Synopsis:
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 king's 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 exhilarating. 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.
My Review:
I wish I would have picked this series up sooner! I cannot say
enough good things about this novel. Throne of Glass is refreshing, elegant,
and just plain exciting. Celaena Sardothien is the YA heroine we’ve all been waiting for. What I really loved about Celaena is that 1) she’s not overwhelmingly girlish, and 2) She’s not a heroine that has been drained of all emotion and been hardened into a robotic assassin. Celaena is the perfect balance of these two extremes. She’s a teenage girl! She cares about her looks, doesn’t mind the occasional ball, and hasn’t lost her emotions. But on the same token, she is as dangerous as a snake and as cunning as a fox, not to mention, the empire’s most notorious assassin.
Then we have Dorian (the Crown Prince) and Chaol (the
Captain of the Guard), who have come to take Celaena from her prison in the mines
of Endovier to offer her freedom if she can win a competition to become the
King’s champion. It’s a fascinating concept from the very beginning and, again,
I want to point out the outstanding character growth throughout the first book.
Dorian and Chaol aren’t characters that you would expect to like in the first
few chapters, but once the plot starts moving, they become really intricate and
pleasant to read.
Once Celaena arrives in the castle, the competition gets
underway and the plot gets more intense. Celaena is attempting to hide who she
is from other competitors while getting back into shape and staying in the
competition. But when competitors start getting murdered (and their organs
missing from their bodies) Celaena is called upon by otherworldly forces to
stop the evil lurking in the castle.
Things only get more twisted from here as we’re now thrown
into a suspenseful mystery, a potential love triangle, fierce competition, and
a useful alliance with an Eyllwe princess.
Throne of Glass, overall, is a great addition to any shelf.
It’s a fun, fast-paced read that is sure to please any reader of YA. The plot
lags in very few places and flows easily between point-of-view and settings. I
encourage anyone who appreciates fiction literature to give this series a
chance as it is potentially one of the best new YA series to hit shelves. Follow Sarah J. Maas: Twitter
Visit her site: THRONE OF GLASS
Follow Me: Lux McGuinn
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