Favorite EoS Fan Theories!!

**This post most DEFINITELY contains spoilers for Books 1-4 of the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. If you aren't caught up, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.**  <3

Ok, people.  It's almost here. In honor of the fandom losing its mind over the release of Empire of Storms, I've compiled a list of my favorite fan theories (found on tumblr and instagram) to both give us some hope...and maybe also dash some of our dreams away. I'm excited and worried to see if any of these theories become canon!

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THE LIST:  (broken into categories by type)

Deaths:

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• Aedion will die?! (Nuuuuuu)
• Tumblr user rrhys theorizes that our favorite snarky but loyal royal cousin is going to bite the dust. (Though possibly in ToG #6) 
• Reasons: 
• He's Aelin's only remaining family, and we all know (dread) that someone in the Terrasen inner Court circle is going to most likely be killed off (because why else would the sane fans "hate" SJM?)
• He has use still, having connections to the remaining loyal Terrasen dwellers/rebels and clearly there's some Lysandraedion stuff bubbling
• HOWEVER, in the long run, she thinks Lysandra is and independent woman who don't need no man, and that since killing him off will really hurt us, as readers, it's a possibility.
• Full theory/explanation here.

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• Rowan will die?! (double nuuuuu)
• In my previous post, I mentioned that Brittney from Her Bookish Things and I had been talking about the potential death of hawk shape-shifting, silver haired Fae uber babe Rowan Whitethorn (Can you tell I love him?)
• Clues:
• Aelin's wearing feathers on the cover. What has feathers? Hawks. Who can turn into a hawk? (I wonder....)
• Killing Rowan off would be one of the worst things to happen to Aelin. They're carranam, possibly bonded mates, and warrior bffs. It would destroy both her and us (#TeamRowan), which would definitely give the baddies a leg up, however temporary (I can so imagine the nuclear-style blast that Aelin would create to smite her enemies if this happened.)
• However, I think he might "die"--as in, go MIA, presumed dead. Because can SJM *really* do that to Aelin? :'(
• Full theory here.
• AELIN WILL DIE!? (WHAAAAAAAT?)
• Whilst fueling my neverending hunger for ToG trash, I stumbled across this instagram post, and am now obsessed with this theory:

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• It just makes sense to me, and I love the idea that everyone will be thinking that all is lost, but then Rowan will totally go and scoot her on out of there, but she'll see Nehemia again and make peace with that aspect of the story's events.
• Also immortality, which will totally just demolish the problem of Rowaelin not being 2gethr 4ever (because nobody will die of old age way before the other one).
• It will still be a happy ending, and that's all I really want. xD

Misc: (because if nobody dies, I won't have a reason to be sad, right?)

• Aelin/Aedion are siblings, not cousins (Wait..what?)
• Tumblr user throneofships gives us a theory that questions the parentage of Aedion, suggesting a torrid love affair between Evalin (Aelin's mom) and Gavriel (Aedion's birth father), as well as a couple "old switcheroos" to keep it on the DL.
• Full post found here.
• Aelin inherited Blackbeak abilities when she killed Baba Yellowlegs?
• kaltainrompier on Tumblr suggests that Manon mentioned someone killing a Matron and surviving gives said killer some of the Matron's powers...which could lead to Aelin being iron-immune, among other things.
• This, while not super important as of yet, could come in handy both in fighting the non-Thirteen witches ('cause I still think they'll join #TeamTerrasen), as well as finally delivering Maeve the bitch-slap she deserves.
• Original post here.

The one that might blow your mind:

• The worlds of ToG and ACOTAR are related--and more closely than we may realize?
• feyreashriver on Tumblr has evidence--both in-story and from real-life mythology--that Maeve and her sister may be descendants of Feyrhys--trapped in Erilea due to the Wyrdkeys. I KNOW, RIGHT?! I'M SQUEEING.
http://feyreashriver.tumblr.com/post/146221682864/just-reading-up-on-celtic-mythology-when
• Full post here.

There, my friends, are my favorite fan theories.  I can't wait to read Empire of Storms to find out what Queen Maas has in store for us. I'll just make sure to have some tissues handy, as I've heard it's a doozy.

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Book Theory: Rowan Dies in Empire of Storms?!? NOOOOOOOOOOOO

**This post contains spoilers for the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas**



Say it isn't so!

