Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass by  Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's

Release Date: August 7, 2012

Page Count: 404 

Series: Throne of Glass #1

Format: Hardcover

Second book Crown of Midnight expected release August 27, 2013

Rating: 4.5 Stars

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. - Goodreads

Sarah J. Maas did a phenomenal job with this book. I was thoroughly impressed with this story, the world development and the unexpected characters. Throng of Glass without a doubt deserves four and a half stars. I had high hopes for this book after hearing positive reviews, and I was not disappointed.

I started this book late one evening and realized I couldn't put it down until I was finished. Going to class the next day wasn't to great, but this story simply sucked me in, and wouldn't let me put it down. There was action, love and excitement during the whole journey, not one dull moment.

The plot of the story was interesting and having never read an assassin story before I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was intrigued. I thought it lacked slightly in the dark assassin world element that I had hoped for, which was the only negative I found through-out the book. The characters were well developed, Celaena was a strong female character that showed her vulnerable side to readers. The love triangle that was featured felt realistic, no insta-love, all three characters had battles they fought to stop their emotions and it was very heart-wrenching and honest in that sense.

In the beginning I doubted how real the friendship between Celaena and Nehemia was, I thought it was a little forced but as the story progressed and I learned more about them, and they developed together I really enjoyed these two kick-ass females who weren't taking prisoners in battle.

I wasn't expecting any magic in the story, especially at the level that it participated in the story, but I enjoyed it. It gave a twist to the story that I didn't expect and I'm biting my nails to see what happens in the next one. Another thing I appreciated was the different character points of view that carried the story by providing mystery and understanding. These did cause me to want to yell at Celaena over the things I knew that she had yet to discover.

The worst part of the story for me would be the fact that I now have to wait so dreadfully long for the second one to come out, and the other parts of the story are not out in hard copies but only e-book version. I can not wait for the sequel Crown of Midnight which is expecting to be release August 27, 2013.

I recommend this book to all, it was magnificent and well worth the read. I hope you enjoy this story, and happy reading!