He masks it with strength and sharp smiles and ice, but underneath he is sinking: “All he had was an unmarked grave for a healer no one would remember, a broken empire, and a shattered castle.” Sorscha, whose death everyone has seemed to gloss over whereas Dorian cannot stop seeing that head roll (I talked a lot about that in the HOF discussion), his father and the mix of guilt and triumph over killing him, the ever-constricting crisis of whether or not he can call himself human. But he has been slowly crumbling for a while. But where his growth, his pain, with the existence of Tower of Dawn, is very much on the surface, and therefore easy to discuss, Dorian’s is hidden much farther down, and harder to see if you’re not looking.

So, if you have read like once sentence of any other post in this series, you know I have an unhealthy love for Chaol Westfall.

Note: I’m going to include some rankings and top ten lists and other fun things at the end of this post, so that’s waiting at the bottom! The pages of my book are crinkled with tears and dusted with laughter. I would put it down, though, read something else for a day, because I couldn’t face getting closer to the end. I would reread my favourite scenes over and over, pouring over word choice and imagining a thousand bright futures for these characters. As I rushed through the pages, desperate to continue the story, I also found myself wishing I could slow it down. I am finding it hard to sum up my feelings on this book, though of course that is what I’m here to do. Kingdom of Ash is where our story ends, but these characters have rich futures ahead of them, you can tell.

Maas‘ Throne of Glassseries, and I’ve been detailing my findings in a series of posts (linked above).

If you’re confused as to what I’m talking about, I’m Molly, and in January I embarked on a reread of Sarah J. It is epic and powerful and heartfelt and meaningful and just lovely all around. Kingdom of Ashwas an absolute joy to read the second time around. Though this reread has been slow, I still can’t believe it’s over. Here we are, everyone, finally at the end. *You can read the rest of the posts in this series here!

The kingdom of ash