So recently, Brittney over at Her Bookish Things and I were discussing one of our favorite topics: the great works of Sarah J. Maas. Specifically, Brittney had read some things and put some clues together to suggest that in the next installment of the Throne of Glass series, Rowan--the silver-haired Fae super-hunk love interest of Aelin Galathynius that we've all come to know and love (and obsess over, AMIRITE?)--is going to....BE KILLED OFF?!!?

That's right, folks. Through announcements made by Queen Maas herself (that we're all going to hate her after this book) and cover clues (Aelin's wearing feathers (seemingly in memoriam), and as we all know, Hawk is the new black in the world of Fae heartthrobs), it really seems like something dire might occur to our beloved Fae prince and Aelin's carranam (and perhaps...mate?!?!?!?).

 But wait--here's MY theory:

Alright, so *really* don't quote me on this, guys (it's a theory--I have no insider info or psychic mind-reading abilities, I swear! *pleasedon'thatemeifI'mwrong*)

Rowan is going to "die".

Rowan will "die" in his hawk form (maybe get "eaten" by a wyvern or "burned" so there's no evidence/body), leaving only a few feathers behind, which Aelin picks up and wears, in memory/mourning/to fuel her hatefire. She's sad, we're sad (and PISSED at SJM), but then BAM! He'll be back when we're least expecting him/most missing him. It'll be great. I SAID GREAT, OK!? *HEADCANON ACCEPTED* 

So, here's the thing. Rowan's been around for a long time. He's *literally* a silver fox (LOL). He's a badass warrior and he's survived countless battles and kicked all the asses and takes none of the crap from any of the people. He's a fighter and a survivor. I'd want him on my team, no hesitations.

PLUS, he and Aelin are carranam, and her specialty is fire, so he's gotta be at least a little fireproof (fire resistant?), which obviously they won't know about until after he shows back up, duuuh.

(At this point, not only am I thinking up crazy theories, but I'm also in hard denial.)

SJM CAN'T kill Rowan off! Aelin has been through SO. MUCH. CRAP. She needs a break from her loved ones dying. To be awesome and to kick all the asses. 

Chaol is a no-go anymore, since he's currently...actually not going anywhere himself (ba-dum, tsss. Too soon?), and Aelin gave him the two-thumbs-up, you-go-guy to be with Nesryn (which I think is a totally adorable pairing that fits well with all the personalities involved--YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT).

And honestly I'd just kind of be mad if ANOTHER love interest was brought in now. Aelin needs her people by her side and needs to be focused on the task at hand--defeating the Valg and rebuilding Terrasen and going to Lysandraland for 4 o'clock tea (the important things, right?).

And I know a little tragedy is always good for drama and feels, but I've seen how that has turned out before, and let's just say...I didn't like it *coughDowntonAbbeycough*.

Plus, we saw in Queen of Shadows how great SJM is at a twist (that whole thing with Arrobyn and the controlling Valg ring that turn out to be fake? I was *totally* fooled and *totally* stressed out about it haha), so I think it will really *seem* like he's gone, but I think (hope/pray/burn offerings at the altar of Zeus) he'll be back.


So now that I've gotten all of your hopes up, what do you think?  Will Rowan die? Be saved? Or do you think SJM was talking about something else altogether?  Let me know!!

Book Theory: An Ember in the Ashes: Who is Cook, Really?!

        An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir & A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

*This post contains spoilers for An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir*

If you've read this book, you know that Cook is a slave at Blackcliff who Laia interacts with, and who helps create a diversion at the end of the story so Laia and Elias can escape.  But certain things make me think she's not exactly who/what she seems at face value.

Here's my theory:

I think that Cook is...wait for it....Laia's mother, who has been presumed dead for years due to her leadership of the Resistance.

So here are some reasons why I think this is a plausible theory:

1. She's terribly disfigured, which leads to a false/new identity, especially if there's shame/secrets involved. We don't know what she used to look like, and since she's not particularly forthcoming with details, well, that's my guess as to why. HOWEVER, in the book it mentions that she seems familiar to Laia, especially her eyes.

2. She gets SUPER squirrelly whenever Laia mentions her mother and the Resistance. She's very keen on making sure Laia doesn't trust anyone, but also continuously warns her to stay out of trouble. Now, this could be just because Cook at one time helped the Resistance and was familiar with Laia's mom and the methods used by the Resistance and how dangerous being a part of their actions are.

