Saturday 14 July 2012

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass # 1) by Sarah J. Maas - Book Review

Title: Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass # 1)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury US Children's
Publication Date: 7th August 2012
Pages: 350
Format: E-Book - PDF
Genre: YA Fantasy
Source: ARC via NetGalley




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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 kings 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 Synopsis)





This was an interesting tale that fell short for me when it came to character interaction. The plot is interesting and fresh and I was keen to see what would happen. My issue was that I never truly connected with Celaena. I just found it hard to believe in her and her abilities. I also struggled with the romantic aspects of the story as there was no chemistry in her relationships with any of the potential love interests.


But the story overall is good fun. There are the traditional fantasy elements, plus a few surprises and I thought the pacing was well done, with plenty of action to keep the reader turning the pages. So despite the characters issues, I still found it an enjoyable enough read and I would like to read the next book in the series to find out what will happen next.


It may be that Maas can flesh out her character relationships more in the next book and I am intrigued to see how the magical elements of the plot will play out.


This book isn't perfect, but it is still a solid story and worth the time of YA Fantasy fans.


1 comment:

  1. I feel the exact same way. I am about halfway through the book and am torn because it has such potential...but the characters! SO frustrating in that they aren't realistic in their interactions and what they do seems to come out of no where sometimes. Grrr, I'll be finishing it soon, but am disappointed because I so wanted to like this book!

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