Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass
(Throne of Glass #1)

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publication Date: August 2nd 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre: Fantasy

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Synopsis:

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?

My Thoughts: So with all of the hype around Throne of Glass at it's release, I decided that I absolutely NEEDED to read it and it is the only book that I have ever preordered (I even got the UK cover because I like it so much more!). So of course, it sat on my bookshelf until this month. Go me! Am I glad I finally got around to reading this (as well as the four novella prequels)? Yes, yes I am.

First of all, if you are planning on reading this and haven't read the novella's yet, you should most definitely check them out first! There would have been so many references that I didn't get if I hadn't of read them. And they are really cheap, like $1 each for Kobo. Secondly, stop hesitating like I did! These are seriously awesome! I love the world, characters and the writing style. It had been so long that I've read a decent fantasy that I couldn't get enough. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book. Sarah J. Maas just has a way of grabbing a hold of you and dragging you in. Only letting you emerge long enough to go into withdrawals before needing to continue reading. In my case it's terrible because I have to wait so long for me next "fix". I'm seriously a book junkie.

So the main character is Celaena. I like her a lot but I'm still having a hard time judging her character. I mean, she is the deadliest assassin around. I get the feeling that she doesn't like what she does most of the time, but then sometimes she does, if she really despises the person she's killing. She is apparently stunning and knows it. She's been pretty spoiled during her training, so is a bit of a brat to begin with (in the novellas more so) but after her time in Endovier she does change a bit for the better. She has trust issues (someone did set her up to get her captured) and no friends, so a bit of a loner. Overall, while I wasn't her biggest fan to begin with, she did change enough that I really like her now.

Since she is at the Glass Castle for the tournament, she is always guarded. As are the other champions. Mostly she is followed around by Captain Westfall, who is fairly cold toward her. There are a couple of love interests at the castle (both who are swoon worthy in their own ways! And no a love triangle is not set up! At least it didn't end with a feeling of one!) and a couple of friends to be made. There is something scary going on as well. Something killing in the castle, but only the champions. There are a ladies who'd like nothing better than to dispatch of Celaena, not that they know who she is. So Celaena has a lot of people to watch out for. As well as visits from ghostly figures.

As I said before though, Sarah J. Maas is a great story teller. I've already added any and all of her upcoming books to my TBR pile, how can I not after how thoroughly enjoyed Throne of Glass. She just has a way with words that made me unable to put this down. It's most likely going to be one of my top reads of the year. I definitely recommend it. Especially if you enjoy fantasy! It really is as good as everyone says! Just read the novellas first!