Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas Published by Bloomsbury on August 2nd 2012
Genres: Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Magic, General, Love & Romance, Royalty, Young Adult
Pages: 432
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads
Meet Celaena Sardothien.Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament - fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin's heart be melted?
Every now and then I come across a novel that takes me forever to read. Not because I’m not enjoying it but rather the opposite – it’s because I’m having so much fun that I try to draw the story out as long as I possibly can. This book took me two weeks to read… which is an extraordinary time for me to read a book… I’m usually finished in one or two days.
Throne of Glass is the story of Celaena Sardothien – a notorious young assassin who has spent the last year slaving away in the saltmines of Endovier. But a year in a slave labour camp has done nothing to quell Celaena’s somewhat arrogant and cheeky attitude.
Celaena has been trained in the lethal arts since she was a young girl found by the Assassin King and she’s proud of all she’s accomplished. Not just anyone manages to be the Adarlan’s Assassin – the best in all the land – at seventeen.
When Crown Prince Dorian Havillard comes to the salt mines with a proposition for her, Celaena accepts his offer to represent him in a contest his father is holding – to find a Champion – and earn her wealth and freedom in four years.
But all is not well in Rifthold’s Glass Castle. Fellow competitors are turning up dead and the ladies of the court are nearly as vicious as assassins.
I was surprised by just how much I liked Celaena. She comes across as slightly arrogant but the more I read the more I realized that she had reason to be cocky. She’s achieved more in her years – not even to mention that she’s spent an entire year in a slave labour camp mining salt – than people do in entire lifetimes. And it’s true that whilst her life isn’t exactly ethical – she managed to kill 24 people in an attempt to escape from Endovier – she’s a force to be reckoned with.
I think the most surprising thing was that Celaena wasn’t just the hardened criminal that she seems at first glance. She’s there for her friends and stands up for poor defenceless animals. There’s a lot more to Celaena that I imagined.
This story is exciting. Assassin contest complete with many tasks and a duel to find the winner at the end. Add in a yuletime ball and gorgeous ball gowns… there was enough in this book to keep me interested from the first page to the last.
The love triangle in this novel was fantastic- and I’m not someone who usually likes when there’s more than one love interest. It’s one of those where there’s no clear leader and I like the mystery. Prince Dorian and Captain Chaol Westfall – best friends and romantic rivals are so different and yet best friends. They’re strong characters and I really enjoyed their interactions with Celaena and with each other.
I’ll definitely be reading the next book in this series. There’s a lot that’s left a mystery with so many questions regarding Celaena’s history and so many more about the magical world that still exists within Adarlan. I can’t wait till the next book is released.
