Queen of Shadows | Episode 22

 WARNING: THIS PODCAST HAS SPOILERS

Join us for our version of book club as we dive into different books and tasty libations every Thursday!

This week we dive into Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas.

The series, which includes eight books and a prequel novella collection, chronicles her fight for freedom, her discovery of her heritage, and a final battle against dark forces threatening her world.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, boo. You beat me too.

SPEAKER_02 0:02

I'm supposed to say it.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hey.

SPEAKER_02 0:07

I don't know what to do now.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

You say hey back. Oh, hi.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Okay. I'm sorry. Hey, boo.

SPEAKER_03 0:13

Hey.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Nah, see, I said it that time. I'm gonna cut it so that way it makes it sound like I said it first.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Um I have so much to talk about.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

So let's jump into it. Welcome back, everybody. Thanks for joining us, all eight of you. Um, this week we are going to be drinking homemade margaritas. The semi-homemade, semi-pre-mixed. So we are using 21 Seeds tequila, which is a brand that we've never used before. We have had cucumber jalapeno, but not this brand. So this was one that I found yesterday.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

I really like this one.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

It was good. Um, Blanco tequila infused with cucumber jalapeno and other natural flavors. So we made a spicy margarita using oh, I forgot the name. Trace agave's uh spicy margarita mix, spicy jalapeno mix. Uh spicy jalapeno margarita. That's what I'm trying to say. So um it's really good. We added some tahine to the room, a little extra splash of fresh lime juice, and by fresh, I mean in the bottle, but it was, you know, that's fresh lime. That's what it tells us. So cheers, boo.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Cheers. I just got tahine on the side of your glass.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

So yesterday, full transparency, we did try this out, and it was very tasty. And Emma cut up fresh cucumbers from the farm, and that was really good. And then tonight we added a little bit of jalapeno salt that was locally made here in Georgia that we bought at a local Pops farmers market type gas station type thing.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

It's called It's a restaurant, a far a pharmacy gas station, gas station, gun store.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Um it's everything. Pop Pops Mark Pops.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

I think it's just called Pops.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Pops something country store, I think.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

That's it. So um it's by our vet.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

We have been putting that salt on everything when we went camping. We'd put it literally on anything that could take salt. Eggs in the morning. Uh so good. Season the steaks before we cook them for the night before, uh, to put them on our potatoes, put them on the corn of the cob.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Eggs. Wait, you said that.

unknown 2:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

But yeah, so we we've really enjoyed that. But yeah, we put a little sprinkle in there and that adds a nice little kick. So now that we've done that, let's do word of the week real quick and then jump into this since it's gonna be a long time. Sorry, guys.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

One, two, three, four pages of talking points.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

That's not too bad.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Okay, as a reminder, well, first off, spoilers, spoilers, spoilers, spoilers. Okay, and as a reminder, this book, Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Mass, is my absolute favorite book in this series. And what did you say, Boo, about this book that you texted me?

SPEAKER_02 3:18

I said that it's really good.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Which is a big step for him in the series.

unknown 3:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

So the word of the week is metamorphosis. It is the biological or literary term, meaning a complete striking change in form, structure, or character. We see this with Aileen um coming from being an assassin and transforming into who she was meant to be, which is a queen. We see it in her thinking, and we see it with other characters when they state in their POV chapters that a queen is standing before them. Then um we also see it with the ultimate coming out to all of Riftold after the glass castle shatters, and she's talking to the people on top of the um the raised platform. I forgot what it was called. Um the butchering block. But we also what's funny though is yeah, she's the main character, but we also see uh metamorphosis with Manon, Dorian, Kale, Mayan, Ali. We see that with a lot of characters. So, okay. Regan't it?

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Yeah, what was your definition of that metamorphosis?

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Biological or literary term meaning meaning a complete striking change in form, structure, or character.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Nice. When I quickly Googled it, it did not say literary term. Mine only says the AI overview on Google just says metamorphosis is a biological process, profound physical transformation. So I was like, wait, where are you getting all this literary stuff from? But that makes sense. If where'd you find that at? What's your source for your your definition of it?

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Well, I was just looking for terms, and then I was like, just online. Just I don't have it. What's your source of the source? I didn't write down a source.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

I love that. What's your source? Online. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Well, I'm gonna get on it now. So the first thing I want to talk about is lavender soap. Do you remember me talking about lavender soap and the assassin's blade?

SPEAKER_02 5:41

No.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Okay. So in The Assassin's Blade, in the last novella, uh Selena had a fight with Sam when he went to the fighting pits. Yep. But in The Assassin's Blade, was he still alive then?

SPEAKER_02 5:59

Yeah. When they fought?

