Book Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic

Series: Throne of Glass #2

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Publication Date: August 2013

Author's Info: sarahjmaas.com

Wendy's Rating: 3 of 5 stars

As much as I enjoyed Throne of Glass, one thing that bugged me (other than Celaena’s arrogance) was the fact that Celaena is supposedly the renowned and feared Adarlan’s Assassin, but beyond her own boasting, she didn’t do anything assassiny. Crown of Midnight initially made me believe I was finally getting to see what I wanted to see, but we quickly find out otherwise. The King’s Champion proves herself conniving, with questionable negotiations, but she certainly doesn’t prove herself deadly. It made me wonder if Maas was having trouble truly associating her character with the more negative aspects of being known as Adarlan’s Assassin – namely, the assassin part. This is remedied half way through the book when she unleashes her darkness in a way that I can only describe as Mary Sue the Ninja. The scene, which I could probably re-enact with Catwoman in a Batman: Arkham Asylum challenge map, was a bit too over the top for my liking.

My second problem with this book (other than Celaena's arrogance), is the heavy focus on cloying romances. Celaena, now moved on from her romance with Prince Dorian, is paying more attention to the captain of the guard, Chaol Westfall, which, on top of her arrogance, results in a book that spends far too long being the kind of YA book that I don’t particularly enjoy.

Having to deal with all of this for half the book made it very difficult to continue, but I generally try to finish what I start. Fortunately, the actual plot picked up and started to move along at the half way point with Princess Nehemia’s plotting, the slow, seeping return of magic, and Queen Elena’s mysterious absence. We finally get to focus on the dark past Celaena is running from and the destiny she is trying her hardest to avoid.

The big revelation at the end still has Mary Sue smatterings, no matter how often Maas reminds us of what Celaena has lost and what she suffered as a slave in the mines, but it is still interesting enough for me to consider continuing. At the very least, circumstances seemed to have caused her to mature a bit. While I don’t want her to lose her arrogance completely, as it is part of her coping mechanisms, I do hope the swagger is toned down a bit for future installments - which I still am intrigued enough to want to read.

Audiobook Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of Throne of Glass

Publisher: Audible Inc.

Date of Publication: November 5, 2013 (audiobook)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

 Mogsy's Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars - "Gripping and full of surprises; the story and the characters are gradually built up into an intense finale"

It's not often that a book catches me off guard, but this one sure did. Sometimes, the mood for a particular type of story or experience will strike me out of the blue, making me seek out the sort of book that will satisfy the hankering. At the time, what I felt like reading was a traditional young adult fantasy, complete with action and intrigue, a kickass heroine, a thrilling love triangles and all that goodness. I was pretty confident that Throne of Glass was going to deliver all that and more when I first settled back with the audiobook, and yet nothing could have prepared me for the way it swept me off my feet.

A year into her imprisonment and forced labor at the salt mines of Endovier, convicted assassin Celaena Sardothien is hauled before the Crown Prince and offered a chance to reclaim her freedom. The conditions Prince Dorian offers her are simple: act as his champion in the king's upcoming competition to find a royal assassin, win, serve the kingdom for four years, and then she will be free.

However, the trials set up to prepare Celaena for the competition are challenging and brutal, and her opponents are all hardened, dangerous men. Chaol Westguard, the guard captain overseeing her training, pushes her hard and keeps her isolated from much of the court activities. Still, she cannot help but be drawn to him, much as she is drawn to the prince. Things get more interesting -- and unsettling -- when one by one, the other champions turn up dead, savagely ripped apart by someone or something unnatural. Celaena fears the killer will come for her next, ending her hopes before she will even have the chance to win her freedom.

I admit, I was a bit worried when I first met Celaena. I can take sassy, confident and badass young adult heroines, but what gets on my nerves is arrogance. And Celaena happens to have it in abundance. It's not that her vanity is uncalled for; in fact, she's quite the talented young woman, having all the looks, the smarts, the moves. But I could have done without her proclaiming her greatness every chance she gets.

Obviously, something changed my opinion of her at a later point, otherwise I wouldn't have enjoyed this book so much. But more on that later because first praise needs to go to the narrator Elizabeth Evans whose voice work was exceptional, perhaps doing the job too well. Her delivery of Celaena's lines were all spot on, nailing all the boastfulness and arrogance of her character. It's really amazing how a good narrator can bring out the full gamut of a protagonist's personality, for better or worse.

Definitely for the better, once I eventually warmed towards Celaena. Beneath the arrogance lies a lot more than I'd given her credit for, a much greater complexity. She's really not as invincible as she thinks she is, and deep down I think she knows this. It cast her determination and her strength in a whole different light for me, and in time I grew to like her and want to see her succeed. I'm still not completely sold on the love triangle between her, Prince Dorian and the Chaol Westfall, but at least I desperately wanted to see her win the king's competition.

