After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.
Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.
Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?
***THIS REVIEW MAY
CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ THE FIRST BOOK***
Whilst this book was really good, I didn’t enjoy it as much
as I did with the first book. Click here to check out my review for that.
I think what made me dislike the book (just a tad bit in
comparison to the first book) was the relationship between Celeana and Chaol. I
reallyyyyyyy wanted something more to happen between her and Dorian, who is
just a darling. But, yes I get it Celeana and Chaol have so much more in
common. However, there was just something about Chaol that I didn’t like.
Oh but can we just pause and think about Dorian! I knew
it!!! Ah, gosh I hope with this secret of his, he’ll be able to rule the
kingdom in a better way than his father. I just love him. Oh and he needs to
get a new love interest and one who will actually love him for who he is.
Aside from the romance department, the story line was good.
It took to a whole different level in contrast to the first book. There’s a lot
more for secrets, a lot more deaths (especially one in particular which makes
Celeana go a bit coo coo when dealing with her loss) and a lot more danger for
Celeana. These are trying times for her.
At the end of the book Celeana must come to deal with her
new found ability and she gets send to another city just to do that. I wonder
how she’ll cope in the next book.
Meet Celaena Sardothien. Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.
In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.
Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?
Okay, where on earth do I begin? ‘Throne of
Glass’ is such an AMAZING book, that I don’t think putting my thoughts about
this book into words, would do it justice. But first of all, I would like to
say a massive thank you to ‘Net Galley’ and ‘Bloomsbury UK’ for giving me this
ARC! Safe to say, that this book will be one of my all time favourite novels.
Sooooo let the fan girling commence!
This book introduces the reader to the land of
Erilea, a kingdom is in chaos and at war as the King of Adarlan seeks to conquer all.
Celaena Sardothien was rescued at the brink of death at the age of eight, after
waking up to see that her parents had been murdered. She is the most feared assassin there ever was after being trained by the King
of Assassins, who ruthless as he is, trained Celaena to be the best.
However, her capture placed her in the Salt Mines of
Endovier, a death prison, where criminals are starved and beaten, especially
Celaena herself. She receives a proposal to become the King’s Champion, a King that she despises, but the freedom she is promised after serving him for three years is too much for her to say no to. So she enters a competition to become the King's Champion along with other thieves, assassins and criminals. However it soon becomes apparent that something is not right as one by one the competitors are brutally murdered, Celaena must find out who is behind the killings before she is next!
I LOVED Celaena! She is one kickass female and contains all the
qualities that I so desperately wanted to see in a female character and for
once it felt good that these qualities were embodied in a woman, rather than a
guy for once! Move aside Katniss, there’s a new kid on the block. Raised as an
assassin and who has been through a hard time, she is extremely strong, can
kill you at an instant clever, sly and charismatic. Not only is she very blunt
and hardly shows any manners (one of the things I like about this girl, for
example was her displaying contains of her food whilst it was in her
mouth!), she is very fond of all pretty things and is extremely gorgeous....and
she know it, hence why is also cocky and arrogant. However, underneath all that
bravado and tough exterior, she is still hurting from her past. She has a soul,
which makes it all the more possible to love her.
Not only, did I LOVE (yes that word any again)
Celaena, but I loved all the other characters.
They were brilliantly written,
very unique and loveable, from the hot headed, moody Captain Westfall, to the
spoiled, but yet caring prince, Dorian.
Now, I would say that I always enjoy reading
about love triangles, I mean that is what gives it the extra umph in a YA novel
and normally I have already decided which guy (or girl) the main character
suits better with. However, this was the first time that I found it hard
choosing between Dorian, the prince and the King’s main guard, Chaol a.k.a
Captain Westfall.
I was seriously TORN! They are so both gorgeous, loveable and
suit Celaena in different ways. Chaol is a very serious guy and doesn’t open up to anyone, let alone his closest friend, Dorian. But he is also sweet and
protective. His very cautious about Celaena, who is under his supervision to
train, however, the more he is around her, the more he soon finds admiral qualities about her. There is this love-hate relationship between the both of them, not
to mention they had both experienced a similar childhood history. Normally I love
those love-hate relationships however, we have Prince Dorian. He purposely went
to the Salt Mines to persuade Celaena to join his father’s competition and to sponsor her himself. Immediately, I knew that something was going to happen
between the two of them. Whereas, Celaena and
Chaol share similar history,
Dorian and Celaena have both similar personalities. He is cocky and slightly
arrogant. He makes the ladies swoon at their feet and enjoys doing it. He teases
Celaena, makes her blush (which hasn’t happened in a long time), is funny and
incredibly sweet. But there is much more to him. He cares about the people who
are suffering under the hands of his father and desperately wants to make
things right all over the place. He hates what his father is doing and wants to
go in a different direction, which is to make peace.
For most of the book, I do
have to admit, I was leaning towards Dorian, especially when they both
kissed!!! EEIKEEE! But there was aspects where Chaol would do something or say
something, which made my heart tug for him. I am still torn between the two
characters!
The only thing that I would say I was disappointed is that some of
the romantic aspects did seem to be lacking and undeveloped. It seems like in
some aspects none of the three characters put much effort in their
relationship.
I loved the aspect of magic being outlawed by the King. We
get to find out that Celaena has some sort of element of magic in her, which
has been suppressed from an early age. However, we don’t get to know anything
beyond that. Perhaps this will be revealed in the later books.
The writing was absolutely beautiful, as if it was written to be
made into a movie. Everything was described in detail and it wasn’t even too
much description. It really delves into the fantasy genre. There were breathtaking creatures, places and stories that this book delivered. A new world,
full of secrets and creatures lurking around. The book is fastpaced when it
needs to be and slows down, whenever Celaena reminiscences about her
past, her first love and her training with the King of Assassins.
The book keeps you on your feet at all times. I was especially
gripping the pages when I desperately wanted to know who was killing off the
competitors one by one!
This book is a MUST read and I urge everyone of
you to go out and get this book!
Notable quotes/passages: “Enjoyed that, did you?" Chaol growled. "Immensely." Celaena patted Chaol's arm as she took it in her own. "Now you must pretend that you like me, or else everything will be ruined.”
Title: Crown of Midnight