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Yeah, they had a fight, and it was about the fighting pits, and then she wanted to still be mad at him, so she's like, and you used my lavender soap. Oh, I thought you and then when he you saw a fight fight, like fist fight. No. Um, and then when after he had passed, um, she laid next to him on that table in the Assassin's Keep dungeon, and he smelt like that cheap soap. We talked about that, yeah. So in this book, Queen of Shadows.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

That day I used your nice oh, her nice conditioner.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

So in Queen of Shadows, when Rowan comes to Rifthold, Ailen orders him to bathe, right? And in chapter 28, page 239, she mutely handed him her favorite lavender scented soap, which he sniffed at, sighed in resignation, and then began using. So, first that shows her growth and maturity, sharing her stuff. And then it also shows um her realizing that you never know when you'll see someone you love again. The sharing what's important to you, aka, even though it's lavender soap, um, it's massive. Like she just that comparison of not letting Sam do it, but then she learned what happened to him, and he smelled like cheap soap. So just wanted to point that out.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Yeah. That's really cool that you're able to pull those.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

No, uh that's all over all over book talk and all that fun stuff.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

It's really cool that all these book people can pull those book points together about this book with people in it.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Okay, continuing on, Sam, in chapter 39, page 325 to 328, she visits Sam Sam's grave for the first time. Do you remember that scene?

SPEAKER_03 8:01

No.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

So when you were, I was reading on the couch.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

Wait, what chapter was this?

SPEAKER_01 8:08

39. Right before Arabin.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

Why are we jumping to chapter 39 already?

SPEAKER_01 8:16

I I wrote down all my points I want to talk about. I'm going by character, not chapters. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

I was gonna go in order. Okay. Um, so okay, wait, hold on. Jump forward to 39, and what happened?

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Alien goes to visit Sam Sam's grave for the first time.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Alien is who?

SPEAKER_01 8:40

The main character. This is what happens when you re listen to it in one day.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

No, this is that's the queen.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

Yes.

unknown 8:49

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

It's Alien.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Alien. Alien Galfinakis. No.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Oh, yeah. That was my nickname. I know. I love that. I listened to a recap of this today, and this guy made really funny names, and Alien Galfinakis was hers. I liked it a lot. But I knew who he was talking about. Okay. A A How do you say it, Aileen? Aileen. All right. Ailen, Queen Selena. Selena Sardothian, Queen of the Elves.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Faye.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

The Faye. Well, not really. A Fey Fey. A Fey Fey. A Fey Fey.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

But do you remember when I was sitting on the couch and you were moving the guest bed to the other room?

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

And you kept trying to talk to me?

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

And I got kind of like Yes. It was because I was reading this part.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Yeah. I was like, this is really sad part. I'm trying to read it. But she goes to visit him for the first time, his grave. And it's it was like I teared up. And I've read this so many times, but I still tear up. And on page 327, she tells him that he would have made a wonderful king. And she finally tells him that she loves him. Because he kept saying it in The Assassin's Blade, but she never really said it to him.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

But didn't it it say that he never really wait, we're talking about Sam?

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

Never mind.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

And then she tell she also told him her whole history, and she left three stones. Two for the time two for the years that she hasn't been with him, and one for the year she was gone in Indovier, I think, if I'm remembering correctly. But Terracin, sorry.

SPEAKER_02 10:41

Here's some rocks I found.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

Here you go. Well, the stones are what people from Terracen do. Kind of like how the military leaves coins. But Terracin does stones because flowers will away. Stones are forever. And I don't know, it's just beautiful. And then Rowan leaves one too, and just wanted to say we finally gotta see Sam's grave. Anything you want to say about it?

SPEAKER_02 11:11

Uh no.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Looking for my number four. Okay. So this kind of connects to Sam, but it's not about him, but it kind of is. So remember I said back in The Assassin's Played, that it's important to remember that Sam helped her make the plan to take that last contract, and he wanted to do it his way.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Well, Kaylin, and you see it through all throughout this book, she's not sharing her plans. So we see this when Kale questions her about the map she once filled out, and that's when he sees Rowan for the first time. We see this when Rowan is mad at her for spending her own money to support them all, and she doesn't answer him, and later ADN, on how they'll get money later. Um, she's sneaking out in the middle of the night and not telling Rowan where she was or what she was doing, stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

That's just Sugar Daddy.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Rowan. He's the Faye. He's the one that turns into the bird. He's bird man.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Do they get together at the end? Are they I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

You'll have to keep listening.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

I already did. Is that like Futron?

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Did you just listen to this book or did you listen to more?

SPEAKER_02 12:41

I think so. I think I did. Oh no. Oh, oh no.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Okay. But remember all of what I just said. So in chapter 49, Aden confronts her after the reading of Arabin's will.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

Who's the one that used to be your mentor guy?

SPEAKER_01 13:01

The one who trained her in Windland?

SPEAKER_02 13:03

I guess that's the place.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

That's Rowan.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

Okay, and who are you talking about now?

