Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah J. MaasSeries: Throne of Glass, #2
Published: 27 August 2013 by Bloomsbury
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Format: Hardback
Source: Purchased
Links: Goodreads
Synopsis:
From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.
Rating:
Review and Discussion:
Firstly: this book was incredible. I read this non-stop between work and sleep, but even with all the interruptions, I was angry at myself for reading it too quickly. It was fantastic from beginning to end, and it left off on such a teasing cliffhanger that makes me so grateful to already have Heir of Fire sitting on my shelf waiting to be picked up and read straight away.
Secondly: I have no idea how much of a review this post is going to be; I strongly suspect that it will, instead, be one massive gush fest over Crown of Midnight, Celaena Sardothian and Chaol Westfall. With an appropriate excess of question marks because I have so many questions as to where the story will go on from here.
And so, without further ado...
How the heck can anyone prefer Dorian over Chaol?? Chaol is perfect for Celaena, and Celaena perfect for Chaol. Though he does have his many faults—blind loyalty to the king being the main one—he is completely excused because he has never known any better. His whole life, he has been conditioned to blindly serve the king. This ultimately causes his relationship with Celaena to fracture, but I think that served as a huge wake-up call for him. He is coming to re-assess his loyalties, and figure out what he wants for himself, and what is best for the kingdom. I understand that he and Celaena cannot be together for the time being, but by the end of the series, I hope that he will sort out his priorities and find his way back to Celaena's heart. #Chaolaena <3
And just to justify why I am not on board with Dorian and Celaena ending up together... Dorian is the king's son, and that can never change. Though Dorian may change his heart and mind on matters and choose to not align himself with the king's agenda in the future, the fact of the matter is that Dorian has been there, supporting the king, throughout the king's reign. Even if Dorian does 'rebel' and attempt to rise up against the king, he will always be the son of an awful tyrant, and is therefore ineligible for Celaena's heart (in my most humble opinion).
Okay, okay, okay. There is so much more to this book than Celaena's romantic interests. They were just the first thing on my mind because my favourite part of any book is the romantic side of things.
Celaena was incredible in this book. Seeing her as the King's Champion was pure delight. It was similar to the side of Celaena we saw in The Assassin's Blade, yet so much more badass. She is more mature, more aware of herself and her role, and is thus able to wow me with her incredible skills. There were so many scenes that filled me with such pride for Celaena: the opening scenes, the warehouse scene, the scenes with Grave and Lord Mullison, and of course, the whole chunk at the end. She went through some amazing character development in this novel, and I was completely blown away by how wonderful she is. I will always be in this story for Celaena; her love interests and dramas are just an added bonus.
And it wasn't just Celaena's character development that amazed me. Chaol, Dorian, Nehemia, Kaltain, and even the king to a certain extent, all underwent considerable character developments that really helped to progress the story. I felt a little underwhelmed by Dorian and Nehemia in Throne of Glass, but I really came to love them in Crown of Midnight. Kaltain showed promise in the previous book, and I am devastated by what her fate has been so far, but I truly hope that she can reach her full potential in the rest of the series. I am quietly rooting for a strong friendship to emerge between Celaena and Kaltain, and that Celaena can be a strong mentor for Kaltain through all the horridness she would have to overcome.
We also explored more of the castle and the fantasy world in Crown of Midnight. Whereas we were quite limited in Throne of Glass, this novel allowed Celaena to explore more of the castle and Rifthold, which was fantastic. Through others' perspectives we also get to hear a little more about the rest of the world, such as Eyllwe and Terrase and Wendlyn, etc. Also learning about the different types of magic, how they came to an end ten years ago, and the way it is being used today was all an incredible learning journey, and I feel so immersed in this world that I might just never want to leave. It is what leaves me most excited for Heir of Fire; seeing more of the world in a completely different kingdom, with different perspectives on everything. It is so, so, so exciting!
But, above all, the most exciting part of this book for me was the surprise element, in that I never knew how it was going to end. Every twenty, fifty, hundred pages, my predictions of how the book would end changed drastically. Whereas the plot of Throne of Glass was hugely predictable, Crown of Midnight was full of surprises. It started off on a blank slate, and I had no idea where it was going to go. The surprises, twists and turns, and new characters kept me guessing the entire time, and compelled me to read the story as fast as I possibly could. The ending was completely unexpected, and such a cliffhanger, so I'm keen as a bean to read Heir of Fire as soon as possible.
And although I did absolutely love this book, I had a few minor issues that kept me from rating it a full five stars. My main concern was that there was just so much going on all at once, so many different plot lines, that I was easily confused at times, and wasn't able to fully engage with each line. Perhaps if the multiple plot lines had been streamed a little differently, I might have enjoyed it all a bit better, but alas, I was somewhat confused at times, which took away from the reading experience.
The death of a certain precious character was also not okay. I am still heartbroken, and although I can accept why that character had to die, I can't see at this moment why it was completely necessary.
I was also frustrated with Celaena's to-and-fro with Archer. It was reminiscent of the idiocy that we saw from Celaena in The Assassin's Blade, which had me all kinds of angry and frustrated. So much death and unnecessary heartache could have been avoided had Celaena not been so caught up in her past alliances and taken action on her own accord.
