“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.

 

Crown of Midnight took me about a week to read. There are several reasons for this, most of them having nothing to do with the book itself (I got really busy at work, then I got sick for several days, a few other things), but I feel like I may have enjoyed it more if I had read it in fewer sittings. I’m in no way implying this book was bad – I gave it 4.5 stars – I just felt like I was never going to finish it and since I was reading it slowly, the events felt like they were being dragged out (similarly to the first one).

Rationally I know that’s not necessarily true. This book had way more action, romance, sexiness, magic, betrayal, witches, death, you name it, than Throne of Glass did. You start getting more backstory and the characters feel more fleshed out. So much happens in this book and your emotions will hop on a rollercoaster.

For anyone who thought Throne of Glass was more on the “Just Okay” side, I urge you to give Crown of Midnight a try. It really was much better. I gave it 4.5 stars instead of 5 because I still felt parts went a bit slow (but again that could have been my own doing).

Let me tell you a little not-so-secret about me. I hate horror movies because I jump at absolutely everything. I spilled a glass of wine all over the mailing labels for my wedding invitations when my dog barked unexpectedly and had to make my then fiance run to Target at 8:30pm to get me new ones. It’s a bit of a problem. (I promise this will lead somewhere 😉 ) As I read a certain scene in this book I had to actually reassure myself that I was reading a book and not watching a movie, and therefore nothing could physically jump out at me. It was pretty ridiculous and I felt absurd but it was at that point that I realized Maas was a very good writer (also that I am a baby. Oh well, I accept this.).

 

All in all, this book was pretty fantastic and I strongly recommend it!

 

Now I’m off to write a review about the bound set of prequel novellas, The Assassin’s Blade. 😀