Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

4 out of 5 Stars!

I recently picked this up at a book store that was going out of business (sad face…).

My first encounter with the work of Sarah J. Maas was her newest series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, so I guess I did things a little backwards. But, I’d heard so many good things about this series as well, I just couldn’t pass it up any longer.

The Blurb

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass–and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

My Thoughts?

Overall I really enjoyed this novel–not quite as much as A Court of Thorns and Roses, but it’s kind of hard to stand up to that spectacular series 🙂

First of all, Celaena is a kick-ass character! This is one of the few books I’ve seen where the female lead is already stronger and more skilled than anyone else in the novel right from the beginning. Yes she goes through some rehab since she’s been stuck in a slave labor camp for the last year, but she’s still amazing. Like a ninja gymnast. And her skills aren’t unrealistic or magic–she’s trained since her childhood in the art of killing, working with poisons and weapons with tutors from all over the world. It’s great to see a skilled female character who came by those skills through hard work and dedication.

And the Celaena love doesn’t end there. Besides being an assassin who wants more out of life, she’s still a GIRL. She gets excited over beautiful dresses, appreciates good music, and loves books. She’s ridiculously skilled, but still real. So many times “strong” female characters are written in a way that is unbelievable, someone readers can’t relate to. This book was quite refreshing in that sense.

The plot was action packed, though somewhat predictable. Despite the predictability, I still couldn’t put the book down. The character interactions where phenomenal, keeping my laughing at some moments and gasping at others. There’s the typical YA love triangle (square?), but the relationship progressions were so well written that I didn’t even mind.

And the writing style… Maas is an amazingly skilled wordsmith and world builder. I have to say that the writing style in Throne of Glass was more simplistic than her other series, but not necessarily in a bad way. You can just tell this was one of her earlier works.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed Throne of Glass and give it 4 out of 5 stars. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series 🙂

Happy Reading!