has a bit more of a backbone now. (HA. SEE WHAT I DID THERE.)

Meanwhile, Aedion and Lysandra are having angst over each other while they endlessly battle Morath up north.

Manon and Dorian are still having a lot of kinky sex mating and Manon is having feelings. I miss the witch who would just slice and dice anything that annoyed her. She was way more fun with no feelings. But I like that she's still mostly an ice-queen. I dislike these two together because they kinda cheapen one another? Separate, they are both so savage, but then they get together and it's all feelings and emo drama. They are more fun when they are apart. This is one ship I won't board. Those two are too fierce on their own. Anyway, aside from their lovemaking mating, Manon is all about finding Crochan witches and Dorian is all about finding Erawan's third key so DRAMA ENSUES.

Guess where Aedion is? YEP. He's up north, still fighting Morath. What a hero. He and Lysandra are still working out the kinks of their relationship.

I kinda got really bored of the same formula being repeated over and over AND OVER again. There's a battle, things are looking terrible, then all of a sudden someone or something shows up to turn the tide. But it's a short reprieve coz that's not enough so the battle starts to go badly and things are looking terrible and then ALL OF A SUDDEN ... and so it goes on and on and on. And it's mostly Aedion up north having to live this repetitive rollercoaster so I really feel for the guy.

There were also so many scenes that reminded me of things I've seen (repeatedly, coz I'm a nerd) in LOTR. Actual battle scenes taken directly from the movie and transposed on the ToG world. It never had the desired effect on me when I read those scenes coz I was a little mad at what felt like a ripoff. (view spoiler)[For example, THE HEADS. We all know those were Faramir's men, not Ansel's. PLEASE. (hide spoiler)]

But as much as I hated the copious amounts of coupling and rip offs and repeated style devices etc etc I still love these characters SO MUCH. They are fun. They are badass. They interact with one another in really fascinating ways (even if it is disturbing how closely related everybody actually is). I love the cadre, and the snarling and ferocity with which they all fight. I love Aelin's resilience (even if it's a bit of a stretch) and I love the women who stand up for themselves. I love Dorian and believe him to be the most underrated character of the entire series. I love how villainous Manon and her Thirteen are. (view spoiler)[And I loved that, at the end, we had that precious moment with Aelin, Dorian and Chaol, as a nod to where this entire series began. (hide spoiler)]

So even though it was way too long and full of tedious battles, I still really enjoyed it.

Now for some spoilery gushing:

(view spoiler)[ WTF WAS UP WITH THAT STUPID GRATUITOUS APPEARANCE FROM RHYS??? Come on. I mean, I was totally expecting a nod to other works of fantasy fiction with the whole 'falling through other worlds' bit, but to actually insert Rhys (even if he's not named, I SEE YOU) ... I honestly feel real mad about it but also super impressed that SJM worked that in there. BRAVO.

I am both happy and sad about the lack of meaningful deaths here. Like, I'm glad none of my favourites died but I feel like maybe SJM was too nice there. But I'm honestly so glad that Fenrys survived because I was totally tipping him to be the sacrificial lamb, since he wasn't paired up. People in couples always seem to outlast the single ones. (RIP GAV THO)

Was also hugely saddened by the spectacular deaths of the Thirteen and while it was all super impressive and tragic I feel like they probably didn't ALL need to die for that. Just saying. So glad that Abraxos survived, though, and that Manon was actually so heartbroken when he was knocking on death's door. More fictional characters need to appreciate animals the way Manon appreciates her wyvern. (hide spoiler)]

Anyhoo, I think I've exhausted all of my ranting now.

Summary: Long, with some tedious moments and repetition, but still a worthy end to the series.

But also:

THANK GOD THAT'S OVER.

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