SPEAKER_01 13:07

That I just said Rowan, but now I'm on to Aiden.

unknown 13:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

Okay, yeah. Oh, right. Uh-huh. Yeah, I forgot. Keep going. You're right.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Okay, so she's not telling anyone her plans. And then in chapter 49, Aiden confronts her after the reading of Arabin's will. So on page 398, he said, You came up with that whole plan by yourself and didn't trust any of us with it. You took the burden of getting us that money. Let me share this burden. And Ailen responds with, Why should I risk your life? All of that ties a good question, all right? Yeah, but all of that ties back to her sharing her burden with burden with Sam to leave Rifthold and to get themselves more money, which led to the contract that killed him. So because of what happened to Sam, that's why she's not sharing her plans with anyone.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Well, I mean, I wouldn't share my plans with anybody if they're after what happened to Sam too.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Yeah, no, I'm just like more power to her. We get our answer, and then in the next book in this series, you will see her continue not to share her plans and continue to make people mad about it. But I don't know. It's just getting that answer. It's sad. Okay. I have a few things to read to you. Unless you want to say anything about her not sharing her plans.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

No.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Okay, so we're gonna talk about threads.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

The new social media app by Meta.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

No.

unknown 14:50

No.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Okay, never mind. Sorry. I don't know what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Um, remember how Ailen, when she was Selena, uh, she felt a tug on her belly and she left Irene, Irene, however you say her name, she left her that bag of gold in her brooch. That that's what a th what I'm talking about when I say threads.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

And that was in a different book? Which one was that one?

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Assassin's Blade.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

And which number was that for us? I don't know the names.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

That was the second or the third one. It's the one with the novellas.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Wait, aren't we in the third? Are we on the fourth?

SPEAKER_01 15:32

Technically the fourth book, yeah. But we read this one fifth.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

We've already done five of these.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

That's why you're probably confused right now. It's it's a lot of information.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

And it's stuff that's so interesting that it's very hard for me to wrap my mind around. Okay, sarcasm. What um I thought we did the Assassin's Blade. That was the first one.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Throwing a glass.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

Oh, that okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

So we've done that one, and then Crown of Midnight, then the Assassin's Blade, then Air of Fire. And now we're doing Queen of Shadows. Are you sure we've done Crown of Midnight? Yes, that's when the Princess Nahemia died.

SPEAKER_02 16:17

You're right. We've done that one. My bad. I'm sorry. Keep going with what you're reading me.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Okay, so we're gonna talk about threads or tugs on the belly, whatever. So I think that the tugs and the threads tying all these people together are from the gods and goddesses.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Okay. So and we see it again in this book a few times. So chapter 60, page 483. This is after Ailen and Manon fight, and the temple and the islands are about to fall down into the cliffs.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

Are we still over in this book?

SPEAKER_01 17:10

No, we're in Queen of Shadows right now.

SPEAKER_02 17:12

Oh, yeah, okay. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

So for eight. Ailen had felt it before. A thread in the world, a current running between her and someone else. She'd felt it one night years ago, and had given a young healer the money to get the hell out of this continent. She felt the tug and had decided to tug back. Here it was again, that tug toward Manon, whose arms buckled as she collapsed to the stone. Her enemy, her new enemy who would have killed her and Rowan if given the chance, a monster incarnate. But perhaps the monsters needed to look out for each other every now and then. And then she saves Manan. I'm trying to say Manon, but it's Manon for me. Okay. Then because Manon owed Ailen and Life debt chapter 64, page 511. After she had gone to the mountains with Astron and they talked about what happened 80 years ago. Um They had spent the night in the mountains, and then Manon when Manon eventually dozed off, curled against a Braxos with a blanket of stars overhead, her head felt clearer than it had in months, and yet something nagged at her, even in sleep. She knew what it was when she awoke. A loose thread in the loom of the three-faced goddess, right? So another mention of a thread. Then chapter 81, page 494. 494, 594, sorry. This is when sh shannon is running to rescue a lead from the dungeons. Three dungeons. Hurry, Blackbeak, whispered a strange, soft female voice in her head, that was once old and young and wise. You race against doom. Manon had hit the nearest dungeon, Astron, Sorrel, and Vesta at her black, at her black, at her back, the green-eyed demon twins behind them, men began dying fast and bloody. Blah blah blah blah blah. Faster, Blackbeak, that wise female voice begged of her, as if there were only so much she might interfere. Or faster, Manon ran like hell. And then faster, Blackbeak, the sage voice barked, and as a little wind pushed at Manon's feet as if it could hurry her along, she knew that it was the goddess peering over her shoulder, a lady of wise things, who perhaps had watched over a lead her entire life, mute it without magic, but now that it was free, dot dot dot. So after magic was freed, when Manon is trying to rescue Alid, that's when she could hear the goddess talk to her. And that goddess that was protecting Alid earlier in the book, we heard that Alid was blessed by the goddess of wise things. Anith? I think you say it. That's how you say it. Anith. So you're seeing more threads being pulled, and each of these characters has threads. We just haven't seen them all yet.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

I bet Mark Zuckerberg's happy they're all on threads. I'm sorry, keep going. Nice. Uh-huh. Oh, right. Uh-huh. So the thread, does that go through other books? Did you already tell me if it was already mentioned in other books?

SPEAKER_01 21:04

In the first books we read?

