Queen of Shadows
Sarah J. Maas, 2015
Fantasy RomanceYoung adultContemporary fiction
The assassin stops hiding. A lost queen returns to the city that sold her out, with a warrior at her side and a kingdom to burn for. The mood runs hot and dramatic, with power struggles, longing and tenderness pushing the pace through a city on edge.
Feels like longing and tenderness. About power, identity and love.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy YA fantasy with romance, shifting loyalties and characters who stop hiding from what they want. It is the fourth book in the series, so the politics and relationships assume you have read the earlier volumes.
Why read it
It gives you a turning point for the assassin and a lost queen, with the emotional intensity of old bonds tested and new ones forming.
A page from the book
Immortal warriors are not immune to a well-cut nightgown.
Thirty minutes later, Rowan was still staring up at the ceiling, teeth gritted as he calmed the roaring inhis veins that was steadily shredding through his self-control.That gods-damned nightgown.Shit.He was in such deep, unending shit. Sarah J. Maas.Maas began Throne of Glass at sixteen and serialised it on FictionPress as 'Queen of Glass', where it drew millions of readers before she took it down for publication.
Books that feel like this
More by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas, 2015
A human huntress is taken into a faerie court as payment for a kill, and finds desire, danger and old bargains waiting there.
A Court of Mist and Fury
Sarah J. Maas, 2016
A woman remade by magic must decide whether the male everyone fears is her captor or her way out. Slow-burn fae romance with a survivor at its centre.
A Court of Wings and Ruin
Sarah J. Maas, 2017
A fantasy romance of war, winged courts and dangerous bargains, where love is a weapon and every alliance has teeth.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Queen of Shadows for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy YA fantasy with romance, shifting loyalties and characters who stop hiding from what they want. It is the fourth book in the series, so the politics and relationships assume you have read the earlier volumes.
- What is Queen of Shadows like?
- The mood runs hot and dramatic, with power struggles, longing and tenderness pushing the pace through a city on edge. Feels like longing and tenderness. About power, identity and love.
- What should I read after Queen of Shadows?
- If you liked Queen of Shadows, try Shadow and Bone (Leigh Bardugo), The Wicked King (Holly Black) and The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Carissa Broadbent).
A taste of the feed
Power dressed as a joke, and everyone in the room knows it.
The three of you have one solution to every problem. Murder. No key fits every lock.” Cardan gives us all a stern look, holding up a long-fingered hand with my stolen ruby ring still on one finger. “Someone tries to betray the High King, murder. Someone gives you a harsh look, murder. Someone disrespects you, murder. Someone ruins your laundry, murder.
The Wicked King · Holly Black
What fear turns into when you stop running from it.
And then I realized. I realized that fear, when embraced, hardens and sharpens. That it becomes rage. That it becomes power. I would not die here.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night · Carissa Broadbent
What you call a woman decides how much room she is allowed.
Don’t call her Sunshine,” he commanded. “Why not?” If Carrion’s plan was to poke the bear, then he sure as hell knew how to go about it. But Kingfisher didn’t respond to the taunting note in his question. He just cocked his head a little, nostrils flaring, and spoke in a low rumble. “Because she is moonlight. The mist that shrouds the mountains. The bite of electricity in the air before a storm. The smoke that rolls across a battlefield before the killing starts. You have no idea what she is. What she could be. You should call her Majesty.
Quicksilver · Callie Hart
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