Monday, June 23, 2014

Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 4.75 stars
Source: Library
Buy the Book: Amazon
Summary: " 'A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.  It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend.'

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul 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."

Review: Fair warning: this review is going to be all gushy and fangirly, complete with arm flapping and a lot of jumping up and down with how much I loved this book.  

When I read Throne of Glass, the first book in this series, I thought it was perfectly mediocre.  The premise had promise, but the delivery was not as strong as I hoped.  It was okay, and there were parts that I really liked, but on the whole it was just kind of meh.  I had enough reservations that I wasn't totally sure whether I wanted to continue the series. Then I heard that this series is not your standard issue trilogy; there are six books planned for this series.  SIX.  Life is too short to read massive series if your heart isn't in it.  (Wheel of Time series I'M LOOKING AT YOU.)

So I put off reading this book.  For, like, five months.  It sat on my nightstand, glaring at me like only Celaena can, waiting for me to have a change of heart.  Every review I read boasted of how this book upped the ante, so finally I picked it up and started reading.

You.  Guys.  

This book rocked.  

Celaena came to life in this book like she never did in the last one.  The plot was complicated and totally thrilling.  (So complicated that I wonder if this series should be adult rather than YA?  Eh, it's probably an irrelevant label.  This book could be enjoyed by anyone able to keep up with it.)  Every turn had me on the edge of my seat, demanding every ounce of self discipline I possess not to read ahead and see what happens.  There were schemes within schemes, every character with a different agenda, and every interaction crucial to Celaena's fate.  Revelations were made, lines were drawn, feels were had, and sides were taken.  I honestly did not see certain things coming.  (The Nehemia, Dorian, and Archer character arcs... WOW.)  I was not expecting this caliber of awesome after the first book, and I can't believe I almost didn't read it.

It's a good thing I did, because this book rocked my world.  I'm still hyperventilating from overexposure to pure awesomeness. 

Bottom Line: This book was the best kind of surprise!  This series went from meh to MAGNIFICENT with this second book, and I CANNOT wait to get the next book in my hands.  Throne of Glass bandwagon, I'm officially jumping on.

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