Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3)

by Sarah J. Maas

[Rinn]

I received a copy of this book for free from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.

Are you looking for a magical fantasy series that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy, wishing you could somehow teleport yourself to this fantasy land and live out your days frolicking with various mythological beings?

This is not that series.

Instead, it is a series that will draw you in, have you turning page after page long after you probably should have stopped for the night, cheering on Celaena, hoping that X and Y get together – and then it will tear your heart out and stomp on it.

When I first started Throne of Glass, I had high expectations that it most definitely lived up to, but I never expected to get so emotionally evolved. With Heir of Fire, I was more invested than ever and that meant that every little bad thing that happened actually hurt. The way that Celaena’s responses to grief were written were both wonderful and heart-breaking – I could feel her pain, her utter hopelessness. It’s not often that a book really grips me emotionally; I mean sure quite a few books have made me cry, but this was something else. Certain moments just left me with a hollow feeling in my stomach, a disbelief that they’d actually just transpired.

From the very beginning of Heir of Fire, Celaena was tougher than ever, and after the past two books it was no surprise that she was so much more bloodthirsty. I don’t want to describe my favourite scene because there will be some major spoilers in there, but my respect and love for Celaena as a character pretty much skyrocketed at that point, and with no other way to put it – she was a MAJOR badass. And with even more of Celaena’s history opened up to the reader, you can’t help but love this fierce warrior of a girl, with her determination and loyalty.

But it’s not just Celaena who is in the spotlight this time. I loved that we got to see the different points of view of Chaol and Dorian, as well as Manon – who I can’t wait to learn more about, especially to see how her story weaves into the bigger picture. Like Celaena, she was violent and determined, but in a huge contrast also brutal and vicious. I felt her chapters also gave the book more of a fantasy element than the previous two books.

It is books like Heir of Fire that remind me just why I love the fantasy genre. With some truly beautiful prose, heartbreaking moments as well as others that make you want to punch the air in triumph, Sarah J. Maas has done it again with this absolutely fantastic addition to the Throne of Glass series – and boy am I glad it’s not over yet.

Originally read and reviewed in September 2014 - re-read in May 2016.