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Ooh boy. Queen of Shadows. Otherwise known as the Character Assassination of Chaol Westfall.

Get your popcorn ready because I have a LOT OF OPINIONS ON THIS ONE. One of which is that it was TOTALLY the right choice to read the prequels right before this book- adding the background information in at that point felt perfect in regards to the current timeline. I also� despite my incoming anti-Aelin vitriol� really enjoyed this book. Sarah J Maas is hitting her stride in terms of world building, pacing and lore, and I am SO eager to get to the final three books (which are all finally and officially more mature and not YA, also exciting because its gonna get spicy y’all). I’m anticipating significant payoff for the amount of complexity and depth incorporated into the story thus far.

To start, Aelin and our boy Kale finally reunite. When they had left one another an entire book ago Aelin still went by Celaena, Chaol had torn his beating, human heart out of his chest and offered it to her out of love as she left, and Celaena in return said she would return and would always pick him. As IF that’s how their relationship picks back up. Chaol barely has a second to BREATHE when Aelin revs up her own personal, arrogant power trip, barking orders at him about the Valgs (the magic demons, which she did learn about) and the kingdom’s rebels (which she knows NOTHING about). Chaol actually quite patiently waits out this initial ranting, before he informs her that he isn’t a piece of meat and SHOCKER, he’s been living and surviving in this hellhole while she’s been gone and knows the same information she does. Oh! And he updates her on the fact that after learning her true identity and joining the rebels and shunning his honor and identity to the crown (*cough* GROWTH), after surviving an actual nightmare in the form of the deadly confrontation with the king from which Dorian has been trapped by his father’s magic and turned into his demonic slave, he saved her dog again! He BARELY survived this physically and is rife with self loathing, and Aelin is INCREDULOUS about this. ONCE AGAIN she blames Chaol for everything, shaking and mentally repeating “how could you� about the beheading of Dorian’s girl (I don’t know why but I refuse to use her name), the enslavement of our sweet Prince Dorian (listen up sister we’re *all* upset about this, and Chaol probably the most), and the fact that he “fled� and didn’t kill the king on his own. Aelin, ahem, “clenches her fingers into fists to keep from slamming his head into the side of a brick building�. Excuse me, miss high and mighty? My dentist will be chastising me for all the jaw grinding I did during this scene.

Aelin tells Chaol where she has been and what she has learned and he is UNDERSTANDABLY surprised that she has arrived� alone and empty handed. He PERSONALLY sent her into the arms of her allies, family and faekind, a literal golden ticket into her future and her powers, and she� in return went peacocking around with her firepower to burn down a city, announce that she was alive as Aelin the rightful queen blah blah blah, and brought back nothing. And LISTEN. This is the part where we as readers are supposed to get mad at Chaol. He is stubborn, sharp tongued, and angry. He does not kiss Aelin’s ass like everyone else does and tell her she’s perfect, she’s beautiful, she looks like Linda Evangelista she’s a model� he’s kind of mean. (While Chaol has always been quite quick and sarcastic in contrast to his more poetic broseidon, Dorian, he does sadly lose some of his original charm and personality in these exchanges. It’s definitely there under the surface, but it makes me nostalgic for CoM Chaol.) He snaps at Aelin (SOMEBODY HAD TO), withholds his information on magic, and in his own devastation and fear calls her dangerous and a monster. Is it nice? No. Is it true? To Chaol, absolutely yes.

I refuse to interpret Chaol’s apprehension and understandable concern throughout this scene (and the rest of this book) as him being an asshole. I also simply cannot read this section with empathy from Aelin’s perspective. I tried. THREE TIMES! Aelin isn’t right just because she’s the main character/series hero and because she’s got a claim to the throne. She is so unbearably in the wrong here it isn’t even funny. She expected Chaol, the ONLY HUMAN IN A BATTLE OF MAGIC STRONG ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN POWER OVER AN ENTIRE KINGDOM, to not only survive but take down the King, who controls all of this wild magic? He NEVER had a shot, and would have found himself dead, with Dorian still probably enslaved. Also for Aelin to underestimate the importance of the Chaol x Dorian Bromance? Her ignorance knows no bounds. No less than 100 pages later Aelin goes on about how she wants to mercy kill Dorian, and when Chaol disagrees, she IMMEDIATELY responds that she would burn both Chaol and the entire kingdom down. Like�? I’m supposed to be on her side how?! His guilt is drowning him, he’s completely alone facing his PTSD, he’s completely flipped his own moral code to fight with the rebels AND FOR AELIN, and she had the nerve to come back with NOTHING but entitlement. Oh- and needless to say, she doesn’t still pick him.

