Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

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I don’t even know where to begin with this review. Just. What. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I wasn’t a huge fan of Throne of Glass. It was good, it was enjoyable, but it was also pretty forgettable. Then Judith forced Crown of Midnight on me, and my interest in this world and the characters was suddenly sparked. I requested Heir of Fire because I thought if it was at least on par with Crown of Midnight, then I couldn’t go wrong. But it blew Crown of Midnight out of the water, and is definitely the best of the series so far.

While Heir of Fire is less action-packed than Crown of Midnight, it has the quiet build up and slow burn that I enjoy almost as much as action sequences. Three quarters of the book novel are one giant build up to an explosive ending, and while I was reading my stress levels kept getting higher and higher.

Because I had grown to really like Celaena in Crown of Midnight, I found myself growing to adore her in Heir of Fire. Gone is the average and cliché girl from Throne of Glass; Celaena is now on her way to becoming a queen and she is amazing and fabulous and badass.

We learn a whole lot about Celaena’s backstory and her family in Heir of Fire, and oh my god, it broke me. Her story is one of the best out there, and it’s what really sold her to me because I was able to understand what happened to her and why she is the way she is. It was beautiful, and some of the scenes made my heart break.

Now I’m going to dedicate the rest of my review to Rowan and Celaena, because I have been holding out on you all. And so has Maas, who clearly had this character and his relationship with Celaena planned pretty early on. Basically, Rowan is the best character in the whole series, next to Celaena. He starts off being pretty closed off, and slowly starts to open up more and becomes more approachable and accepting, and yet at his core he doesn’t change. You just get to know him better.

And the way Rowan parallels Celaena… Oh my GOD, I could write entire essays about those two because PARALLELS ARE MY THING. Back when I was in the Vampire Diaries fandom, I would squeal about parallels all over the place, and then the same thing happened with Avatar: The Last Airbender. Basically, all the best couples have parallels, and Rowan and Celaena have them in droves. And they’re not even romantic! (YET. YETTTTTT.)

I was a Celaena/Dorian shipper in the first two books, but when Heir of Fire happened I quickly switched teams. For several reasons, really, but mostly because Rowan and Celaena compliment each other so fucking much and I cannot deal with the feelings I have for them.

In Heir of Fire, Dorian and Chaol are basically non-existent to me in comparison to Rowan and Celaena. The book was all about the latter pair, with their growth and relationship and everything. Dorian gets a new love interest, which felt pointless and cheap, and Chaol continues to question my mighty queen and make an asshat of himself. The two of them looked like children compared to Rowan and Celaena, and so I paid hardly any attention to them.

There are other new characters who were introduced in this book that are going to make the game interesting later on. There’s one new character called Aedion who showed a lot of promise because of his similarities to Gannicus (Spartacus TV show. Watch it.), but he didn’t really go anywhere by the end of the book. I still love him more than Chaol though. Ha. There is also Manon, who got really interesting towards the end and who is going to be AWESOME in the sequel(s), I know it, and Sorscha, who was dull as crap and not my kind of character at all. Why was she there?

Things you should take away from this “review”:

• Rowan is the best thing to ever happen to this series
• Celaena is a QUEEN
• If Rowan and Celaena don’t become a thing then I will sob into my pillow for eternity
• Chaol is pointless and can go jump off a cliff
• ROWAN AND CELAENA ARE OTP
• Chaol/Dorian would also be a legit ship if the two didn’t seem terribly immature compared to Rowan and Celaena.

I hardly ever share my favourite quotes from books, but I have decided that it’s necessary in this case. BECAUSE CELAENA IS AMAZING. Maybe don’t read these quotes unless you’ve read the book because there are loads of them and you should experience them in context first.

“It was the Song of Eyllwe. Then the Song of Fenharrow. And Melisande. And Terrasen. Each nation that had people in those labor camps. And finally, not for pomp or triumph, but to mourn what they had become, they played the Song of Adarlan.”

“I claim you, too, Aelin Galathynius.”

“It was a message to the world. Aelin was a warrior, able to fight with blade or magic. And she was done with hiding.”

“And then Celaena set the world on fire.”

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

“All of it- all of it for him.”

“To whatever end.”

“And then I am going to rattle the stars.”

“She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius- and she would not be afraid.”

I… may have gone a little overboard. But it’s fucking amazing, you guys. *sobs*