Book Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2)

Sarah J. Maas

Review of Throne of Glass

Published Date: August 27th 2013

Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens

Pages: 420

Genre:  Fantasy, Young Adult

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul 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.

Wow, what a journey this read was. Celaena returns and now that she’s been made the champion. This means she has to start killing for the King. Her work towards freedom is far from finished.

Crown of Midnight deals with the aftermath and the deepening of the mystery surrounding Elana and the current King. So much happens, I don’t even know where to begin.

The romance is less fluff and more serious this time around. It developed by obviously and naturally. It became quite intense, but it was the perfect amount of intensity for me and it had a solid foundation.

There are so many things happening in this castle, there is so much mystery and so much intrigue. We answer some questions, but then many more are revealed.

The ending did feel a bit over-stretched due to the climax happening a bit sooner in Crown of Midnight than in most books, but the characters and plot are well-thought out and I can’t help but love it all.

My favourite thing about this series is how each character has their own plot and their own problems and goals to deal with. They don’t just exist to help the main character, but instead work and think independently of her.

I feel what started out as something simple has shown to be so much deeper. I cannot wait to pick up the next book and then I already know that when the series is finished I want to reread it from the beginning. I have a feeling that this is well-planned out and I’d love to read it while knowing the hidden truth.

Nehemia! I can’t believe it. I am really upset she died. It was just when I started hoping she and Dorian might be able to fall for each other with her helping him with his magic. I worry so much for the prince. He’s so important in fixing what his father has destroyed, but if his father disinheirits him or kills him… then there is only Hollin… We have yet to officially meet this character, but everything we hear is enough for us to know he would be more similar to his father as a ruler.

Chaol and Celaena did fall into a bit of over-dramatics for me at the end, but as I mentioned above, because of the way things slowly happened in the first book it felt like it had a stronger foundation for being so intense. It’s very different than the week long romance that is true love and instead happened slowly with them starting out as friends.

I’m very interested in where his plot leads as well with his father and the lands.

I feel as if straight out fantasy like this has become rarer and rarer in YA of recent. There’s a lot of paranormal, supernatural and light fairytale fantasy, but less high fantasy. This is definitely one of my favourites I have read, so if you enjoy YA fantasy and haven’t tried picking up this series yet, I recommend it.

4.5 Bookmarks