Swords and Swoons

We survived the tandem read! ⚔️📚 In this episode, we finish Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn—and the emotional damage is REAL.We’re diving into massive revelations about the Lock and the Valg, long-awaited romances, secret marriages, mate reveals, armies finally coming together, and Aelin’s seemingly endless supply of secret plans. And just when everything starts falling into place… Maeve shows up and absolutely ruins our lives.⚠️ Full-series spoilers ahead!Grab your swords, prepare your swoons, and bring tissues—because next stop: Kingdom of Ash. 🔥👑⚔️

⚔️ Two books. Two continents. One massive war brewing. Welcome to the tandem read!In this episode of Swords & Swoons, we officially kick off our Empire of Storms + Tower of Dawn tandem reread, covering through Chapter 32 of Empire of Storms and Chapter 35 of Tower of Dawn.Aelin is finally home—but being Queen of Terrasen isn't going quite according to plan. With no army and no shortage of enemies, she's gathering allies, hunting for answers about the Wyrdkeys and the Lock, and heading to Skull's Bay for a reunion with everyone's favorite pirate lord. Meanwhile, Elide finds herself traveling with a very grumpy Lorcan, Manon makes a choice that changes EVERYTHING, and Aedion finally comes face-to-face with Gavriel.Across the sea in Antica, Chaol and Nesryn begin their own journeys. Chaol meets Yrene Towers and discovers that healing his body might require confronting wounds that run much deeper, while Nesryn takes to the skies with Prince Sartaq and uncovers disturbing clues suggesting the Valg threat reaches much farther than anyone realized.We're talking Rowaelin, Elorcan, Chaol and Yrene, Nesryn and Sartaq, pirates, ruks, shapeshifters, witches, ancient Valg secrets, daddy issues, fake marriages, healing journeys, and SO MUCH foreshadowing.⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This is a full Throne of Glass series reread, so spoilers for future chapters and books are absolutely fair game.

We’ve made it to the FINAL part of our Queen of Shadows deep dive, and Sarah J. Maas is absolutely not letting us leave quietly.We’re breaking down our favorite moments, biggest reveals, character arcs, swoons, emotional damage, and everything that hits differently on a reread—before finally watching Aelin Galathynius return home to Terrasen. 🥹👑⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This is a full Throne of Glass series reread, so spoilers for future books are fair game.Grab your swords, prepare your swoons, and join us as we officially close the book on Queen of Shadows! ⚔️💕

Part Two of our Queen of Shadows reread, covering Chapters 31–60, and this section is absolutely STACKED.Aelin is playing one dangerous game after another in Rifthold as she finally moves against Arobynn, Rowan and Aedion settle into their very aggressive version of friendship, and Lysandra drops a reveal that changes everything we thought we knew about her.Meanwhile, Morath somehow gets even darker. Manon is starting to question the orders she’s been raised to obey, Elide is digging into the horrors hidden beneath the mountain, Kaltain is proving there is far more going on beneath the surface, and we finally learn just how terrifying Perrington’s plans really are.⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This is a full Throne of Glass series reread. While we’re focusing on Chapters 31–60 of Queen of Shadows, we will freely discuss spoilers and connections from later in the book and the rest of the series.

We’re officially back in Rifthold for Part One of our Queen of Shadows reread, covering Chapters 1–30!Aelin has returned to Adarlan with one goal: take back everything that was stolen from her. We’re talking about that reunion, the blood oath drama with Aedion, the Gavriel reveal, the tension, the betrayals, the foreshadowing, and all the little moments that hit completely differently on a reread.⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This is a full Throne of Glass series reread, so while we’re focusing on Chapters 1–30 of Queen of Shadows, we will reference events from earlier books in the series.