Throne of Glass
Ratings1,072
Average rating3.9
I originally read Throne of Glass in 2019. After deciding that I wanted to read the next book in the series, I reread it. I absolutely love this book, and I think I enjoyed it more the second read through than I did the first!
Entertaining, but somewhat predictable. Fairly well-written, but at a lower writing level.
Okay, that was hard to picture as a Cinderella retelling....
From the beginning of the book, I was all for finding more out about Celaena and what would happen. I loved the humor and action, and there was a lot hinted about her past that I can't wait to read more about.
One of my favorite things to read about, was her relationships with Chaol, Nehemia, and Dorian.
Shipping wise, it was hard to see who I liked better and who I liked better with Celaena.
The side characters were just as good as the protagonist!
The plot kept me guessing, and I am so so glad that I finally stopped putting it off and finally read the Throne of Glass.
Fun fact: Throne of Glass is officially the first book by Sarah J. Maas that I have read!
4 stars for sure!
Packed to the brim with brilliance
This book has to be one of my favourite of all time. Everyone has heard of terms such as “unputdwonable” or “page-turner”. This truly was both of those. I couldn't out this book down.. the point where I made myself late for multiple appointments.
If you're looking for a very interesting fantasy story that's easy to read but well written, FILLED with plot-twists, involves slight romance, evil people and more... Look no further. This has it all. It also sets up some interesting questions for the sequel. Which I'm now buying!
The beginning seemed very general and similar to many other books out there, but the final 100 pages were interesting enough for making me want to read the second book in the series.
I enjoyed the book, it was a little bit introductory but I know that it's the first book in a series so that is its function.
I enjoyed reading how Celaena thinks and how she seems to be cruel and ruthless but deep inside she is worried, scared and sweet, maybe it's a strange that personality in a murderer but I like it.
The plot is slow but at the end is fast and more interesting, it gets better at the end of the book XD
I want to know more about Celaena, Dorian and Chaol (specially Chaol -) and the king (because I hate him) and Perrington (bacuse I hate him) so I'll be readig soon the next books in the series
Celaena is Adarlan's Assassin who was captured and has been in a slave camp for an year. When Crown Prince Dorian and Captain of the Guard Chaol arrive at Endovier to offer her a chance to win back her freedom, she finally feels some hope. She participates in the competition for the King's Champion, makes unexpected friendships with Dorian and Chaol and Princess Nehemia of Ellywe but discovers that nothing in Rifthold is as it looks. When her competition starts dying and ghosts and beasts from the otherworld becomes both help and hindrance, she has to race against time to figure out the killer before she becomes the next victim.
Celaena is very very hard to like initially. She is very full of herself, her internal monologue mostly consisting of ways in which she can kill everyone around her. She comes across as very arrogant and may be even narcissistic, but slowly we get to know that it is just a kind of mask to keep going in the face of utter defeat and despair. She is also just a teenager who has seen way too much death in her life and become great at bringing it herself. I loved getting to see all facets of her – the bookworm, the clotheshorse, the chocolate lover – a typical young girl but also an assassin.
Nehemia is a wonder in this book. She is compassionate, strong, confident, fierce defender of her people and a great friend. I loved her relationship with Celaena, the kind of BFF we would all love to have. Nehemia always has her back and protects her and I loved how she defies everyone for her convictions.
Chaol is a hard person to both like and dislike. He is very good at heart and brave and loyal and I can't help but like him for these qualities. But he also sees everything in black and white, cannot look past Celaena's past as an assassin but doesn't really say anything about his King who is a mass murderer and tyrant. His friendship with Dorian is obviously one of the highlights of the book and I also liked he started to accept Celaena a little by the end and may be even consider her a friend.
Dorian Havilliard is an absolutely adorable sweet baby cinnamon roll. He is charming, playful, kind, intelligent and everything that his father is not. We can see his transformation from a slightly spoiled Prince having a gala time with his court ladies to a young man trying to come to terms with the brutality and cruelty of his father while not being able to do anything about it. We get to see glimpses of what kind of a King would he really be in the future. His relationship with Celaena was like a young cute college fling full of banter and fun and flirting. Their conversations are especially enjoyable in the audiobook. I really wish they become best friends and remain together. I love their pair.
The plot of the competition itself is like Hunger Games but thankfully not a very long time is spent on it. And the outcome of it is anyways quite obvious, so we don't really feel invested in the process. I liked the whole mystery part with Celaena trying to find the killer and doing some extensive research for it too. The book can get slow at times but the action sequences at the end are totally worthy it. The writing is quite simple and easy to follow and I could see how SJM has improved through the years (because I read ACOTAR series first). But the book is enjoyable and fun for the most part and definitely made me decide to read the Crown of Midnight. Though I love this book more after multiple rereads, I will still keep my original rating here.
