Hello, friends, and welcome to my book club! I recently finished the most INCREDIBLE fantasy book series and have been waiting AGES to gush about it with you. Enjoy!
Disclaimer/Trigger Warnings
A brief note about this series (the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas): it is not for the faint of heart. If it were up to me, I would recommend it to the discerning older teenager to young adult reader who is either okay with or willing to skip past some rather frequent instances of R-Rated romantic encounters. For me, while I am normally prone to quit reading/listening to a book with too much of this kind of content, I tolerated it in this one because the story and characters are just. that. good. Sarah J. Maas is really, really good at developing her plotlines and making every character relatable and building suspense at every turn, and that’s what kept me reading through thousands upon thousands of pages. The romances between the main characters are sweet and wholesome enough most of the time that, while I personally would prefer that more physical details be left to the imagination, it is just a little bit more okay.
There are some other triggers in this book, including violence, family member deaths, and kidnapping/torture.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the last book of the series. Since I read this book in ebook form, I don’t have exact page numbers, but I did include chapters.
Favorite Quotes
Her mother placed a phantom hand over Aelin’s heart. It is the strength of this that matters. No matter where you are, no matter how far, this will lead you home.
Chapter 12
She dropped beneath the surface, letting herself sink and sink and sink, toes grasping only open, cool water, straining for a bottom that did not arrive. Down into the dark, the cold. The ancient, icy water pulled away the flame and heat and strain. Pulled and sucked and waved it off. Cooled that burning core of her until she took form, a blade red-hot from the fire plunged into water. Aelin. That’s who she was.
Chapter 35
So Rowan found himself saying, “I told you once that even if death separated us, I would rip apart every world until I found you.” He gave her a slash of a smile. “Did you really believe this would stop me?” She pursed her mouth, and at last, those agonizing emotions began to surface in her eyes. “You were supposed to save Terrasen.” “Considering that the sun shines, I’d say Erawan hasn’t won yet. So we’ll save it together.”
Chapter 35
Silently, Rowan grasped her own hand and eased on the emerald ring. “To whatever end,” he whispered. Silver lined her eyes. “To whatever end.” A reminder—and a vow, more sacred than the wedding oaths they’d sworn on that ship. To walk this path together, back from the darkness of the iron coffin. To face what waited in Terrasen, ancient promises to the gods be damned.
Chapter 37
A sea of stars—that’s what the cave had become. Beauty. There was still beauty in this world. Stars could still glow, still burn bright, even buried under the earth. Aelin breathed in the cool cave air, the blue light. Let it flow through her. Rattle the stars. She’d promised to do that. Had done so much toward it, yet more remained. They had to hurry. How many suffered at Morath’s claws? Beauty remained—and she would fight for it. Needed to fight. It was a constant thrum in her blood, her bones. Right alongside the power that she shoved down deep and dismissed with each breath. Fight—one last time. She’d escaped so she might do it. Would think of all those still defying Morath, defying Maeve, while she trained. She wouldn’t hesitate. Didn’t dare to pause. She’d make this time count. In every way possible.
Chapter 38
“Yrene, at least, doesn’t seem like the sort to hog the blankets and snore in one’s ear all night.” Yrene coughed as Prince Rowan only smiled at the queen. “I don’t mind your snoring,” he said mildly.
Chapter 54
Because Manon with conviction in her heart, with utter fearlessness in her eyes, was wholly unstoppable.
Chapter 56
The crown’s weight was slight, like it had been crafted of moonlight. Yet its joyous strength was a song, undimming before the sole High Witch left standing.
Chapter 56
She was no helpless princess. She had never been.
Chapter 57
I will always find you.
Chapter 59
“So you’re talking to me,” she said, not bothering to segue gracefully. “I talked to you before.” “Is it because I am now queen?” “You were queen prior to today.”
Chapter 62
“You’re not afraid to go alone?” “Of course I’m afraid. Anyone in their right mind would be. But my task is more important than fear, I think.”
Chapter 62
The sun rose, full and golden, as if it were the solitary note of a song filling the world.
Chapter 65
“The battle won’t be pretty,” he said as Evangeline sipped her milk. “And you will likely throw up again. But just remember that this fear of yours? It means you have something worth fighting for—something you care so greatly for that losing it is the worst thing you can imagine.” He pointed to the frost-covered windows. “Those bastards out there on the plain? They have none of that.” He laid his hand on hers and squeezed gently. “They have nothing to fight for. And while we might not have their numbers, we do have something worth defending. And because of that, we can overcome our fear. We can fight against them, to the very end. For our friends, for our family …” He squeezed her hand again at that. “For those we love …” He dared to look up at Lysandra, whose green eyes were lined with silver. “For those we love, we can rise above that fear. Remember that tomorrow. Even if you throw up, even if you spend the whole night in the privy. Remember that we have something to fight for, and it will always triumph.” Evangeline nodded. “I will.”
Chapter 81
Rhoe’s shield. There was no magic in it. Brannon had never borne it. But one of them had forged it, one of the unbroken line of kings and queens who had come after him, who had loved their kingdom more than their own lives. Who had carried this shield into battle, into war, to defend Terrasen. And as Aedion and the Valg prince fought along the walls, as that ancient shield refused to yield, he wondered if there was a different sort of power in the metal. One that the Valg could never and would never understand. Not true magic, not as Brannon and Aelin had. But something just as strong—stronger. That the Valg might never break, no matter how they tried.
Chapter 81
“Be the bridge, be the light. When iron melts, when flowers spring from fields of blood—let the land be witness, and return home.”
Chapter 90
I name you Elentiya, “Spirit That Could Not Be Broken.”
Chapter 112
Hope. It was hope that Chaol had said she carried with her. Hope that now grew in her womb. For a better future. For a free world. It was hope that had guided two women at opposite ends of this continent ten years ago. Hope that had guided Yrene’s mother to take up that knife and kill the soldier who would have burned Yrene alive. Hope that had guided Marion Lochan when she chose to buy a young heir time to run with her very life. Two women, who had never known each other, two women who the world had deemed ordinary. Two women, Josefin and Marion, who had chosen hope in the face of darkness. Two women, in the end, who had bought them all this moment. This one shot at a future. For them, Yrene was not afraid. For the child she carried, she was not afraid. For the world she and Chaol would build for that child, she was not afraid at all.
Chapter 113
“This is life, Yrene. We never stop learning. Even at my age.”
Chapter 118
Aelin wept then. Wept in joy that lit her heart, brighter than any magic could ever be. For across every mountain, spread beneath the green canopy of Oakwald, carpeting the entire Plain of Theralis, the kingsflame was blooming.
Chapter 121
Have I convinced you to read the series yet? What was your favorite part if you have read it?
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. What epic fantasy series should I read next? I’d love to know!
Happy reading!
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