Title: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2)
by Sarah J. MaasPublishing Info: August 27, 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Source: Amazon
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: August 7, 2014
Related Posts: The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass #0.1 - 0.5), Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1), Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3), A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1), Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4), A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2), Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5), A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3)
She is the greatest assassin her world has ever known.But where will her conscience, and her heart, lead her?After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.
Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice. Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she willing to fight for?
** This is a spoiler-free review for CROWN OF MIDNIGHT but please note that there ARE spoilers for the first book, THRONE OF GLASS, if you have not already read it! **
True to everyone’s word, CROWN OF MIDNIGHT really was the sequel that blew THRONE OF GLASS out of the water. Don’t get me wrong — I really did love THRONE OF GLASS — but Sarah J. Maas really stepped everything up a notch in this fantastic sequel and I was hooked from the first page!
Okay so… where do I start? Really everything about this book was quite amazing. One thing that really sticks out to me is how much more the relationships developed between all of the characters, really. I love the friendship that develops between Dorian and Celaena after where they leave things in book one. Dorian is actually one of my favorite characters. I love that in THRONE OF GLASS, there was a bit of tension between the two best friends — Dorian and Chaol — regarding Celaena, but it never really felt love triangle-y. CROWN OF MIDNIGHT could have easily carried the series straight through a love triangle, but I’m so thankful that instead, Dorian becomes more of a friend to Celaena. Yes, he does still have his jealous moments at times when things flare up between Chaol and Celaena (and do they EVER) but it was handled so well and everything felt really natural. The characters just have such authentic reactions and feelings — I really just loved how they all intertwined.
I really felt like the plot grew exponentially more complex as well. It was so great to have some really wonderful surprises! I felt like THRONE OF GLASS was a little predictable at times (though not in a bad way because I really enjoyed the book) but CROWN OF MIDNIGHT really kept me on my toes! There are a few really great twists and one REALLY BIG SHOCKING THING. Sarah J. Maas really kept the punches coming in this book, whoo boy.
It was really great to see some more fantastic world building as well. I felt like a lot of world building and setting the stage was done in the novellas (which I read even before THRONE OF GLASS), but THRONE OF GLASS dove more into the plot and characters than it did the world. I loved seeing more of the history behind each region, a few backstories pop up for some of the characters, and a real understanding of what exactly the magical system is and how it works since we received a basic understanding in book one. Each one of these things is so well described in CROWN OF MIDNIGHT and the depth of it all really allowed me to sink so much further into this series and let myself get lost.
This book was really just epic — there’s no better way to sum it up. The romance, the friendships, the character building, the world building — really everything just becomes so much more detailed and I really sank my teeth into CROWN OF MIDNIGHT. Oh my gosh, THE ENDING. From about halfway through until the end, the book just takes off — full of action, deceit, love, adventure, mysteries, loss — it’s just incredible and it left me reeling in anticipation of HEIR OF FIRE!
“The View from Goodreads” is a new featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!
Celaena // Character Obsessions: Wyrdkeys, friendship, nobility, honor.
I loved watching Celaena slowly change and mature from the novellas, through THRONE OF GLASS, and into CROWN OF MIDNIGHT. Despite the fact that she’s an assassin and she has amazing confidence in herself, she often has an inner-battle with choosing the right thing to do and moments of cowardice. It’s really incredible to see how realistic this inner-struggle is and to see how Celaena chooses to react to things based on what she knows of herself as well as how her friends around her perceive her actions.
Chaol // Character Obsessions: Celaena, duty, respect, friendship.
Um, YES. Okay. I’m getting the whole Chaol obsession now! I really liked him as a love interest (and yes, as a person too) in book one, but he’s really grown on me quite a bit! I love his passion for everything that he does — his position in the castle, his friendship with Dorian, his feelings for Celaena. Oh, it just kills me!
Dorian // Character Obsessions: Honor, thinking for himself, answers, the future.
DORIAN. I love him! I honestly think he’s my favorite character — even more so than Celaena and Chaol. I just really connect with him for some reason. I love his personality and honestly some THINGS happen with him in this book and that was one of the most exciting parts of the whole book for me haha!
Kept Me Hooked On: Fae. Omg you guys, look at me growing to like books involving worlds with fae! You know I’m not big into fairy worlds and plot, but I really love how all of that is incorporated to the series story line. It was really interesting to learn more about it!