3.  That whole ending scene with the home-made explosives? Now, who ELSE do we meet (if only briefly) in the beginning of the book who can mix all kinds of things together to make other more useful things?  If your guess was Laia's grandfather-ding ding ding! Laia's mother's father is a known apothecary/mixer of things, and I don't think it's a far-fetched idea that he not only knew how to mix explosives/flammable things, but also taught his daughter how to do it, as well.

4. We're meant to assume that the Commandant killed Laia's mother--we see her poster on the wall of the Commandant's office and she mentions to Laia that the posters are all people she's captured. But we don't know, FOR SURE, the details of her death.  It's possible that, instead of killing her, the Commandant disfigured her, maimed her, and put her to work as her personal Cook.  I mean, at this point death would probably be a relief from the torture of having to grovel at the feet of your worst enemy for years on end with no chance of real escape.


So, barring some other details that might lead us away from this theory, such as Cook apparently being around 70 years old, and having blue eyes instead of golden/brown like Laia, I think there's a decent chance that this could be a thing.

It also turns out that I'm not the only one with this theory! While refreshing my memory about the characters in the book, I stumbled across this discussion on Goodreads, where other readers theorize that Cook is Laia's mom!

A Torch Against the Night comes out at the end of this month, so we may find out Cook's real identity then.  For now, what do you think? Is it possible that Laia's mom, could in fact, have been right in front of her all along?

Book Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

What it's about:

A boy named Conor awakes seven minutes past midnight to discover a monster in his backyard.  Conor hasn't got time for a monster. His mother is ill and nobody seems to want to tell him what's really going on, what's really happening. The monster comes walking because it has something important for Conor, but it also needs something important from him.

What I thought:  

Hold on to your hats, guys. Or your tissue boxes. (Or both, really, if I'm honest)

This one was a tearjerker (Really. I was a sobbing snotty mess through just about the last 1/4 of the book. Sorry for that image, but it really wasn't pretty.)

This book is both realistic and fantastical, modern and primal, is written in a way that younger readers can relate but that adult readers can also *feel*.  My heart absolutely broke for Conor and his family. The story was beautifully crafted and the illustrations lent themselves perfectly to the darkness of the tale. 

This story is about grief and belief and hope and sorrow and coping, but most importantly it's about truth.  A monster was called because a monster was needed, but it wasn't clear exactly why until it hits you and leaves you a crying ball of sadness.

(It's a good thing I had one of my kitties on hand to make me feel better LOL)

I loved this book, even though it broke my heart.  It burrows down to your core and rips a gaping hole and I would *absolutely* recommend it to anyone.  I hope the film version does this amazing little story justice.

Rating:  5 blurry stars (because tears)

Book Review: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

What it's about:

Natalie Cleary has one last summer before she goes off to college.  She's going to have a blast going to all the Senior celebration events, avoiding awkward moments with her ex-who's-still-a-friend (and who's still over the moon about her) and her family road trip to top it all off.  (You know, #justgirlythings)
But then a mysterious character from her past (an old woman only known to Nat as "Grandmother") appears and sets her on a collision course with the words, "You have three months to save him."....Whoever "him" is.
When Natalie starts seeing things that shouldn't be there, including a hunky Southern football player  named Beau Wilkes, things get seriously freaky and Nat is determined to find out who "Him" is and how to save her world and (dun dun duuuun)...her heart!


What I thought:

Overall, I liked this.  Nat and Beau were pretty likeable characters, and we did get some development for both of them, which was good considering this is a standalone novel.  This reads very much like a contemporary with fantastical elements that make it a good read for those who are into more fantastical qualities in their tales, but still also enjoy a nice summertime football game-themed contemporary.

The idea behind the events of this book was really interesting to me and the fact that these characters were a catalyst behind their own "Many Worlds"-style story was both science-fictiony and magical at the same time. There was also a lot of inclusion of First Nations mythology, which I thought was really cool and was tied into the story fairly well.

I liked that the relationship between Beau and Nat was the main focus, but we also learned a lot about Nat's relationship with the secondary characters like Matt and Megan.  Those relationships were almost as important because for the majority of the book, we aren't quite sure *who* Nat is supposed to be saving, and as there are multiple men in her life and not a lot of clues to go on, it's important that we know about the other people in her life.

One thing that did put me off slightly was the dump of info we received from the character Alice. (Fyi: She's a sciency paranormal psychology researcher who helps Nat along the way)  It's interesting to know some of the theory behind what's happening in the book, but at the same time, I felt as if we were given too much information, and that it wasn't all totally relevant or essential to our understanding, considering the ending kind of did its own thing and ended up explaining itself.

