Kingdom of Ash

Title: Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7)
Author: Sarah J. Maas

Initial Thoughts: If I was ever going to get a book hangover, it would be from this book. And I never get book hangovers.

First: was that a hint of something to come in the ACOTAR series?!?!?! I swear, when Aelin was falling through the worlds, the winged male with a dark power and the pregnant female fae sounded an awfully lot like Rhys and Feyre, at least to me. Though last time we saw them, Feyre was not pregnant. Is it a hint of things to come? Or am I just reading too much into it?

As a friend pointed out to me, Nox Owen didn't show up again. We never got to see him and Aelin reunited. My friend thinks he might have died. I think he had just gone off to deliver messages asking for help and either didn't return yet or he did and Maas just decided that that reunion wasn't important enough to make the book any longer than it already was. After she mentioned it, though, I started keeping an eye out for other loose ends. I thought there might be one with the last of the cadre who had gone north to look for Lorcan, but they mentioned him at the end. So yeah, she didn't a pretty darn good job of wrapping up all her loose ends. And I totally called the field of kingsflame blooming, though it took a bit longer than I expected (mostly because I didn't keep the seasons in mind and wanted it to bloom as soon as she was crowned, not even thinking about the fact that it was winter). Halfway through, I would have rated this book at a contented 4, glad that we were finally getting the ending, that everything was coming together, characters were starting to reunite. By the end, all the feels, the ups and downs, the heartbreak and laughter, the tense moments and the joyous reunions, I can't do anything but give it a resounding 5. If anyone had been around as I read the last hundred or so pages, they would have seen a distinct shine in my eyes, from both unshed tears and the sparkle of pure joy all at the same time as I read about the triumphs and losses of that final battle. Years ago when I finished Breaking Dawn, I thought that was one of the best endings I had ever read. It wrapped things up but left the promise of the future. If I wanted, I could imagine for myself how their lives went on, and every imagining was full of joy. Maas topped that. By a long shot. She wrapped up everything, found all the happy endings, we see the future stretched out before them all and we know it will be a better future, a better world. What started as questionable alliances came through the war as friends, as lovers and brothers and sisters, and they will only make sure that continues and that those relationships grow. While everyone returns home, they will no longer be three separate continents, but three neighboring kingdoms who fought and bled together to ensure a future for them all and that will not soon be forgotten. Hope. That most important dream. Hope for a better world. Hope for a better future for us all. Maybe that's why I love her books so much, because I have always believed in hope, just as Aelin does, and dreams, like Feyre. I believe that we can imagine better, and as long as we don't lose that, we will make progress towards that bright future, one day at a time. Breaking Dawn left me with a contented smile. Kingdom of Ash leaves me with a heart full of joy, a head full of dreams, and a longing to do my part to make a difference, to bring us closer to our better world, our promise of a brighter tomorrow.

Rating: 5. Like I could ever actually give it anything less.