"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.
It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."
From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.
Throne of Glass Review
I wrote up this review almost a year ago, hopefully I can actually keep going with my re-read.
4.5 STARS
There is just something about this book that although I know it's got its issues, I can't help but love it. I have issues with this book, which I'll get into, but I just have so much fun reading this book in particular.
Celaena is better in this book, at least in my opinion, compared to how she is in Throne of Glass. I think we get to see more of her assassin skills and you start to see a bit more why she has the nickname of Ardalan's Deadliest Assassin. I think being able to see a deeper side of her was definitely in her favor for me to think she's a better character. Obviously with a series as you read the books you should get to know the characters more, but I think the difference from Throne of Glass Celaena and Crown of Midnight Celaena makes the world of a difference. Chaol is my favorite character, I've voiced this before. And he still continues to be my favorite character. I love his loyalty to Celaena, Dorian, and his home. I love that both him and Celaena bring out the good parts of each other and they help each other grow. I like that he has flaws and he makes really awful mistakes because he is conflicted when it comes to the fat that he has been protecting and fighting for Ardalan for so long and he's learning that maybe that isn't a good thing. Dorian is once again one of the most cardboard bland oatmeal characters I've read. Like, he's fine and I kind of like his friendship with Celaena but sometimes it feels fake in order for him to get with her. Maybe it's because I find him uninteresting. I love Nehemia. The calm moments of her and Celaena enjoying breakfast together with Fleetfoot are some of my favorite friendship moments. I like that they so naturally became friends and it's like they were made to be best friends.
The plot had me interested all the way through. The audiobook (I read while reading along) is about 12 1/2 hours and with it being on 1.5/2 speed I finished it in 7-8 hours. I never felt bored and I was always entertained and interested in what was happening. However, the first half or so is slower paced and I can see where it could have been a bit too slow for some people. I think because I was listening to it on audiobook it went faster for me but I get it. I knew from the beginning (because this is a re-read) that this was the Chaol/Celaena book and so I was pretty pumped from the get go. I like that there are a lot more hints and foreshadowing I originally didn't pick up on that I did this time around.
My biggest problem with this book is the way Sarah J Maas handles her POC characters (or minority characters in general). They are killed or something bad happens to them in order for the white main characters to advance. I think this is a valid criticism of her books as a whole and I definitely think she could do with having a more diverse cast. However, I am not someone who is going to bash her or corner her in order for her to write diverse characters because I want her to want to write diverse characters. If she doesn't want to, and we guilt trip her into it we are just going to get poorly written and overall insulting versions of what we want.
I do wish she wanted to write more diversely because I am someone who enjoys her characters (most of the time) and I really like her writing style. Especially in the later books when she has developed as a more talented writer.
Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot more than I enjoyed Throne of Glass. I think overall Sarah J. Maas books counts for me as a "guilty pleasure read" because I agree with most of the criticism with this series and even her A Court of Thorns and Roses series. But there's something about her writing that I have so much fun with. I think if you're into fantasy this may be a bit simple for you but this is a great series to help get you into the genre if you've been intimidated to dip your toes into fantasy. I started this series a handful of years ago when I was trying to get into the genre and I think that is why I have such a soft spot for the books. If you think it sounds interesting, I say check it out. Also the audiobooks are really well done and I think they increase the enjoyment.
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