Having read and loved the Court of Thorns & Roses novels by Sarah J. Maas and with it being around a year till we can expect the next installment from that series I decided that in the meantime I should try the other series from this wonderful author, Throne of Glass. I've heard lots about this series as well and the reviews are very positive so with that in mind I started off the series with this first novel in what is an ongoing and developing story, Book 6 having just been released this week.
The first thing that struck me about this book was the absolute no nonsense delving into the story, right from the first page the story kicks off with Assassin Celeana being taken to meet the Crown Prince who is looking for someone to be his Champion in a contest his father the King is holding to find someone to fulfil the role of Royal Assassin. In this contest, she must compete against a variety of thieves, murderers, professional soldiers and other Assassins to win her freedom from the mines where she is currently a prisoner. This story is Celeana's fight to win each round of the competition and to ensure that she never has to return to the brutal mines at Endovier again where she knows she will die.
The essence of this story is Celeana's relationships with the people she meets in the royal palace, the Head of the Kings Guards Chaol who mentors her through the competition and helps her train, her relationship with the Prince, Dorian who she is building a close relationship with which could turn to more than just friendship. The other contestants in the competition, a foreign Princess in the palace who as a political pawn is trying to cope with the wrongs done to the people in her country by the King. Against this backdrop, people are being murdered in vicious circumstances and Celeana is scared she may be next.
I loved this book. I liked the sheer range of characters, there are so many we are introduced to in this novel that I'm sure we are going to learn more about through the series that you feel you can forgive Maas for not exploring all of them in depth at this stage. I like that we have a love triangle setting itself up that you cannot quite decide on which side of to fall. You want to root for both sides. Celeana is a kick ass lead character, she is feisty and strong and intelligent. You want her to succeed and we are sure that there are lots of stories still to explore about her past. I really enjoyed the introduction of paranormal elements to the story, the demons and fight against good and evil during the final duel.
I am excited to see where this story takes us next. Having read Court of Thorns & Roses and its expanding world I know how capable Maas is of building stories that are all encompassing and I can see a great deal of potential in this world and its history and the development of its future. I gave this one a 4 out of 5 stars because I have a feeling the best is yet to come.
Enjoyed it. Disliked Celaena in the beginning, but started to like her towards the end of the book. LOVE Dorian though :3
Cannot wait to read book 2.
DNF at 45%. Yes, I feel almost 200 pages were enough for me to judge this dumpster fire. Don't even bother trying to convince me I need more of it or that the next book is better. This is just... No.
What is the female version of ‘edgelord'? Edge...lady? Celaena is that, with a bit of Mean Girls added in. I will develop that a bit more later.
So we have an 18-year-old girl who is the bestestestest assassin EVER. We don't know, she just said so and because the best assassin said it, she can't be wrong. And we know she is the best, because she just said it. Stop asking questions.
She got fucked over in some way. No questions. So now she is a slave in a mine for a year already, which makes her special, as people die after like a month normally. BUT! The crown prince shows up at the prison colony (what did I tell you? Shush) to take her out and give her an offer she can't refuse. She competes in a tournament thing, wins, becomes the king's own killer for a few years she can buy her freedom. YAY.
Basically Sarah J. Maas just took a basic idiot, put her in a Middle Ages type fantasy setting she doesn't know shit about, didn't research or give a fuck and made her heroine (AHAHAHA) act like a high school girl. I know it is fantasy. I KNOW. But that doesn't mean I can totally forget about facts of life, like mines fucking you up bad. You won't just go on days long horse rides literally hours later. You don't just get better after a night of sleep and a bath. You won't keep up in a swordfight with a grownasss male soldier on your very first training session.
Sarah J. Maas obviously never tried riding horses, never looked into swords and fighting with swords, never did any physical labour and never missed more than one meal in her life for any reason. Which is fine. But then at least GET INFORMED.
But hey... it all doesn't matter when you use your world as a fancy backdrop for bullshit teenage girl drama.
Because this was teenage girl non-issue drama galore.
Celaena Sardothien is a bitch. You see the cover? There is none of that. But she squees about dresses. Judges other based on their dresses or appearance. Hot guys get a pass. She gets bitchy if she is not automatically the best at everything. She is stupid as fuck and others have to tell her how to survive. She has no manners and in this world nobody sees any issue with her asking private questions of the bloody crown prince of... Arlanda? (Yes, that is a Swedish airport, but the country's name is similar and I don't care. Arlanda it is.) She is boastful.
