Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published:
August 7, 2012
Pages: 416
Source: For Review from Bloomsbury USA/NetGalley (Thank you!)
Rating:
4.5 Stars
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 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.
In short: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas was an absolutely absorbing read with numerous elements that will keep the reader riveted to the story.
Thankfully though, Throne of Glass wasn't exactly like Grave Mercy, despite having a few significant similarities. It was distinguishable enough in plot and characters that I didn't dwell on any likenesses. It certainly helps that books with trained assassins are super fun to read. Celaena and Ismae were both tough, life-hardened girls, but Celaena was more girlish. At times, I found her to be annoyingly cocky and lacking in common sense, but for the most part, I liked her and admired her spirit and mettle.
There is a love triangle in Throne of Glass and I was prepared to be annoyed by it, as I usually am with love triangles, but surprisingly I found that not to be the case. I feel like the romance was well done and definitely a compelling part of the story. Though I am solidly Team Chaol in the choice between the handsome and arrogant Prince Dorian and the serious and level-headed captain of the guard, Chaol Westfall, I can appreciate that the love triangle was definitely one that will leave the reader with conflicting feelings in support of either love interest. The chemistry between both pairings felt tangible, truly enticing and effective.
Overall, I think the thing that stood out the most to me about Throne of Glass was just how darn compelling it was. It was a definite page-turner and I was never bored. There are so many elements that make Throne of Glass a truly alluring read. Besides the likeable protagonist and the powerful chemistry between love interests that I already mentioned, an entertaining competition, riveting action scenes, interesting court intrigue, an enchanting masked ball, and a curious mystery, all kept me absolutely absorbed in the story. I cannot wait to read more from the Throne of Glass universe, including the four prequels already available as ebooks.
Other Reviews:
Alexa Loves Books
Novel Sounds
Musings of a YA Reader
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I can't wait to read this one! I am glad you enjoyed it :)
ReplyDeleteHope you love it too!
DeleteI read Throne of Glass on the weekend and absolutely LOVED it! It was well worth the wait, and many of the points you brought up in your review were also aspects I completely agree about it. With the way the book has been marketed on the cover jacket, you would think the romance is stronger, but it's not. I really liked how it's played out in the book, definitely leading up to something more for the future. I also have some suspicions about Celaena's past that I'm hoping to be proven right in the next books. Great review, Aylee!
ReplyDeleteLiz @ Midnight Bloom Reads
Yeah, I was surprised at how impressed I was with the romance and how I was handled. For the most part, I tend to be more annoyed than anything at the romance, but I found I was able to just enjoy this one! I'm very curious about Celaena's past and I hope to read the prequels to find out more about it. So fascinating!
DeleteGlad it's still distinguishable from Grave Mercy. I really want to read Game of Thrones. I'm thinking of tackling it on my trip to Europe next month. I do love the historical high fantasy genre.
ReplyDeleteYou should! I would too if I had an opportunity - which I sure don't!
DeleteI am in COMPLETE agreement! I hate love triangles with a passion, but I found myself growing attached to both of the guys here -- still, I am totally Team Chaol, haha.
ReplyDeleteCelaena was definitely my favorite part of the book, though. She had so much fire and totally held her own. I can't wait for book two!
I was just so impressed at Sarah J. Maas's ability to not leave me annoyed by the love triangle, as is pretty much always the case. I actually enjoyed myself with this romance! Very unusual for me.
DeleteDespite my issues with the characters, I was never bored either Aylee! I wanted to know Celaena a bit more for sure, and feel like she was the badass assassin everyone said she was, but I'll definitely be picking up book 2 with high hopes. So glad you loved this one, it was fun to read your thoughts after just having read this book recently:)
ReplyDeleteGlad there was still something for you to enjoy! I would've liked to have seen more assassinating from Celaena too, but I awesome she does some of that in the prequels and I have no doubt that there will be lots to come in the sequel, now that that is her official position. I hope anyways!
DeleteYou know, I think that most of the bloggers I love are siding Team Chaoi, lol
ReplyDeleteThat's good!
I don't know if I'll read this book because I'm not really into high fantasy, but I do have one of the prequel novellas which I got for free off Amazon so I'm at least going to check out Maas's writing.
Thanks for this review.
Yeah, well Dorian seemed more of the bad boy, eye candy character... I can see why some people would like him, and certainly Celaena had great chemistry with him, but he's not my thing and it seems everyone agrees! I'd be interested in reading what you think of the prequel!
DeleteThis is the third and most positive review I've seen of this one today! You've restored my hope that I may indeed love this one as much as most everyone else. :) I'm excited to dive in now! :D
ReplyDeleteOh, good! I know there have been some mixed reviews, and certainly I didn't love everything about this one, but I definitely enjoyed myself reading it!
