Almost finished the tandem read (first timer), and I was missing the witches, so I painted a sister painting to my other post 'The Thirteen.' Thank you all for collecting my prints & paintings 🥹💕 This one's called 'The Thirteen: Nightfall.'
If I'm honest, I'm kinda scared to start KoA, but also kinda excited to see what happens in the end - no spoilers please!! 🖤✨
Finished the TOG series not long ago and obviously love love loved it. My issue is I just finished ACOTAR for the second time (first book only) and it really didn’t do it for me. Felt like I had to force myself to get through it. So my question is for the people who read ACOTAR after TOG: does it get better? 🫠
ETA: I think one of the main reasons is that I keep comparing the masterpiece that is Aelin to Fayra (sp?, I listen to the audiobooks 😂), and I just can’t connect with her. And their romance feels thin and rushed.
I’m thinking about getting a Throne of Glass inspired tattoo, show me some inspiration!
Given the cover that is clearly resembling Maeve and her spiders; some people are theorizing that Aelin will make an appearance. I think it'd be detrimental to her story if that happens. ToG wrapped up in a satisfying conclusion (except for minor details like Vaughn).
What do y'all think?
Given >!all that we know!<, do you guys think that the stable boy actually saw a different world in the archway one time? I think that’s pretty interesting, especially since they never got to find out and they >!ran into a real witch up there as well!<.
Do we think that the delay with the Graphic Audio could be because SJM wanted to wait for ACOTAR 6 & 7 to come out because of a possible crossover and she didn't want the new books spoiled with voice actor listings? Maybe I'm grasping at straws but it just seems SO odd to me that the GA has been postponed repeatedly and supposedly it's held up by SJM when all her other series have GA's. Thoughts?
I really enjoyed this book immensely, it felt like a wonderful finale to this series, and I’m very sad to be leaving this world after 8 books.
SJM balances the multiple POV’s within this book very well, non of them were ever a dull read, and kept me invested the whole time I read them, the shrinking down of POV’s as characters met up all culminating in them all being in the same place (Orynth) by the end for the final fight against Erawan and Maeve was just awesome!.
If I could knock the book for anything, hell more like the entire ToG series, is the repetitive use of descriptors like: Ground out, Stalked, Loosed a breath, Breathed, Eyes Flared, Growled, Did x with Brutal Efficiency, Raised Brows, Arched a Brow, Drawled, Peeled Away, Nostrils Flared, Sketched a Bow, constant Blinking, constant Smirking, Clicking of the tongue, Stiffened, Quietly but not Weakly, Sliding hands into pockets(yes, even this one popped up), Describing someone/something, an action someone is performing as Lethal, Vulgar Gesture, Waves a Hand, etc….
These descriptors just got worse and worse as the series went on, and it started to really grate on my nerves just HOW much she uses them, I read ACOTAR first so I know just how much worse it gets, but to see the origins of these is an interesting experience to say the least.
The way Maeve and Erawan went out I thought were really great.
To cover Erawan’s demise:
Elide, Lysandra, Yrene, and Dorian’s handling of Erawan was so neat, Dorian baiting Erawan in by shifting himself to look like Yrene and firing off a bit of healing magic to draw him in, locking him in place with a Wyrdmark on the ground, then Dorian slugged him with his hands coated in healing magic, Lysandra pushed him to the floor in her Ghost Leopard form, and Elide came rushing in out of the woodwork with Demaris and stabbed Erawan in the chest with it, pinning him in place for Yrene to fly in clutched in a Rucks talons to finally heal Erawan to death!.
Dorian’s conversation with Erawan about his father’s name was so good!.
Now to cover Maeve’s demise:
The whole fight with Maeve was really good, I appreciate how Aelin, Lorcan, Fenrys, and Rowan came together to deal with her, Fenrys finally using his leaping ability to grab Aelin’s sword (I cannot remember its name) and then teleport behind Maeve to stab her before she could react was so satisfying!, and Maeve’s subsequent begging for Aelin to pull the sword out, man, she went out so well, what a great villain man.
I’d like to give a special mention to chapter 78 of this book, it was one of my FAVORITE chapters, Dorian faking mental instability in Maeve’s killing of the girl who resembled Kaltain, Dorian then using that to bait Maeve into trying to size his mind, then uno reversing it and burning her with his magic within her mind space was so good!, him then taking the final Wyrdkey and locking away Maeve’s ability to create portals and jump between places/realms was such a chefs kiss, that whole chapter was so freakin good!.
The final big battle as a whole once all of the characters got into Orynth was so good, it’s what I wanted from the final big battle in Wings and Ruin that I did not get (seriously, KoA’s big war blows WaR’s out of the water, it’s not even a contest.) AND we actually have some stakes in the battle too because she ACTUALLY kills off a main character in Gavriel!, and DOESN’T bring him back to life a few chapters later!.
All n all this book was a fantastic read all the way through, I know I didn’t cover everything, but this book is so large there’s just no way, we’d be here all day if I did that lol, but if you have any questions about things I didn’t cover, I’ll be happy to answer them and give my thoughts.
I’d like to show my personal rating of all 8 books in this series:
Throne of Glass: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Crown of Midnight: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Assassin’s Blade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a half.