And speaking of the competition, what a complete 180 it did on my emotions! Here I was, thinking that it's just like the fantasy version of a reality-TV-show-type game where the champion with the worst performance gets booted out and goes home each week. That's how it started off, but by the end I was completely enthralled, especially over the final duel scene. It's good that audiobooks don't allow you to easily flip forward to the end of a chapter to find out what happens like you do with a book, or else I would have been sorely tempted to spoil the outcome for myself. It was just that intense.

Like I said, I really didn't expect this book to be this gripping and full of surprises. The beginning of it led me think it was going to be an average book, but gradually it built up both the story and the characters to make this one close to a five-star read.

Story, Performance, Overall:

4.5 of 5 stars

A review copy of this audiobook was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.  

YA Weekend: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Series: Throne of Glass #1

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Publication Date: March 2012

Author Info: sarahjmaas.com

Wendy's Rating: 4 of 5 stars: Celaena maintains a level of charm and sass that makes it easy to understand why the prince, the captain and soon the visiting Princess Nehemia find her endearing as often as they find her frustrating.

Celaena Sardothien is the infamous "Adarlan's Assassin," betrayed and sent to slave away in the salt mines. The king had expected her to die a slow, torturous death, but he failed to break her. To her surprise a year later, she is summoned some time later to fight for her freedom in a competition that will name the King’s Champion. Sponsored by the Crown Prince Dorian, Celaena is removed from slavery and treated with almost every courtesy as a lady, and trained by Chaol Westfall, the Captain of the Guard, but warned that she must not reveal her true identity.

The balance of Celaena's moments in finery with her time in training and competition were really well done in terms of revealing her character. She is as comfortable and confident in either situation, though her sometimes overwhelming ego makes it difficult for her to hold back the truth about her identity. I appreciate that, while her time in slavery does haunt her, there is no over-indulgent brooding. Celaena maintains a level of charm and sass that makes it easy to understand why the prince, the captain and soon the visiting Princess Nehemia find her endearing as often as they find her frustrating.

As much as I loved these moments of Celaena getting to be herself with Dorian, Chaol and Princess Nehemia, I grew impatient with the repeated referrals to her as Adarlan’s Assassin as there was little but her repetition of her esteemed title that indicated her skill. While she occasionally got to display her physical abilities, the focus of the story moved away from the competition. And while I suppose I have no choice but to accept that she is an excellent assassin with a hit list to prove her worthy of the praise (at least until I read the novellas), her survival training seems suspect.

Still, these moments reveal that Celaena is just a normal girl beneath whatever title she may hold and whatever tortures she's been through. The moment she truly endeared herself to me was when she discovered the library and happily twirled through it. The book won me over when her follow up with the prince on this library led to him commanding her to read his favourite books that they might discuss them. I immediately developed a strong desire for Celaena, Dorian and Chaol to start up a secret book club.

Magic is initially very subtle. It has been banished when the book begins, but it is evident that it will play a role in Celaena's future. I liked that I almost forgot about the fantasy aspect as Celaena adjusted to her new life. Maas spent a healthy amount of time developing the characters and their relationships. There is most certainly romance involved, but it does not preclude friendship. Once these bonds are strongly established, the story eases back into the major plot of the competition and the magic that will eventually alter Celaena's experience.

Wendy's Book Haul

I may have accidentally revealed my bibliophilia to someone who now has a mighty weapon to use against me. He should be pleased with the result (as I am pleased with Amazon's speedy delivery, even though UPS interrupted dinner).

But a book haul post wouldn't be right if I didn't blame Mogsy for some of my purchases. She mentioned Audible Matchmaker, resulting in the following:

 

 

My excuse is that I already owned the ebooks and now I can WhisperSync them and listening to audiobooks means I'll get through that TBR pile faster and ... and....

Wendy's Book Haul: Blame it on Mogsy

*Somebody* who may or may not have already been named in the post title gushed about Stormdancer and happened to mention that it was available at BookCloseOuts. Of course I can't just get one book from there - have to justify that shipping cost! BookCloseOuts kindly obliged by recommending Three Parts Dead, which I grabbed along with my favourite "parenting" book, NurtureShock.

But this (not) said person didn't stop there! Promise of Blood is on sale for only $1.99, she tweeted, and Amazon, with its sly, seductive ways, guided my cursor to the one-click buy button. But wait! There's more! Throne of Glass was a good price and you might as well get the sequel, Crown of Midnight, she said, and then there was all her gushing about the Riyria books, so I had to check out Theft of Swords...