SPEAKER_02 21:06

No. Well, either past or present or future.

unknown 21:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:11

Well, present we know.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

It's all throughout the series.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

Okay. So you pull all those threads out of this one.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

But there's more threads coming.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

I believe there are.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

And there were past threads in the past five books that we've read.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Four. Four books. Past four books we've read.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Alright. Cool. Alright, yeah. Okay, so threads neat.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

Okay, so now we're gonna move on to the evolution of Dorian, the Vogue, and Manon's kind of put in there too. What did you think of Dorian throughout this book? And what he was going through.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

He was fine. He was in the other books too, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:56

I think you listened to the wrong thing.

SPEAKER_02 21:59

What are you talking? Was Dorian not in the last book?

SPEAKER_01 22:04

He was, but in this book he wasn't fine.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

Did we just call him Dory now or Dor?

SPEAKER_01 22:12

Dorian?

SPEAKER_02 22:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

No?

unknown 22:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Remember, he had a collar put around his neck at the end of the last book? A word stone collar that had the Valg princes who were attacking Selena. They had those around their neck too in the last book.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

Yeah, I I sure. Uh-huh. I don't feel anyway about that. Like they put a word thingy on him.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Yeah. So.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

So what what it carried on to this book about that?

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Well, he he was still had that collar around his neck most of this book. And basically, we get the perspective of Dorian and how this Valg prince that's in the collar is slowly eating away at who Dorian is. And he starts losing control of his memory. Um, so it starts with him not remembering his name, uh, to the demon slowly taking more control, to Dorian enjoying it when the Valg fed from prisoner's memories. Then he meets Bannon in chapter 58, and the Valg freaks out.

SPEAKER_02 23:23

Wait, of this book or the last book?

SPEAKER_01 23:25

This book.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

Okay. This is all that's Manon was Manon Manon was in the last book, too, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:31

They never met in the last one.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

No.

SPEAKER_02 23:33

Okay. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 23:35

But then he meets Manon in chapter 58, and the Valg inside Dorian says, Not too close. Do not let the Witchling too close. The eyes of the Valg Kings, and then he gets cut off. And then Dorian says, Hello, Witchling. And that's the first time since the collar was put on him that he was able to say his own words with his mouth. Because the Valg had had control in him.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

Did you cry at that point or something? Was I supposed to feel a certain way?

SPEAKER_01 24:09

No, I was just saying if you remembered that. Okay. But going on, she Manon had asked him for his name twice, and he finally remembers that it's Dorian. And then in chapter 59, the Valg takes control again, but Dorian remembers Manon's name after that. Like he can't remember anything else, but he does remember her name. And then in chapter 62, after battling Ailen, Manon lands in front of the king's party and uh notes that Dorian's Valg, the Valg in him, cringes away from her when she lands in front of them. And much like the blonde one, which was Roland, he did that in Morath when he attacked the 13. So in chapter 80, when she can't find a lead, she remembers Coltaine saying they want kings, aka Val Kings, which makes them sense while the it makes sense why the Duke was wanting a black beak coven for the experiment for the little witchlings that the yellow legs are.

SPEAKER_02 25:17

Hey, Mananza with black beak.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Yeah. But that makes the experiment that the yellow legs were in.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

That's another type of witch.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

Kind they're iron teeth witches. So but they're just a different coven.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

That's a different type of witch, right? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

No. It's there's Cochrane's and then there's the iron teeth. And the iron teeth have different covens within them.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

So they're all iron teeth. They're one type of witch.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

And the yellow legs are iron teeth.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

And then what's the black beaks?

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Iron teeth.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

So they're both witches.

SPEAKER_01 25:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Okay. Sorry, I said different type.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

That's a same type of witch. That is a type of witch, is maybe what I meant to say.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

But she thinks of that because she knows that a lead's bloodlines are super, super big. Like her her human side has a big bloodline. And then her mom's side has the witch bloodline. So that's why she's racing. One reason why she's racing to get to a lead. The other reason is because bless you. The other reason is because she actually cares for a lead. But Manon's eyes are pure gold, like the Val King's eyes. And that's why the princes, the Valg princes, fear her. And why the Duke wants a black beak coven for the birth.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

Oh nice.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

It's a big breakdown. Yeah. All from Dorian and the Valginim to Bannon connecting the dots to the experiments on the yellow legs.

SPEAKER_02 27:02

Right. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

Did you want to say anything?

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Not at all. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

You're just you're going way over my head, so Well, what did you think about seeing the Duke again and how he was Which one's the Duke? Parrington. He was the one that took Roland and Caltane to Morath with him. He was the one that made Sudan a bow to Prince Dorian at the very beginning. He was the one who had Kane as his champion.

SPEAKER_02 27:47

Sorry, I'm there I I have nothing.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Okay. So on to Kale's transformation. I said this in the last episode, but he gets a lot of hate. And it's because he calls Ailen a monster, a liar, that everything is her fault, and aka the shadow market burning down.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

Does he have to call her Ailen now?

SPEAKER_01 28:18

I mean he does well, he does now. Yeah.

unknown 28:21

Okay. Just curious.

