Hey hey!
Today, I’ve got another review of a series that I am evidently behind and attempting to get up to date with in hopes that I will not frantically run from circulating spoilers. The second book of the Throne of Glass series… Crown of Midnight: The Killer Sequel. Joking, ignore the “title” after the colon (though PUN definitely intended). Just a heads up that if you read this review, you will get spoiled for the first book in this series, Throne of Glass and the prequel, The Assassin’s Blade. The are a lot of great moments that won’t have the full effect if you get spoiled. You have been warned. Everyone else can pass AKA 97% of the reader population. Also I have a spoiler section at the end of my review because there are so many things that need to be discussed, but don’t worry because SPOILERS AHEAD will be clearly present so if you haven’t read this book, you can scroll extremely fast.
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass (#2)
Genre: Fantasy
Publication: August 27th 2013 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Pages: 418
Source: Borrowed
“A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.
It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend.”
From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.
GENERAL THOUGHTS
I still stand by my initial response that this is an excellent sequel. I have a whole new perspective on the characters, the world and just everything in general. I have to say that I didn’t really understand all the amazingness of this book that everyone raved about for the first portion of the book, but once we got passed that, it was epic. This may have been due to my high expectations because everyone was saying that this sequel is so much better than its predecessor. I assure you this book is better than the first and the writing has improved but I did have my peeves that took away half a star once my brain started functioning again and the initial awe (that ending though) died down a bit.
Whilst we got a glimpse of the complexities of this world at the end of Throne of Glass, this book goes so much deeper and darker. A lot of my questions and annoyances after reading the first book were answered and explained and it has enabled me to appreciate Celaena more – her actions (almost) all make sense. Basically, everything I wanted from the first book – assassinating, ancient magic, backstories and all the grittiness, was given to me in the gift of this sequel.
See How They Run by Ally Carter
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne
