Sunday, April 7, 2013

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas -- YA Review

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas -- YA Review


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 exhilirating. 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.
Details: Bloomsbury USA Children's, August 7, 2012, 404 pages
Genre: YA
Source: Library
Links: Goodreads

Stars? 4/5

In one sentence? A kick ass heroine.

Review: Celaena is a kick ass heroine. And likable. Despite being an assassin - and surprisingly that's even understandable in the context of the story - she's likable, even admirable. Her spirit was unbreakable despite what she's endured. Celaena is complicated, there are moments where we see her as a young woman who needs someone to look after her.

Throne of Glass raised more questions than it answered: who betrayed her, who was Sam, what's with the pianoforte, who is she's really, who is she going to love, where is her teacher/foster father, what's going to happen next. Like I said, lots of questions.

It wasn't a page turner. I wanted to know what happened next but I wasn't desperate to know. Neither did I obsess or think about the story after it was done like I do with the books I love. The story didn't move fast enough for me, it seemed like there was a lot of waiting around, waiting for something to happen.

I thought the romance was lukewarm. Though I liked both of her suitors, if you could call them that, neither made much of an impression. That being said, they both called to something in her but they were very different, either she could have a guy who challenged her training or one who can talk about books and appreciate her musical ability.

I had a few issues with the story but they were minor, I didn't understand how it was that no one recognized her if she had been tried in court. Also, from everything we understand that she's gone through and survived and a girl who has a mantra 'I will not be afraid' acted the way she did towards the King. Either there's more there to the story

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