Throne of Glass #1: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: YA, high fantasy, romance
Released: August 2012
Read: sometime in 2014 maybe? and again September 2019

READ IT BECAUSE...

I’m rereading the series now. I think I read books 1-4 at least? (I hope it was only up to 4, that way I still have 3 brand new books..!!) I originally read it… probably because it has high ratings on Goodreads. But it’s so good. I’m not particularly a high fantasy person, but I just love this series.

THE REVIEW

Even though I’m rereading it, I remember that it was so good—and sure enough, as soon as she got into the castle it got so good. I couldn’t stop reading! So this is coming from someone whose favorite genre is YA romance (<3 slowburn T_T!!). So there’s definitely a lot of that going on. And I was able to get into the world quite easily.

This story takes place in a world called Erilea, primarily in the kingdom of Adarlan. (P.S., I basically don’t know how to pronounce any of these fantastical names…. Oh yeah, I remember I did look this up… Should’ve looked for it again earlier.) We meet our protagonist, Celaena Sardothien, pka Adarlan’s Assassin (the greatest assassin of the country) who had been captured and thrown in a deathly mining prison, Endovier. But then she is met with the Captain of the Guard of Adarlan, Chaol Westfall, and—WHAT?—The Prince of Adarlan, Dorian Havilliard. She is met with the proposition of being Dorian’s pick for competing for the position of the King (his father)’s Champion (aka his own personal assassin for hire) and earning her freedom if she wins the competition and serves the king for four years. OBVIOUSLY, at this point (if you’re reading the series just now) you know that she’s going to win—There are seven books in the series, if she doesn’t win, then what else can happen?

But it’s not whether or not she wins that’s what makes this book exciting, it’s what happens along the way. On her journey to becoming the King’s Champion, she meets her competitors, meets friends, makes enemies, falls in love (like 1.5 times?), and also stumbles upon a world beyond what she could imagines.

I was just reading random question threads on Goodreads, and just overall, I think it’s interesting that some people don’t like the book… Of course, there are people that don’t like every book… But I loveee it… I think people primarily don’t think that Celaena is a believable character, but I would just say… don’t think so much about it and just go with the flow. It’s fantasy…

Celaena is supposedly the world’s deadliest assassin, but she’s also girlish and feminine. There’s witty banter throughout the book that also makes light of situations, but it’s fine… It’s fantasy, fiction, just have fun with it!! She’s sarcastic and in your face sometimes, and while some people think it’s unnecessary, I like it.

As previously mentioned, I don’t always read high fantasy—I’ll just read anything that’s romance-y. But given the genre, I was still able to quickly become absorbed into this (once) magical kingdom.

SPOILERS

(highlight below to read)

“In short: I was trying to figure out who I liked better, since I couldn’t remember. I remember that she doesn’t end up with Dorian, and then I was really disappointed. I know the next guy she ends up with is Chaol… So with this knowledge in mind, I read better (???) and then I realized that I do like her relationship with Chaol a lot just from this first book… But I can’t deny that Dorian is mad charming XP. I knew that Duke Perrington was evil and that Cain was crazy. I forgot what Nehemia was all about.

In detail: Celaena and Chaoll hang out (train) all the time, so she naturally falls in love with him. But Dorian is super charming, so he makes the first move. But that’s throughout the book. Celaena is initially super out of shape, but quickly regains her strength. Chaoll’s plan is for her to hide in the in-betweens as Lillian, the jewel thief. But she hates acting like she’s not as good as she is… so I guess that’s part of her self-centeredness, which is fine. Again, part of her character development. Meanwhile, there’s the guy that everyone think will win: Cain. He’s super huge and bruteish and he’s just awful towards “Lillian”.

Also going on: other than elimination tests, some of the champions (competitors) are being wiped out—their bodies horribly mutated upon their deaths.

Also also going on: Celaena meets Nehemia, princess of Eyllwe, a kingdom that is basically being taken over by Adarlan. They bond immediately, when Celaena speaks to her in her language.

There’s also an evil (annoying) girl, Kaltain, who desperately wants Dorian and to become his wife (half for him and half for the position), but she’s being courted by Duke Perrington, whose an evil butt from day 1 (he went to Endovier with Dorian to fetch Celaena).

And then we find out about Wyrdmarks—a piece of magic that keeps showing up, despite magic having been outlawed for years. And it turns out that this horrible beast is being summoned and it’s killing the competitors. And it turns out that the person doing the summoning is Cain, and each time he kills, he gains more strength and grows bigger.

Celaena discoveres a hidden passage from her room that leads to the tomb of the first king and queen of Adarlan. She is met with visions (or ghosts?) and prophecies. She ends up finding the creature and destroying it (over the course of the book). Before she found out it was Cain, she suspected Nehemia.

The final round of the competition is a dual- 2v2, and then the winners of each semifinal will battle each other. Obviously it ends up being Celaena and Cain… And everyone knows Celaena will win… So Kaltain, persuaded by Duke Perrington, laces a celebratory wine for Celaena with a drug. Celaena is pummeled by Cain during the fight because she can’t focus or control her body. Finally, Nehemia does some weird magic stuff with the wyrdmarks from the sidelines, and removes the drug from her body. Celaena wins.

And then Cain tries to stab her by surprise and Chaoll kills him. His first kill ever.

And Kaltain is thrown in the dungeon because Duke Perrington is a horrible person, and she’s going crazy (like psycho,..)..

Also, (romance part) during Yulemas (before the end of the competition of course), Dorian kisses her and he really likes her, but doesn’t feel that she’s completely returning his feelings. Finally later, she breaks off whatever’s going on between them, because she knows his position. His father killed her parents and she can’t possibly ever be with him. Additionally, her new position as the King’s Champion can’t lead the way to a relationship with the prince without scandal.

(This is out of order, since I’ve already finished the 2nd book by this time and I’m just writing down what I remember without mixing up the first and second books.. D:)”

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OTHER COMMENTS

I love it.

OVERALL

- Did I cry? No.
- Should you read it? YESSS. If you like the same types of books I like and you like romance and you want to try a new magical world, dew it.

-huay