Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by theinquisitxor
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
3.0
Reread: February 2022. I definitely enjoyed this book more than when I first read it. Doing a tandem read with Tower of Dawn definitely helped, and I love how interconnected the two books are. It’s still not my favorite in the series, but I did enjoy it more this time around.
3.5 stars/ This was well...I'm not too sure. I'm going to round up to 4 stars for now, but it that might change. On one hand, I thought it was overall good as I read almost 700 pages in two days (SJMs writing is very quick to read tbh) and I liked the plots and twists and continuation of the storyline. I think it was the fact that the ending of this book was already spoiled for me that it didn't have as much of a shock value impact. Do I dare say that I liked the two previous books a little more than this one? This review will contain some mild spoilers so continue to read at your on risk. Either way, lets start with what I liked:
1. Manon, Elide, Lorcan, Lysandra. These characters really begin to shine through in this installment and I continue to stan Manon and Lysandra. Elide has become on of my favorites and she has such a strength in her own way that is different from the other characters that I can't help but adore her. Her thing with Lorcan was unexpected, but easily the best romantic subplot of the book.
2. The plots. As I have said before, I love books with elaborate plots and schemes. I like not being told everything and surprised when something major happens that I didn't see coming, but realize there were many clues which I should have seen earlier in the books and writing.
3. Debts owed. I loved that part of the ending. I loved it when all the debts owed to Aelin come through and she now has her allies and forces that she needs to take stand a chance against Erawain. She has her army now and even more to come once Manon and Chaol pull through. It was such a powerful moment and one that was needed with the way this book ended.
Now onto the things I didn't like so much:
1. Romance, lust, whatever the heck to call it. These scenes take up a good portion of the writing and honestly, most of it could be cut. Not every character needs to end up with someone and Maas tries to pare off every main character with another main character. Some of the romances work, and others just fall flat. The amount of 'snarling' and 'biting' the male characters do is just weird. I don't find it attractive, this 'territorial' stuff is actually low key kinda toxic.
2. The ending. There was a part of the ending I didn't like. I didn't like how everything was super pre-destined from the gods and every little thing led to the main plot of the story. I think Maas should've just left that out and revealing that Aelin is actually an even bigger 'chosen one' than she already was isn't worth it. I think some things should be left up to chance, and luck and the whims of the characters. You basically find out that every little thing in the previous books was planned out or pre-destined or schemed by someone else. I thought this was actually kinda hurtful to this particular story. I'm of the opinion that some things should just be up to fate, luck and the choices of the characters, not something pre-decided a thousand years earlier.
3. Aelin. I like Aelin, but she's not my absolute favorite tbh. I'm not googly eyed over her and Rowan. I really liked her in the other books, but she didn’t quite sit right with me in this one.I think her character arch is a bit confusing at some points but that might just be me. She's a little annoying and a little to much at some points as well, and there are other female characters in this story that I like better. The whole plot of her getting trapped in the iron coffin seemed somewhat unnecessary. Either I'm not understanding it enough, but other than to re-make the Lock, what else is it for other than shock value?
Overall, I'm glad that Tower of Dawn is next because I'm looking forward to taking a step back and going to hang out with Chaol a bit. I'm looking forward to the (hopefully) refreshing and different plot of ToD and getting to know some new people and the Southern Continent before diving into Kingdom of Ash.
3.5 stars/ This was well...I'm not too sure. I'm going to round up to 4 stars for now, but it that might change. On one hand, I thought it was overall good as I read almost 700 pages in two days (SJMs writing is very quick to read tbh) and I liked the plots and twists and continuation of the storyline. I think it was the fact that the ending of this book was already spoiled for me that it didn't have as much of a shock value impact. Do I dare say that I liked the two previous books a little more than this one? This review will contain some mild spoilers so continue to read at your on risk. Either way, lets start with what I liked:
1. Manon, Elide, Lorcan, Lysandra. These characters really begin to shine through in this installment and I continue to stan Manon and Lysandra. Elide has become on of my favorites and she has such a strength in her own way that is different from the other characters that I can't help but adore her. Her thing with Lorcan was unexpected, but easily the best romantic subplot of the book.
2. The plots. As I have said before, I love books with elaborate plots and schemes. I like not being told everything and surprised when something major happens that I didn't see coming, but realize there were many clues which I should have seen earlier in the books and writing.
3. Debts owed. I loved that part of the ending. I loved it when all the debts owed to Aelin come through and she now has her allies and forces that she needs to take stand a chance against Erawain. She has her army now and even more to come once Manon and Chaol pull through. It was such a powerful moment and one that was needed with the way this book ended.
Now onto the things I didn't like so much:
1. Romance, lust, whatever the heck to call it. These scenes take up a good portion of the writing and honestly, most of it could be cut. Not every character needs to end up with someone and Maas tries to pare off every main character with another main character. Some of the romances work, and others just fall flat. The amount of 'snarling' and 'biting' the male characters do is just weird. I don't find it attractive, this 'territorial' stuff is actually low key kinda toxic.
2. The ending. There was a part of the ending I didn't like. I didn't like how everything was super pre-destined from the gods and every little thing led to the main plot of the story. I think Maas should've just left that out and revealing that Aelin is actually an even bigger 'chosen one' than she already was isn't worth it. I think some things should be left up to chance, and luck and the whims of the characters. You basically find out that every little thing in the previous books was planned out or pre-destined or schemed by someone else. I thought this was actually kinda hurtful to this particular story. I'm of the opinion that some things should just be up to fate, luck and the choices of the characters, not something pre-decided a thousand years earlier.
3. Aelin. I like Aelin, but she's not my absolute favorite tbh. I'm not googly eyed over her and Rowan. I really liked her in the other books, but she didn’t quite sit right with me in this one.I think her character arch is a bit confusing at some points but that might just be me. She's a little annoying and a little to much at some points as well, and there are other female characters in this story that I like better. The whole plot of her getting trapped in the iron coffin seemed somewhat unnecessary. Either I'm not understanding it enough, but other than to re-make the Lock, what else is it for other than shock value?
Overall, I'm glad that Tower of Dawn is next because I'm looking forward to taking a step back and going to hang out with Chaol a bit. I'm looking forward to the (hopefully) refreshing and different plot of ToD and getting to know some new people and the Southern Continent before diving into Kingdom of Ash.