Throne of Glass
Ratings1,071
Average rating3.9
AUGUST 2023;
Loved this book, still as good. You can see Sarah's earlier writing, but it gets better trough the book. 4,5 stars
OCTOBER 2021 REVIEW:
I really loved this book, again. It has been some time but I was ready for a re-read. Celaena was really whiney in the beginning and I hated that. Sarah's writing felt very young and she wrote with a lot of exclamation marks. I understand that she wrote it a long time ago, but it felt really young and low quality in some way. It was a lot less of She? How dare he! About a quarter into the book, so that was good.
Also, fleetfoot. Just fleetfoot. We all love fleetfoot. Fight me if you don't.
JANUARY 2018 REVIEW:
I need to admit that I forgot a big part of the book. But the things that's I had forgotten made the book so much better. God I love Sarah J Maas. All hail the Queen bows to Sarah
I think I would have liked this better if I'd read it at a different point in my life. It's taken me almost a year to read bc I just didn't feel the need to pick it back up again.
EDIT: Re-read no.1 done
That was a difficult read with all my migraines but quite enjoyable. I would have to give it 3.5 stars or 4, not quite sure yet.
Update: I have confirmed that it is, in fact, 4 stars.
It had adventure, albeit in a castle, but I was all here for it. The pace was pretty normal which can be a bit painful, since it's over roughly 4 months I would say it drags a bit more than one would want.
Celaena Sardothien, is there anything better than her (fake) name, well.... there is and he comes with the name Dorian Havilliard.
Now, this is an unpopular opinion but I quite like Dorian. Other people may be thinking that Chaol is everything amazing but he was genuinely anything but a love interest in this book even though Maas hints heavily to their romance.
—”Celaena remained watching the door, even after Chaol had shut it behind him.”—
Even with Dorian right there, she continues looking to where Chaol left. It was blatantly obvious from then on. Other hints had been when Chaol gave her the ring after chucking Dorian out of the room, as well as often getting jealous of Dorian and Celaena spending time with each other.
One can only imagine how the next book goes.
Now, the element of mystery kept things interesting. I always knew Nehemia was good, but I always had my bets on Duke Perrington being the one summoning these monstrous demon-like spawn. Most of it was down to how he was described, his eyes shifting between light and dark, good and evil. Other parts of it involved knowing that Cain's size increased almost day by day. He seemed the most suspicious and the one with the most to lose.
However, now that I know it was Cain who used magic and wyrdmarks for evil, I can still understand and yet still come to the same conclusion. Duke Perrington is evil, I call it even now.
—”“Your manipulation of Kaltain was interesting,” said the king at last. Perrington remained kneeling. “Were you using the power on her?”
“No; I've relaxed it recently, as you suggested,” the duke replied, rotating the obsidian ring around his thick finger.”—
Now, onto the next book... Hopefully
This book has been on my TBR for eight years and I FINALLY took the plunge and read the dang thing. As with all SJM series, it starts off a little slow and confusing because of the world-building and character introductions. With Throne of Glass, it felt like I was being pushed into a story that I hadn't read the first chapter of. I found out that was because there was a prequel (multiple novellas, actually), but many sources online said to read The Assassin's Blade AFTER the third book, so that is what I'm going to do. I pushed on and eventually, everything made sense.
Celaena's journey to become the King's Champion felt kind of Hunger Games-esque, but more fantasy. I loved the tension and relationship between Celaena and Chaol (which I still can't pronounce correctly), but Dorian's interest in her made me happy too. I hope her friendship with Nehemia deepens, she is such an interesting character.
I was expecting more magic in this series, but I expect that will come in later books. I'm interested to see what the King will have Celaena do as his Champion, and how Dorian and Chaol will resist her.
3.75 STARS. would read again, def can tell that this is SJM first book. Incredibly good (I relate to Celenea the most out of all of the primarily characters in her books!) but some points off for lack of story development for a first book and writing depth.
Realmente no sé que decir, me gustó un montón pero a la vez es como que me faltó algo (el amor con chaol jaksldjaksdsa).
Mentira, realmente me gustó mucho esta primera parte del libro, amo a Celaena y a Chaol (Dorian no lo quiero tanto aun), y bueno Nehemia es una diosa. Quiero seguir leyendo antes de dar mi opinión en si.
Así que a ver que me depara el destino xd
I am buddy reading this entire series with Destiny this year. We started with The Assassin's Blade which was the Novella bind up and in February we read the first official book in the series. I thought this was a great start to the series. It picks up a year after the ending of the final novella in The Assassin's Blade which is why I feel like it was a good idea to read the novellas first because you get an idea of who Celaena is and what she does. Celaena is a very flawed character. She's full of herself, she doesn't think through things before jumping in head first and she she's wishy washy. However, her being so flawed is a part of her charm. Of course she has good qualities as well which makes her a well rounded relatable character.
There is a bit of a love triangle in this book which after reading The Assassin's Blade I didn't think I would be able to get behind another romance but in this book I was definitely team Chaol from the beginning. Dorian is a great guy but to me they are better off as friends.
There's a tournament in this book and I loved seeing all the different challenges that the competitors had to go through but at the same time I felt like it was a bit slow going and not a lot was happening. I guess with how much this series is beloved over the years I have built up some expectations and I was expecting it to be more action packed I guess.
Overall like I said this was a good start to the series and I am reading the entire series with Destiny this year. We are already almost finished with Heir of Fire which is the 3rd book.
