Saturday, February 28, 2015

Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas is a high fantasy novel that follows the adult life of Celeana, a famous assassin of the kingdom who was sold into slavery for her crimes. Prince Dorian and his Captain of the Guard, Chaol, take her from her imprisonment and deliver her to the king, as the Prince's champion for the king. In order to gain her freedom she must win a series of challenges undertaken by the rest of the contestants, all of whom are men and criminals.

I kept wanting to yell to the men, "Show some flippin' respect. She can kill your ass in a second!" whenever the men wronged her, which was often. She used her stature and her gender to fly past the men on the challenges and come flying out of nowhere at the end. But, alas, Prince Dorian decided that they weren't going to reveal her true self to anyone, including Princess Nehemia, who Celaena befriends (and later finds out that she knew all along).

I loved this book, I was especially thrilled that although there was a love triangle, the focus of the story was not on the romance elements. This is no spoiler (because it says it on the back) when I said between Dorian and Chaol, I was on Team Chaol. Will that change later on? Quite possible, especially considering that there will be a total of 5 or 6 books. I'm sure I'll flip-flop around. But, for now, I want her to be with Chaol. The positive aspects of the two men are displayed through Celaena in who she becomes when she is with them. Dorian is the joker and the bookaholic (I know the feeling, bro) who feeds her need for knowledge while Chaol pushes her physically, something her life depends on.

Sarah J. Maas has me really, really excited for the fourth book to come out! I the three books in a week because I couldn't put them down. Hell, I even went out to a physical bookstore and bought each book as I finished it instead of ordering it online. It was that good.

In hindsight the foreshadowing through book one is very obvious, so obvious that I'm surprised I missed a few facts of the book that stare you down in the second and third.

Be Ye Warned: Spoiler Ahead

I had a major de ja vu when contestants kept showing up around the castle mauled to death. Remind you of something? Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets perhaps? (The answer is, yes, it does.)

Even though magic was outlawed in Adarlan by the king it's suggested that he may be using the magic that he outlawed to control people, magical creatures, and his ever-growing kingdom.  As we find out later in the book, one of the contestants was releasing the monster, presumably with the king's blessing, and meets a short, sweet death. Much sweeter than he deserves.

There are a million things I could spoil about this book. After having read them in a week, they all tended to mesh together so I'm hesitant to give away another spoiler that may not even be from this book. You have no idea how much self control I'm using right now.

What I can tell you, though, is that this book is full of action (not so much adventure, it all takes place around the castle), subdued magic and plenty of creepiness (what with the exploring the hidden tombs all by herself).

1 comment:

  1. Your blog is so pretty! And I love your review it was so funny. I think you like Harry Potter? lol

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