If all else fails, and the above mentioned stuff doesn't thrill you, read it for the romance. Nat is your average super-pretty, adopted, vaguely Native American time-and-space-traveling dancer girl, which is all well and good, but Beau, on the other hand...Beau is every girl's dream of a sexy, slow-talking Southern boy who can pummel your enemies but also create gorgeous furniture with minimal supplies. (Dreamy, right?!)
But really, the love story was integral to the story as a whole, and was very cute. I enjoyed they way they met and how they reacted to each other and how they helped each other through their shared experience.  It was also just super adorable.


Fair warning, though. The ending of this book does leave a lot to the imagination (though it insinuates an acceptable ending), and I chose to imagine that it ended well for the characters involved, so that was mostly satisfactory to me (I love a good, satisfying ending. None of that Kartik bull).

Rating: 3.75 stars

Book Review: Night by Elie Wiesel

Night by Elie Wiesel

What it's about:

A Holocaust survivor relates his experiences before and during the events that changed his life while enduring the hardships and horror of Nazi concentration camps.

What I thought:

“Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.”

Did I love this book? No. It was hard to read and impossible to imagine going through any of the things Elie Wiesel (or any other victim of the Holocaust) experienced. It made me sad and worried and disheartened in many ways. I didn't love the way it was written, either, but that may have been the fault of multi-language translation.  (And that's not really very important in the long run.)

But I do think it's an important thing to read. 

“We cannot indefinitely avoid depressing subject matter, particularly it it is true, and in the subsequent quarter century the world has had to hear a story it would have preferred not to hear - the story of how a cultured people turned to genocide, and how the rest of the world, also composed of cultured people, remained silent in the face of genocide.”

The fact that people--to this day--still deny that the Holocaust happened makes me so confused and utterly heartbroken. Genocide of any kind is a terrible loss of humanity--both in numbers and in spirit--and to deny something that ruined (or ended) the lives of generations of a certain group of people in an unnatural, horrifying, and absolutely inhuman way is completely abhorrent to me. 

Some people suggest that this work is partly fictional, but to me it doesn't matter what happened down to every last detail--the fact that any of it happened in any way even close to the events of this book is disgusting, and the multitude of other accounts that corroborate said events makes me wonder why people are hung up on the details and not focused instead on the meaning and the lessons we can learn from these accounts.

In this day and age, with much more information on the Holocaust in a variety of mediums, this book doesn't stand out as much as it used to (hence my not ending up reading it before now), but I think it's still a valuable work that can help those without such an experience to understand and sympathize and maybe even be inspired to actively work against such events being repeated. 

“For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and its magnitude, and, of course, its consequences.”

Rating: 4 stars 

Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic--V.E. Schwab

What it's about:

Kell lives in London. Lila also lives in London, but they're not the *same* London. Magic has gone awry, leaving these four different Londons in varying states of magic. Grey London is magicless, Red London lives with magic in a peaceful balance, White London doesn't have enough magic to sate its residents, and Black London...well, we don't talk about Black London. 

Kell is Antari, one of the few capable of traveling in between each of these Londons, carrying messages between the rulers. But messages aren't the only thing he's been bringing back from his travels. When he brings back something he *really* shouldn't have--something dangerous--a boatload of trouble follows him, and chaos, action, and feels ensue.

What I thought:

I LOVED this story. The world was such a cool and unique idea, and the writing was great.
Kellila is the not-quite-canon (yet, muahahaha) ship I never knew I needed. I love Lila and I'm so excited to see what goes down in her storyline in the next book!! Kell is amazing and adorable and I can't wait to see what happens to her next.

I wish there was a little more character development, BUT I know that we'll be getting more in the next book. Kell is loyal and brave and I want to know more about him and his relationship with his family. Lila is pretty bamf but she's clearly not what she seems at first, and I really want to know what will happen when everyone realizes who/what she really is.

This worldbuilding was FANTASTIC. I can't get over how much I loved the idea of the different Londons and how they came to be. The way that was inherently entwined with the magic system was so interesting as well--due to the way the places and people reacted to that magic, different results came to be, and I think that gave a really rich feel to the history of the story.

The story itself was also really entertaining. The language and the way it was written lent itself very well to imagery and it was so easy to imagine the scenery, characters, and different Londons. I especially loved the Dane's throne room (because even though they were evil, they were pretty cool villans). The action scenes were good, and the stuff happening in the background when we weren't with the main characters was a really well done addition.

Rating: 4.5 stars