SPEAKER_01 28:24

But we see his redemption. Like this turned turned a lot of people off from Kale. Um salad boy, as you like to call him. It's how he talked down to Ailen and just wouldn't listen to her. But he I do want to be the devil's advocate because he does have the redemption with Lysandra Lysandra's rescue. He told Ailen never again after she had begged him to help. And she was staring at the scar on his face from Princess Nahemia's death. He apologizes after Ailen and Manon fight because the reason. Yeah. The reason they fought was because Kale had run after to kill Dorian because he he realized in his head that Ailen was right, that he's not fully there anymore. And then that's when Ailen was like, we'll do this together from now on. And then with saying that he trusts her and doesn't regret and he didn't regret sending her to Wendolin before the solstice. He told her that right before the solstice, which was was when they went into the glass castle to kill the king and to potentially kill Dorian. Oh, let me write some down before I forget it.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

So I think that I have figured it out. I do not like series. For an escape, to be like, I'm gonna watch a show for 30 minutes, I'm gonna watch a movie for two hours. I can see that, but like getting into an eight-book series where all these books takes either weeks and weeks to read or hours and hours and hours to listen to.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:25

Like it's just so much. And I have no interest in being like, I need to connect all these dots of this world and these people. So like I'm just like, I'm out of it. I and so I think I like listening to things that I'm like, oh, I can take something from that instead of entertainment, or if it's an entertainment book, it needs to be like a one-in, one out, like the mystery ones, those were entertaining because it's like, oh, cool, you give me a quick story that I can listen to over 10 hours, or if I was reading it, it would take me two months, but like that's why I listen. Um, so I think that's where I'm at with this because all my friends that are nerds, I always want to be cool and like get into like superheroes.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

Yeah, you said that before.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Yeah, and then like I just can't. So I think that's it. I think it's the series. I think it's like you have to learn all the you have to learn the the which colonies that are them you don't have to learn that. So otherwise, like when you don't learn it, I just sit here and I'm like, uh, because all I hear is yellow legs and this black beak and this and that, and that's what I hear, but like I that's not my style, so I just figured it out. I don't like series.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

I'll try to stay away from series after this, then for you.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

Maybe, maybe if it's a quicker series, maybe like a two-book series. Is that a series?

SPEAKER_01 31:52

It's uh uh oh my gosh, oh my gosh, fiber brain dual duology.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

I went I took zoology in high school.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

What is it?

SPEAKER_02 32:05

I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Oh my gosh. I'm blanking right now.

SPEAKER_02 32:10

Okay. Um, and then there's three, which is a trilogy.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

But I guess maybe three or more is a series? Or or can a trilogy be a series? So two or more is probably a series, but then there's different words for each one. What's two though? No, I'm curious.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

I think it's duology. Look it up. Duology.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

I already put my computer away. It's okay. I just figured it out while you were looking up what you were just writing down.

unknown 32:35

Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 32:36

Oh, did you see what I wrote down?

SPEAKER_02 32:38

I did not, but I just thought of that. I'm like, why don't I like why can't I get into this type of thing? And I'm like, oh, it's because you have to connect, you have to remember so much, and my mind's already going so much that putting these things into my mind to try to keep up with it for no reason is just like it's pointless. Don't do it. And that's why I'm like.

SPEAKER_01 32:58

So you shut down basically, and you just shut down.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

If it was, if it was maybe I've never read a book or listened to a book that's a series about like cars.

SPEAKER_01 33:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

I would be very curious to see if I could do that. If I could listen to something, yeah, if we could find a series about cars, or maybe a series about like combat stuff. Because I've enjoyed the like the submarine books and like the war books.

SPEAKER_01 33:28

So like combatness, and there's about to be a war.

SPEAKER_02 33:33

Yeah. Maybe I just don't like series. Okay, cool. What'd you write down? What you what what's new for us?

SPEAKER_01 33:40

Okay. Arabin Hamill. Were you did you remember him and his fate in this book?

SPEAKER_02 33:50

Um that's the guy that trained her.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

Yes. Do you remember what happened to him in this book?

SPEAKER_02 33:58

He was called Petobin in the breakdown that I watched.

unknown 34:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

So you don't was he like 400 years old? Or was he the 40-year-old?

SPEAKER_01 34:08

He's like in his late 30s, early 40s. Early 40s. He's the king of assassins. He's the one who found Ailen on the riverbank and then drained her and then sent her to Endovier. He's the one who killed Sam. Or had James.

SPEAKER_02 34:21

But they were both they were both Rays. Fays. Both Faye's?

SPEAKER_01 34:26

No. Arabin's a human.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Oh, who is the other Faye that we were just talking about?

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Rowan. And then her cousin Aiden is half Faye.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

Adian, isn't that who you just said?

SPEAKER_01 34:38

I said Arabin Hamill.

SPEAKER_02 34:41

Adian and who else?

SPEAKER_01 34:43

Arabin Hamill.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

And then Arabin who?

