Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas

Page Count: 418

Published on: August 27, 2013

Published by: Bloomsbury

Genre(s): High Fantasy, Fantasy, YA, Romance
Source: Paperback

Age Rating: middle grade

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

Book Depository: {click here}

Twitter: @SJMaas

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

"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.

~~~

Hey, guys!

     I can't go too into detail with this book as it will spoil the first book, Throne of Glass, but if you'd like more details regarding my feelings on the specifics of the book, then feel free to DM me on Twitter, Instagram, Litsy, or my other social media. You can check out my full (non-spoiler) review of Throne of Glass here {click}. Crown of Midnight was just as good if not better than Trhone of Glass. It kept me on the edge of my seat and kept me in a constant state of emotional turmoil.

     Crown of Midnight continues Celaena Sardothian's story in a kick butt, action packed, heart jerker. I really enjoyed this book as a sequel. It improved on the series and improved in the areas that I felt like Throne of Glass struggled. There was a larger focus on the magic, Celaena's assassin abilities, and the characters and the world was expanded upon in a really great way. There were so many twists and turns and moments where I was on the edge of my seat. Part one was really great, but part two was even better. Part two gouged out my heart and then stuffed it back in. I felt so many emotions throughout this book.

     Let's talk about character development. One of my main issues with Throne of Glass was that Celaena was all talk and rarely proved her skills. In Crown of Midnight, Celaena's skills are explained and shown in depthand it's much more believable that she is the queen of assassins. Her character, however, wasn't as impressive as I would have hoped. She still fell just a bit flat for me, but I still really enjoy her character. Chaol was probably one of my favorite characters. His character is so fleshed out and interesting. The bits where he interacts with his family and the King are so interesting. He makes really dumb decisions that made me want throttle him, but I think that was what made him such a real character. I also really love Nehemia so much and the way her character changed equally broke my heart and made me a proud mother.

     I am convinced that Chaol and Celaena are meant to be. The sexual tension throughout the book was really aggravating and I just wanted them to stop being dumb and accept that they are attracted to each other. I thought I was team Dorian in Throne of Glass, but I was very wrong. I could definitely get behind the Team Celaena mindset as well. The poor girl is broken and hurt. She needs time to take care of herself and heal from all that she's endured! But I'm still convinced that Chaol and Celaena are the ultimate ToG ship. 

     Part 2 was where all the heartache was. I really wasn't expecting the twist that SJM caused. I specifically remember where I was when I started part two. I had just gotten off work and I was waiting for my boyfriend to get done with training at his second job. Some dude came up to me and asked for directions to another area on campus. No big deal. He probably recognized I worked on campus. But then he started to try to make conversation! I was very obviously trying to read and I was literally dying. Granted, he said that the Throne of Glass series sounded good and he'd look for it, but you don't interrupt a girl while she's reading. Overall, the ending was fantastic and I can't wait to continue with the series. It totally blew me away. 

Other Maas Reviews:

• Throne of Glass {4 stars}
• A Court of Thorns & Roses {5 stars}
• A Court of Mist & Fury {all of the stars}
• A Court of Wings and Ruin COMING SOON   

Happy reading!

Olivia

~LivTheBookNerd~

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