Also, doesn't make any sense. She flippity-flops between “my master made me break my own arm at like age 8 to train me, it was brutal”, but then legitimately makes one of the guys bring her slippers to her bed, as she refuses to step on the cold floor. She has NO SKILLS and as much as she hates on the rich girls around her, she is not one bit better. NOT ONE BIT.
She is edgy, though. Uhhhh. She keeps fantasising about murdering this or that person. Everyone. All the time. Never does it. But hey. I was almost as edgy as her at age 13, when I bought a fake nosering, but only dared to put it in once I knew none of my mother's acquaintances were gonna see me.
We also have the issue of how this is going to be a love triangle and a “kiss her ass” contest between the two hot guys. They are best friends, though, he prince and his super duper soldier boy. Both are like... really cool and have super sassy conversations with the protagonist. Giggity. She wants to kiss them. She really does. Especially the prince for now. But like... the other. But the prince.
What about the competition, you ask? (Even though I told you not to ask questions.) They are bullshit. Bull. Shit. What is the first trial? Pffft, an archery competition? Then there is “climb the castle wall”. Then we don't even see the sneaky one and tracking, because who gives a shit? Show me more of Celaena being a bitch because she is not invited to the ball. The boys fawning over her. Celaena judging this other girl based on her dress and because she dareth being pretty in the vicinity of the prince and is even interested in him. (That is strong from a literal assassin, which means murderer in my country.)
But hey, Celery gets a new BFF, who is a PRINCESS, who is also super rebel and rude as fuck. Together they can judge the shit out of everyone else while they frown through the country of Arlanda.
This book is absolutely awful. The worst I've attempted to read this year so far.
Very quick read. I didn't realize this was YA until I started reading it, nothing against YA but I'd like to be prepared... the writing is pretty amateur but I read the interview with the author at the end of the book and she said she started writing it in high school - unfortunately it shows. A lot of exclamation points and italicized snarkiness. However the story is entertaining enough that I read all 400 pages so there's that. This is NOT for Game of Thrones fans. This is more like the Divergent series, a step above Twilight but not as good as Hunger Games. I am grateful it got me back into the high fantasy genre that I'd abandoned a few years ago. And I liked the story enough that I'm willing to read her new novels, with the expectation that her writing will have improved by now.
Nice start to a series, but would have liked more action and focus on the competition the main character was in, as opposed to the romance angle. But I know a lot of people are into love triangles. I know who I want her with, and have read a million romances in my lifetime, but I picked this up to read about a female assassin. [b:A Court of Thorns and Roses 16096824 A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1) Sarah J. Maas https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491595796s/16096824.jpg 21905102], also by the author, focuses on romance, too – but the cover and the plot ask for it, beg for it. I have all the series novellas, which I plain on reading fairly soon.
This review contains spoilers for books one through six in the series! You have been warned!
Random Shit I Wrote Down In My Notes While Re-Reading Throne Of Glass Because I Have Limited Internet Access Right Now:
• This is not as well-written as I remember. Not that I thought it was well-written the first time I read this, but compared to SJM's more recent works this is very poorly-written
• I'm reminding myself that (a) this is SJM's first work and she has a better editor now and (b) what comes in the next books is so worth it so I can get through this
• Why does SJM keep using exclamation points everywhere it's driving me nuts
• I literally remember nothing about this except for Celaena being in the mines and winning the competition
• I keep asking myself ‘Where is Rowan? When is Rowan coming?' only to be reminded of the harsh reality that he does not appear until Heir Of Fire :(
• Nehemia my luv
Overall Rating: 1/5
Characters:
This was the toughest part of the book for me to get through. The main character, Celaena, is supposedly the most famous assassin in all the land (wouldn't fame be bad for an assassin?) and has spent the last year of her life doing back-breaking labor as a slave in a death camp. When we first meet her, she's cold and calculating. However, as soon as she arrives at the glass castle, her characterization completely changes and she's a free-spirited girl who can't decide which man she loves. In addition, she shows no signs of trauma from her time as a slave and lacks basic survival instincts that she should have as an assassin. When she's told to downplay her skills as an assassin to protect her identity, she throws a temper tantrum because she wants the world to know she's the best (maybe this is why she was famous?).
