Heir of Fire - I Was Bored… Until I Wasn’t
Heir of Fire — Sarah J. Maas
My Rating: ★★★½
Series: Throne of Glass #3
Would I continue the series? Well... I’m already reading Queen of Shadows. 😂
I Was Bored. There, I Said It.
I cannot lie, getting into this book, I was bored. But I knew I wanted to understand how badass Celaena becomes, so I kept going. By the time I made it to Chapter 60, I couldn’t put it down.
I didn’t particularly care for the parts where Celaena was confronting her past and beginning to identify herself as Aelin again. I know this is an important part of her story, but it just wasn’t what kept me interested while I was reading.
That being said, I do believe this was just the beginning of what Celaena/Aelin will have to face in her future. It felt like we were watching her finally begin to accept who she is and what that means for everything coming next.
And considering I immediately started Queen of Shadows, apparently it worked.
Okay, Rowan...
Rowan took a minute, but he grew on me. Or maybe it was the character development. Either way, he was a huge douche canoe for a good portion of this book.
He treated Celaena like a jerk, but as the story developed, I started to understand that he had his own reasons. He pushed her relentlessly, but he also began to believe in her at a time when she didn’t necessarily believe in herself.
Then he says, “to whatever end.”
Excuse me?
I had to pause and figure out what the heck I had just read. Rowan says he claims her. They cut themselves. They join hands. There’s a blood oath. And I’m sitting there like... wait, WHAT?
This was where I really saw the change in their relationship. Other blood oaths I’ve read have always been romantically made, so naturally my brain immediately went there. I thought, Ohhhh. Okay. So THIS is where we're going.
Except... not exactly.
Respectfully, Where Is the Sex?
After the “to whatever end” moment, I thought I knew where this was going. The tension! The buildup! Surely we were heading toward something romantic. 😂
But as Rowan and Aelin’s relationship continued to develop, I realized what I initially thought was sexual tension was actually the buildup of something completely different.
They were becoming partners.
There was this growing dedication to protect one another, believe in one another, and fight for the same purpose. Their relationship became less about are these two going to get together? and more about I will stand beside you through whatever comes next.
And honestly, I loved that.
Their intimacy wasn’t sexual. It was loyalty. Partnership. Trust. It was knowing someone sees who you really are — including the ugly parts — and chooses to stand beside you anyway.
Did I still spend part of the book wondering when someone was finally going to have sex?
Absolutely.
But by the end, I understood that Rowan and Aelin didn’t need to become romantic for their relationship to feel incredibly intimate.
Would I Recommend It?
Great question. I have yet to fully develop my recommendation since I haven’t completed the series.
What I can say is that the writing in this series has gotten better book by book. Heir of Fire took me a while to get into. There were parts where I struggled to stay interested, and there are still approximately 700 people whose names I am expected to remember at any given moment.
But somewhere along the way, I went from being bored to completely invested.
If you’re getting into Throne of Glass because you liked the smut in ACOTAR, I don’t think you’re going to be impressed — at least not yet. This series is giving me something very different.
But I'm invested. I want to know who Aelin becomes. I want to know where Rowan fits into all of this. And I want to see where all these relationships, loyalties, and storylines are actually going.