Kingdom of Ash
by: Sarah J. Maas
^Special editions and the cover
Thank you Sarah J. Maas for all the plotting, character building and overall greatness that is the Throne of Glass series. I appreciate it all.
As many Maas readers know, the Throne of Glass Series came to a close exactly 1 year ago today. The final book of the series, Kingdom of Ash, was a whooping 992 pages long and had a beautiful gold cover to match. This massive book was released October 23, 2018. I had the count down app going from the moment Bloomsbury moved the release date up. At this time, I also managed to snag two tickets to SJM's KoA book tour. She was scheduled to come to Naperville, IL October 25. Imagine my poor fangirl self when I realized I had roughly 3 days to either cram in everything from KoA or go to the book tour/signing and risk someone giving away a spoiler. So, I anticipated the release and I reread the series and waited. I planned my week and did all my homework in advance, so I could dedicate my 72 hours to our queen, SJM. I would not be discourage by the 992 page book. I knew in my heart I could beat this challenge. But three days before the book was scheduled to release, a few fans got their copies early! The spoilers were coming before the book even hit shelves!! I was torn...I wanted to wait and find everything out on my own, but I also wanted to make sure my favorite characters didn't die. I'm in a few fan pages on Facebook and the admins had already put out a spoiler warning. This is to ensure no one posts anything that could ruin the book for any readers before they had the chance to read their copy of KoA. So any post that had a spoiler had to be upfront about it and do other requirements. I did creep and didn't find anything too terrible. Someone did leave a few discouraging "spoilers" if you could call them that. They basically left a very shady comment about things but didn't explain the context, so anyone who read it would be heartbroken (but the post was meant to trick the reader).
Official Book Review
I realize my review is very late, but I took a mental break from Sarah's world. I went through KoA so quickly my processing time was slow. I loved it and I cried multiple times throughout the book. Sarah you did awesome and I couldn't be happier with the way you wrote this monster of a book. Aelin, Rowan, Dorian, Manon, Chaol, Yrene, Elide, Lorcan, and so many more, thank you for your awesome journeys. I finally did a reread of the book and I think I'm ready to come at you all with my opinions, feelings, and thoughts. I did listen to part of this book on Audible and and I'm slowly starting to enjoy audiobooks. It helps my work commute is 30 minutes one way so I've got lots of time for listening. I know a lot of people in the fandom weren't overly enthusiastic about KoA because they felt Sarah drug on the fight scenes and didn't ended it realistically. All I have to say is she did a fabulous job in my opinion. She got backlash for ACoWAR and her fight scenes being short and dull. She comes back with a 992 long detailed war campaign and people still complain, so she did good. I won't do any huge spoilers but I can say the ending for the most part was happy for me. There were casualties throughout the book and some ripped my heart out, but in the end I was content and crying for the wholesome moment(s). I could go on and on about KoA but I'll wrap it up. I hope someday Sarah decides to come back to this world and give us the spin off stories we crave. This series has had a huge impact on me and I'm devastated its ended. All good things must come to an end though and I can't wait for Sarah's upcoming novels.
SJM KoA Tour Review
This tour was mind blowing. I got to be in the same space as the Maassassin Queen. Ugh, it was amazing. I legitimately almost cried. I made my best friend come with too. I took plenty of pictures so don't worry, those will be below. My friend and I waited in the Midwestern chilly fall weather for two hours in line before we entered the building. We did not get VIP tickets in time so we didn't get to stay after the main event and get a photo op/signing with Sarah. :( Everyone who had a ticket received a goodies back with a non personalized signed Kingdom of Ash book, a bag, Charlie Bowater (look her up she's amazing) picture of Aelin, a tattoo and a few other one off things. Bloomsbury also had pictures set up and a picture station with props! You could write a letter to Sarah, submit a question, put on temporary tattoos, and sign a copy of KoA that Sarah kept. It was a fan-girl dream. 😍
I managed to get second row seats so I had a full view of the queen herself. She answered a bunch of questions and had her handsome hubby (striking resemblance to Rhys 😉) and her little baby boy, Taran. It was so enjoyable and she was so cute and bubbly. She spoke about her upcoming new series, Crescent City and she put hints out about Cassian & Nesta's novel. So many fun facts about the creation of KoA were shared and hang ups she went through to make it to the finish/release date line. I highly recommend going to one of her book tours if she does it again. I know I'll be trying my best to get tickets to any of her signings!!
Pictures
