Review: Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

Goodreads Synopsis:

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those don’t.

As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

Aelin’s journey from assassin to queen has entranced millions across the globe, and this fifth installment will leave fans breathless. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?

Favorite Exerpts:

Page 141:

And for a heartbeat, Aedion thought the man *had* been turned to stone as hid skin, his Adarlanian uniform, turned varying shades of gray.

But as the sea breeze brushed past, the man simply *fell* apart into nothing but she’s, Aedion realized with no small amount of shock what she had done.

She’d burned him alive. From the inside out. Someone screamed.

Aelin merely said, “I warned you.”

My Review:

The world building in this Empire of Storms begins with the world already given to us in the previous novels of the series and layers beautifully on top of it, expanding our understanding of the different places on the map and off of it. Enough information is given to make the environment immersive without taking away from the storyline itself.

The characters development was just as well done as in the previous novels. It’s easy to identify with most of the characters in some way and easier still to imagine interacting with them, adding beautifully to the immersive style of the novel.

The story was interesting and, in many parts, hard to put down. I enjoyed reading through most of it (especially the end OMG). However, I find myself truly disliking the Elide and Lorcan arc. As someone who’s been in both physically and psychilogically abusive relationships, I felt like an unnecessary light was shone on the relationship. It was as if the characters are telling us that the abuser just needs the right person to turn them into Prince or Princess Charming (yes, abusers can be female). While I suppose it’s nice to think there’s someone out there capable of getting this type of person to change the way they treat others, it’s extremely unlikely.

On another note entirely, I found this book in my local library’s Teen Books section. About halfway through the book, my thoughts were “There’s no way this is a teen book!” In several sections of the book, there are explicit descriptions of sexual acts and explicit violence. While, as an adult, I find the violence as a progressive part of the story I don’t think it should be classified as Young Adult so I won’t be putting it into that category on my blog.

Overall, I rate Empire of Storms 3 out of 5 bookworms.

Don’t just take my word for it. Order a copy of Drink Deep and enjoy it for yourself! A few places you can go to get your hands on a copy are:

• Amazon US
• Amazon UK
• Books-A-Million (US)
• Barnes and Noble (US)
• Waterstones (UK)
• Book Depository
• your local bookstore or local library

For more information about Sarah J. Maas and her work, visit her website.

Have you read Empire of Storms? What did you think of it? What books would you recommend to someone who enjoyed this book/series?