Kingdom of Ash: INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

I do not cry often and this book had me crying so many times. I am so grateful to Sarah J Maas for her writing skills and imagination and to all the people who helped her make these books. This was so genuinely beautiful and full of strength and positivity and hope, overcoming insane hardships and not afraid to create impossible situations that work out somehow. I was so afraid of the grief that I was certain would come but instead Celaena/Aelin/Elentiya was unwaveringly powerful and uplifting. All the characters were inspiring and I simply developed more and more gratitude to Sarah the more I read. Most of the situations were entirely unrelatable yet so easily understood and embodied. This series is an homage to the fantasy genre. Thank you

Sarah, your two series, Throne of Glass and a Court of Thorns and Roses, have allowed me to grieve the anguish of losing my eldest daughter, merely 47, to COVID 13,500 kilometres away...dying alone in her apartment in the UK, requiring law enforcement to break into it...two days after her passing...hence your heroines' appeal, my daughter had a heart like theirs, and hopes and aspirations, too...never to be fulfilled...thank you for the fantasy, it helps more than you know. I had read them before her passing in 2021, and twice since...reading fills my head more than movies, thank you so very much...Colin R Brown, Johannesburg South Africa..

THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF KINGDOM OF ASH MY THOUGHTS: 1. I TRIED not comparing Kingdom of Ash to A Court of Wings and Ruin, but IT JUST KEPT HAPPENING INSIDE MY HEAD. I have to say, in terms of the PLOT, this book took the cake. There was something of substance happening any every point, even though the first 200 or so pages could have been cut out and/ or condensed. There were multiple wars, happening across the continent, with different characters and it was INTERESTING, to say the least. 2. ACOWAR, EVEN DURING THE WAR, WAS A LOVE STORY BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE, BUT KINGDOM OF ASH WAS THE LOVE STORY BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR DREAM OF A BETTER WORLD, AND IT WAS JUST A BETTER BOOK TO READ. 3. Sarah J Maas’ writing, though, pretty much remained the same. There was a repetition of the same thing with different synonyms when she described an emotion or emotional experience. There were a lot of places where there periods were used that SHOULD HAVE BEEN commas, semi-colons or even hyphens being used and that’s to my UNTRAINED EYE. 4. So, basically while the writing was mediocre, the PLOT INTRIGUED ME. Add that together with the fact that I’d been WAITING TO FINISH THIS SERIES, I managed to finish this 988-page monster in three days, and even shed a tear or two at a particular Yrene Towers scene and the king of magic she thought during that time. 5. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO START A PETITION STATING THAT AEDION ASHRYVER WAS THE REAL HERO OF THIS SERIES AND THAT HE DESERVED SO MUCH MORE THANKS. Would I recommend this series? Yes! It has a lot of flaws, and it’s definitely not for younger teens, but the plot, twists and character development are absolutely phenomenal! 4 stars.