Review: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Published September 2, 2014 · Bloomsbury USA Childrens
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WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THRONE OF GLASS AND CROWN OF MIDNIGHT.

She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.

Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth…a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever.

Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed.

The king’s assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the New York Times bestsellingCrown of Midnight.

Rating: ★★★★★

Heir of Fire is not an easy book to read. Yes, it is stunning, incredible, and heart wrenching but that’s precisely why it was difficult to get through. Celaena – whom we now know is Aelin Galathynius, heir to the throne of Terrasen – might’ve gone through plenty of hardships in the previous novel but this one takes her trials to a whole new level and it really killed me to witness them.

Celaena has always been quite an enigma. Even though she’s far from shy about expressing her feelings, there’s always been a wall of secrets she would put up between herself and others. However, those long-kept mysteries surrounding her childhood are finally being unraveled.

Oh, she’s also a whole new level of stunning after the life altering events of this novel. *excuses myself to go fangirl*

“Because hers was not a story of darkness.”
– p. 474

We’re introduced to a myriad of new characters while the old ones grew so, so much. Dorian truly shined in this novel; gone is the flippant and womanising prince, replaced by a man tenfold more fit to rule than his father. It was lovely getting to know more about him and his struggles because for the first time, I’d felt connected to the crown prince.

At the end of Crown of Midnight, we got a sneak peek of what the king of Adarlan had been developing in the Ferian Gap – wyverns. This bit of information is crucial to Manon Blackbeak’s – an Ironteeth witch – place in the plot. I’m constantly dangling between feeling fangirl love and terror for Manon. She’s ruthless, evil, and heartless yet despite all that, there seems to be something more.

Her badassery is probably both the reason why I’m terrified she would clash with Celaena in battle one day – which seems insanely likely – and love her for her guts. Talk about complicated.

Another new character that I’ve seen plenty of other fans go crazy over is Rowan Whitethorn. Due to the sheer number of people going “Rowan is so much better than Chaol”, I might’ve unintentionally tried to make myself dislike him, Chaolaena being my OTP and all. But. Let me tell you this: Rowan is darn amazing.

Sure, like Celaena, I hated him at first but that bastardly fae prince literally punches his way into your heart. While I don’t see him in a romantic light (and probably never will), he was exactly what Celaena needed and vice versa. Let me just make this clear again – NOT IN A ROMANTIC WAY. The both of them together amorously would be like…incest.

“Hell—this was what the dark god’s underworld felt like. This was what awaited her when she took her last breath.”
– p. 360

Nevertheless, Rowan was crucial for Celaena to be knocked out of her funk and also to provide the kind of sans-judgement friendship she needed after all that she’s been through. And though I won’t ever be attracted to Rowan, his face warrior friends on the other hand… Hehe.

Yes, there are even more new – and some rather dashing *cough*Gavriel*cough* – characters and even better, Maas mentioned they (and their long history) would be explained in the next instalment.

At last, we’ve come to Chaol. A warning: there’s barely a scrap of romance in Heir of Fire. Yet surprisingly, it fit perfectly with where the story was heading. Things aren’t looking the best right now for my OTP and though it kills for me to say, a part of me agrees with everything between Chaol and Celaena.

IT DOESN’T MEAN I’M TAKING IT ALL WELL THOUGH. I still think Maas is a closet sadist with all that she’s done to my heart.

Chao Westfall. Captain of the Guard. My ideal fictional guy. Well, like all the other characters, Maas showed that he was far from perfect. No matter how hard to was to swallow that he has weaknesses, areas in life he needs to work on, and doesn’t always make the right decision, I can’t help but appreciate the tremendous effort Maas puts into making her characters come to life.

And for the record, Chaol is still my ideal fictional guy. :)

The characters weren’t the only aspects of Heir of Fire that blew my mind; the incredible and heartbreaking plot robbed all my feelings and tore them to pieces. Nothing – apart from, maybe, Maas’s Throne of Glass Pinterest board – could’ve prepared me from everything that happened at the end of this book.

You know those moments when you think you’ve got through the most life changing moment of a book but there’s still a whole chunk of pages left? That’s exactly what happened here and oh the feels, my heart, my head, my eyes that are so dry after all the tears I’ve shed. Right now I just need someone to poof me into the world where Celaena exists and let me give everyone there (not the evil ones of course) a big ole’ bear hug. Trust me, they need it.

And trust me again when I say Heir of Fire would blow your mind yet send your entire world crashing down around you at the same time.

P.S. The only part of Heir of Fire I was rather disappointed about was the lack of a map of Wendlyn, what with that being where Celaena was.