Left Me Wanting More: Um… sensitivity? I’m evil. You know the one big thing in this book that is like THE biggest shocker and heart-wrencher? Didn’t hit me as hard as it did everyone else. I won’t give away what it was, but those of you who have read, we can discuss!
Addiction Rating
BUY IT
I’m so happy to be falling in love with this series! CROWN OF MIDNIGHT really made sure of that too. I’ve already started HEIR OF FIRE and am thrilled to be gobbling it up! (Although that creates difficulties waiting for the next book… Oops. Didn’t think about that.)
BOOKS LIKE CROWN OF MIDNIGHT
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10 thoughts on “Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) – Sarah J. Maas”
This is still my favorite book in the series even though Heir of Fire was heart wrenching (I will read your review of that next!). There were just so many OMG moments and the entire book just blew me away and far exceeded my expectations. I expected it to be great but damn. And like you said, the characters, the world, the plot – everything was expanded upon.
I’m actually really excited to read Crown of Midnight. I didn’t love Throne of Glass, but I’ve heard nothing but praise for Crown of Midnight, and, after getting to meet Sarah this past week, I can’t wait to delve into this one. I’m also so curious now about what this big shocking event is.
So glad to hear that you felt Maas really upped her game with this one – it’s always a pleasure to see authors mature themselves as their series continue.
Okay so I’m in the camp that read ToG pre-pub and didn’t love it as much as everyone else the first time but I attribute that to the hype. I’ve just bought Throne of Glass and The Assassin’s Blade for re-read (second chances, FTW) and I think I’ll audiobook these as I follow along with the books. AAH the covers are beautiful. And I think the hype is far enough along in the series now that it won’t bother me on the reread. I have LOVED seeing your excitement as you’ve tweeted. I need to go ahead and get started! Actually excited about the audiobook and seeing if that makes a difference in how much I like the first book! (Should I read the novellas first or Throne of Glass?)
YES! High give for second chances!!! I enjoyed the audiobook! I actually split my time between print & audio on ToG to help move it along because I was so behind on reading at the time and I really liked the whole audiobook for book CoM!
Honestly, I would read the novellas first! I mean, I did and I think that really helped me connect with ToG. (I actually liked the novellas a little bit better haha — but still really enjoyed ToG.) I think reading the novellas 1st really helped ground me in the series and connect with Celaena in a way that I don’t think I would have if I read ToG first!
Yay! I’m excited that you thought this one was even better. I actually have this book arriving in the mail today. I may have to bump this up my reading pile.
I loved Chaol in the first book. Can’t wait to read more of him.
Oh YAY I can’t wait to hear what you think of it! And YESSS MORE CHAOL!!!!
Yesss your review is so great! I love the GR updates and the Characters/Addiction Factor. I thought Throne of Glass was pretty good, predictable in parts like you said but it didn’t bother me too much because I really was wrapped up in the characters. But oh my LORD does CoM blow it away! I can’t remember many series besides Harry Potter or Girl of Fire and Thorns that so completely improves with each book. It’s a gift. You are so right about the not-love-triangle too, it’s handled so perfectly and believably because her characters seem so real. And I’m not usually into fairies or Fae either but the mythology feels unique and I love how deep the history and world building goes. After finishing Heir of Fire a couple days ago (gahhhhhhh!) I’m very tempted to reread the series from the beginning aka Assassin’s Blade first 😀
Yayyyy thanks so much! I agree — this series has already grown so much and I’m SO excited to see where the rest of it goes! I just finished HoF last week too and ahhhhhhhhh soooooo gooooood
Fangirls and flails all over the place. I totally agree with everything you said in this review. I loved ToG, but CoM just blew it out of the water. And then HoF did the same thing. This series just keeps getting better and better with every book. Chaol & Celaena forever!! And Dorian!!! Yes, I freaking love him. You will love him even more in HoF. Because seriously he’s awesome. I just love everything about this series. The world. The fae. But mostly the characters. They just all feel so real to me and I am already DYING for the next book.
YESSSSS it really does just keep getting better and better! I actually finished HoF last week because I couldn’t wait and it was SO fantastic. Definitely one of my favorites of this year!