Not only does the book start off HOT by that above scene, immediately pitting Aelin against Chaol, SJM continues to totally retcon his characterization. Some of his more stubborn and angry moments make sense in terms of trauma responses and what appears to be his burgeoning depression, but there are so many random things thrown in that almost “undo� important things we know about him. It’s these random spicy additions to his history and personality that are infuriating. It’s as if she knows she made him too charming, loyal and complex and she had to throw a few wrenches at him to make room for her golden (silver?) boy Rowan, but she also started to feel bad about it BECAUSE she wrote his character too well. (As I said previously- I don’t even want Chaol with Aelin/Celaena. It could have been as simple as that!)

Suddenly Chaol gets a rogue “love interest� in the form of Nesryn, who could have been a cool character in her own right, as a badass city guard turned rebel from the southern continent, but instead she APPARENTLY has been a hole to plug whenever Chaol has been single and is feeling like an emotionless fuckboy, even as recently as within the last book DESPITE NOT BEING MENTIONED UNTIL NOW. (Oh my god I just read that sentence back and I’m laughing out loud� too late not changing it.) ANYWAYS. I’m not buying it! We’re supposed to believe that Chaol Westfall, whose main flaw is that he is stubborn and loyal to a FAULT and struggles with how binding his own morals are, who until Aelin/Celaena hadn’t dated anyone in years because he had his heart broken, who was woefully shy around any of the flirting women at the courtyard, was SLEEPING WITH ONE OF HIS EMPLOYEES AS CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD? Good try SJM. Maybe I would buy this random surreptitious affair it if they had ANY chemistry whatsoever, if Chaol had a SHRED of Dorian’s douchey womanizer qualities, OR if he had ANY extra time in the last book, but most importantly I just want whats best for Chaol and it certainly isn’t this. He has nothing to gain in terms of emotional support from Nesryn (she’s also very stubborn and can be very serious- they have zero to balance one another out), they clearly don’t love one another, and oye my heart HURTS for our boy. Chaol is just so woefully lost and guilt ridden and hurt and alone and JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE HOW THIS ENDS FOR HIM! (Okay, fine fine. I’m cool. I’m fine.)

I’ll try and be more reasonable and less long winded moving forward. That’s almost certainly a lie.

� Soft boy Dorian is trapped inside his demon-captured body this entire book. It’s so sad (especially because I’ve grown to really love Dorian) but also� kind of funny for him to be diminished to bloodthirsty, confused thoughts and a complete lost identity. And he’s never going to hit his yearly reading goal if he’s trapped in this demon control. More on him later!

� Arobynn is back. Still King of the Assassins. Still a shameless pervert. He finally meets his end and it’s quite satisfying.

� Lysandra, courtesan and ex-enemy of Aelin also returns. And she’s a shapeshifter! Sick. Aelin makes sure to slut shame her within an inch of her life despite knowing she had NO choice in her career before finally making her an ally. Once again, this is your queen?

� Prince Rowan is back and he� cut his hair. Good try buddy, you won’t get the Hunt Athalar haircut extra credit points to make me forget you literally told Aelin it would have been better if she DIED last book. I’m not yet buying the big turn from scary to heartthrob. Speaking of which�

� Rowan Whitethorn. So hot right now. Everyone literally loses their minds over this man. Lysandra is drooling. Aedion, who is still actively recovering from being the King’s prisoner, essentially makes sure to come out as bisexual so Rowan knows the offer is on the table. Aelin is prancing around in lingerie even though there’s a straight up WAR going on. Hello? The ghost of Sam Cortland, watching Rowan wear his abandoned underwear is nodding in appreciation. Even Chaol, who has been diminished to the depressed, bitter Squidward role in this book, is astounded by Rowan. Its like the scene before the Bubble Bowl when Squidward imagines everyone in their underwear but it backfires spectacularly, as he looks to Squilliam Fancyson facing him with a (weirdly humanoid) rippling six pack- “OH NO HE’S HOT!�

� Aelin makes a move on Rowan. He turns her down. I cheer because- FINALLY someone isn’t blindly enamored by her. Also, boundaries! Here are your extra credit points Rowan.

� ^ this a tease, Aelin and Rowan obviously wind up becoming a romantic couple. They hold off on having any real romantic scenes, it’s almost like they say to one another “just wait like a liiiiiittle longer- did you know we’re allowed to have real spicy scenes in the NEXT book?�

� We meet Elide, who has been imprisoned by her gross uncle despite her rightful claim as Lady of Perranth (her mother is who saved Aelin a long long time ago), but she’s unfortunately been left chained, injured and illiterate. Manon takes her under her (Abraxos’s?) wing as she has witch blood and is incredibly clever and intelligent, and she eventually escapes. She’s a great character, and she’s definitely set up to be an eventual member of Aelin’s court.