Heir of Fire: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Queen of Shadows: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Empire of Storms/Tower of Dawn:
⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kingdom of Ash: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This series was wonderful, better than ACOTAR in some aspects (I felt the size of this series really let the characters and story breath more than the 5 ACOTAR books allowed that series) it was so much fun seeing these characters mature and grow as this series went on, I cannot wait to dive into Crescent City whenever I decide to get around to it, and of course ACOTAR 6/ACOTAR 7 coming in October/January!.
I am not the same after this series.
Okay, wait. I’m 270 pages into Tower of Dawn and I absolutely did not expect to be swooning hard for chaol. What a beautiful story she’s written for this character. She could’ve just left him in the background as a part of Aelins story, but we are seeing him mourn, forgive, and find love. It’s so beautiful. I feel like I’m mourning with him - the loss of his legs, yes, but also, his friend Dorian, his former position, for Celaena who he once thought was the love of his life but turned out to be someone he didn’t know at all.
I was honestly viewing this book as a roadblock between me and KOA but now I’m so happy Chaol is getting the arc. And I really hope the romantic payoff is as good as I think it will be. I love watching Chaol learn he’s worthy of love even when he’s not “useful.” 🥺
There’s a lot of little gems I’m catching in this reread, including Celaena being so put off by Ansel and Mikhail’s age difference but >!then she ends up with Rowan!< >!😭😭!< >!even Chaol and her had a decent enough age gap lol though not as bad at all.!<
Do you guy see this?!?! THERE IS A SPIDER ON THE COVER!!!! Do you think there will be a crossover with the ToG characters?
-----SPOILERS FOR KOA----- ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
I finished KOA yesterday and my heart is still hollow and in disbelief. It was a great ending don't get me wrong but I feel gutted😭
Manon and her Thirteen :( what a sacrifice they made for her to LIVE!!! And the bed of white flowers? The ashes falling from the sky? I'm unwell. It's so unfair that this happened but it makes sense. Abraxos' mate just gone like that? Uncool man.... All because they wanted a better world for her and for the kingdom 😭😭😭😭
Gavriel??? No more time spent with his son😭😭😭 you've got to be joking.
I loved it though. The character arcs and story, but some characters that I loved are now gone :( all because of their courage to fight for a better tomorrow 😭😭😭
New ACOTAR books and new blurbs and I am so nervous for what/if SJM will do with the characters in TOG. I know Aelin is the Queen Who Walked Between Worlds and all that but my girl needs space and rest🥲 I don’t want any trouble near her.
(CC3 spoilers):
>!With Lidia and her kids, it’s heavily implied that whatever happened in TOG happened thousands of years before TOG, right? But does that matter? The crossover between CC and ACOTAR seems to not have involved any time travel, like when Amren says they haven’t heard Bryce’s language in ten thousand years which is also when the Asteri arrived in CC (it’s been a while since I read the books so I may be off). Shouldn’t that mean that if there is a crossover, then everyone in TOG will be safe?!<>!🥹!<
(ACOTAR3 spoilers):
>!I’ve also seen the theory that Bryaxis is Kaltain, which is a very compelling theory, but if that’s the only crossover then that would be kind of lacking. But I’m not sure how else SJM could do a crossover without punching a hole into "Kingsflame was blooming."!<
Idk!! I’m conflicted. On the one hand, a crossover would be cool, but mostly I just want everyone in TOG to live in peace🥹😆 Especially Aelin, Rowan, Manon, and everyone else who went through hell to give them that peace. Does anyone else feel both excited asf about the prospect of a crossover but also nervous as all hell for what might happen to the TOG characters?
started reading the series first week of march this year; i start grad school first week of september and made it my mission to finish the series before i start school
im so excited but also so scared for the end of the series!!! ahhh my heart <\3
MY QUESTION FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE FINISHED THE SERIES:
which character has your favorite ending? :)
Finally got my gal Manon added to the inside of my ToG leg sleeve.
Worth all the ouchies 😍
Next up baby boy Abraxos 🖤
Just finished TOD and...Sartaq. 😍 That is all.
On to KOA. 🥺
I need an artist to recreate this scene from QoS! I would love to see Aidan & Aelin smirking at each other in that deceiving way!!
“But the dancer looked up at Aedion beneath lowered brows. Even disguised as an aristo man, there was wicked, vicious triumph in her turquoise-and-gold eyes. Behind them, across the hall, the dancers shattered their roses on the floor, and Aedion grinned at his queen as the entire world went to hell.”
Potential spoilers ahead if you haven’t read Assassin’s Blade
But she mentions Ben so much in the beginning and thinks about him a lot and thinks of him in what seems to be like a father figure but >!we never hear about him again in the rest of the series?!< Like actually what was the point in his character? >!She never even visits his grave. I feel like his death was introduced in the very beginning!< to show us how she is as a person and then also (I just started this reread) to show a contrast between him and Arobynn as the two people who mentored her. Do you guys think he served his purpose? That could’ve added more to the plot or that we could’ve done without his character all together?
Edit: Half the responses being whose Ben is lowkey hilariiooouuss lmao cause if you think about it, Ben taught Celaena self defense, >!who in turn taught it to Yrene, who passed that to every woman she met at the torre cesme and ended kicking Erawan’s behind!!< Justice for Ben!