Despite these little setbacks, I did thoroughly enjoy this sequel, and I enjoyed it far more than Throne of Glass. This book left me feeling all kinds of excitement for the rest of the series, and so I'm going to conclude this review here and get into reading that lovely tome!
Secondly: I have no idea how much of a review this post is going to be; I strongly suspect that it will, instead, be one massive gush fest over Crown of Midnight, Celaena Sardothian and Chaol Westfall. With an appropriate excess of question marks because I have so many questions as to where the story will go on from here.
And so, without further ado...
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| U.K. Edition |
How the heck can anyone prefer Dorian over Chaol?? Chaol is perfect for Celaena, and Celaena perfect for Chaol. Though he does have his many faults—blind loyalty to the king being the main one—he is completely excused because he has never known any better. His whole life, he has been conditioned to blindly serve the king. This ultimately causes his relationship with Celaena to fracture, but I think that served as a huge wake-up call for him. He is coming to re-assess his loyalties, and figure out what he wants for himself, and what is best for the kingdom. I understand that he and Celaena cannot be together for the time being, but by the end of the series, I hope that he will sort out his priorities and find his way back to Celaena's heart. #Chaolaena <3
And just to justify why I am not on board with Dorian and Celaena ending up together... Dorian is the king's son, and that can never change. Though Dorian may change his heart and mind on matters and choose to not align himself with the king's agenda in the future, the fact of the matter is that Dorian has been there, supporting the king, throughout the king's reign. Even if Dorian does 'rebel' and attempt to rise up against the king, he will always be the son of an awful tyrant, and is therefore ineligible for Celaena's heart (in my most humble opinion).
Okay, okay, okay. There is so much more to this book than Celaena's romantic interests. They were just the first thing on my mind because my favourite part of any book is the romantic side of things.
Celaena was incredible in this book. Seeing her as the King's Champion was pure delight. It was similar to the side of Celaena we saw in The Assassin's Blade, yet so much more badass. She is more mature, more aware of herself and her role, and is thus able to wow me with her incredible skills. There were so many scenes that filled me with such pride for Celaena: the opening scenes, the warehouse scene, the scenes with Grave and Lord Mullison, and of course, the whole chunk at the end. She went through some amazing character development in this novel, and I was completely blown away by how wonderful she is. I will always be in this story for Celaena; her love interests and dramas are just an added bonus.
And it wasn't just Celaena's character development that amazed me. Chaol, Dorian, Nehemia, Kaltain, and even the king to a certain extent, all underwent considerable character developments that really helped to progress the story. I felt a little underwhelmed by Dorian and Nehemia in Throne of Glass, but I really came to love them in Crown of Midnight. Kaltain showed promise in the previous book, and I am devastated by what her fate has been so far, but I truly hope that she can reach her full potential in the rest of the series. I am quietly rooting for a strong friendship to emerge between Celaena and Kaltain, and that Celaena can be a strong mentor for Kaltain through all the horridness she would have to overcome.
We also explored more of the castle and the fantasy world in Crown of Midnight. Whereas we were quite limited in Throne of Glass, this novel allowed Celaena to explore more of the castle and Rifthold, which was fantastic. Through others' perspectives we also get to hear a little more about the rest of the world, such as Eyllwe and Terrase and Wendlyn, etc. Also learning about the different types of magic, how they came to an end ten years ago, and the way it is being used today was all an incredible learning journey, and I feel so immersed in this world that I might just never want to leave. It is what leaves me most excited for Heir of Fire; seeing more of the world in a completely different kingdom, with different perspectives on everything. It is so, so, so exciting!
But, above all, the most exciting part of this book for me was the surprise element, in that I never knew how it was going to end. Every twenty, fifty, hundred pages, my predictions of how the book would end changed drastically. Whereas the plot of Throne of Glass was hugely predictable, Crown of Midnight was full of surprises. It started off on a blank slate, and I had no idea where it was going to go. The surprises, twists and turns, and new characters kept me guessing the entire time, and compelled me to read the story as fast as I possibly could. The ending was completely unexpected, and such a cliffhanger, so I'm keen as a bean to read Heir of Fire as soon as possible.
And although I did absolutely love this book, I had a few minor issues that kept me from rating it a full five stars. My main concern was that there was just so much going on all at once, so many different plot lines, that I was easily confused at times, and wasn't able to fully engage with each line. Perhaps if the multiple plot lines had been streamed a little differently, I might have enjoyed it all a bit better, but alas, I was somewhat confused at times, which took away from the reading experience.
The death of a certain precious character was also not okay. I am still heartbroken, and although I can accept why that character had to die, I can't see at this moment why it was completely necessary.
I was also frustrated with Celaena's to-and-fro with Archer. It was reminiscent of the idiocy that we saw from Celaena in The Assassin's Blade, which had me all kinds of angry and frustrated. So much death and unnecessary heartache could have been avoided had Celaena not been so caught up in her past alliances and taken action on her own accord.
Despite these little setbacks, I did thoroughly enjoy this sequel, and I enjoyed it far more than Throne of Glass. This book left me feeling all kinds of excitement for the rest of the series, and so I'm going to conclude this review here and get into reading that lovely tome!
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