Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas- Love in War

Below is an expanded component of my review for Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas. This is the seventh installment in the Throne of Glass series.To see my full spoiler free review for that book click here. That review is spoiler free for anyone that has at least read some of the books in the series. If you want all the spoilers click here for my KoA reading vlog.

Now below begins a more in depth review of the book in the form of an informal essay, the first in a series of three. These informal essays will cover romance, growth in the series, and my hopes moving forward.

The below essay, as I'm sure you can tell from the title, goes over several of the romances in this book and the various strengths/weaknesses of them. If you have not read the book (and plan to) go ahead and leave now. Check back once you've finished in order to avoid spoilers. I was able to avoid any spoilers before and while I was reading and I truly believe that made my reading experience infinitely better than if I had known what to expect.

Happy reading!

Anyone that has ever read a Sarah J. Maas book knows that not only can the woman write epic scenes of chaotic warfare and magic wielding but there are always sure to be incredibly attractive couples and a descent amount of smut. For those that don't know, smut means romantic content (aka sex scenes). While the quality of said smut is often up for debate, today I want to take a look at the couples featured in Kingdom of Ash and give my thoughts on the pairings.

Aelin and Rowan

No essay would be complete without our heroine and her prince. Meeting in Heir of Fire, this couple fits the classic trope of hate to love in which their first encounter is far from lovey dovey. Each had lost the great love of their life already and were recovering from all that life had given them. At that point I loved that they had a mutual understanding of one another and this relationship grew out of trust and friendship rather than an instant sexual impulse like some other YA couples that we have seen.

At the conclusion of Heir of Fire I never expected them to be mates. I began to wish that perhaps Rowan had never met Lyria because he and Aelin were so well suited for one another as we wrapped up Queen of Shadows. He is protective and fierce just as she is but with a cooler edge to his temper than her, creating a balance.

When Mauve reveals that at the end of Empire of Storms that Rowan was indeed Aelin's mate and that she had used her powers over the mind to trick the male into believing that he had already loved and lost his mate I was distraught. Everything I had hoped for as a reader had come true but in the most warped and distressing way possible.

Luckily, Rowan was the male I expected and did not heed Aelin's wishes to be abandoned in her iron coffin. Instead he rescues her and in this as well as their abilities throughout the coming battles and roles as queen and consort we begin to see a fantastic match that works together, without a clear leader.

It is easy for the princess of any tale to quickly become a damsel in distress that needs the aid of a strapping young man to rescue her. We do not see this nearly as much in this series where women are strong and partnerships are mutual. Aelin is incredibly strong both in her own personality, what she has suffered and overcome, as well as her magic. She can handle herself and often does so brilliantly. Because of this it is not a weakness when she leans on Rowan for strength. It adds an element of humanity to her without robbing her of her strength. They save each other.

While I did like them as a couple, I felt that some of their spark had died out in Kingdom of Ash. They were still a good paring that worked well together, but they bored me with their interactions more often than not.

Manon and Dorian

When I was reading Heir of Fire I frankly thought that Manon and her thirteen were egotistical villains sure to ruin the lives of dearest characters. Oh how wrong I was. Page 751 of Kingdom of Ash taught me just how important this incredible group of immortal women and their wyverns had become to not only the story but myself.

Every time Manon graced the pages of this book with her evolving personality as she grew in the strength of her dual identity and became the queen that she always was under the hate and blood that had coated her life, I had chills. This was a character that suffered in a unique way beyond what we see any of the others endure.

Dorian has already experience love before and lost it. While this experience still haunts him throughout Kingdom of Ash, he does seem more willing to begin to allow himself to care for others. This is shown through the growing attachment that is beyond the physical between Manon and himself. Manon is not this shining creature that he feels he must possess.

When she offered herself in a marriage alliance and we were able to witness his internal struggle of desire to make her his own wife while also recognizing that to shackle her in such a way would ultimately destroy her spirit, I was pained and relieved to see that this other sort of romance existed in this novel. They may care deeply for one another and respect that but there is also the realization that neither can one hundred percent be what the other needs. This is all accomplished with a small degree of melancholy but no bitterness. Not all love stories end in happily ever after.

Yrene and Chaol

Tower of Dawn was the dread of my life as a reader. I absolutely without a doubt detested the existence of Chaol Westfall following Crown of Midnight. He was horrible for how easily he threw away Celaena after realizing what she was and continuing to hold that against her for Queen of Shadows. Quite frankly he was scum for these actions. Never again would I see a dashing and heroic captain of the guard. All I would see was a coward.

