Sunday, August 25, 2013

Early Review of Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2) by Sarah J. Maas


Title: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass)
Classification: Young Adult ( 12 and up)
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Hardcover; 432 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens; 1 edition (August 27, 2013)
ISBN-10: 1619630621
ISBN-13: 978-1619630628
Author's Website: http://sarahjmaas.com/
Notes: I received an signed ARC at BEA.

Celaena Sardothien is now the King's Champion or Assassin, if you will. She won the title after competing against the best warriors in the Kingdom. She is now sworn to do the King's bidding--eliminating his enemies--for the next four years. But as death sentences are being handed down and names of the disloyal are revealed to Celaena to be dealt with, she makes a startling discovery. The men and women selected are good people. Not the kind deserving of such fates. Their crimes not warranting a sentence of death. Has the King lost his mind? Is someone feeding him false information? With the King holding Chaol's life over her head if she fails to do her duty, it appears there is little she can do. One thing is for sure, more is going on than meets the eye.

She'll uncover a world of lies, secrets, deceit, betrayal, and magic thought to be extinguished.

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At the end of Throne of Glass, I had many questions. I wondered who Celaena's parents truly were? It was mentioned that her name was changed after she came to live with Arobynn Hamel. Could they have been royalty? If so, would a pairing between her and Dorian be so out of place? Also, how had Chaol risen to the position of Captain of the Guard at such a young age if he had never killed anyone before? It seemed unbelievable especially under the current King's reign. Additionally, was the reason the King got rid of magic so that he would be the only one to wield it? What exactly was going on between him and Cain? Did he approve of all he did? They had a nonverbal communication which seemed to indicate they had an understanding. Plus, it seems the King and the Duke have one as well. What was the true reason behind the tournament? Was he trying to demean his son? Was it to create the ultimate warrior through magical means? Cain did, after all, seem to soak up the other competitor's powers when he killed them. Then there is the ultimate question, Who framed Celaena? By the end of Throne of Glass, we still had no real clues, and I so wanted the answer to this question.

While not all my questions were answered, the majority of them were. As far as middle books in a series go, this one rocked. It kept my attention from start to finish and had me gasping and squeeing in equal measures. Be prepared, however, the ending is a cliffhanger, and how things will be resolved in the end is still a mystery.

Overall, I gave this one 5 out of 5 roses. The Throne of Glass read like an appetizer, wetting my appetite while soothing my hunger. Crown of Midnight read like a main course, sating my hunger and satisfying my need to know. I was hoping the next book would read as dessert, but I just realized this series won't be a trilogy, there are at least 6 books in total slated for the series. Alas, if you look up the definition of a full course meal, you'll see it can consist of up to 21 courses and as this is a book dealing with royalty, I suppose it is appropriate that they would have more than the standard three course meal. lol I HIGHLY recommend this series and if you haven't already started reading it, you are seriously missing out.


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