Review of Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass Series)
Throne of Glass
Throne of Glass, Book One
Young Adult, Fantasy
Bloomsbury
May 7, 2013
Print, Kindle, Epub
432
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.
Amazon | Goodreads | Author’s Website
MY REVIEW OF THRONE OF GLASS:
It’s not extremely often that a book pulls me in completely before I even finish the sample, let alone the first few pages. Bam…I was hooked. Not because of anything crazy going on, but Maas knows how to write a character. Her portrayal of the protagonist begins with the first words, and I immediately felt something. Like? Dislike?
I wasn’t sure at that point.
But I knew that I wanted to like her, and I wanted her to win. Despite her somewhat acerbic (WORD OF THE WEEK: expressing harsh or sharp criticism in a clever way) attitude, you can see the intricate layers that make up the complexity that is Celaena Sardothien. Sure, she’s flawed, but in oddly likable ways and for surprisingly understandable reasons (for the most part).
I will just say that the Throne of Glass series is pretty phenomenal. At first, I thought Maas was ripping off a good bit from The Hunger Games until I read that she started writing it a decade ago. It’s an interesting twist on the Cinderella story, and a fantastic read for anyone who loved The Hunger Games. It was a refreshing read with a well thought out plot and substantial character development. I look forward to delving more into this fantasy realm with the next in the series, Crown of Midnight.
Happy Reading!