Book: Heir of Fire, Sarah J. Mass

Series: Throne of Glass #3

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Release Date: September 2^nd, 2014

Rating: 5 stars

This book was a whirlwind of emotions and didn’t stop once to let me catch my breath. The last few chapters especially were so hard to read, partly because I knew it was nearly over and also because my heart was breaking. There’s so much I want to say about this book, and at the same time, I have no clue how to start.

When this book finished I just sat on my bed and stared at the wall, trying to contemplate in my mind what I had just read. So much had happened; I couldn’t get my head around it. I don’t even know where to begin right now.

I think I’ll start with Celaena. She develops so much in this book. After discovering her true heritage in Crown of Midnight, we see Celaena face people from her past as well as those willing to stand and fight with her. While she doesn’t want anything to do with her past at first, she slowly begins to realise how important it is and that she’s the only person that has any shot at stopping the King and winning back what is rightfully hers. Her development was amazing to see and you can’t help but cheer as she fights the demons of her past and accept what she knew deep in her heart all along:

“She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.”

While I assumed that there was going to be a love triangle between her, Dorian and Chaol, that is all changed now. I’m not sure, romantically, what is going to happen. Honestly though, I don’t mind. Romance is so unimportant in the grand scheme of things in this series. So much happened in this book, and any romance between characters, while is always lovely to read, is irrelevant to the focus of this plot. Between Celaena’s development, magic, violence and bloodshed, romance is the last on anyone’s mind. While she did develop a great friendship with Rowan, a Fae who helped Celaena discover her true powers, there is nothing romantic about it at all.

Speaking of Rowan, he was great. He starts out as this douche-bag who only cared about serving his Queen, but as he and Celaena spend more time together, they begin to realise they have more in common than they ever realised. When you have a boy and girl thrown together, you immediately assume it’s going to develop into something, but these two only form an incredibly strong friendship bond which I think is so absolutely great. They’re my OTP with no romance whatsoever.

We also get other points of view from Chaol, Dorian and a witch called Manon, who all have different obstacles to face but all tie together in the same battle.  While all the different POV’s was a little disconcerting at first, Maas was able to make it work. We see Chaol attempt to handle everything that’s thrown at him since Celaena’s absence, and he handled everything so well. I honestly don’t know what he and Celaena’s relationship is going to be like in the next book, but I think Chaol has grown loads in this book and I can’t wait to see how he grows in the next book. Dorian is finally moving on from Celaena by finding love in an unlikely place, and watching it blossom was one of my favourite things in this book. I don’t think he and Celaena will ever be anything more than friends, but that’s okay. Dorian is also becoming quite regal and acting like the true King he was born to be. He is getting more control of his powers and I know he’s only going to get stronger from here on out.

The ending was an explosion of devastation, betrayals and twists. You’ll want to throw your book away so you won’t have to read what’s coming, but then crawl over and get it because you need to find out how it ends. Each POV has a different ending, all so brutal you know Maas is only just getting started with torturing us and her characters. It’s obvious she has so much more in store for her characters, and I can’t wait to find out.

This instalment in the Throne of Glass series is absolutely epic, and not to be missed. I would recommend this series to anyone who loves fantasy and kick-ass heroines. It’ll knock your breath away and force you to read until your eyes water.