ARC Review: Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Mass

A Tale of war, revenge, love, fear and becoming what Celaena is meant to be

Title: Heir of Fire
Series: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Mass
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books, UK
My ratings: 4 out of 5 stars
Releases: 11th of September, 2014
T he highly anticipated Heir of Fire is here. After the amazing, heart pounding ending in Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire was one of my most highly anticipated books in 2014.
This is the review of a third book, a word of warning as spoilers abound from this point on. After Celaena dropped that bombshell at the end before leaving for Wendlyn, we see how broken Celaena is after Nehemia's death. She is paired with a Fae prince, Rowan who has an I-don't-take-your-shit attitude. Under instructions from Maeve, Celaena's Aunt, she has to undertake training and is forced to accept her demons and and her heritage from which she has been hiding away.

This book's true winner in Rowan, in my opinion. At the beginning he is harsh and cruel but S.J Mass writes him so well that along with Celaena, the reader will start accepting him. He is a a Fae warrior, fierce and battle worn. He has his own past which is also revealed. As he trained Celaena, he slowly heals her too and it was beautiful to witness. Celaena has gone through so much, the pain she keeps within herself unleashed on her enemies was a sight to behold. Her relationship with Rowan was developed at a visceral level but I felt that Mass was taking pains in explaining how there was nothing romantic between them. I on the other hand can totally see them together. Furthermore, while I grew to love Rowan, Chaol suddenly did not seem as amazing as he used to seem and I can't even seem to remember why I shipped him with Celaena.

Dorian shines in this edition of the story, as he is dealing with her problems in the only way he can. And he meets a new girl who gives him exactly what he need when even Chaol seemed to have abandoned him. I liked Sorcha and I didn't like her too. She was sweet but Mass writes such great characters that in each book I ship Celaena with a new guy. I shipped her with Dorian in Throne of Glass, with Chaol in Crown of Midnight and with Rowan in Heir of Fire. And guess what, the line up of swoon worthy men doesn't stop there, she has added the dangerous edgy Aedion on the he list too. Who may also be a contender to her heart. Who knows now. So I have a soft spot for Dorian and when we get a glimpse of Dorian as a little boy, it breaks my heart.

I'm glad we get to see another glimpse of The King of Adarlan's vicious evil in Heir of Fire as all along we get to hear what evil he has done, so it was almost a relief to witness what he is capable of even to his own son.

Admittedly, Heir of Fire is a long book. with 500 pages it is not a typical YA book. In fact, I would classify it was a New Adult Fantasy, even if it does not have the explicitly usually associated with the genre, it has characters who are certainly not teenagers. It begins quite slow and up until the 30 percent mark, I had to keep convincing myself to keep my faith in S.J Mass and carry on reading but the wait was worth it. Once the story got going, it made me sit up and watch. It has me on tenterhooks and I wanted, needed more reading time to get through this. There are a lot of characters in this series and considering the nature of the this story, it screams epic, it's hard to keep up with it. I wished I had read Crown of Midnight before I picked up Heir of Fire to truly appreciate the impact of the revelations.

Another complaint I have, which is slightly personal, is the lack of strong female characters. So far the ones I have come across are evil or too stupid to live, apart from Celaena. There is Manon, whose story, albeit entertaining and her relationship with Abroxos heart warming, was a filler and she too is partly evil. I just wish we get to see another female character who may not be as kick ass as Celaena but could hold her own, who doesn't die or is evil.

In the end, Heir of Fire, needed my patience in the beginning but once it began, I had to shield my eyes from the sheer brilliance it was exuberating, getting imprinted in my retina. I loved how we get to see Celaena's past and how she overcomes her fear which comes with it. We get unforgettable fight scenes and characters which will remain forever in your heart. This book seemed like a filler at the start, and in a way it is a filler, being the third book, but it takes you along on this epic journey and makes you an intrinsic part of this tale of war, revenge, love, fear and becoming what Celaena is meant to be. A Queen.

Unmissable. 

  Releases in the UK on the 11th of September. Buy your copy today.

ARC received via Bloomsbury Children's Books, UK.