Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Page #: 418
Source: Library
Rating: 4 Stars

"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.
It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."

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

          Celaena Sardothien is back and more badass than ever in this intense sequel to Throne of Glass. Heads will roll, blood will splatter, and readers will swoon… oddly enough… and tears will be shed!

          After being disappointed in the first book I was a bit hesitant to read Crown of Midnight but it surprised me and exceeded my expectations. Celaena really stepped up her game and became the complete badass that I was looking for. We get to find out more about her past as well as meet some of the people in it (his name is Archer and I swooned) though I’m still waiting to see Arobynn Hamel. That’s going to be intense. Being an assassin, it’s not much of a happy past so some of it was quite heartbreaking.

                I still have mixed feelings however when it comes to the other major characters, specifically Dorian and Chaol. I like Dorian a little better now that he is accepting the fact that he and Celaena cannot be together. It gives Celaena a good friend and the scenes with them feel more real now. Chaol on the other hand… I still can’t fully accept him as a love interest. I don’t always believe his actions/reactions and he seems a bit too soft to be Captain of the Guard. The only time I liked him was when he was AWAY from Celaena and NOT thinking about her. I know this is not the popular opinion but that’s just how I feel. My favorite characters actually are Nehemia and Archer. They were cool, had personality, and (in Nehemia’s case) is just as badass as the King’s Champion herself.

                I absolutely love the world that Sarah J. Maas has built. I love the mythology and the fey and was really excited to delve into it more in Heir of Fire. There was enough action to keep satisfied without overdoing it and just disturbing enough to be believable without making me squeamish.Though I wasn't surprised by the big twist at the end, cause I had been expecting it since the first book, I was really thrilled that the author went that way and am jumping up and down at the drama that will come from it.

I definitely enjoyed this sequel and am now officially hooked. I can’t wait to see what happens next on out heroine’s journey!

-Sarah

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Publication Date: August 7th, 2012
Rating: 3 Stars

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another.

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. -Summary from Goodreads

            This is another one of those books that I have been wanting to read since the first book came out but kept putting it off until now. While Throne of Glass had a compelling world and storyline and interesting characters I had one major problem...I couldn't believe some of their actions.

            Celaena Sardothien (can we just pause to admire how cool a name that is) is an assassin who has just spent a year in a death camp. Then one day she is called on by the Prince and is asked to be his champion in a tournament that will determin who would become the King’s personal assassin. She accepts because anything is better than her current situation. Though I love kick-butt main characters I had a hard time believing some of Celaena’s actions and emotions. She seems a bit too petty for what she had gone through. She seemed to care way to much about her looks, clothes, and other peoples opinions. She had just spent 12 months breaking rocks and years before that being a top assassin with a rough upbringing so I'm couldn't quite wrap my head around her being that person.When she fell into assassin mode however I became totally enthralled in the story.

            There was also a love triangle and while I’m not a fan of them to begin with this one was kind of confusing. Celaena hates the King and anyone who shares his name, she repeatedly says so, and how she could never love someone like the Prince because of who he was… then she turns right around and flirts with him and is undeniably attracted to him and wants him to be attracted to her. It’s the same with the Captain. She is basically their prisoner but she gives them a lot of genuine smile, flirts with them, craves their company, and gives some of her own personal history, including some hints at a former love who she still mourns. Her emotions were everywhere and I just couldn’t believe a lot of it. 

            The world was interesting and well built. Even though this is a fantasy I didn’t expect there to be hints of fey mentioned. I think the fey world is extremely interesting and though they didn’t get into it much in this book I can definitely see this popping up later in the series. There is actually a lot in this book that I can see showing up later for more page time. Like the characters Nehemia and Nox (I would totally love to see them again) and I want to see Celaena’s former mentor sometime. I liked the action in this book but it mainly seemed to be a set up for the rest of the series. 

            While I seem to be complaining a lot I actually did enjoy this book. I was just perhaps a bit disappointed. I’m definitely going to try the second book out and see how it is but it may be a while.

           

            -Sarah