Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (YA Reviewer)
“My name is Celaena Sardothien,” she whispered, “and I will not be afraid.”
***3.5 stars***
*chuckles at clever use of cool quote*
*gets awkward after realizing how lame that is*
*on with the review*
Throne of Glass is a fantasy tale about, Celaena Sardothien a young female assassin temporarily released from slavery in a salt mine in order to compete in a competition against twenty-three others to decide who will be the king’s Champion. When competitors begin turning up dead, their bodies mutilated, Celeana learns that all is not what it seems in the castle…
Actually, this book is about a lot more than just that, but it would take too long to try to sum it all up in a way that made it readable.
For example, there is also a love triangle involving Celaena, Chaol (Kay-all. I know, that one threw me for a loop too) Westfall, the Captain of the Guard, and Dorian Havilliard, the Crown Prince.
Well, maybe “love triangle” is too strong a word. I felt like there was a lot of implied love triangle-ness, and not as much real love triangle-ing going on as many seem to think. It really doesn’t even get romantic until halfway through.
This is what it said on the back of the book, above the blurb, in big letters:
TWO MEN LOVE HER
THE WHOLE LAND FEARS HER
ONLY SHE CAN SAVE THEM ALL
See what I mean?:
TWO MEN LOVE HER
Like it’s an emotional war between two guys (who are actually friends) for her heart and eternal affection. Well, let me just tell you that it’s not nearly that dramatic, which is actually kind of refreshing. I’m growing a bit tired of all the cliché drama love triangles where two buff guys fight over the girl. Not that I mind buff guys…
Something else I liked…The author’s writing style. I know from experience that some authors *coughs*Lauren Oliver*coughs* can literally spend paragraph after MOTHERFLIPPING PARAGRAPH going on and on about a landscape or a raindrop or something. That was not the case in Throne of Glass. The scenery was described adequately, but Maas managed to keep things moving along as well. *applause* Well done.
My most major disappointment with this book is simply the lack of action. I expected SO much more, especially from Celaena. I mean, she’s a world-famous assassin, for Yoda’s sake. Naturally, she should be kick-ass, right?
Wrong.
What little fighting we do see Celaena doing is mostly just a) sparring or b) getting her ass kicked. I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to see some legit action going on with the competition and I was seriously disappointed to find out that the Tests the competitors had to go through were mostly unimaginative and overall, just rather blah.
***MILD SPOILER WARNING***
And another thing, who the hell is Sam?
No seriously.
He gets mentioned a bit throughout the book, and we know Celaena used to love him and that he’s dead but…what else? The exact details of his death, and Celaena’s capture are still a mystery to me… now I have to get book two…darn…
***MILD SPOILER OVER***
The characters are well-developed and interesting, though Celaena was not at all what I was expecting. She’s just so much…louder. A lot more bold and talkative than I pictured her, but at least she’s not cliché. She irritated me a bit at first, but I will admit she grew on meJ
Also, I’m not sure if all the editions of this book have this (I got the newest paperback edition) BUT THANK YOU MS. MAAS FOR THE PRONOUNCIATION GUIDE. THANK. YOU.
OVERALL>>>>> This is an engaging read with interesting characters. There are action scenes, but they’re few and far between, with most occuring in the last %60 of the book. The romance is the same (mostly in the last %50) I would recommend it to people who like regular fantasy and not epic or high fantasy.
[divider]About Jennifer (Paranormal YA Reviewer)
Jennifer is our new YA reviewer!
Besides writing book reviews, Jennifer also enjoys reading, horseback riding, and playing the piano. She is homeschooled and lives in Louisiana with her parents, four siblings, and a large assortment of pets.