DeleteA masked ball?! How exciting! I haven't read Grave Mercy or this one, but I've been hearing good things about this new genre of books...so it might be worth checking out. I'm glad the love triangle actually worked. That's a good thing, or I'd be annoyed by it too.
ReplyDelete-Lauren
Heh, yup it was super fun! I would recommend trying out this genre - it might be hard to escape otherwise because it seems like it is becoming a very popular genre indeed.
DeleteI'm so glad you like this one! I know it's been getting sort of mixed reviews but I thought it was such a fun, enjoyable read. I don't think I've seen anyone on Team Dorian though, haha. I'm so excited to read more from this world! Fantastic review, Aylee!
ReplyDeleteYeah, exactly - I felt the same. It wasn't faultless, but it was pure fun! I liked the chemistry between Celaena and Dorian, but I still liked Chaol more, personally!
DeleteI just finished reading this one and I know what you mean about the love triangle. I really liked that the romance was done very tastefully. I definitely put this book in the same category of Grave Mercy as well, love that these historical high fantasy books are coming out. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm psyched to read more in this genre! The love triangle definitely was well done - not annoying and pointless like usual!
DeleteUgh I hate love triangles especially when they're well done. It keeps up at night wondering who the girl's going to end up with. I haven't read Grave Mercy yet but I've heard so many good things about it too, just like with this book. Thanks for the review! I think I'm going to wait until all the books are released so I wouldn't have to wonder who she'll end up with in the end. (I really take love triangles seriously lol) ;P
ReplyDeleteLOL! Well, that's one way of looking at it. I guess I agree, that it is more torturous if the triangle is done well! haha, well waiting until they're all out is definitely the best way to approach that problem!
DeleteWow! Four prequels already?
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm not sure what to make of this one. I already read a couple of not so favorable reviews for it and to be honest, I'm kind of already annoyed with the heroine for being so superficial. It just doesn't seem like she has her head in the game. But I think I'm be Team Chaol, too!
You know, I didn't think she was TOO superficial. She had strong beliefs and she stood up for her friends when it was not the popular thing to do. But yeah, she was certainly taken in by Dorian's looks quite easily.
DeleteAylee, even though I was very disappointed with this one, the story wasn't completely terrible and I may just give book two a try. Let's hope that it has a bit more assassinating :)
ReplyDeleteI think the prequels would be useful to learn more about Celaena's background since I felt like we didn't really get a chance to find out her backstory. If you do read them, I hope you choose to review them (or least let me know how you felt about them).
I can't imagine that there wouldn't be more assassinating what with her new title! I hope. I've heard the prequels are quite good so I would like to fit them in sometime!
DeleteI am also Team Chaol - he is so awesome :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed this one! I didn't like it as much as I wanted to (I prefer the novellas), but it still had some great moments.
Great review!
It's good to hear that you liked the novellas even more - makes me really want to read them! Hopefully I'll get that chance soon!
DeleteWell, you and Small Review (who put this on her Special Shelf) both seemed to really enjoy this one. I haven't read Grave Mercy, but I hear its good (another Special Shelf for Small, too). I've always lived under the conception that I don't like historical fiction, but now there is this weird twist "historical fantasy". I like fantasy. I'm just a little gun shy of the mixture of the two. I did surprise myself and enjoy the Legacy Series. Is it anything like that or much better? I'm wanting to give this a try but both the length and the genre keep me from pulling the trigger.
ReplyDeleteI haven't actually read the Legacy Series yet, so I can't speak specifically to any comparisons, but I do think there is a very good chance that you would like both this one and Grave Mercy, Gina. It might surprise you how engaging they are but Throne of Glass at least, is very low on the historical stuff and Grave Mercy somehow made it interesting, I thought. I don't know, I think you should go for it and I look forward to hearing what you thought!
DeleteI won this in a contest. Its a hard copy though. May take me a while to get through it, I'm very excited though!
DeleteI'm so excited that you liked this book! I'm with you on team Chaol. Definitely. You know, I never really made the Grave Mercy connection before, but now that you mention it, I feel a little silly for having missed it! I guess I never thought of Throne of Glass as historical fantasy (just straight up fantasy or court fantasy). Good point though!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I didn't really think of it as a historical read either, just that it was set in some olden time. But the similarity between the two struck me right away because of the assassin connection. But like I said, they were quite sufficiently different so I was pleased. Team Chaol FTW!
DeleteI went out and bought this immediately after reading your review!
ReplyDeleteI still haven't gotten around to reading it because of classes and school starting up and what not, but I'm hoping to get to it ASAP. I love that I have a book I know I will treasure waiting for me on my shelf :)
Oh, wow! I hope you enjoy and think it's fun! I know it has been getting a lot of mixed reviews, but I know I enjoyed myself reading it. It would be a nice book to read to relax in between the stresses of school.
DeleteI like reading through a post that can make men and women think.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thank you for allowing me to comment!
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