Queen of Shadows: Book 4

Aelin has started building back up her powers and has gotten some answers from her aunt Maeve about the Wyrdkeys. Now she is going after Arobynn Hamel, her old master. Rowan had to stay behind because of his blood oath to Maeve. How is Aelin going to get her throne back? What are her plans once she’s back in town? How is the king going to react? Will she be able to free her cousin and Dorian from the king?

THIS PARAGRAPH HAS SPOILERS!!! IF YOU WANT BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS, GO TO THE LAST PARAGRAPH!

Aelin gets the secret for how to restore magic from Chaol. Aelin pretends to go along with Arobynn’s plan for her to again be his assassin and meets Lysanda, who is another one of my favorite characters. She and Aelin were rivals. Aelin frees Aedion from the king, but Dorian appears to be past the point of being able to be saved. Rowan rejoins Aelin. Lorcan finds Aelin and threatens her until Rowan shows up. Aelin gets summoned to the Assassin’s Keep and Rowan joins her. They torcher one of the king’s demon’s. Arobynn tries to control Aelin like how the king does his generals and she plays along. Lysandra kills Arobynn that night. Aelin is left with everything that Arobynn had since she switched his will out. Lorcan tries to get Aelin to give him the ring because Maeve wants its protection. Elide joins the witches' side and feeds Manon information about what is happening in the keep. Elide is also planning her escape. Lysandra has been captured by the king. In Manon’s presence, Dorian temporarily regains control over his body. Aelin and Manon meet and immediately hate one another and fight, but Aelin saves Manon’s life. Elide gets captured by her uncle. Asterin divulges a personal secret to Manon and Manon apologizes for not trusting Asterin sooner. Aelin frees Lysandra from the king and from her boss. Lorcan takes the fake amulet. Nesryn tells Chaol about healers in the South Continent. Aelin pretends to capture Chaol and bring him before the king, but the king sees through their ruse. Chaol brings the king low. Magic is freed. Lysanda is a shapeshifter. Dorian finishes off his father.

This book sets up so much storyline and plot points. Dorian’s powers are quite important. Manon and Asterin need to trust one another fully. Elide needs to get to know the witches. Aelin needs the money and influence from killing her old mentor. Aelin also needs Manon’s life dept. Will Chaol be able to be healed? How will Dorian deal with what he did under his father’s control?

If you enjoyed this book, the next in the series is Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas. Other books like this one are: The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent because both are willing to do whatever it takes to keep those close to them safe, Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken because both of the main characters are deceiving those closest to them in order to achieve their goals, and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo because both main characters are trying to get revenge through adventure.