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Author: Sarah J. Maas
Pub Date: August 7, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Author Website: http://sarahjmaas.com/
416 pages
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 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.
"Princes are not supposed to be handsome! They're sniveling, stupid, repulsive creatures! This one...this...How unfair of him to be royal and beautiful."
Celaena is stuck in the middle of the dreaded love triangle. As much as I hate them, I actually found this one to be okay. There was a subtlety in the way the Captain of the Guard, Chaol, and Celaena feel for each other. Neither one is overt, neither gives much thought to it. Then we have Prince Dorian who is obvious; in fact many people around him suspect his feelings. And it seems that our assassin feels the same...
As far as the love interests go, I have nothing invested in Chaol as a character. But Dorian? Try as I might I am falling for him. And he is NOT my book crush type AT ALL! Typically it would be Chaol. As you can see, I am very confused by this turn of events!
The supporting cast for the most part was enjoyable. I wish we could have more about Nehemia. Nehemia is a visiting Princess, she and Celaena become friends and end up helping each other more than they realize. For me, she was the most interesting character. I truly hope we have more with her later on...maybe even her own book!
Overall, I enjoyed the story. My attention and curiosity were piqued throughout the entirety. Not once did I pick up another novel to read in between. (Yes, I have a bad habit of doubling up on books.) I love the initial premise. But there was something about the premise that bothered me. The King is looking for his Champion. So he devises a series of tests to weed out those not worthy, to end with a duel. Okay, that's all well and good. But, why is he testing criminals? There are assassins, thieves, brutes, etc. Not one single "good" person in the mix. That irritated me for some reason. Who knows, maybe the King has some nefarious purpose coming up that would require a criminal.
My biggest issue with Throne of Glass came at the end of the book. I am still puzzled over it two days later.
"All the clothing Celaena planned to buy when she was free to venture into Rifthold and do some shopping for herself..."
Anyway, with the exception of those two issues, I highly enjoyed this book! And I am so ready for the sequel! And to leave you, here is the UK cover of so prettiness! Which cover is your favorite?
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I prefer the UK cover - by FAR! And Moira and I both love the new look of the blog. Fabulous plus super readable. Well done! :)
ReplyDeleteYay! So glad to hear it. As far as this title goes, I do believe it was in the ARC box I looked through. Or it may still be on NetGalley. Hopefully another box of books comes in this week since I'll be up that way this weekend!
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