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RedditIn this Heir of Fire book review I share my thoughts on the third book in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas. This review will likely have some small spoilers, for a completely spoiler free review you can read my Throne of Glass series review here.
“You cannot pick and choose what parts of her to love.”
Sarah J Maas, Heir of Fire
I was excited to dive right into this book to see what we were going to get after the bombshell reveal at the end of Crown of Midnight. Right off the bat this book sucks you in which is something the previous two books hadn’t done for me.
Surprisingly for a young adult fantasy, this book was maturely written while still being easy to read and not diving too far into adult content. This book made up for the last two books in the series and really made it worth the long intro into the series.
Trigger Warnings
Since we don’t always get trigger warnings on books I like to give trigger warnings in my reviews. This can help people avoid certain triggers that could hurt their mental well being.
Possible Triggers in this book are:
- Slavery
- Demons
- Gore
- Murder
- Torture
- Violence
- Death
- Spiders
For a list of the triggers I look for you can check out this link here.
Synopsis and Author
Celaena has been sent to Wendlyn by the King of Adarlan to kill the royal family there. What the king didn’t know is that this idea suggested by Chaol was an effort to save Celaena, a fae, from being found out by the King of Adarlan.
However, once in Wendlyn, Celaena realizes she cannot kill the royal family because they are her family. Celaena is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, the lost princess, and Queen of Terrasen. Once in Wendlyn though, Queen Maeve sends Rowan, one of her 6 blood oathed cadres to get her niece Aelin.
Aelin has a plan to find out information about the Wyrdkeys and gates from the Queen but the Queen first demands she shows her power and earns her right to enter Doranelle to ask her questions. So begins training with Rowan.
Meanwhile, Dorian is trying to find ways to control his magic by seeking the help of a healer, Sorcha. What he didn’t expect was that he’d fall for this healer.
At the same time Chaol starts tracking Aedion, a general in the King’s army, after noticing the ring with the black stone on his finger.
This is the third book in the Throne of Glass series written by Sarah J Maas. The original chapters were written and published on a website when she was just 16 years old. 10 years later the story was picked up by a publisher and Sarah J Maas began writing the epic fantasy series.
Reading Experience
We get to see a lot more of the incredible world building by Sarah J Maas. Not only are we still in Rifthold but we also get to see the land to the east of the sea, Wendlyn. We also see Doranelle, where the Fae Queen Maeve rules, and Morath.
While Dorian and Chaol each have a point of view in Rifthold, Celaena gives her point of view at Mistward in Wendlyn. Meanwhile we are introduced to a new point of view in this book, Manon. She is a witch in Morath working with Perrington.
Sarah J Maas does a fantastic job detailing the different locations in this book and even with multiple points of view the story still moves and is easy to follow. I typically only prefer one or two points of view in a book but Sarah J Maas does a fantastic job about keeping it easy to follow.
In Heir of Fire the series starts to fall more into an adventure style story with plenty of action that keeps the story moving fairly quickly. While our characters are starting on adventures, we are also dealing with a lot of identity themes in the book. Our characters are figuring out who they want to be and what they want to stand for.
Writing Style
This is the first book in the series where I felt I got that typical Sarah J Maas style writing. We get twists, excellent locations, great dialogue, and plenty of magic. This is where Sarah J Maas just hits it right out of the park with her writing.
Heir of Fire is 576 pages in 68 chapters and I could not put the book down. It was non-stop action, trauma healing, emotional, and even sometimes scary. I like books that make me feel a range of emotions and this book absolutely does that for me.
Heir of Fire Book Review
With the introduction to a lot more characters I have a lot more to say. As usual Celaena tops the list of characters I love. Her working through her trauma both long past and recent plays a huge part in my love for her. By the end of the story we see a loyal and strong woman who will “rattle the stars.”
We also have a new heartthrob in the book and I have to say, well done Sarah J Maas, well done. Rowan Whitethorn is the typical brooding male with deep trauma which manifests itself in sarcasm and dark humor. We stan Rowan Whitethorn on this blog.
Aedion… oh what can I say about Aedion besides shrieking “oh my freaking god, I love him!” From the moment we were introduced to Aedion I immediately loved him. His confidence and swagger was perfect, but I knew he was going to end up being a character I just couldn’t wait to learn more about. This character does not disappoint.
Finally, the last of my favorite characters is Luca. He’s adorable and I just want to be a mama bear and protect him. So when Rowan does something involving Luca I was a little peeved at Rowan, but obviously I forgave him.
I absolutely hated Maeve from the beginning and after a while you realize why Aelin’s mother fought so hard to keep her away from her aunt. Maeve is someone that absolutely has things to hide and despicable plans.
Manon is a new character in the series and at first I was annoyed about her point of view. It felt weird to be getting a potential enemies point of view. It was like we were brought behind enemy lines. However, I hope she grows on me, though I do love her wyvern choice.
That being said, I would like to have an Abraxos as well and I need to know where to get one.
I loved the story, the twists and turns, the writing style, everything about this book was a vast improvement from the last two books. I could not put this book down and the characters just made this story come to life.
I make this recommendation based on the entire series. If you like flawed characters, the fae, mate romance, rebel and revolution stories, this series is for you.
Heir of Fire Rating
Before I rate this book I want to give you a bit of background about what my rankings mean. I typically read books that I check out through the Libby app with my local library or through Kindle Unlimited.
I rarely buy ebooks unless they are cheaply priced or on sale. I also very rarely buy physical copies of books. I’m a bit of a minimalist so I have to absolutely adore a book to buy a physical copy that will be proudly displayed in my home.
So my ranking system is as follows:
- 5 Stars equals I am buying a physical copy of this book. I will read this book at least 10 more times, it is the best ever.
- 4 stars equals a great book. I might buy an ebook version when it’s on sale so that I can re-read it at least one more time.
- 3 stars equals a good book. I likely won’t read again but I appreciate the story.
- 2 stars equals “Meh.” I will not read this book again, it had a lot of problems and I did not care for it.
- 1 star equals a bad book. I barely finished this book and I will never recommend anyone waste valuable book reading time on this book.
- 0 stars is a did not finish book. I will never finish that book and it is banished.
Heir of Fire gets 5 stars. I loved the story, the character development, the world building, and the twists. Now to be fair the last two books were not great and you have to read them to know what’s going on in Heir of Fire.
Likes:
- The trauma healing that happens in this book is perfect.
- Magic finally making an appearance.
- The introduction of new and fantastic characters.
Dislikes:
- The Chaol point of view once again was annoying at times.
- Some of the behavior of Celaena towards other people was a bit much.
Final Thoughts on Heir of Fire
This book was the perfect way to move this story forward and into an epic fantasy series. The characters, the twists, and the growth of our main character was perfect. The conversations in this book are fantastic, I love the snark and sarcasm that takes place. There are also a couple moments of acceptance that just pull at the heart.
Sarah J Maas is introducing us into new locations with new characters and it tells an amazing story. It moves at a steady pace giving more as it goes. The ending of this book will have you grinning in anticipation of what will come in the next.
Have you read Heir of Fire? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your favorite book boards.
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