The other two main characters, Prince Dorian and guard captain Westfall, really don't do much other than brood over their feelings for Celaena. Oh, and read a few books. They don't really feel like fleshed-out characters because they aren't given any scenes that don't center around Celaena.
Plot:
There are two main plots: a contest between criminals to win the position of king's champion but is plagued by horrible murders, and the battle between Dorian and Westfall for Celaena's affection.
The contest: This is actually pretty interesting and kept my attention whenever there was one of the contest scenes. Her opponents are hardened criminals. The mysterious murders and the research Celaena conducts to solve the mystery is also interesting.
The love triangle: It's pretty much love at first sight for Celaena-Dorian and Celaena-Westfall, with little to justify this other than the fact that both men like books. This wouldn't be all that bad but it takes up a significant portion of the book.
Setting:
Magic is mysteriously gone and also illegal. The immortal race of Fae have vanished. The king is buys conquering all the land. All in all, pretty cool and will probably be expanded on in the future.
~Full review on The Bent Bookworm!~I have done my best to avoid spoilers and there are definitely no plot spoilers! However if you don't want to know ANYTHING about the characters you might not want to read.[b:Throne of Glass 7896527 Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1) Sarah J. Maas https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495278054l/7896527.SY75.jpg 11138426] launches us into what promises to be an epic fantasy adventure. I love the way we're immediately thrown in with Celaena in a dangerous, scary situation because I, naturally, want to know HOW THE FUCK she ended up there. Also how she can seem to be so young and yet so skilled, so brutal...and yet so obsessed with frilly dresses.Both of these are totally Celaena. I'm still not sure how she does it or why, especially as she even notes that all the layers of skirts hamper her fighting skills. Only somehow she doesn't seem to get caught in particularly bad situations while all dolled up. Hmm.The forest was different here. The leaves dangled like jewels – tiny droplets of ruby, pearl, topaz, amethyst, emerald, and garnet; and a carpet of such riches coated the forest floor around them. Despite the ravages of conquest, this part of Oakwald Forest remained untouched. It still echoed with the remnants of the power that had once given these trees such unnatural beauty.Maas has created a beautiful world that is by turns thrilling, intriguing, and terrifying. I would like to visit, but retain the option to return to my own world with the push of a button.
Stayed up all night reading it. Loved it all! The mystery, the hints towards where the series could go. The romance. All of it!
This is my second time reading it, I want to continue on with this series, I have only read the first 3 books, rereading this made me realize how much I have loved and miss it, I also noticed some similarities between this and ACOTAR.
The premise is what intrigued me to pick this up the first time, and it was executed perfectly, I loved rereading so much and it reminded me of how much I adored it.
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Celaena is a fascinating character, and she had been through so much, which is what made her seem insensitive and savage, despite that she still shows her joyful and caring side which is wonderful to see. I personally think this book is a great first book and it set the rest of the series quite beautifully, it gave an excellent impact.
During my first time reading this I overlooked what a man-whore Dorian is, I like him with Celaena so maybe that is part of the reason, uhh I usually dislike any character that is written like that so I don't know why I didn't notice it much, all though he is a decent guy despite looking at every woman that came close to him. And he does have the potentials to be a much better king than his father, I can not fathom how different Dorian is from his horrible father, his father literally is the worst, and there is Dorian and he is so sweet. I noticed Celaena sharing personal stuff about her past to Dorian and she doesn't seem to realize till the words are already out of her mouth which leads me to believe she trust him, and when Chaol asks her about anything she tries to dodge his questions.
Chaol he was mean and tough on Celaena till the end of this book, I enjoyed them teasing each other a lot, I understand how low he thinks of her, and that she kills anyone without remorse, by the end he starts to understand a bit the cause of her actions, I have LOVED when he subconsciously took the sword and killed Cain with it, that scene made me like him more.
There weren't much world-building in this one based on the fact that magic vanished like 10 years ago, but I did like the things that we got, it fits with the story, I enjoyed seeing Celaena figuring out what the symbols mean and how she fought Cain while she had Poison in her system, he almost killed her and she would have died if she didn't had help, but that doesn't make her less of a strong warrior.
Epically in love. This book kept me guessing the whole time and the characters well beyond spectacular. Possibly the best book I have read... Ever.
I loved this book! Not as much as I loved Assassin's Blade, which could have been the start of this series. Celaena gets a lot of hate for being immature and annoying, but lets remember she is only 18. Sure, she has seen a lot of crap for being 18, but I still enjoyed this book immensely. I can't wait to find out what happens in the series. I hope that this author doesn't drag this series on and on though. I can think of too many series that I lost interest in because of that.
