Thrown off Throne

In August 2020, I began rereading the Young Adult fantasy series, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Not necessarily because I wanted to, but because it was familiar.

Five weeks and seven books later, I made it to the last one: Kingdom of Ash. Once again I was readying myself for the finale. The epic battle to define the Kingdoms.

I was halfway through the book when I remember a scene from the climax. One of my favorite characters dies.

It made me indescribably sad for a day, so I put the book down and haven't picked it up since. Try telling Goodreads you didn't finish that book you're reviewing. You can't!

I reread or rewatch things out of comfort to provide my mind consistency and stability. It's not a soft habit, but a coping mechanism. Do you find yourself repeating any media? Why?

But does this devalue my critical consuming experience? Absolutely not - it just changes it.

I think it's interesting I was willing to endure the other emotional turmoil throughout the series, yet didn't want to even think about this character sacrificing themselves to saved their loved one(s).

Throne of Glass is one of my favorite young adult series adventures. It's a great introductory to higher fantasy YA and the supernatural class of "fae." However, Maas' tropes run strong. It's an enjoyable read if you're willing to forego its latent social progressiveness.

My favorite token of knowledge from this series is the fantasy creature called a Wyvern!

ToG is very popular on the book side of TikTok (a.k.a. "BookTok"), earning a reputation of a "basic" series to like, as one of my favorite book Youtubers puts it. It is within arm's reach of becoming a guilty pleasure read.