Then his relationship with Nesryn filled me with an even greater rage. I was repulsed by how he used her throughout Queen of Shadows, never seeming to notice how amazing of a character she was with her great skill in archery, care for her family and fellow foreigners, or how dedicated she was to their cause. Instead he seemed to only see the physical comfort she could provide.

This lack of compassion and interest for the woman he has made promises to continues on in Tower of Dawn. There he ignores her, shunts her to the side, and shows nothing but disrespect. All because he has found a pretty healer that he would rather spend his time with, Yrene Towers. Say that their story is romantic all you like. It was infidelity plain and simple.

The great sacrifices that Yrene makes to save Chaol in Tower of Dawn and their ultimate marriage were baffling to me as I did not see any great love story unfolding. I saw a flirtation and interest due to the forbidden nature of their coupling. Nothing more.

At best, my mild interest in Yrene's character (largely due to her prior affiliation with Aelin) softened my hatred of her husband a smidge.

Their storyline evolved a bit more in Kingdom of Ash with the addition of her pregnancy and that part did make me a bit more emotional and I was able to look upon their situation with slightly kinder eyes. This was especially true when for the first time in his fictional life Chaol stopped being a selfish arse and cared about the well-being of his ancestral home, citizens, and the lives of his wife and child.

But this softening of my heart was quite simply only possible because Nesryn ended up with Sartaq and is going to be an empress in the amazing Southern Continent, where she has always wanted to be. She wins. Clearly.

Elide and Lorcan

These two have without a doubt captured my heart and easily win the title of being my favorite couple. Every time they have a scene together in any of the Throne of Glass books I find myself smiling like a girl with a crush and instantly need to reread all of their chapters.

Similar to how I feel about Aelin and Rowan, I feel that these two are well balanced in such a way that real couples not facing the horrors of a fantasy novel need to be to survive. There is friendship before there is love and from this friendship they were able to grow a sense of mutual respect and understanding that would later prove the foundation of a strong love.

Elide is not blessed with insane magical powers like the rest of our main characters. This simplicity initially seemed like it would make her a boring character. Instead, I found that it made her far more relatable. She must create her own strength and overcome life's hurdles independently.

Lorcan is easy enough to pass off as a villain. He is rude to Aelin repeatedly. He is excruciatingly devoted to Mauve. Overall, he comes across as an outright ass. However, we begin to see that this is just the surface and that there is far more depth under the surface. I don't even care that he is the typical bad boy turned good trope we see in a lot of YA or romance novels. The second he meets Elide and begins to melt, I'm done.

These two show a sense of evolving personality and how forgiveness sometimes must be earned rather than easily given in any sort of relationship. Elide refusing to forgive and Lorcan refusing to give up was something I found incredibly endearing. Which is why the scene where Elide rides out onto the battle field, facing certain death herself, to find Lorcan had me sobbing more than almost any other scene. Their relationship had time to grow and falter before flourishing. And that was all accomplished without me hating either one. A skill that none of the other couples were able to accomplish.

They win favorite couple.

Lysandra and Aedion

This pairing left with mixed emotions. Lysandra's selfless nature captured my heart easily as we got to know her over the course of Queen of Shadows and Empire of Storms. She is a trained courtesan, beautiful and vapid to the outside world. But as we get to know her we begin to see a viciously protective woman who has endured abuses, loneliness, and sorrow far more than certainly many of the other characters in this story. Her devotion to Evangeline is heartbreaking and endearing. She may not be a monarch but she has some of the heaviest responsibility, one that no other character had. Sole responsibility for a child she did not bear.

What she willingly sacrifices for not only Aelin, but the hope for a life in Terrasen for at least Evangeline continues to show the immense strength she has as a character. Repeatedly she puts everyone else's needs above her own. She will do anything for the survival of those she loves. Unfortunately, this includes Aedion.

There were many times with the end of Queen of Shadows and for the majority of Kingdom of Ash that I desperately wanted Lysandra to realize she is too good for Aedion, who quite frankly was downright abusive emotionally for most of the seventh book. It is this cruelty that he displays numerous times that still leaves me slightly unsettled that they ended up with a happily every after. Each time he screamed at her, belittled her, ignored her, and finally threw her naked into the snow after she nearly died I was livid. This is not romance. This is not hard times. That is abuse.

Am I happy that he treated her well at the end of the book? Am I happy he adored Evangeline and took care of her with Lysandra? Am I happy that Lysandra was given everything she wanted?

Yes, but I wish he had been someone else. Someone better. Lysandra and Evangeline deserved more. I certainly wouldn't be okay with this behavior in real life. Because of this I cannot condone it in fiction.