Review: "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas

“Throne of Glass” by Sarah J. Maas

I went into this book full of excitement, anticipation and hope of a story that would blow my mind.  Although, eventually the story picked up and I could not put it down, for me the first 300 pages or so were merely a long journey of laying down all the ground work for what I believe will become an amazing story. 

The first thing that I loved about the book was the way Maas developed each character.  It did not happen all at once but slowly over time, like we too were part of the story getting to know someone new as well.  The result was a depth in the characters and a connection with them that I rather enjoyed.  However, all of the slow get to know you development made for a rather sluggish beginning.  Although I enjoyed every page, the events that occurred did not build in me an anticipation to turn each page.  My heart did not race in wonder of what was going to come next, I merely just continued.

Some of the writing style choices that Maas chose I did not care for such as how she constantly referred to Calaena as “the assassin” almost like you would normally use the word she.  It is not that big of a deal but for me, it was rather irritating.  Or how she would refer to Dorian as “the Crown Prince of Adarlan” or used his full name…again not that big of a deal but it was irksome. 

Overall I enjoyed this book and I will continue the series.  I recommend the book to anyone who enjoys fantasy and adventure: you won’t be disappointed that you picked it up. 

*Spoiler Alert!  If you have not read the book, don’t continue!!!

There were a few things that I wanted to share that had few spoilers.

The first was I did not care for the love interest with Celaena and Dorian.  I was with Chaol the entire time when he said it was a bad idea and it would go nowhere.  I had no investment in the two as a couple so when they kissed it just felt like, oh okay…not a big deal.  It just seemed silly and unnecessary.  There is just no way that Dorian, being a prince could ever be with Calaena, even with her eventually being the Champion.

I however, loved the relationship between Celaena and Chaol.  I loved the witty love hate banter between the two that grew into actually friendship.  One of my favorite scenes in the entire book was during the last duel between her and Cain.  She was on the ground and Chaol kneels down and is telling her “Get Up!”  And he then inches his fingers as close to hers as he can, without touching her.  That to me was the love scene that I was waiting for the entire book. Then when she sees Chaol after her duel and she clings to him and says, “She didn’t know where she ended and he began.”  This is the relationship I am rooting for. 

I found it highly unnecessary that Maas had Celaena doubt Nehemia’s loyalty.  To me, it felt like Maas was just trying to drive us in one direction, to distract us from what was going on.  It was just too out of left field for it to even make sense. 

The last thing that was rather frustrating was how the ghost or spirt of Elena did not just come out and tell Celaena what was going on when she first saw her.  Seriously there was just some unnecessary mystery and I was with Celaena when she complained about her showing up if she was not going to tell her what was going on. 

I feel like this book truly was just the ground work for what I hope will be a great series.  I look forward to seeing how Celaena works under the King as his champion.  And how the King’s involvement with magic will continue to play out.  Here’s hoping for the second book to be more exciting!!