Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.

Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way 'girls who write their pain on their bodies' scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a 'semifamous' local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her-who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves-Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she 'like-likes' but who had pined for Ellis instead. Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. Readers of Maas’ other series will spot her touch, especially in descriptions of lovemaking and the cliffhanger ending.Īfter surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself. Romance runs rife (the main cast is mostly straight, with nods to queer minor characters) and this everyone-is-breathtakingly-beautiful-(and-also-mostly-white) world. (That said, with the number of characters presented and minimal recap, readers will wish there were a dramatis personae.) Much of Aelin’s scheming occurs off-page, as secondary characters’ viewpoints take on narrative weight-despite the occasional redundancy, this adds richness, as such characters as Manon enjoy deeper development, and Lysandra anchors the best action sequence. This plot expands the world, introducing new delights such as a pirate haven (and-of course-naval battles) and swampy ruins in Eyllwe, as the cast also expands, with nods to the novellas collected in The Assassin’s Blade. Knowing the Valg king Erawan is a true threat to the entire world, Aelin must form alliances for the imminent war while uncovering the price once paid to halt Erawan-the price to stop him for good, because he’s moving fast and striking hard. In the penultimate Throne of Glass book, Aelin meets unexpected obstacles as her enemies move against her and her allies.Īelin may have put her role as assassin Celaena behind her, but that doesn’t mean Terrasen’s nobles are willing to hand the kingdom over to a young woman with her kind of past.

Empire of storms book