Throne of GlassAuthor: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Publishers, 404 pages
Publication Date: August 7, 2012
From Goodreads:
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 exhilarating. 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.
Sheri's Review:
I read this book while on vacation with my family and friends. Thank goodness my friends were also reading and my husband let me have a few mornings off from child care duty because I could not stop reading! I was attracted to this book because it came highly recommended by Pam, I read lots of great reviews, and the main character is an ASSASSIN!
Based on other's reviews I expected to like the storyline between Celeana, Choal and Dorian but I also found myself really enjoying reading about the relationship between Celeana and Princess Nehemia. It's not very often that we get to read about a positive relationship between two women who have meaningful dialogue about topics other than their relationships. I also loved the fact that Princess Nehemia becomes a central part of the storyline and offers us a different type of heroine to admire. Read the discussion post about the Bechdel Test on Christina Reads YA.
A second aspect of the book I really enjoyed was how mystery and suspense were woven throughout the book and I expect and hope will continue throughout the series. I thought Sarah Maas did a pretty good job of describing and explaining the world of Erilea but I definitely would have enjoyed knowing more particularly about Celeana's home nation. I also wanted to know more about Celeana's background and was dismayed, although not too surprised, to find an advertisement for four e-novellas that probably provided the detail I was looking for.
Overall it is one of the best young adult books I have read in awhile!
The second in the series, Crown of Midnight, is expected to be released August 27 2013. If you still haven't gotten enough of Celaena you can also check out the e-novellas!
I really enjoyed this book and Crown of Midnight was amazing! Great review :D
ReplyDeleteThanks. I can't wait to read Crown of Midnight!~Sheri
DeleteJust reviewed this one on my blog as well. I myself had some faults with it, so it's definitely not one of my favourites, but there are things that I really enjoyed about it. I liked the hints of magical elements and Celaena's background, and I also thought her friendship with Nehemia was refreshing. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks I will have to check out your review as well! ~Sheri
DeleteOooh, I missed this post when I visited last. Nehemia and Celaena would make my top ten favorite female relationships list, if I had one. Nehemia is definitely central to the storyline and clever and witty along with Celaena and so much love for their friendship. Yay for you having enjoyed the book as much as Pam did :).
ReplyDeleteThe novellas definitely give you some background on Celaeana (I too wanted more--I felt the intrigue of her was what kept me reading into the night), but so does the next book. (Sorry--I don't want to sound like a reviewer who keeps referring to a book that's not out yet, but in case you were wondering about how integral they are...). Unless... did you already read the novellas? The countdown widget for CoM looks so cool!
I haven't read the novellas. I'm going to have to space them out until CoM comes out. I can't believe how many bloggers have already read the next one! Pam is our widget expert so all the glory goes to her. ~Sheri
DeleteI can not wait till book two comes out! I'm so glad you liked this one. It was one of my favourite books that I read last year!
ReplyDelete