Book: Empire of Storms by Sarah J Mass (#6 in Throne of Glass series)

"This thing between them, the force of it, could devour the
world"

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary (Including Spoilers)

First off let me say.....WHAT IN THE WORLD???? WHY ? WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE THIS TYPE OF PAIN?
I thought fantasy novels were suppose to distract you from pain and sadness NOT ADD TO IT!

Anyway..

In Empire of Storms we see a lot more of our girl, Elide Lorchan. I, personally REALLY enjoyed reading her scenes with Lorcan. They're just such an adorable pairing and I absolutely LOVE them together. We ALL knew how it was going to go when they Elide mentioned that they were 'married' to the  circus group and then on top of that the secrets they kept from one another and the gradual adoration and protectiveness that grew while they were together. They were such a welcome break from all of the other drama that was going on with everyone else and I just love them so much. 

I really enjoyed Empire of Storms because it focused more on the characters themselves and the plot was sort of secondary. Well for most part of the book - lets not even go CLOSE to the ending and how THAT all went down. 

~ It was interesting to see how Aelin wasn't immediately accepted as Queen of Terresan - even though it was completely ridiculous that she wasn't! Although it was understandable (sort of) that Darrow didn't immediately trust her. I mean its been YEARS where everyone thought that she was dead and then some random girl shows up claiming that she's the long lost Queen was kind of unbelievable, like she could have gone to them over the years or sent some kind of sign that she was still alive but ALSO SHE DID UNDERGO A WHOLE BUNCH OF TRAUMATIC EVENTS AS A CHILD so there's that ANYWAY Aelin showed them didn't she (ahahaha). shedidntneedtosacrificeherselftho.....

Moving on... 

~ Evangeline and Lysandra's relationship is so precious 😭😭 They're so cute! We need to get a prequel or something of that sort and see more of Evangeline. 

~ DORIAN AND ROWANS BROMANCE!!!! This was something I didn't know I needed. We don't get much of them interacting but in my head they're besties. 

~ Okay can we take a minute to speak about my girl Manon for a second please? 

Imagine how difficult it must have been for her to realize that her grandmother had been wrong for so long and that she's just been blindly following her orders? Then going around and fighting the only living relative (I think) left because she was about to kill her best friend of 100 (or so) years? 

Like okay, maybe it wasn't SO bad but can she just get a break please?!?!? MANON NEEDS A BREAK! But I, too, would fight anyone for Asterin Blackbeak - WE NEED MORE OF ASTERIN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE 

~ It is so much fun seeing characters from the Assassins Blade show up in this book - Rolfe, Ansel and Illias - I'm looking at you. I'm pretty sure that Yrene Towers will show up sometime soon - she was possibly my favorite character in The Assassins Blade. I don't really know why - we didn't even get much of her - but I really liked her and want a reunion between Aelin and her soon. 

I also really enjoyed that we sort of meeting new people in this book - even though we kind of knew them already in the previous ones - they're becoming a bit more noticeable and important (maybe). Like Fenrys, Gavriel and Lorcan. I didn't really care much about them at first but its nice that we now know a bit more of each of them. 

~ THE SCENE WHERE LYSANDRA PRETENDS TO BE AELIN AND THEY MAKE THEIR LITTLE ENTRANCE AND PRANK EVERYONE IS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE SCENE THUS FAR (okay exaggeration) But it was so cute and funny and we needed it. Also Lysandra turning into a DRAGON ?!?!? That was SO cool. Lysandra keeps surprising me and shes such a cool character (As you can see I'm obsessed with everyone in this series.) Lets not forget to speak about the Aedion and Lysandra moment on the beach (NOT ME CRYING AGAIN) 

"But you know what I told them? I said that they didn't stand a chance in hell." Aedion lowered his voice, holding her pained, exhausted stare. "Because I am going to

marry you," he promised her. "One day. I am going to marryyou. I'll be generous and let you pick when, even if it's tenyears from now. Or twenty. But one day, you are going to bemy wife."

Yeah this scene was so cute and I'm disappointed we didn't get more of them after this . 

