High Queen Podcast

One last trip through the caves. One last wildly ambitious plan. One last chance to give Midgard a future beyond the Asteri.

This week, we’re finishing Crescent City: House of Flame and Shadow, and there is a LOT to process. Bryce’s search for answers takes us to Avallen and Hel, where ancient secrets finally shed light on her power and Hunt’s origins. Meanwhile, Ruhn and Lidia have to decide what comes after the truth, Ithan faces the leader he could become, and Tharion might finally be ready to take responsibility for something.

With the fight for Midgard closing in, we’re talking long-awaited declarations, devastating sacrifices, unexpected allies, and all the connections that have us reaching for our other Sarah J. Maas books. We’re sharing our final ratings, the questions we still need answered, and what these heroines—and the people who love them—leave us carrying into our own stories.

Grab your book, beverage, and bestie. We’re closing this chapter of our Maasverse journey… for now.

Bryce Quinlan has landed in Prythian, and we have approximately a million questions!! Unfortunately, so do the people questioning her...

This week, we’re opening Crescent City: House of Flame and Shadow, where Bryce’s search for a way home takes her beneath the mountains of Prythian with Nesta and Azriel—and straight into a history that connects their worlds. We’re talking ancient secrets, powerful blades, and some questionable decisions that had us wanting to reach through the pages and shake her!

Meanwhile, back in Midgard, Hunt, Ruhn, and Baxian are fighting to survive the Asteri’s dungeons, and Lidia is risking everything to get them out. With Ithan trying to help his friends and Tharion discovering that his latest escape came with a whole new cage, there’s plenty happening on both sides of the portal.

Grab your book, beverage, and bestie. We have familiar faces to catch up with, a prison break to discuss, and a whole lot of Maasverse connections to unpack!

Bryce and Hunt wanted a little peace. We wanted to finish this book with our emotions intact. Apparently, neither was an option.

This week, we’re diving into the second half of Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath, chapters 40 to the end, where the search for Emile gives way to something much bigger. Danika’s secrets keep coming, Ruhn’s connection with Agent Daybright deepens, and Bryce and Hunt discover just how powerful they can be together—in more ways than one.

But following the answers all the way to the Asteri’s archives means risking everything. We’re talking secret mates, devastating betrayals, the truth behind firstlight, and an ending that had us ready to open the next book immediately. Grab your book, beverage, and bestie. We have some screaming to do!

We’re back in Lunathion! Bryce and Hunt are trying to enjoy the peace they fought for after the events of House of Earth and Blood. They’re getting to know each other, making room for Ithan in their lives, and doing their best to stay out of trouble. Naturally, that lasts about five minutes...

A missing boy named Emile pulls Bryce into a search that leads straight to the rebellion—and to another secret Danika kept from her. Meanwhile, a surprise engagement raises questions about Bryce’s Starborn power, Ruhn starts exchanging messages with the mysterious Agent Daybright, and Hel seems very interested in what Bryce and Hunt might be capable of together.

Grab your book, beverage, and bestie, because we’re diving into the first half of House of Sky and Breath: rebel agents, dangerous family secrets, a trip to the Bone Quarter, and Bryce and Hunt finally deciding what to call each other!

The truth about Bryce Quinlan is finally coming to light.

The second half of House of Earth and Blood takes every answer we thought we had—and blows it completely apart.

As Bryce and Hunt close in on the truth behind Danika’s death, synth, and Luna’s Horn, betrayals come to light, friendships are tested, and Bryce is forced to question everything she thought she knew about the people she loved most. And somehow, that’s all BEFORE Micah decides to reveal the truth himself.

From “you are the Horn” to Lehabah’s sacrifice, seven gates to Hel opening across Crescent City, Bryce revealing herself as the Heir to the Starborn Fae, and a Drop that changes everything—we have approximately 700 things to scream, cry, and theorize about. 

Underneath all the chaos, though, is a story about friendship, grief, sacrifice, and choosing to live and love even when you know you might lose it.

Grab your books, beverage, and bestie because we’re finishing House of Earth and Blood—and through love, all is possible.

Welcome to Crescent City, High Queens. 🌙✨

We’ve officially traded Terrasen for Lunathion—and somehow Sarah J. Maas has already emotionally devastated us all over again.

Meet Bryce Quinlan: half-Fae, half-human, lover of dancing, partying, questionable decisions, and her best friend Danika Fendyr. But when one horrific night changes Bryce’s life forever, the story jumps forward nearly two years to find her still carrying the weight of everything she lost. Then a new murder bearing an eerily familiar signature forces Bryce right back into the mystery she thought had already been solved. 