SPEAKER_01 34:46

Hamill.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

Who's the other one?

SPEAKER_01 34:48

Rowan. Rowan is Faye. Aiden is half Faye.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

Aiden?

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 34:56

And what's the other guy's name with an A?

SPEAKER_01 35:00

Arabin.

SPEAKER_02 35:01

Arabin. What's his last name?

SPEAKER_01 35:03

Hamill.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

Then what's the other? Not Hamill. What's the other one with the A's last name?

SPEAKER_01 35:09

Adian Ashriver.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

It's Aiden and Adian?

SPEAKER_01 35:15

Aden Ash River.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Adian? Okay. And then what's the other one?

SPEAKER_01 35:20

Arabin.

SPEAKER_02 35:21

Arabin. Thought those guys were the same people.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

One's her cousin and one's the king of assassins.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

Okay, so she ends up getting with her cousin, though, right? Oh, wait, no, I'm not supposed to know that yet. That's the read-ahead. I'm so confused. Did that not happen in this book?

SPEAKER_01 35:44

I mean, they had their first kiss in this book. Right. Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

So why are you acting like I'm like crazy? She got with her c like their. What's his name?

SPEAKER_01 35:56

Rhode Whitorn.

SPEAKER_02 35:58

So it's not Adrian or Arian. You're making me feel like I'm crazy for this. Okay, so Adrian is who. I'm just gonna go back to going like, oh, uh-huh, oh, so we can get through this because when I ask a question, you made me feel crazy.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

Adien is her cousin.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

Adien.

SPEAKER_01 36:26

He is half Faye, and that's her cousin.

SPEAKER_02 36:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

Rowan is full Faye, and he trained her in Windoline. He trained her in Wendolin, and they had their first kiss in this book.

SPEAKER_02 36:41

They're both Faye, which is related.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

No.

SPEAKER_02 36:45

Okay, keep going.

SPEAKER_01 36:47

Are Ben is human. He trained her to be an assassin, and he's the one who found her at the riverbank. But he's also like creepy.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

And he's the one that came back in the beginning. Or is that the other A name?

SPEAKER_01 37:05

In the beginning of what?

SPEAKER_02 37:06

This book.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 37:08

Yes, dude. Which one? Was it this other one with the A name?

SPEAKER_01 37:12

Arabin, sh see neither.

SPEAKER_02 37:14

See, that's why I'm so confused.

SPEAKER_01 37:16

Araben does make an appearance in this book at the beginning. Okay. Because she goes to the volume.

SPEAKER_02 37:23

That's her trainer, guys.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

Yeah. And yeah, that's a different trainer. I thought you were talking about Rowan training her in Wendolin.

SPEAKER_02 37:30

Who's Wendelin?

SPEAKER_01 37:32

That's the country that she went to.

SPEAKER_02 37:37

Okay. Oh, uh-huh. Right. Uh-huh. Back to your point. That was a really good point.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

I didn't even finish my point.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

I know. I will really want to hear it though. So I think that you were on to something.

SPEAKER_01 37:48

I just said his name. I just said his name. Okay. I'll just keep talking for the audience. How about that?

SPEAKER_02 37:55

Thanks.

SPEAKER_01 37:56

So Arabin Hamill, he sent the perfumed oil to um Ailen Deware for their meeting and dinner. And then Ailen was disgusted when putting it on, and because that was his scent. And then when Rowan met Arabin in chapter 42, he said, Thank you for the oil. My skin was a little dry. So it's funny because that was meant for Ailen and to put her off kilture, but Rowan used as a weapon against Arabin because Arabin likes to play those mind games. And then after Arabin's death, go Lysandra, heck yeah, she got him. Um she did it for Wesley, for Sam, for Aileen, and for the child that she used to be. And then we also learn of all the steps that Aileen took to destroy his business, Arabin's business, in chapter 43, and that was page 352 to 353, and then later restore his wealth for the will reading. So she destroyed it by pretending to be the businessman when she rescued Adian. Then she trashed the vaults, and then she sent feelers to the investors of the new vaults, which was called the Pits. And that was so Arabin can gain more money. So when he died and she inherited his fortune, she would have the money for the war that's coming. So that's pretty cool. Chapter 44 when he touches her inappropriately and he thinks he has her trapped with the Valgue ring, the black ring.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

It was a vague ring.

SPEAKER_01 39:51

Yeah. He he's just so disgusting and he has such entitlement. And he thought he was gonna rule Terrace and by her side. So farewell, Arabin. We do not like you. You can go bye-bye forever. Any thoughts, or if you remember it, do you remember the king dying?

SPEAKER_02 40:14

Nope.

SPEAKER_01 40:15

So that's when the cla glass castle um perished too, so only the stone castle was left. But it's kind of nice that he is gone, even though when the Valg was out of him, because Dorian and Ailen burned it out of him, he did say that the only way he could protect them was to um stop magic. And because when Ailen was a child, they squeezed the magic.

SPEAKER_02 40:47

Oh, sorry. They ended up taking the magic from him, right?

