Queen of Shadows by @Sarah_J_Maas

I feel like this series has just been a rollercoaster ride. I didn’t really care for the first book that much and was wondering what all the fuss was about. I decided to keep going and give the second book a try. I’m glad I did because I loved the second book. The second book was fantastic and still my favorite of the series, so far. The third book was solid too. Now…this book was good about half way through. The first 300 pages, I was struggling a bit. I was getting a little bored with the plot and felt like the development of the characters was also slow. Now, this book is huge. It’s a lot and most of the book is just set up and I think that is why I kept getting lost. It’s basically, the reason that I docked it a star. 

I was getting quite annoyed with Chaol actually. I hated the way he was portrayed in this book. He just felt like a completely different character than the first three books. I get that some people have miscommunication and that happens but this was just too much. Then he flips his switch towards the end.. umm nope. It was just not believable. I really loved his character in the first two books and just hated it this book. 

The romantic love interests were driving me a bit mad in this book too. Like really? We are onto the third guy?! THAT being said, I prefer Rowan over Dorian and Chaol. He’s the much better option, in my opinion. 

I LOVE Lysandra in this book! She really is one of the best characters that developed in this one. I love her banter with Aelin and all the characters really. She becomes a major player and I’m excited to see her in the next book. 

I found that I was very interested in Manon and her storyline this book. We actually spend a great deal there. Maas, has all these supporting characters all over the place that are just making big impacts on this storyline. I feel like that might have something to do with how this book felt a bit slow in the first half. She was just slowly doing all the setup, in all these different places, for most of the book. I guess, it was fine because in the end, it was completely worth it. What happens is so awesome and not just with Aelin! 

It is so hard to write a review on this book and get my thoughts straight. Really, all that I need to say, is that it’s a good book but not the best in the series. There are some issues and lots of slow development but the last half of the book makes up for it. I really can’t wait for the next book and see where we go from here.