Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on October 8, 2012 | 6 Comments


Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. MaasThrone of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #1
Published by Bloomsbury USA Children's (8.7.2012)
Genres: High Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover, 404 pages
Source: Library
Buy on Amazon


4 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.

My thoughts

Although I don’t read it much, I thoroughly enjoy high fantasy. And my first thought upon opening this book? OHMIGAWD A MAP!! It’s sad how thrilled I was to see it. I just hate reading high fantasy where all those made-up place names are thrown at me and I have no way of getting a visual. So right away this book earned brownie points with me!

Celaena was a great lead. She was kick-ass and strong, yet she was still human enough for me to connect with her. I loved her snarky attitude! There was clear development in her character, too. In the beginning she’s a bit…er, cantankerous at best. She doesn’t seem to care about anyone but herself. There was major change in her as time went by in the castle and she became attached to the people around her. She was much softer (yet still badass).
I am very interested in learning about her background! While I’m pretty sure I know who/what she is based on a couple of things mentioned, I still want the full history of what happened to her. (Maybe in the novellas?? Which I will be reading soon!) I also want to know more about her ‘abilities’ that she mentioned.

Chaol and Dorian. I liked them both, but I must say I’m team Chaol. This is HUGE for me, as I usually don’t pick sides in love triangles because I despise them. But this was a great example of a love triangle that was well written.
Anyway. It’s not that I don’t like Dorian; I do. He was sweet and had a witty sense of humor. But he was almost too sweet – I like a bit of conflict in relationships. Which is why I’m team Chaol. He and Celaena didn’t always get along, and it was a bit love/hate at times. Don’t ask me why, but I have a weakness for those kind of relationships…

The characters were very realistic and convincing. The side characters were just as great as the main ones. I really liked Nehemia and Philippa (and Fleetfoot!); I loathed Kaltain and wanted to knock her teeth out; Cain, Perrington, and the King inspired fear and mistrust (and more loathing). Just like people in real life, the ones in Throne of Glass incited a wide array of emotions. I love it when a book makes me hate the antagonist(s) as much as I love the protag!

The mystery of the killer was a bit predictable; I figured it out fairly early (and was a bit disappointed in Celaena for not figuring it out sooner). But I still enjoyed the journey that she took in finding the truth.
The world was fabulous! I loved the darkness and magic, and the hint at a past involving Fae. The writing was engaging and the imagery vivid. I was able to picture everything in my head as easily as if I was watching a movie. I look forward to reading more of Sarah’s work!

Favorite character: Probably Nehemia.

Favorite quotes

(After seeing a giant library while looking for escape routes)
She’d entered a city made entirely of leather and paper. Celaena put a hand against her heart. Escape routes be damned.

“Pick another – something different. Make it interesting, too. Something that will make me sweat, please.”
“You’ll be sweating when I skin you alive and squish your eyeballs beneath my feet,” she muttered.

“And what’s wrong with headstrong girls? Other than the fact that they’re not wooden-headed ninnies who can only open their mouths to give orders and gossip?”

“If you don’t stop feeling and start instructing, I’m going to rip out your eyes and replace them with these billiard balls.”

Overall assessment

Plot: 4.5/5
Writing style: 4/5
Originality: 3.5/5
Characters: 4/5
World-building: 4/5
Pace: 5/5
Cover: 3/5
Meh. I like this one too much:

Overall rating: 4/5 starfish
Jessi (Geo)

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6 responses to “Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

  1. Yay! I’m glad you really liked this book! I’ve been reading a lot of mixed reviews about this book :/

    I started the novella’s but I have to say Celaena is quite arrogant and annoying in the novella’s, in fact she drove me crazy at how self absorbed she could be. So I took a break from them… I’m hoping I’ll enjoy the actual book a lot more than I am enjoying the novella’s.

    The sad thing is, the main character is the only reason I’m not enjoying them… If she were less arrogant I’m sure I would like her more therefore enjoy the novella’s more.

  2. I know what you mean! She was like that in the beginning of Throne of Glass…but don’t worry, she gets better. You should read it if she’s the only thing that brought down the novellas, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it :)

  3. I wanted to read this book so bad. But.One of my friends hated it. Just hated it. So I didn’t have much motivation to want to read it. But now, that I see that you loved it, I think I’m going to buy it!
    Oh and those made-up names in every fantasy book, are such a turn-off. I’m glad to see that there’s a map here. lol
    Great review :]

  4. I’m not a fan of love triangles either, but I must say.. I could under stand this one. I’m team Chaol all the way ;) A lot of people didn’t like Celaena, but I must say that I found her quite interesting. She wasn’t perfect and standard, so credits for that. I also loved the map!

  5. Trayche – Thanks! If you don’t like it you could always give it away on your blog, that’s what I do with books I didn’t like! Gives someone else a chance to read them :)

    Mel – Yay! Go Team Chaol!! :D I can see why people wouldn’t like her though. She annoyed me a few times in the beginning just because she was so arrogant. But not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the book thankfully.

  6. Glad you enjoyed it I’m actually writing my review of it now. *oops* it’s a bit late! TEAM CHAOL! *high fives* I agree with the point you made about her not figuring it out..I’m always pretty slow on the uptake of things (!) but I did figure the killer out before her and considering she an amazing assassin and everything..she should be better but other than that I loved it too! :)
    Great review thanks for sharing

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