Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
If you’re a fantasy book reader, you’ve probably at least heard of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. It’s a popular fantasy YA book and the first of a nine-book series that follows the journey of Celaena Sardothien, an infamous 18-year-old assassin in the Kingdom of Adarlan. Celaena spends a year in a slave camp called Endovier paying for her crimes when she gets dragged out by the Crown Prince of Adarlan, Dorian. He presents her with an offer: Represent him as his champion in a palace tournament to compete against other thieves and assassins. If she wins, she will serve as the King’s Champion and earn her freedom after four years of service.
Celaena accepts this offer– the other option was to go back to Endovier and spend the rest of her life in the torturous punishment. However, as the competition progresses, different champions start turning up dead, brutally murdered with their hearts ripped out. The rest of the book follows Celaena as she fights for her life, makes a few friends and maybe a few more enemies, and discovers a lot more than what she bargains for.
I really enjoyed this book. For one, I liked Celaena’s character. She’s strong, intelligent, perceptive, and a little violent. I’ve seen far too many YA fantasy books with boring, stereotypical heroines, but this one is a refreshing change. Also, one thing about fantasy books in general that I admire is the world-building. I find it really interesting to reference the map provided at the beginning of the book as I read, matching up the locations and trying to visualize the settings in my head.
Of course, like most books, there are some things that some people might not enjoy. The book is pretty long, and it takes a few chapters to get adjusted to the writing style if you don’t typically read books like this. There is also a pretty heavy focus on romance- and there is a love triangle. I’m really not a big fan of love triangles, but it didn’t really decrease my overall enjoyment of reading the book by much. It’s definitely up to personal preference.
- Hannah S.
Great review Hannah. I too have read the "Throne of Glass" and personally really enjoyed it. I also liked the main character, Celaena's, personality and agree that this book is different from a majority of YA fantasy novels. In my opinion, I did not really have a problem with the author's writing style, but I guess it is because I mainly read fantasy books.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Hannah! You did a great job organizing this, starting with summary and going into your own opinions. I have never read this book, but it does seem enjoyable and I will probably give it a try. I am also someone who doesn't enjoy reading a book with a boring main character, and the fact that Celaena isn't, draws me in even more - I'm glad you included that!
ReplyDelete-Claire Hobson