Review + Discussion: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Heir of Fire

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Summary: Consumed by guilt and rage, Celaena can't bring herself to spill blood for the King of Adarlan. She must fight back...

The Immortal Queen will help her destroy the king - for a price. But as Celaena battles with her darkest memories and her heart breaks for a love that could never last, can she fulfil the bargain and head the almighty court of Terrasen? And who will stand with her?

Rating: 5/5 stars!

Review:

Okay, guys! I just put this book down about an hour ago and I need to discuss it. I'm keeping the non-spoiler section to a minimum because I want to get into the nitty-gritty of this book and also, it's somewhat difficult to not spoil anything of the series considering this is the third book. Anyhow!

This book was my favourite in the series by far! I loved Crown of Midnight and I wasn't sure if this would live up but man, it blew my expectations out of the water! The world grows so much more and we are given a plethora of information that gives so much more life to the story and the world and everything. And the character growth was out of this world. I just really could not recommend this book/series enough! This series is like a bridge between young adult fantasy and adult fantasy and increasingly epic. If that sounds like something you would like, go pick it up now!

I'm going to move on to the spoiler section now so please, if you haven't read these books yet, go do so then come back and discuss!

WOW GUYS SO LET'S JUST ALL TAKE A MOMENT TO REVEL IN HOW AWESOME THIS BOOK WAS. AH. DID YOU DO IT? YES? OKAY, LET'S GO.

So, Heir of Fire blew my mind. I thought Throne of Glass was good, Crown of Midnight was incredible but this book really solidified my love for this series. I loved how much we learned about basically everything in this world. All the new characters were so rich and fantastic and even there was a lot of growth from the characters we already knew. I feel like the relationships and character growth were really important in this novel. The plot building was really great too but what really stood out to me was the characters. So, I'm going to kinda break this discussion down by characters. 

Celaena: 

Her growth in this book was so lovely to read. She was so brash and arrogant at the beginning and watching her unfold and begin to open up about her past was so beautiful and made me so emotional. I loved it so much. And watching her starting to accept who and what she is and starting to control her Fae powers was so awesome! It was so important to her becoming the figure she needs to in this war. I also can't wait to see her (hopefully) find Aborynn and see that play out. 

Rowan:

I'm so glad he became the character I hoped he would. Reading his relationship with him and Celaena was possibly my favourite part of this book. They both grew so much as singular figures and as a unit. It was beautiful. And probably the best part of their relationship is there was never a push for it to be something romantic. They had a really strong bond that was purely platonic. There was a few instances were there was romantic undertones but it was never the focus of their relationship. Also, when Celaena convinces Maeve to break Rowan from his oath, my heart was literally bursting when he just runs to her. Man, they made me so emotional at so many points.

Dorian (+ Sorcha):

Sadly, I find Dorian one of the characters I find most difficult to connect to. His perspective chapters just don't draw me in as much as others. I found Sorscha interesting but I don't think her character was given enough of a chance to really shine. Their relationship wasn't amazing and it felt rushed (much like how I felt reading ToG with Celaena/Dorian) so Sorscha beheading didn't sadden me for their relationship, but more as I'd hoped that she was going to become an important character in the grand scheme of things (also, wow there was no warning). I am worried for Dorian, though. He doesn't really seem to be able to catch and break and things are looking to get worse for him now he's at the mercy of his father. Although, when he loosens his magic to save Chaol and fight against his father was definitely up there in my favourite scenes from this book.

Chaol: 

Chaol did frustrate me a lot in HoF. Although, I feel like a lot of the frustration I feel toward him is similar to what he felt towards himself. His inability to chose a side was annoying, to say the least. But I'm so, so glad that he chose right. For a while, I was worried his allegiance to the king might somehow wind up putting him against Dorian and Celaena, but he finally stood up for himself and claimed Dorian as his king. And it was wonderful. If not slightly bad timing. But yeah, I need Dorian and Chaol to re-establish their friendship so bad. I want Chaol to be the one that frees Dorian from the king. Also, the grudging alliance/kind of friendship between Aedion and Chaol was really interesting but I'll get to that next.

Aedion:

I'm still unsure how I feel about Aedion, tbh. He wasn't one of my favourites of the new characters but I loved how unconditionally loyal to Celaena he is. His role is really interesting with him playing a double agent. His sacrifice to save Chaol at the end actually made me like him a whole lot more. I really need him to be saved from the prisons in later books and see Celaena again. I just really want that scene a lot. But I also feel that if he gets out of the prison, he is going to end up sacrificing himself to save Celaena in some way. That's just a theory though!

Manon: 

Wow, I did not expect to love Manon as much as I grew to. It took me awhile to really get into her character but her struggles with her own morality and power of her own and other witch clans was so interesting to read. I think her perspective was really unique, too. It introduced an element of this world that had only been briefly mentioned in the previous books. The stuff with wyvern was so thrilling and I was so excited to have them included in the story. The scene where Manon first takes flight on Abraxos is also one of the most beautiful scenes in the book. I just would love to see a good visual interpretation of that scene. I can't wait to see how her character weaves into the story. I'm really hoping for a badass friendship to blossom between her and Celaena and also, I'd be really interested in a some sort of bonding between her and Dorian. I think the latter would be something different and awesome to read. 

Those are the main POVs we get in this book and cover basically all the story elements I wanted to discuss. All in all, this book was just phenomenal. Maas seems to get better with every book and I can't wait to see what she brings to the story in her next instalment. If only we had a release date or any information to make the wait for book 4 easier!

But anyway, what did you guys think of Heir of Fire? What parts were your favourite or least favourite? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time!

Jess, xxx