Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne Of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Young Adult
Format: ARC
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: 8-7-12
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 kings 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 exhilarating. 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. – Goodreads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to admit that when I heard about Throne of Glass I was very excited to read a book about a female assassin.  I expected this story to be fight after fight, and there was definitely some of that, but it went much deeper, as well.  Celaena is almost completely emotionally broken by her time in prison and she is really just a shell of a person when they take her out for the competition.  Slowly, she starts to strengthen and regain a part of herself that was gone. There is no doubt that Celaena is a strong character, but she is not just physically strong, she is intelligent and emotionally strong.  Since parts of the book are told from both the Prince’s and Westfall’s point of view, the reader gets a real sense of Celaena’s strengths and weaknesses.  I think that all of the different angles helped me become attached to our heroine.  I really cared about what happened to her.

In addition to being an emotionally fulfilling book, it is also a wonderful, action-packed fantasy.  There is a lot of mystery, betrayal and even some fabulous ball gowns thrown in for good measure.  The descriptions of the competition between the assassins and the complicated political life of the people at court made this world a very real place to me, as a reader.  I found myself at work, wishing I was reading this book and I admit that I skipped the dishes in order to do so!  I think this book will appeal to established fans of fantasy as well as someone who is new to the genre.  The characters are very compelling and it belongs firmly in the “page turner” category.  It was an excellent combination of action and emotion and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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Kate

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9 responses to “Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

  1. I was so excited to read this book, and I was SO HAPPY when my expectations were completely surpassed. It’s such a GOOD BOOK. I enjoyed reading it!

  2. Ahhh! Such a wonderful review 🙂 I am scheduled to read this in a few weeks and I am SO excited, especially having heard what you thought of it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Kate!

  3. Great review! Throne of Glass keeps popping up and I have to admit that while it not my usual kind of book, I really want to read it! I love books with multiple POV’s so you’ve officially hooked me!

  4. Haha…I skipped the dishes to finish this one, too! So. Good. I still need to read the four prequel stories, though. But I’m excited to dive back into that world. I think female assassins are my new favorite literary staple. 🙂

  5. Great review! I got an ARC of this at the Texas convention, but it kept being pushed to the back of my reading pile. It is definitely going back to the front now b/c of this review! Thanks for sharing!

  6. Yes, I agree completely! I enjoyed this book so much and I’m glad to see you did too. So wonderful and I can’t wait for the next one.

  7. YAY! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Also: you say everything I wanted to say in my own review, but was to incoherently gushing to actually get to the point 🙂

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