(SPOILERS) Empire of Storms, by Sarah J. Maas | Book Review

Hello friends! Today’s post is my review of the fifth (5th) book from the Throne of Glass series, Empire of Storms, by Sarah J. Maas.

Enjoy!

My review of Empire of Storms has some pretty major spoilers.
You’ve been warned!

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius as war looms on the horizon. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those who don’t.

With her heart sworn to the warrior-prince by her side, and her fealty pledged to the people she is determined to save, Aelin will delve into the depths of her power to protect those she loves. But as monsters emerge from the horrors of the past, and dark forces become poised to claim her world, the only chance for salvation will lie in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

In this breathtaking fifth installment of the New York Timesbestselling Throne of Glass series, Aelin will have to choose what—and who—to sacrifice if she’s to keep the world of Erilea from breaking apart.

Back when Empire of Storms was published, I bought it as an e-copy and was hesitant to read it. Because true to Maas’ form, she wrote more and more characters into the story. And at that time of me trying to read EoS, I just wasn’t having it. So I put the book down and vowed that if I tried to read it again, I’d wait until the last book was published.

And here we are.

As we know from reading a few of Maas’ books, she tends to write her books in parts. The first part of Empire of Storms was a great beginning and set the stage quite nicely for part 2.

Which in turn had me anxious about part 2 of Empire of Storms. Mostly because part two would bring me closer and closer to the end of Empire of Storms and I was soooo not ready to say goodbye to EoS by the time that second part of this book began.

Part two was actually heartbreaking and heartwarming. My feelings ended up being all over the place and I wanted to cry.

Empire of Storms managed to surprise me. On many things. The very first thing that I liked about Empire of Storms was the prologue. I don’t think I’m remembering correctly when I say that there are only a few (if any) prologues in the first 4 books in the Throne of Glass series.

Another thing that surprised me about Empire of Storms was me actually liking all of the points of view within this book. There are at least 10 points of view within Empire of Storms and they all add to the story in a way that I truly did not expect. Especially since there are a few characters whose point of view we read from that were perhaps only a page long. Yet there are such different personalities that make up all of these characters. And some of these characters have grown so much over the course of one book that I feel like a proud mama. I also want to hug almost every character and cry and fight with them by the end of Empire of Storms.

The points of view we read from are:

• ELIDE; Elide’s pov is interesting in the sense that she’s haunted in ways that only Elide truly understands. Elide also shows how brave, strong and resilient she is.
• LORCAN; Seeing Lorcan actually subconsciously care about someone else rather than himself is a small amount of astounding. But by the end of EoS, I am flabbergasted. 
• AELIN; Aelin keeps having to prove people wrong, and she will get tired eventually, even though she says that she enjoys it.  
• AEDION; Aedion is kind of like a loose canon honestly. I don’t know what to expect from him at all, so Aedion is a wildcard in my opinion.
• MANON; There is so much that happens with Manon, and what happens to her, and what she does, and what consequences she receives.
• DORIAN; Dorian actually surprised me a few times because of how he grows in this novel.
• ROWAN; Rowan has to know, very subconsciously that Aelin is his mate. Though he doesn’t consciously let on until the ending. …. The ending…YIKES
• The PIRATE LORD; still pissed at Celaena Sardothian, with good reason. I wonder how his character will fair in the next two books.
• LYSANDRA; I adore Lysandra’s POV because she’s a breath of fresh air in the series. I especially liked when Lysandra shifted into that jade-green animal. 
• Gavriel; just wants his son in his life. Already so proud of Aedion.

The story moves very quickly and incredibly efficiently. Which is something that I have come to expect when I read a Sarah J. Maas novel. I thought with all the points of view that the story would have a slow build up. That is the case in some areas, however I actually really enjoyed those few slow parts that actually allowed me to breathe, haha.

And in fact, with everyone’s POVs we get a round-a-bout view of the story that I feel like you can only appreciate if you’re actually invested in the story. Which could be untrue, for some people.

One thing that I did not expect at all, was that the story plot thickened with how Manon seemed to join the little crew. So I was, and I am excited to see how the story fully develops in the last two (as far as we know) books!

Nearing the last few pages of Empire of Storms I wanted to cry because of what happened. And I’m not too excited for the next book, which I believe is told in Chaol’s point of view, but I hope that the next book is at least interesting. The reasoning for this is because I am quite certain that there will be at least one point where I will want to strangle Chaol. But we shall find out when I get around to reading Tower of Dawn. 

TL;DR, Empire of Storms managed to surprise me in so many ways that I have nothing bad to say about this addition to the Throne of Glass series. Empire of Storms had me feeling many things, and there were many reveals in the story that had me reading faster to find out what happens. When I finished EoS I was…..torn. I’m not excited to read Tower of Dawn because Chaol is…..Chaol.

I ended up loving Empire of Storms way more than I thought I would, given how I reacted to this book when I initially tried reading it.

I gave Empire of Storms, 5 of 5 stars.

Have you read Empire of Storms?
What did you think of it?

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Reading!
— Adele