Crown of Midnight

Oct 22

Throne of Glass #2

By Sarah J. Maas

TheStory

After having succeeded through all the challenges thrown at her during the competition, Celaena has now become the King’s Champion - his right hand, his assassin, his pet. Celaena is forced to take out the King’s enemies - whomever, whenever, and however he deems necessary. No questions asked.

However, Celaena is a sneaky little assassin. She has her wily ways of doing what she wants. She still has a moral code - even if it’s one she invented all on her own. She will not bow to a cowardly king (or a demanding dead queen). She doesn’t have any of the answers she needs and she intends to get them.

But the same dark forces that emerged in the last book are still at work and mysteries abound throughout the glass castle. Celaena continues to seek out answers but must maintain her own secrets and be very careful what she does, how she acts, and whom she trusts. Even though she wants nothing to do with “saving the world” or “overcoming evil,” she might be the only solution her people have.

TheReview

The beginning of this story is simple. Celaena is doing her “job” for the king. Nehemia, Celaena, Dorian, and Chaol are just trying to live their lives as best they can. But some new characters enter into our story here. Some of them are well-meaning but others you can just tell are going to be problem characters later on.

Remember my last review about the lack of character backgrounds? Well, this book solves some of that - thank goodness. There is so much more character information as well as great character development. I started to really get to know and love some of the characters in this book, both old and new. Most of them start developing distinct personalities and traits.

It is certainly a ramp up from ToG. While Throne of Glass answered a lot of our questions, what it didn’t is answered here in this book. BUT, it also adds new mysteries and now we have different questions that need answering! It does start off a little bit boring but it gets. so. good. The first half isn’t as action packed but we wee a lot more character development and relationship building.

The TWISTS! And the TURNS! And the SHOCKS! It was fantastic. There were some major events that completely shocked me (which is fairly rare… I usually see it coming). And that was just thrilling. Some of the stuff I did see coming because it was heavily foreshadowed in ToG but some of the turns truly surprised me. Around page 200, it was a total page turner.

The first book didn’t overly thrill me - only 3/5 stars - so this book sort of solidified for me why some people are so obsessed with the series. It was a great read, especially the last half. It doesn’t end on what I would necessarily call a “cliff hanger” but it it sets UP for the next one gloriously and I just neeeeeed to know what is going to happen in the next book!