book review: throne of glass

Ah man, what an adventure! I really enjoyed reading this book, and absolutely can't wait to start the second one! Since i've been terribly busy, it took me a few weeks to finish it because i first read a few chapters one day(which were pretty good) and didn't continue for the next two weeks. When i picked it up again, i read a ton of chapters until i had read half. Finally, it took me three hours during some free time in college to finish the other half of the book. I'm rating it 4.8 out of 5.

Throne of Glass is everything i want in a good young adult book. It has a lot of action, a bit of fantasy, a terrific love triangle, an epic time-setting and most importantly, a completely lovable female bad-ass protagonist!

The story is basically about a young girl named Celaena Sardothien who is -wait for it- the kingdom's most notorious assassin! Celaena spent her childhood training to become an assassin, and eventually built a high reputation for herself. However, she was captured at the age of seventeen and was sent to the "death camp" Endovier for imprisonment. After being tortured there for a year, she was suddenly summoned by the kingdom's Crown Prince, Dorian Havilliard. The prince wanted her to be his Champion for the king's competition in finding the greatest warrior to serve as his personal assassin. If she won the competition, she would have to serve the king for four years before being granted freedom. Desperate to escape the deadly life in Endovier, Celaena agreed and set off to the capital of Adarlan, where the competition was to be held. She trains with the Captain of the Guard, Chaol Westfall and goes through a series of tests to qualify for the final duel that would determine her future.

There are so many good things about this book, i'm not really sure where to start. Let's start with the style of writing. The writing must have been pretty spectacular because i really felt like i was watching a movie in my head. The descriptions of the land, the castle, the characters was so good that i felt like i was the main character myself. That's pretty impressive, seeing as the book is told from a third perspective. It also exchanges points of views from Celaena to Dorian and Chaol, which was very pleasant to read. The book was fast paced, and i liked that it didn't feel like the author was rushing through it. The descriptions can get a little gory especially during duels and deaths, but it was necessary and age appropriate seeing as it's a young adult high fantasy. I think i might even have enjoyed the book as a kid if i had read it when i was much younger.

I absolutely enjoyed this story being in the Merlin/Eragon/Ranger's Apprentice kind of setting, with the world being full of swords and bows and castles and fancy dresses and all of those other cool stuff that makes you just want to dive into that world. I really enjoyed reading this setting through Eragon and Ranger's Apprentice when i was a kid, so reading this through an awesome female character's point of view with such a cool concept with assassins just makes the reading experience so refreshing.

The only problem i had with the book was the lack of story in explaining why or how Celaena got the name of being Adarlan's assassin. Like, i get the idea that she's the best but the author never really told any background story about the things she did as an assassin before she was captured. I did appreciate that she explained a lot about Celaena's training by the King of Assassins, but i still was not convinced as to why she was notorious. I found out later that there are many novellas for this series about Celaena's life before Endovier, so i guess there's more story there. Still, as the first book of an epic series, it would have been better if we had gotten some more explanation about that from the get go.

One of the things i really loved about this book is how it talks about the minor interests and struggles of a teenager. For example, Celaena loves to read books and it was amusing to read about how she would spend hours reading in bed and would sometimes fall asleep while reading. It was so smart for the author to make the readers be able to relate to the main character, because it makes you more drawn to the book when you feel like you ARE the main character. It really was impressive, because normally it wouldn't be so easy to make a reader of the modern world be able to relate to one of a different one. There are a few more parts in the book that does this, and i was entertained by all of them.

A lot of characters were introduced in the book, and it was admittedly difficult to keep up at first. Honestly i can't remember the names of most of the competitors anymore. However, almost all the characters have unusual names which were really unique(i.e. Dorian, Chaol, Nox, Kaltain, Nehemia) so it was also easy to distinct the characters apart. The characters and places having extraordinary names was actually pretty cool. I find it amusing when you can discuss a book with your friends and everyone kind of has their own way of pronouncing the names. Oh by the way, how classy is the name Celaena Sardothien? I JUST LOVE SAYING IT OUT LOUD.

*SPOILER SECTION*

Let's talk about how awesomely badass Celaena is. I just love her! I love how she can be so bubbly but so viciously dangerous at the same time. I love the fact that she's basically a normal teenager, and being an assassin doesn't stop her from enjoying the good things in life. She's kind and funny and sassy and considerate and has an awesome taste in fashion, but she also isn't perfect. She can be reckless at times with her decisions but i think that adds to the reasons of why i like her.

One of my favourite parts of the book that i just have to mention is the part when she received a whole bag of candy. THAT WAS JUST SO CUTE! The way she just gobbled down half the bag and described her delight just makes her seem like an adorable little girl, which makes ME feel like an adorable little girl. And the reaction from Dorian is just so cute and funny that i'm side-shipping them together(BECAUSE I AM ALL FOR TEAM CHAOL). Another part i enjoyed was when she got period cramps because YESSS FINALLY SOME REAL GIRL ISSUES! I just LOVED Chaol's clueless reactions and how awkward he was when she finally told him. AHHHH I LOVE THEM TOGETHER. The love triangle in the book is just fantastic, because it really can make the readers divided. Like, i can understand well if she does end up with Dorian because damnnn he is handsome and charming and has an awesome sense of humour.

The reason why i'm more sided towards Dorian is how he's more of a reserved person who doesn't express his feelings much but deep down really cares(even though he's still in denial). I love how he and Celaena treat each other with their teasing and all. I also love the concern he has for Celaena when he hears more about her story and the reasons behind her scars. He seems like a very loyal companion to the prince, and the fact that they're practically best buddies just makes it even more interesting. My favourite scene was when Celaena was basically dying during the final duel and he was there, reaching out to her and telling her to get up. The description was so beautiful, i couldn't help but fall in love with him even more. I hope we'll see a lot more of him in the next book!

I felt like the ending was kind of random, when Celaena suddenly broke up with Dorian(even though technically they weren't even together). It felt too sudden, because it seemed like she really liked him. He certainly was in love with her, and the lack of reaction being described kind of makes the ending incomplete for me. I would have like to hear his thoughts on being rejected, because he seemed prepared to give anything to be with her. But ah well, more chances for Chaol! It's gonna be interesting to see what happens in the love triangle. At this point, i really think she can end up with either of them.

Honestly, i'm not too excited about the more magical side of the story with Queen Elena and the Other World and stuff. I know it gives the author more room to create good plots for future books, but i'm mostly excited about Celaena and her new job.

*END OF SPOILER SECTION*

All in all, i loved Throne of Glass and i think the series is gonna turn out to be one of my all-time favourites. It has so much potential to be great, and hearing reviews from many of my biblio friends, it sounds like the series really does get better. From reading Goodreads reviews, i found out that there are quite a number of people out there who didn't like the book at all, so i guess it's all up to individual preferences. I'm definitely in the majority for this one. Do read it if you're interested, but don't set your expectations too high. As for me, i'm going to go read the second book now. Happy reading peeps :)