Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

I loved this book. It had exactly what I want from a last book in a series. Every character’s arc felt complete the plot lines that had been opened in the previous 7 books had satisfying interesting conclusions. There were a few bits that I didn’t think were completely perfect but they paled when compared to the parts I loved.

I have had such a wonderful time with these characters. I appreciate having an old school esque high fantasy story with girls and women shown as major characters who have agency in the story. I know some of the men in SJ Maas books have had too much of the problematic aggression that tends to be popular in romantic plot lines but she also shows men (who tend to be very stereotypically manly) listening to women, respecting them, and she shows them asking for consent at multiple points in romantic and non romantic situations. She has littered her books with people who have suffered from various trauma and shows them being able to connect with others after those traumas.

This book specifically I really think that you continue to see Maas changing some of her problematic writing. I appreciate that with an author. And she didn’t like write her way out of her problematic things. Nehemia didn’t pop back up having been fine all this time. But she gave other women of color page time and made the necessary to the plot. It wouldn’t have been as problematic for Nehemia to die if there had been other prominent women of color in the series at the time. I obviously don’t know if this is coincidence, or if it was planned the whole time, or if it is the author making an effort to be more inclusive. No matter what I think it’s interesting to think about.

I love the way this story ended. I do tend to be a little bloodthirsty with the end of series. I want people to die so the characters feel consequences and so I am deeply emotionally impacted so the story feels real and important. There were not the kinds of deaths I would have said I wanted before the book started. But there were deaths that took something from our heroes. The people in these books felt pain in a way that made me feel that pain. I think the deaths were well done and I was devastated by many of them. There will be a VERY spoilery list of times I cried at the end.

I loved the character reunions. They were absolutely killer waiting for them. All I wanted was for our hero’s to all get together again and I really think they were staggered in an amazing way that kept the tension very real. With the little bursts of excitement and tears at people finding their friends.

I have seen people saying thing like “Maas left this plotline open (mostly it’s with a plot line I feel was actually closed) in order to write a spin-off” and I’m not sure if I agree with the few theories I have read about this. And like honestly I probably would read a spin-off but also this storyline feels so complete to me. Like maybe if she wanted to jump around in time but stay in this world that could be cool. But I really think this book felt final.  

Times I cried:
Fenrys being saved
13 burying all the Crochans
Lysandra fighting as Aelin
Chaol/Arlin reunion Yrene/Aelin reunion
Manon talks to 3 witches of Rhiannon 475
When Manon is crowned Queen of Witches 480
Terrasen calls for aid. Hearths 559
Hearth to hearth the flame of war went 561
Aedion talking to Evangeline 684
Manon and the thirteen arriving in Orynth 692-3
“For Keelie” 742
The Thirteen yielding.
Manon not turning when people lay flowers and flowers bloom 754
Dorian and Chaol reunited!
Do you want Chaol to be there
Evangeline talking about Terrasen being her home 836
Darrow makes Evangeline his heir. More crying. 839
Gavriel
Gavriel’s funeral plans Aedion is making 931
Win me back my kingdom Evangeline 935
Continued crying with the Aelin Aedion reunion
Manon and Glennis talking about returning home 945-6
Aedion taking the blood oath and Aelin putting on her faerie crown 962
The Acknowledgments

I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads and finished it on October 27th, 2018.