~ AELIN AND ROWAN BEACH SCENE! I know this scene was suppose to be steamy and stuff but I kinda teared up when Aelin said that Rowan witnessed her surrounded by her fire but he saw HER and he wasn't scared. It was just so beautiful and they make me feel so sad because of how much I want someone that will make me feel like how Rowan makes her feel (shuttup I'm a hopeless romantic). Whenever I think of them I think about Aelin saying "you make me want to live Rowan, not exist not survive, live" AND LIKE !?!?!? GIRL ?!?!??! 

They bring out the best in one another and being together makes them stronger and I JUST LOVE THEM SO SO MUCH! (which is why it made the ending so much worse.) ALSO If anyone read this scene and DIDN'T IMMEDIATELY think that they're mates then...I'm sorry you gots to read more books. 

~ MANON AND EVERYONE ELSE BECOMING BESTIES. Okay so they DID lock her up in a room at the bottom of the ship...but after that everyone became sort of friends...right? Anyway, Manon being with the whole crew was so fun for me ESPECIALLY because she and Dorian were together and had their lil moments. Though not at ALL how I expected the dynamic of their relationship to work but I LOVED IT.  I'm pretty sure every single person in this fandom KNOWS that Manon and Dorian are going to end up married by the end of this series and I just CANNOT WAIT FOR THEM TO BE TOGETHER TOGETHER AND HAVE LIL MANDORIAN BABIES. 

MANON AND DORIAN SUPREMACY>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Here is some beautiful fan-art that I found of them. Credits to whoever drew them, ITS SO BEAUTIFUL!

~ The scene when Elide reunites with Aelin and Manon and everyone. IT WAS SO CUTE OMG 

~ This is the part when everything goes up in flames. 

~ Maeve really showed up and said that she wants to hurt literally every single person that we care about hey?? 
First - She shows up with her army and plays everyone with the 'one day to surrender' thing. 
Second - She attacks.
Third - She captures Elide.
Forth - She fights Aelin and wins (ew)
Fifth - She reveals that she tricked Rowan into believing that Lyria was his mate and then confesses to KILLING her and the unborn baby so that Rowan would turn to her for comfort. AND THAT SHE KNEW ROWAN AND AELIN ARE MATES. ( we all knew pls maeve ur not so special).
Sixth - SHE TORTURES AELIN IN FRONT OF EVERYONE
Seventh - She strips Lorcan and Gavriel from their blood oath. 
Eighth - She kidnaps Aelin and leaves with Fenrys.

So that was a fun time for us right? 

And then ON TOP OF THAT

~ Manon reveals that Aelin gave her the Wyrdkeys - which is why she didn't intervene when Maeve was hurting Aelin. 

~ ROWAN BEACH SCENE SCREAMING FOR HIS WIFE 

~ Rowan and Aelin got MARRIED (WHERE IS THAT SCENE SARAH!?!?!)

~ Aelin gave Lysandra orders to pretend to be her and to have a child with Aedion to ensure that Terresan has an heir.

~ Galan Ashryver then shows up with his army (per Aelin's request).

~ Illias (from the desert) shows up with his army.

~ Rolfe and his army shows up. 

~ And Chaol is still gonna show up with whatever army he's bringing from wherever he is.

~ "I am coming for you. Even if it takes me a thousand years. I will find you, I will find you, I will find you. I would have fought for the rest of my life to find a way to return to you again." They could burn the entire world to ashes with it. He was hers and she was his, and they had found each other across centuries of bloodshed and loss, across oceans and kingdoms and war. "I'd walk into the burning heart of hell itself to find you."

~ THIS:

BASICALLY Aelin PLANNED for everyone's safety and well-being and then proceeded to sacrifice herself (Aelin and Rhys should form a club tbh) 

Yeah so this ending was possibly the worst ending of a book that I have ever read. My anxiety cannot handle this amount of stress. Like the whole book was the calm before the storm. I had so much fun with everything else and then THIS. And then THE NEXT BOOK IS ABOUT CHAOL !?!?!? HOOWWWW am I expected to sit through that when I just read this ? Someone please explain to me ?