Review+Discussion: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Queen of Shadows {Throne of Glass #4} by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 4 stars
Goodreads summary: The queen has returned.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . .

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.

The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series contrinues Celaena's epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

You might not want to read this review if you haven't read the Throne of Glass series, but here's my review for the Throne of Glass review.

I just have a few things to mention before I get into the spoilery discussion of the book.
I started the Throne of Glass series earlier this year and I quickly became sucked into this thrilling, action packed, full of awesomeness series. After reading Heir of Fire, it's safe to say that EVERYBODY so badly needed Queen of Shadows in their hands! Lets take a moment to appreciate that beautiful cover. Ok, I'm done...not really, but we need to move on.

I really enjoyed the pacing in this book. You start reading it and bam, Aelin's doing her thing! There was never a moment where I felt bored or like nothing was not happening because something was always happening.

The characters in this book, though. They were awesome and gave me all the feels, even the dead ones! I wanted to talk about most of the characters, but that won't be possible in this non-spoilery part, so I'll just mention a couple.
Aelin as usual was just super kick-butt and slaying from left to right! I have mixed feelings about her because I did get a bit frustrated with her character and the things she did. I know a lot of people love her, but right now I'm like ehh about her. And I'm having a hard time calling her Aelin. I got into the habit of calling her Celaena for 4 books that it was hard for me to get used to the new change.
Manon. She is probably the reason I enjoyed this book so much! I love her and it's safe to say that the Manon chapters were definitely my fav because we get to find out some pretty crazy stuff that the king is planning, we get to learn more about the witches, and we get to see Manon's feelings slowly changing. I just can't even.
I think that's it for the non-spoilery discussion part of the review. In my opinion, the book wasn't perfect, but I still think it's worth the read.

SPOILERY DISCUSSION:

GUYS!!! All the Sam feels were definitely real in this book! I love Sam and I wish he were still alive. The scene where she went to his grave...I died.

Okay. I'll admit it: my ship has officially sunk. Believe me, I'm still not over it. I'm very slowly starting to accept the whole Nesyrn+Chaol thing.
Now that Chaol sadly wasn't endgame {heart...breaking}, I am not a fan of Aelin+Rowan. I loved Rowan in Heir of Fire, but my feelings for him have changed. I guess it was a good thing that he's slowly changing into a different person than the hardcore Fae warrior, but man those two just gave me major eye rolls throughout this book.

                   

I don't want Rowan to be endgame with Aelin. There's 2 books left in this series and it's safe to say that anything can happen in those 2 books even Aelin finding some other love interest.

The Chaol+Dorian relationship was the best!! I love how Dorian snapped out of the Valg Prince inside of him when he learned that Chaol had died. I just really love those two!! #BROMANCE

Having Lysandra become a part of the gang was something totally unexpected and I was iffy about her being trustworthy, but then we realized her intentions were true. I'm glad she was the one to kill Arobynn, but I wanted him to find out how they played him and how Lysandra knew what he'd done. Her being a shapeshifter was the coolest thing and when she went to help Aedion and Rowan...that was such an awesome scene! Does anyone else think her and Aedion are going to be a thing? I already ship those two!

The Manon and Elide chapters were my absolute fav!! Manon is my favorite character in this series so far. Discovering things about the witches, about the Matron, and hearing Asterin's heartfelt story are the things that really made me love this book. Like I said before, Manon is my favorite character at the moment and I can't wait to see what role she'll play in the next couple of books. I think her and Dorian might have some little fling, which I am surprisingly okay with. But still, RIP Sorscha.
side note: why did no one like Sorscha? 

I think one of my main problems with this book is that it felt like the other books weren't that important {if that makes sense}. I feel like Aelin is who she is because she was Celaena first, but in this book Aelin's like "I am no longer Celaena Sardothien" and it felt like there was no point to the "I am Celaena Sardothien and I will not be afraid" saying. I just don't get it and it made me frustrated with her.
Also, why did they leave Dorian alone?! He's kind of still unstable and stuff and he shouldn't be alone. Maybe Manon will come and keep him company or something.

I don't know where this series is going because Sarah J. Maas just keeps surprising me from left to right. Either way, here are a couple of predictions/things I want to happen in the next book:
-Aelin and the gang are going to have to face the Valg Perrington and/or Maeve
-I really want the Elide-Aelin encounterance to happen
-I want Manon and her Thirteen to ally with Dorian or Aelin
-I want Chaol to get healed
-I think Aedion is going to encounter his father and some crazy stuff is going to happen

I'm sure I'm forgetting something in this review, and I'll remember right after I hit publish, but for now this is it.

Happy Readings!!