Throne of Glass ♥ Sarah J. Maas | Review

• Throne of Glass

• Sarah J. Maas
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• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing 
• (August 2, 2012)
• ISBN-13: 978-1408832332
• Genre: Fantasy
• Purchase: Amazon | B & N
• Source: Personal Kindle Purchase
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• Synopsis: Meet Celaena Sardothien. Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness. 
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• In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake.
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•  She got caught. Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament - fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. 
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• Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. 
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• But will her assassin's heart be melted?

• Throne of Glass has been in my TBR for quite some time, I've seen mainly praise for this novel so I decided to indulge in it myself. Celaena Sardothien is the world's greatest assassin. Unfortunately, she was caught by Captain Westfall. He offers her an opportunity, Celaena must represent the prince and his kingdom in a tournament against other thieves and assassins. If she wins, she will be the king's champion who kill kill for him, and after four years she will be guaranteed her freedom, the real question is will she win?

•  One of my favorite concepts is of dystopian governments that hold royal tournaments of life and death - however, I have read many of the same generic stories again and again. I liked The Hunger Games, but I preferred the concept better in the original novel called Battle Royale. Throne of Glass is a catchy series, it is a decent read. The concept is fantastic though, I do LOVE that cover, it's much more badass than the first cover. I had issues with this novel though, I felt it was trying to be portrayed as teen girl version of Game of Thrones. I felt the novel lacks depth and the characters have huge hubris'. The novel is 432 pages long, and some of the parts were just plain boring and unnecessary. If it was under 350 pages, it would have done it's job too.

• Celaena Sardothien is the world's greatest assassin at the age of only EIGHTEEN. Really? 

• I wanted to face palm myself at this part; it's clearly not realistic at all. This is quite common in previous novels especially in Divergent and Legend. Of course, there can be some exceptions of really gifted teens, but it's not that common. I believe age 22-23 would have sounded better, however, it's a teen novel so I can understand why she has to be young. I had a love/hate relationship with her.

“My name is Celaena Sardothien. But it makes no difference if my name's Celaena or Lillian or Bitch, because I'd still beat you, no matter what you call me.” 

• I do love that Calaena is witty and sarcastic, she speaks her mind, unfortunately, she's petty and she has hubris. She's vain because she's the best assassin who is undefeated. She's great and she knows it. However, I didn't read any parts that declared her as "the best." Where's my proof? She's all talk. Celaena has no patience, and she clearly rubs her skills in front of others even though she is warned. Instead of training, she reads books.. She's been out of shape for a year, yet she chooses to be stubborn, and she doesn't practice her skills for a tournament that can cause HER DEATH. She does lack intelligence and common sense.. I love reading books too, but I don't read them the day before I have a TEST like Celaena. The story went on and on about how beautiful she and Dorian are, she's sweaty but she's still "beautiful." Yeah, okay and I'm Queen Latifa. It's like her sweat isn't actual sweat, it's portrayed as something great as glitter. I did like that she's an icy character, although, she does show mercy and kindness at certain times.

•  I'm team Chaol forever<3 He is the Captain of the Guard, and clearly my favorite character of the novel. He is fierce, strong, and brooding. He reminds me of Four from Divergent. This isn't a love triangle, but I do feel it will develop in the next installment of the series. The attraction between Celaena and the Crowned Prince Dorian Havillard was rather strange, it seemed superficial because they're both beautiful creatures. I didn't like the male lead Dorian as much, their romance didn't get to me.

• Sarah J. Maas is a wonderful writer, and she does engages the reader in her stories. The suspense of the novel was great, the plot does have a lot going on for itself. I loved the packed action and and the mystery of the plot - however, it's predictable because I could have guessed just by reading the blurb who will triumph since Celeana is the world's best assassin. Of course she can't lose right? It was too good not to be true.

“We all bear scars,... Mine just happen to be more visible than most.” 

• Every plot twist in Throne of Glass is predictable, I saw it coming since I first read the given subtle hints of them. I did like the magic used in the novel, the world building plot was amazing - I couldn't wait to find what happens next. Some parts did bother me, however, I still did enjoy the ending, and I loved that Celeana was a strong female character in YA. I did like the female friendship in the novel with the secondary character Nehemia. I liked that she's a woman of African-American descent which is highly unlikely in YA novels. I look forward to more of the next installment in the series, I hope it improves more. Although, I might not pick it up until later this year.

*Updated note: Due to high demands of READ THE NEXT BOOK, I will read the the next installment Crown at Midnight and the prequel this April :)

Recommended for fans of Graceling, The Hunger Games, and His Fair Assassin.

• Shukran for reading this! Leave your blog links in the comments & I'll be sure to check them out :) Stay in tuned pretty creatures.. 
  
  
  “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness.” —George R.R. Martin 
  
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