SPEAKER_01 40:50

Yeah. But when Ailen was a child, he tried to get her to kill him, but her mother poured water on her and made her pass out. So when he visited, and then later her parents and Lady Marion and all them were killed, it was because the king had gone to Ailen because he had heard of the child with wildfire, thinking she could burn the Valve prince out of him or kill him. And then the Valgue Prince decided that cannot live, so he targeted her whole bloodline. Okay, moving on. Caltain Rompier, she makes a reappearance. She was that vapid court lady in Throne of Glass, and she got thrown in a prison cell. Let me pull this up. Oh no, I don't have it pulled up, but she used her. So we hated her in the first book. We didn't like her. And then by the time this book rolls around, it's like something is off with her. And it's because she does have that collar on her neck, and then she has a lump on her arm. And what we later find out is that lump had a wordstone key in it, word key or whatever. And we also later learned that she used her shadow fire to nibble at the valve prince inside of her. So she eventually gets rid of that prince in her. And she knows people in the more in Morath see what they want to see and uses that knowledge to take a lead's place and then blow up one third of Morath. And she gives Alid the key. And a really big quote around that time when she gives Alid the key before she blows up Morath is that give this to Selena Sardothian for the cloak in a cold dungeon. Tell her with this stone she can open any door all that. And that's when we as readers know it's a key, a word key. But again, little acts of kindness go a long way because Selena gave her that cloak back in the day in the dungeon before she was taking the Morath, now Kay Kaltain has told Alid to give her Selena that stone. And what Alid and Kaltain don't know is that Aileen Galathenius is Selena Sardosian. So she tells uh mana in her history eighty years ago in chapter sixty-three, page five hundred to five oh five, and the story of how her grandmother wouldn't even let her hold her witchling. Because she got pregnant by the hunter, she actually fell in love. Um and after the treatment her grandmother did and riding unclean on her body, she decided to dedicate her life to being man in second, and nothing scared her after what happened to her. That's why she's so wild. But page 504. I have this saved. Astran met Man in stare. Sora, Sorel, Vesta, and I have known for a very long time what your grandmother is capable of. We never said anything because we feared that if you knew, it could jeopardize you. The day you saved Petra instead of loving her letting her fall, you weren't the only one who understood why your grandmother made you slaughter that Cochrane. I am begging you, Manon, do not let your grandmother and those men take our witches and use them like this. Do not let them turn our witchlings into monsters. What they've already done, I am begging you to help me undo it. And then later says, Manon says, We need to proceed carefully. So with Manon hearing that story about her grandmother and Ashran's pain and how Ashran had said that's a pen mark. Astheron had said that she was gonna go back. She thought that if she went back, she would have a life of peace and not bloodshed. So that shows another side of the witches that not all of them are brutal. Not all of them just have that obedience, especially after they feel love.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

Are the witches still on their retreat?

SPEAKER_01 46:08

Half of them are. So Ansel of Briarcliffe was from The Assassin's Blade as well. She's the one that she gave uh 21 minutes to to survive. And she was the one that the spiders uh mentioned as being the high queen of the waste to Manon when Manon went to go get spider silk for Abraxa's wings. Lorcan, and also did you catch Lorcan versus Eled, aka Hellas, the god of brutal endings versus Anith, god of wise things, or goddess of wise things. Rowan mentions Lorcan is blessed by Hellas in chapter 29, and in chapter 20, Elede's POV, we learn that she is blessed by Anith. She mentions she is the consort to Hellas. So that's a little foreshadowing that their paths are going to cross. Honorable mentions. Abraxos loving on Elite and acting doglike was adorable because we love Abraxos. Rowan, having a big mouth, and sniffing out Adian's heritage, as well as Lysandra's, and then he lets slip about the blood oath. Um my favorite funny part was chapter 83, page 606. Lysandra vomits all the vowel guts onto Lorcan after the battle. Not once, but twice. And he just stood there and took it. Fleet for fleet foot returns. Yay! Um Aileen and Manon's fight. Aileen couldn't kill Manon because of Ashton's scream. The scream she screamed Manon's name like Ailen had screamed Rowan's. And then my favorite part in the whole book was when Manon had that weird feeling after spending the night in the mountains, and Ashton went with her to do something. Manon, for the life debt of being saved by Ailen, wrote in Valg Blood and all the major intersections of Rifthold that witch killer the human is still inside of him.

SPEAKER_02 49:35

If only you could drop your mic, boo.

SPEAKER_01 49:38

I dropped my f my photo bookmark. Do you have anything you want to say about this book? My favorite book in this series.

SPEAKER_02 49:52

Nope. My mom always said, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

SPEAKER_01 49:57

Yeah, say at least Manon. She's still B A. And then Abraxos is still cute, even though he's fierce. And then Fleetfoot. Yay! Okay, what would what would you rate this?

SPEAKER_02 50:11

Um I shouldn't be able to rate it.

SPEAKER_01 50:21

Did you not finish it?

SPEAKER_02 50:23

I got through the first part. I got through part one.

