SUMMARY:
The novel Throne of Glass of the first book in a series of the same name by Sarah J. Mass. The series is a high fantasy young adult novel set in a world where magic has disappeared and the kingdom of Adarlan is ruled by an evil tyrant who seems to be the reason magic has suddenly disappeared. Celaena Sardothien, the protagonist of this novel, was orphaned at a young age. She was found by Arobbyn Hamel, the king of Assasins. She was raised to become Adarlan’s best and most feared assassin.
However, at the age of sixteen, she was betrayed and captured, sentenced to life at Endovier the Curlest prison. A year into her sentence she is enlisted by the Crown Prince of Adarlan to compete to become the King’s champion in exchange for her freedom. She is taken to the castle where she trains and competes against thieves, assassins and soldiers to become the king’s assassin. During her time at the castle, she finds herself torn between two men, The Crown Prince, Dorian Havilliard and his best friend Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Guard. While all this occurs contestants are being found dead. As Celeana searches for answers she finds herself wrapped up in something much deeper than she could have ever imagined, finding that her bloodline might have more to do with all of this than she thought.
POSITIVES:
All the characters are well thought out and have major development throughout the book, as well as the series. Sarah J. Mass does an amazing job of showing the many layers of Celaena’s personality, showing her many sides and how her past traumas play into the person she becomes. Celaena, unlike most female leads in young adult novels, is highly independent and in most instances does not let love blind her judgment. She is genuinely a cool character, who you find yourself constantly rooting for. This, however, at times throughout the novel negatively affects her. The plot all together is extraordinary. It contains the perfect balance of fantasy and romance. The romance does not overpower and take over the plot like many novels do.
NEGATIVES:
As amazing as this novel is, there are a few things that bother me about it. First off is Chaol’s fear of taking a stance and of change. He is torn between being loyal to his king and doing what is right, even though it is obvious to all the characters that the king has caused so much pain and evil to not just his kingdom but also neighbouring ones. This indecisiveness leads to things going horribly wrong for all the characters. Another issue I had with the novel were the shifts from the point of view. While Celaena was the main perspective, we got to see other character’s perspectives. Seeing Chaol and Dorians perspectives was fine, there were times where we got to see the perspectives of secondary characters such as Duke Perrington and Kaltain which I found useless and quite boring. I wanted to skip through them most of the time and get back to whatever was happening to Celaena. Celaena, as cool as she is, also makes mistakes. In some instances, you’re reading and you’re like: “Oh my god don’t do that are you stupid.” But it’s written in a way that makes her seem human who makes mistakes.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading this book. It is currently one of my favourites, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series and seeing what they have to offer. I would highly recommend anyone reading this book. People who like books, shows and movies such as The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and The Mortal Instruments will really like the Throne of Glass series.
Written by Mahmoud Elfeki
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