I thought that this was a great book overall. At first it looked like a normal fantasy book but when you read farther into the book and you immerse yourself into the world you realize that there are more things going on than what's on the surface. It was the depth of the book that made me realize the beauty of the world and the underlying plot. Overall, this book was a pleasant read and I can't wait to continue with the series.
Dit boek was echt geweldig en ik had geen moment dat ik het boek wilde wegleggen! Ik wilde het 4 of 4,5 sterren geven, maar de laatste 100 bladzijdes hebben ervoor gezorgd dat het 5 sterren werden, want dit boek was mega GOED!
3 or 3.5 can't decide.
The story wasn't what I thought it would be from reading the description - it was more YA when I was expecting something more more dark.
What was jarring was the main character was supposed to be the worlds best assassin and yet she behave like a bratty school girl.
NGL sign me up for the next one. Apparently they get better.
Update 17/01/2023: Just read Crown if Midnight. So this is definitely 3 stars.
1 ⭐️ Didn't like it all.
2 ⭐️ Wasn't worth the read, was boring or problematic to me.
3 ⭐️ Fair or good read. Fun but nothing profound. May have interesting characters, themes or plot items. May have flaws but I can overlook them.
4 ⭐️ Good or great read.
5 ⭐️ Perfect or as near to as possible.
This book was not what I was expecting it to be after reading the prequel. I think there was too long of a lull in the middle. I wanted more of the scenes with the tests and less of Celaena in her room contemplating Dorian and Chaol. I'd rather she chose Nehemia tbh... I liked it better than I liked ACOTAR when I first read it. That being said, though liked it better, it still felt like a filler book instead of an introduction to a series. I'm going to start the next one today so, we'll see.
Wondering why it took me so long to finally pull the trigger on reading this book because it was SO good.
I loved the competition element, the castle, the training montages, the mystery element. This book was giving everything I wanted and I'm hooked.
Shaping up to have ACOTAR be the least favorite of Sarah J Maas series for me.
Okay.. why did I drag my feet with this?!!
I did the ACOTAR series and have even done HoEaB, but hesitated when it came to ToG. Why? I honestly can't give you a good reason other than the YA threw me and I didn't want to read SJM as YA.
“What's the point in having a mind if you don't use it to make judgments?” “What's the point in having a heart if you don't use it to spare others from the harsh judgments of your mind?”
~
Tortured past assassin, Celaena, brings her A-game to the palace of the glass throne to kick some butt and get herself out of sticky situation, while getting mixed up in so much more. There is action, hints of flirtation, a pinch of magic, and lots of sparring. Looking forward to the rest of Celaena's journey.
“you could rattle the stars,” she whispered. “you could do anything, if only you dared. and deep down, you know it, too. that's what scares you the most.”
3.5 ⭐️
This book was a very nice surprise.
I won't lie, I started reading it full of prejudice. Which was partially justified - the main female character was rather annoying at the beginning and I found the notion of her being the most notorious assassin utterly hilarious.
And while by the end I still didn't believe her to be the most notorious anything, she sort of grew on me.
Though the particular love situation utilised in this book (not to spoil it), in its nature, is something I detest, it was executed way better than in most young adult books I've read. The author knows how to write a slow burn and believable tension.
What I liked the most though, was the fantasy. The author has created a rich world and infused it with mystery. I am very curious to know more about it.
There were a few conveniences and a spot of cringe here and there. But overall, a very nice reading experience.
Solid start to a series. I apparently read this in college according to my now defunct Goodreads account but alas the beer made it too hazy.
The ending left a lot of questions for me. I am curious to see what happens next.
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
Thoroughly enjoyable! I won't lie – I wanted to read these books purely because I love the author's ACOTAR series with all my heart. Throne of Glass, however, is a true YA book. It feels like one, it reads like one, and it definitely has the love triangle just like one. ACOTAR, on the other hand, is classified as a New Adult novel, and those books definitely earn the title.
BUT WE'RE NOT HERE TO TALK ABOUT ACTOAR, ARE WE?
The main character of Throne of Glass is a 17/18 year old sassy assassin named Celaena. She's dragged out of a death camp to compete for the title of King's Champion. It's all a bit convoluted, but it's enjoyable to read. There's forbidden magic, murders, puppies, and all sorts of fun things. It took me a bit to really enjoy the main character for who she is – she's a bit much, right off the bat – but she does calm down a bit as the novel progresses.
I was invested in the mystery of the Wyrdmarks, and of the monster haunting the halls of the castle. Both have satisfying answers by the end of the book, I'm happy to say.
At the moment, Chaol is my favorite character of the bunch, closely followed by Dorian.
Four out of five stars – one star docked because you can tell this is one of the author's earlier works, and because of the extreme YA love-triangle of it all. Really enjoyed reading this one – on to the next!
1: Throne of Glass ★★★★
#2: Crown of Midnight ★★★.5
#3: Heir of Fire ???
This is certainly not SJM's best writing, but since I read the entirety of acotar this year I needed something else to pick up. I went into this expecting something fun and that's what I got! I actually really liked Celaena and loved watching her develop over the course of the book. I also loved her relationships with Chaol and Dorian (all I want is a triad here), and with Nehemia. While I found this incredibly readable, sometimes we would see other character POVs that completely pulled me out of the story. These felt a little lazy to me and were clearly just a way to quickly show something that Celaena couldn't have known. It was like SJM was tipping her hand to show us everything rather than leaving us with some mystery. Regardless, I'm excited to continue the series!
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