“My name is Celaena Sardothien,” she whispered. “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.”
4.5 stars
SJM has done it yet again. Or… done it to begin with? While this was Sarah’s first book, it’s my third by her, and I’m still not disappointed. There’s no doubt that she’s a spectacular author. Sadly, my bookstore doesn’t have the hardcover of ToG stocked, so I had to order it, which took way too long(why I didn’t read this sooner), in my opinion, but now that I have it in front of me and the others are on their way, I’m prepared to immerse myself completely in this series, and to not come up for air until it’s over.
Celaena is a badass, and this book is really good. Those are two facts that there is no denying. However, throughout this entire book, I couldn’t not compare it to ACOTAR and ACOMAF, my other two experiences with Sarah J. Maas. Those are two of my favourite books of all time, and I was skeptical how Throne of Glass would compare. To be honest, it didn’t. At least to say that, it wasn’t as good as A Court of Thorns and Roses, in my opinion. Throne of Glass, to me, just felt like it was Sarah’s first novel. That’s not really a bad thing, considering it was her first novel. It just felt a little rockier and ACOTAR. While ACOTAR and ACOMAF were so unbelievably fluid and flowing and poetic, ToG felt slightly more awkward and bumpy to me. There’s a chance that that’s just because of the short chapters, or how I was always comparing it to her other books, but that’s just how it felt to me. That said, I still LOVED it.
One of the things that I really appreciated in this book was the character development and their arcs. Celaena, especially, comes across very, well… uneasy to like at the beginning of the book. She’s arrogant, she seems petty, unreasonable, unnecessarily violent (although, as an assassin, I think she should be given the right to be violent), obsessed with exclamation marks, there were some points where I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not, and honestly, it’s hard to get along with her. While I deeply admire strong, kickass, warrior characters, I didn’t exactly like Celaena to begin with, even though she is all of those things. I wanted to, I tried to, and while I didn’t outright hate her, she annoyed me. That said, it didn’t take long for me to begin to feel better with her being our prime narrator. One sentence was all it took for me to realize that throughout the book, I would get to like her more, because in that one sentence, I really identified with her. While I hadn’t been through all of the crap that she had, we’ve all fought our own demons, and she and I have a similar idea of peace. Seeing her develop, and learning more about her, I understood her. It’s not that her brashness simply fell away off the edge of a precipice, but we understood what was underneath it all, and Maas so wonderfully gave us bits of information and feeling that made us sympathize and genuinely like Celaena(without information bombs, so thank you for that). I’m now 100% behind Celaena, and just about anything she might want to do.
The development of the other characters is also something I really appreciated. While this is a very plot-centered story, it would be nothing without the amazing characters. I’m so happy that Celaena has a good, genuine friend in this book. So many books tend to leave out the importance of a real female friend for these young protagonists. While they’re undoubtedly awesome and ready to take on the world and kill evil dictators, these girls still need friends they can confide in and gossip with. *SIDENOTE: Celaena has a period! THANK YOU SJM! I think there are only two other books/series I’ve read where the female characters actually have periods (Fire/Graceling and I believe ACOTAR/ACOMAF). It’s such a natural part of life, and I’m so glad that Sarah doesn’t shy away from writing about it. It’s unrealistic to write a book inside the head of and following a young girl, knowing just about every thought in her head, and not have her ever experience her period. I really think it sends the wrong message to girls and women out there when an author, a talented person tasked with writing about feelings, doesn’t write about something so unavoidable and normal. So thank you. Because honestly, periods are hell, and I’m so happy that SJM acknowledges that.
Another character note for ToG: the love triangle. Yes, I know, it would normally be a cringe. However, SJM has found a way to make it tolerable. And, now keep in mind this has only ever happened to me once before, I actually like both of the guys! Obviously, I have my choice, and I’m not spoiling you for saying that I pick Chaol over Dorian, but I don’t strongly dislike Dorian at all. He’s a great guy. Honestly, probably the type of person I would personally be attracted to. If the mere thought of a love triangle is beginning to put you off of this book, fear not. It wasn’t the driving part of the book, and the entire concept of romance was nearly always on the backburner (if you’re like me and you can’t help but love the romance, I’m fairly certain there will be more of it coming in the next books. And if not, check out ACOTAR and ACOMAF. So. Good.).
Along with individual character arcs and development, something that stuck out to me was how interpersonal relations developed and changed. Relationships formed and broke, and then in some cases reformed even stronger. I liked the way that SJM had relationships build realistically. We’re in this castle with Celaena, following her through everything in this book, for months. And so, it’s reasonable for me to believe that people can form friendships and have feelings for each other in that span of time. There’s no insta-love (gag), and it all seemed quite real to me (especially in the way that different characters express the same emotions around the same person in very different way. Thinking about it got me understanding everything on a very psychological level, and it was pretty fun. If you’ve read the book I’m sure you’ll understand what I’m getting at).
While I wouldn’t say that Throne of Glass exactly lived up to my love for A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury, I have faith that the world will only grow and my love for it will only expand in the next books (which, by the way, waiting 2-4 business days plus the weekend for the sequel is going to kill me). I am beyond excited to dive into Crown of Midnight as soon as possible, and then all of the books after that. I am fully prepared to be hollow and achy after EoS, having realized that I’m completely caught up on Every. Single. SJM book. But *takes long, steadying breath - ahem - just like Kaltain* I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. And by that I mean, I will make a countdown to book 6 after I’ve finished book 5.
I hope you all decide to pick up Throne of Glass, as it was super good. Now, time for the awards. I personally award Sarah J. Maas with the RELATABLE UNRELATABLE CHARACTER award. Confused? Celaena is an assassin. She was sent to a death camp at age 17. I’m nothing like her, and looking at those parts of her backstory, I don’t exactly want to be. But still, I found parts of her, such as her hope for and dream of freedom, to be exactly like mine. In those ways, I could totally sympathize with Celaena, and even see myself as her in certain situations. Thank you, SJM, for writing Celaena Sardothien, because I really love being able to imagine myself as being anything like an assassin.
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“You could rattle the stars,” she whispered. “You could do anything, if you only dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you most.”Highlighted by 19,658 Kindle readers- Libraries were full of ideas—perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.Highlighted by 18,773 Kindle readers
- Freedom or death lay at this table. Her past and future were seated on a glass throne.Highlighted by 9,659 Kindle readers
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Fast-paced action
From a tragic past, to surviving slavery, to competing for her life and freedom and rising above it all, Celaena still found it in herself to laugh, smile, form genuine friendships, maybe even love - I’m in awe 🤩I really enjoyed this story, especially the friendship and banter between Celaena and Chaol - they share some awesomely funny and heartfelt moments together 😂 Although I was hoping for more romance, the plot and fast-paced action of this story didn’t disappoint. I think I may even prefer this series over ACOTAR and look forward to seeing what lies ahead for Celaena.I highly recommend 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 by Sarah J. Maas to anyone who enjoys a fierce + sassy female lead, fast-paced action, deep friendships, competition, monsters, and magic.
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