Ugh. I don't get the hype around this one. Barely any world-building. Lots of telling instead of showing. The characters all felt very flat and I didn't really care for any of them (except for Nehemia, give me more Nehemia). The romance/love triangle was rushed and forced and so over the top for the first book in a six book series. Let your characters get to know each other before you try to shove romance down their (and my) throats, please. Everyone being gorgeous and getting lost in each other's eyes does not equal good romance. The plot was predictable and quite slow-paced for a book that's supposed to be about an assassin and a competition of fighting skills. I think half the book took place in Celaena's bedroom.
Also, the very strange and generous use of exclamation points was annoying!
The last 20% did pick up a little and I've heard the second book is much better, so I might give it a shot. Maybe. We'll see.
Oh Dios mío.
Luego subo el review, pero debo decir que me encantó.
[Edit 24/02/2016]
Reseña completa aquí
Primero que nada, voy a tocar un punto algo irritable para mí durante toda la lectura y que me pasa mucho con la fantasía: los p*tos nombres. ¿Celaena? ¿Chaol? ¿Nehemiah Ytger? ¡Pero qué carajo! Durante toda la lectura leía Selina o Calina, Kaol, Nejemayiah, etc. Constantemente tenía que ir a una guía para tratar de leerlo bien “según la autora” o sonaba raro.
Otro punto que quiero tocar, pero ya es con la autora, y son las descripciones de lugares/peleas. Sarah J Maas me fascina como autora, pero no sé si es por la traducción o si es su forma de narrar (aún no me he lanzado a leerlo en inglés) pero me costaba horrores seguir la narración de cuando describía un lugar o las escenas de peleas, como la final en el torneo. Tuve que seguir algunas pautas y luego dejar que mi imaginación volara a pesar de que sentía que no era tal-cual-sucedía en la narración. Pero equis.
Ahora, los personajes.
Celaena Sardothien me cayó pésimo al comienzo del libro con su petulancia, y eso hizo que me demorase en agarrarle el ritmo. Y en serio me demoré, porque de la mitad del libro a su final me tomó dos días acabarlo. Era muy petulante, y yo no me llevo bien con ese tipo de personajes/personas. Cuando por fin dejó esa faceta (o quizás yo me acostumbre) me agradó. Comenzó con el pie izquierdo conmigo pero finalmente me cayó bien; es inteligente, astuta, fuerte e independiente, a pesar de los dos intereses amorosos que se ven en el libro.
Dorian Havilliard es el príncipe heredero de Endovier, su padre fue quien prácticamente acabó con la familia y el pueblo en el que nació Celaena, por lo que ella no tiene en gran estima a dicho hombre ni a esa familia, pero Dorian demostró ser muy distinto a su padre y ello le llevó a ganarse el cariño de Celaena (llevándolo a cierto punto, cofbesoscof) Es carismático, divertido, seductor y un tanto mujeriego, por no decir celoso con cierta pizca de posesivo. En lo personal, amé a Dorian, soy #TeamDorian y hubiera querido que Celaena aceptara quedarse con él no obstante, comprendo que las razones que dio ella al final son válidas. ¡Aún así no pierdo la esperanza!
Chaol Westfall es el capitán de la guardia real, y antiguo lord ya que relegó su título para unirse a la guardia. Se toma bastante en serio su puesto; firme, sensato, reservado, un poco adusto y severo. Conforme avanza la trama y conoce más a Celaena demuestra una faceta más sarcástica y suave con ella. Obviamente, como Dorian, tiene sus momentos de celos cuando los ve juntos y da la excusa de que un príncipe no puede mezclarse con una asesina a pesar de que Dorian sea el patrocinador de Celaena. Él me encantó, pero Dorian me enamoró primero.
En cierto punto, el libro se me hizo predecible, sobre todo con ese personaje misterioso que no mencionaré. Claro, yo accidentalmente me hice un spoiler en la página wiki en inglés de la saga sobre uno de los personajes pero hubo algo al final de todo que, para quien sea astuto, se le hará obvio. Apartando todo eso de lado, el libro fue bastante adictivo, rápido, atrapante (a cierto punto) y me sacó muchas sonrisas y risas por parte de los personajes, si no también angustias y frustraciones. Todavía me siento algo confundida con ciertas cosas del mundo que creó Sarah, que espero ir comprendiendo a medida que lea los demás libros, porque sí: voy a continuar esta saga. Y ustedes no deben perdérsela.
Pd.: ¿Fui la única que shippeo el Chaorian?