Enter Hunt Athalar: infamous angel, reluctant investigator, professional Bryce Quinlan babysitter, and a man who learns VERY quickly that assuming Bryce is more interested in getting her nails done than solving a murder is a dangerous mistake. As the two begin digging into Danika’s death, their investigation leads them through demon summoning, a missing magical Horn, suspicious murders, some increasingly interesting forced proximity…and a few discoveries that suggest almost nothing about this case is what it seems.

Grab your books, beverage, and bestie because we're diving into chapters 1-37 of House of Earth and Blood. New city. New mystery. New characters we're already becoming dangerously attached to.

Light it up, High Queens. 

To whatever end, High Queens.

Eight books. Thousands of pages. Countless characters we've loved, lost, cried over, screamed about, and somehow become wildly emotionally attached to. And now, we've reached the end.

In the final chapters of Kingdom of Ash, every promise, sacrifice, friendship, and seemingly small act of kindness comes together as Aelin and the people she's gathered across this incredible journey make their final stand for Terrasen—and for the better world they've spent eight books fighting to build.

We're talking the Lock, the Thirteen, long-awaited reunions, devastating goodbyes, battles that had us holding our breath, and the moments that brought this entire story full circle. And when the fighting is finally over, we get to watch these characters do something we've been waiting an entire series for:

Live.

Grab your books, beverage, bestie, and probably an irresponsible number of tissues. One last time, we're diving into Throne of Glass.

Let's rattle the stars.

The beginning of the end is here.

Two months after Aelin was taken, Rowan is still searching. Terrasen is already at war. Dorian and Manon are hunting for the final Wyrdkey and an army of witches. Chaol, Yrene, Nesryn, and Sartaq are finally bringing the forces of the Southern Continent home. And somewhere across the sea, Aelin Galathynius is fighting a battle entirely her own.

In Part One of Kingdom of Ash, every thread we've followed across eight books begins pulling toward the same war. There are long-awaited reunions, unlikely alliances, queens rising, armies falling, approximately seventeen moments that made us cry—and some of the biggest payoffs of the entire series.

Because even after everything Maeve has taken from her, one thing remains true: Aelin Galathynius does not yield.

Grab your books, beverage, bestie, and probably some tissues. We’re going to war, High Queens.

The tandem read continues—and somehow, everything gets bigger, darker, and infinitely more devastating.

"Where is my wife!?"...

In Tower of Dawn, Chaol, Yrene, Nesryn, and Sartaq uncover truths that reshape everything we thought we knew about the Valg, Maeve, and the war ahead. Relationships deepen, ancient secrets finally come to light, and the Southern Continent proves just how important it may be to Aelin’s fight. 

Meanwhile, Empire of Storms brings our scattered characters together at last as Elide finds her way home, unexpected allies answer Aelin’s call, the truth behind Elena’s bargain is finally revealed, and Maeve makes her move. And just when we think Aelin might actually have assembled the army she needs... Sarah J. Maas emotionally destroys us. Naturally. 

Join us for Part Two of our Empire of Storms + Tower of Dawn tandem read as we unpack the romances, reunions, revelations, battles, betrayals, and approximately 47 emotional breakdowns that bring both books crashing toward their endings.

Grab your books, beverage, and bestie—and maybe some tissues. We’re going to war, High Queens. 

Two books. Two continents. One increasingly unhinged reading experience.

This week on High Queen, we’re officially taking on the Empire of Storms + Tower of Dawn tandem read—and somehow Sarah J. Maas has us emotionally invested in approximately 47 storylines at once.

In Part One, Aelin is gathering allies (whether they like it or not), Manon learns a truth that changes EVERYTHING, Elide picks up a rather terrifying travel companion, and Dorian is entering an era we are very interested in watching unfold. Meanwhile, across the sea, Chaol and Nesryn arrive in Antica, Yrene Towers makes her return, and the Southern Continent quickly proves it has plenty of secrets of its own. 

There are old faces, new alliances, complicated romances, terrifying creatures, ancient secrets, battles, betrayals—and enough sexual tension to remind us that apparently we’ve entered a new era of Throne of Glass. And for the first time, all these seemingly separate threads are beginning to weave together. 

Grab BOTH books, pull up our High Queen Tandem Reading Guide, and settle in, because this is only Part One.

SPOILER WARNING: This episode contains spoilers through Empire of Storms  Chapter 51 and Tower of Dawn Chapter 35.