SPEAKER_01 50:28

So is it?

SPEAKER_02 50:29

And then that's when that's when I watched the 20-minute breakdown of what happened. Yeah, not at all. I just can't do it. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 50:37

Well, I just hurried with the reread, 4.6. Uh, if it was new, 4.5.

SPEAKER_02 50:47

Why'd it go up 0.1? I gotta know.

SPEAKER_01 50:49

On my reread. Right.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

When it was new, it was 4.5, but on the reread, it was 4.6. Yeah, so it only went up 0.1 after you. You could go like 4.8. I thought you went through all your notes.

SPEAKER_01 51:05

I did, but I didn't go through all everything I could have talked about.

SPEAKER_02 51:08

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 51:09

Okay. So to give Boo a break from this series. I don't know if I That's okay. We can take a couple weeks off. It ends up being that. We will let you know. But to give JD a break, do you want to guess what we're gonna read? You like this author based off of your one interaction with her books.

SPEAKER_02 51:34

Is it a mystery one?

SPEAKER_01 51:36

I don't know. Do you think so?

SPEAKER_02 51:37

I don't know, because it looks like a stormy background, which reminds me of the one where they went to the island for the wedding or something.

SPEAKER_01 51:43

Oh, the guest list?

SPEAKER_02 51:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:44

Do you want to see or tell the audience what it's gonna be?

SPEAKER_02 51:48

Yeah, flash it to me. Flash me boo. You shouldn't have come here. Ooh. Geneva Rose!

SPEAKER_00 51:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:57

Jay Rose.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

You shouldn't have come here by Geneva Rose. Do you want me to read what it is about, or would you like to?

SPEAKER_02 52:04

Um, is there a lot of words?

SPEAKER_01 52:05

No, not really. It's just that.

SPEAKER_02 52:08

I could try.

SPEAKER_01 52:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 52:10

Wait, I thought you were supposed to read the back of the books.

SPEAKER_01 52:13

Non-hardbacks.

SPEAKER_02 52:14

Oh, they got it.

SPEAKER_01 52:15

They usually put blurbs there.

SPEAKER_02 52:16

Okay. The highly anticipated new thriller from the New York Times best-selling author of The Perfect Crossed Out Marriage and One of Us Is Dead. Grace Evans, an overwhelmed New Or New Yorker looking for a total escape from her busy life, books an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. When she arrives at the idyllic getaway, she's pleased to find that the owner of the is a handsome man by the name of Calvin Wells. Hello, Calvin. Sorry, I added that part. He's eager to introduce her to the easygoing way of life, to his easy-going way of life. There are things Grace discovers that she's not too pleased about. A lack of self-service, a missing woman, and a feeling that something isn't right with the ranch. Despite her uneasiness, the two bond and start to fall for one another. However, as her departure near Dave, let me try that one again. However, as her departure date nears, things change for the worse. What began as a playful romance soon turns into a complicated web of lies. Grace grows wary. Weary? Yeah. Wary. Very very, if you're German. Very? Sorry. Grace grows wary of Calvin, and his infatuation for her seems to be morphed into obsession. Calvin fears that Grace is hiding something from him. Man, everyone has something to tell, including her reason for staying at his ranch to begin with. Vacation flings typically end with heartbreak, but for Grace and Calvin, it's more of destructive. It will be more destructive. I tried. I tried kind of a word on that one. I tried.

SPEAKER_01 54:09

So the next book is you shouldn't have come here. This was the first book I read of hers. Oh, you've already read this one? Yeah, this is my first book I've read of hers.

SPEAKER_02 54:18

Who dies?

SPEAKER_01 54:19

I'm not telling you.

SPEAKER_02 54:20

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 54:22

Um, also, I don't remember every single thing that happens, but I do remember the ending. Great. Heck yeah. The ending might make you mad.

SPEAKER_02 54:33

I'm excited now. How many pages?

SPEAKER_01 54:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 54:37

It is cameras are about to die, so we're about to log off.

SPEAKER_00 54:47

Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 54:49

It is 289. Oh, okay. So it's a shorter one.

SPEAKER_02 54:54

Yeah, I can definitely do that. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_01 54:58

I hope you enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02 54:59

Geneva Rose.

SPEAKER_01 55:00

Yeah, we like her.

SPEAKER_02 55:02

Yeah, so far so good. Okay, why are you taking that off?

SPEAKER_01 55:05

Because I don't want to ruin the cover. I know it's supposed to protect the book, but I always take it off of hard backs so I can. Oh, look. It's a bloody hand brand. It shimmers.

SPEAKER_02 55:22

I like it. I love it. I want some more of it. Okay, everybody. Thanks for joining us for this week's episode of Books with Boo. Boo crushed it this week with her total breakdown of Queen of Shadows by SJM. Crushing it. Boo's crushing it. We're gonna take a little break because otherwise your boo's gonna quit. So I don't want to quit. I want to keep going. Um and we'll get back to it. So for right now, uh read, you shouldn't have come here.

unknown 56:04

Bye.