WHAT?! Was essentially my reaction after finishing this. Such a cliffhanger. So devastating. You can just feel all the loss and grief. But damn does Aelin deliver. ( )

4.5 stars.

Empire of Storms picks up right after all the dramatic events that came to a head in Queen of Shadows. After all the excitement of the last book, EoS feels a little slow and has a lot of exposition until about the second half of the book.

Regardless, Maas's character development is a killer for me - she manages to get me so invested in even the most minor characters, and can sway your opinion so rapidly. I really enjoyed reading how everything comes together for Aelin & Co. in their quest to find allies and save Terrassen. I also read this in tandem with Tower of Dawn, and I was glad I did because it really enriched the plot for me, and answered a lot of questions.

I liked the romance ok, but there is so much romance between various characters getting paired off that it felt a little rushed.

Finally, the cliffhanger was a killer and I've already started Kingdom of Ash. Really excited to see how it ends for all these characters I'm now way too attached to! ( )

1st read: December 2020
2nd read: October 2023

Awesome book. It is kinda of cruel though that the author ended the book on a cliffhanger, then wrote a book about different characters before she showed the resolution of the cliffhanger. ( )

This book pulled the whole series together for me. All the subplots, the deviations from the main storyline, it all came together in an incredible way. ( )

I get it now! I understand the hype for the Throne of Glass series. I am very happy with Empire of Storms, and reading it made me realize that I’ll get a lot more enjoyment out of the entire series (especially The Assassin’s Blade) the second time around. ( )