Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Fantasy
Year Published: 2012
Number of Pages: 404 pages
Date Read: 5/30/2017
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Series: Throne of Glass #1
Source: Purchased
Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)
Buy on: Amazon // Book Depository
“You could rattle the
stars," she whispered. "You could do anything, if only you dared. And
deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you most.”
Now, I have a shameful confession to make: even though I had
heard nothing but good things about Sarah
J. Maas’ “Throne of Glass” series, I have never actually read the first
book in the series “Throne of Glass”
(although I had read “The Assassin’s
Blade” first) until just recently and this book has been on my TBR shelf
for many years now! Now that I finally
got the chance to read “Throne of Glass,”
I am seriously awed by the highly creative and intense world that I was thrown
into!
The story starts off with a young assassin named Celaena
Sardothien who was toiling away in the slave mines of Endovier and just as it
seemed that all hope of was lost for Celaena to ever break out of Endovier, the
young crown prince of Adarlan named Prince Dorian Havilliard came in and said
that he will set Celaena free if she becomes the King of Adarlan’s Champion. However, Celaena must first go toe to toe
with other assassins, thieves and warriors in a competition that will determine
who will be strong enough to be the King’s Champion. Although Celaena hates the King of Adarlan
for destroying her hometown, she does want to be set free from her hardships and
agrees to the terms. However, once Celaena
appears in the kingdom of Adarlan, she finds out that some kind of monster is
brutally killing each Champion contestant and she will have to figure out a way
to save the kingdom from this mysterious evil force! Meanwhile, Celaena starts having relationship
problems with both Chaol Westfall, the stern and loyal Captain of the Guards
who believes that Celaena is a threat to the Crown Prince and Prince Dorian
Havilliard, the intelligent and optimistic son of the King of Adarlan who has
fallen in love with the assassin. Who
will Celaena choose?
Wow…. just wow!!! I
cannot believe I waited this long to actually read this book from one of the
most acclaimed novels ever written! Sarah J. Maas has done a spectacular
job at creating this intriguing fantasy world where magic exists, but got
banned by the kingdom and it forces the characters to rely on their wits and
strengths to survive in this world. I was
also a bit surprised at how the story seems to be like a medieval version of “The Hunger Games” as the competitors
have to risk their lives to become the King’s Champion, but the story never
felt like an exact replica of “The
Hunger Games” as it has the main character, Celaena, entering the
competition to regain her freedom rather than have the competitions be a yearly
thing for the kingdom. Sarah J. Maas
also did a great job at writing these characters, especially Celaena, Chaol and
Dorian themselves and I loved the fact that Celaena is portrayed as a strong
female protagonist who is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in and
is an awesome fighter to boot! I also
enjoyed the characters Prince Dorian and Chaol themselves, as they provided an
interesting dynamic with not only themselves, but with Celaena also. I loved the fact that Chaol is the stern and
highly protective Captain of the Guards who is always looking out for both
Celaena and Dorian, no matter how gruff he appears to both of them, while
Dorian is the carefree and optimistic prince who wants to see the good in
everyone, no matter how suspicious that person is. As for the obligatory LOVE TRIANGLE that occurs between Celaena, Chaol and Dorian, I will
discuss that in the CONS section
down below.
For anyone who does not like gory violence, there is a good
bit of gory violence going on in this book with various characters getting
murdered in a graphic manner, such as having their organs ripped out of their
bodies and having their faces being skinned off.
***Begin Rant***
Alright, so this is a small nitpick that I had with this
book and that is the obligatory LOVE
TRIANGLE that happens in the story.
Now, luckily, the LOVE TRIANGLE
in this story is not played up too high, but there were times where I was a bit
annoyed with the fact that Celaena had a hard time trying to choose between
Chaol and Dorian throughout the book and I actually wished that Celaena
actually chosen who she wanted to be with early on in the story rather than
spend most of the book going back and forth on whether she wants to spend her
time with Chaol or Dorian.
***End Rant***
Overall, “Throne of
Glass” is a fantastic book that fans of strong female assassins and magical
worlds will greatly enjoy and now I am off to read the second book in the “Throne of Glass” series, “Crown of Midnight!”
* 2015 Lincoln Award Nominee
* 2015 North Carolina Young Adult Book Award for High School
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