Review: Empire of Storms

Empire of Storms is the fifth book in the Throne of Glass series and I have to say that every time I read another book, I kick myself for putting off the series for as long as I did. Sarah J. Maas is probably now one of my favorite authors of all time.  Her writing style has had me completely engrossed in the stories from beginning to end.  I can honestly say that there is not one single part that had me bored or wanting to put the book down, even for a minute.  Every character, Aelin, Aedion, Rowan, Lysandra, Manan, and Dorian, was written beautifully. Each has come from their own backstory and they have now all joined together for a common cause, the saving of Terrasen and the defeat of Erawan and his dark forces. 

In this installment, I was most moved by Manan's story. Wow!  It used to be that I couldn't wait to get back to Aelin's or Dorian's perspective but in this book, Manan became one of my favorite characters.  It was one of her scenes that had me on the edge of my seat crying my eyes out as I read frantically to see what would happen next.  Beautifully written and heart wrenching at the same time. I love that as the story moved forward, she began to find a bit of humanity and that she and Dorian may be developing a relationship in the future.  

As for the ending? It had me both satisfied and just a tad frustrated. It wrapped up well in the sense that everyone has a purpose and is moving on to the next stage in their adventure.  As a reader, I can feel that events are all coming together for that final push to the end. However, I was also quite upset by the events in the last two chapters and by some of the decisions that were made, even though I knew that something like this had to happen. I'm wondering what path the author will decide to take for the final book. The continuation of this story cannot come fast enough for me!