� Lorcan, one of the big scary members of Maeve’s (and Rowan’s old) cadre has a moment where he mocks Rowan for binding himself (someone immortal) to someone mortal saying “…what about when she looks old enough to be your mother? Will you still share her bed?� and I� loved it. This is my most stressed about fantasy trope. (That’s right Aragorn. Arwen shouldn’t have found your fragile ass worth it. Viggo Mortensen is currently hot for being a man in his 60s but there’s a point where things are just� gross.) CHANGE MY MIND.

� The Thirteen get more fleshed out! The witches are just an absolute joy to read about. Complex and unbearably dangerous, but teeming with emotions they were raised to believe they didn’t have. Asterin especially pushes Manon to learn that they’re capable of feeling, and even *gasp* love. They’re being manipulated by the crown as weapons, and even being asked to be bred for demon experiments. Blech. They finally face Aelin’s gang (as they go to save Lysandra and of course� Demon Dorian) which ends in a fantastic Aelin vs. Manon battle and the grand finale of Aelin saving Manon (as IF, Aelin is lucky it wasn’t the other way around), and Manon now owes Aelin a life debt. Even if Aelin is a witch killer (RIP Baba Yellowlegs from the first book?). Also note that Chaol also kind of saves Manon in the end but like� that’s fine�

� Manon is still the best, but she’s conflicted and struggling heavily with her leadership role while she’s also being trampled by the demands of the human royals and her straight up abusive grandmother. You know who else is struggling? Our baby boy Dorian. Manon and Dorian also meet in the above scene and SOMEHOW her presence� grounds him enough that he can bring himself to the surface above the demon and remember who he is? He needs this moment to survive and keep fighting, and Manon’s awareness of it is also integral to his survival.

� The above scene is SUCH a dynamic switch for so many male/female relationships in traditional literature- to have a bond between a strong, dangerous woman and a soft man instead of the opposite. I kind of love it, even if it was just to prove that Dorian is still inside his demon form. I could totally root for Dorian bringing more of Manon’s humanity to the surface much like she does his.

� Also very important. Everyone thinks that the only way to “save� Dorian is to kill him, due to the magic of his demonic takeover. Manon learning he’s still there is huge. Which leads to the grand finale�

The final battle of this book is immaculate. It’s thrilling and the consequences are beyond any the series have had yet, and Maas does what she does best. Masterfully weave in details and subtleties that she’s planted for us as readers along the way with fantastic payoff, and a promise for more to come. I have personal gripes with certain outcomes of this scene, but it’s bombastic, gutting, and satisfying.

Special shoutout to Manon of course, who saves Dorian by painting on the walls in blood: “WITCH KILLER- THE HUMAN IS STILL INSIDE HIM.� Tell me this doesn’t make you feel absolutely giddy in how bluntly absurd this is. She could have just dropped a note but instead Manon decided to look camp right in the eye, go full drama and I am LIVING. Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz are KICKING themselves over not using this phrase for a song in the early 2000s.

Perhaps the final scene is most satisfying because it comes down to our core three at their very best- it’s all down to Aelin, Chaol, and Dorian. Dorian EXPLODES with power and frees himself from his father’s control (ok, alright, I’ll stop calling you a soft boy) and with Aelin he finally frees magic for all of the world. Yeehaw, y’all. Through all of this, our selfless Chaol, again- HUMAN CHAOL, remains to distract and fight the king� taking on the boss battle with the main villain from the ENTIRE SERIES THUS FAR himself. This is the Chaol we know. Despite his obnoxious stubborn angst this book, his core self is selfless and loyal. He sacrifices himself for his friends (the s here is soft, Aelin, you still have a lot to prove) and when Dorian returns to his human state it’s driven out of love for Chaol, and his belief that his father has killed him (instead of waiting to see whatever shred of Chaol had actually been left behind)- so in response he kills his dad. Team Bromance forever.

Aelin and (King?!) Dorian leave the battle as reigning royalty, riddled with magic, strength and power and ready to gallivant along and continue their journey. Chaol- who has consistently given EVERYTHING to get nothing in return and was absolutely INTEGRAL in their victory, and is on the brink of finding some shred of value and security within himself again, IS LEFT PARALYZED AND UNABLE TO WALK- WHAT THE FUCK? I am� just so at a loss for words so I’ll use someone else’s. To quote the great Vito Corleone- LOOK HOW THEY MASSACRED MY BOY! His journey hopefully will take him down a path of recovery prior to returning to fight for Dorian (and Aelin) as his friends all tell him to go south where all the prolific healers are (he goes with Nesryn- BLAH), and I’ll hold on to the mere wisps of hope that Chaol’s mental and physical health are finally prioritized and not bastardized to fit the plot or make Aelin/Rowan look more appealing. That’s all.