Review: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 exciting, swoon-worthy hearts
Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy, Romance
Pub. date: August 27th 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Synopsis: "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 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. (synopsis from Goodreads)

My thoughts: Maas did something with this book that I didn’t think was possible after reading Throne of Glass: she wrote something even better. I absolutely loved Throne of Glass, everything about it, so I had high expectations of Crown of Midnight, but I never thought she could actually beat Throne of Glass.

I love Celeana!

   Celeana is such a badass, independent, and just awesome character. And relatable. I love reading about her, because she is so layered; one moment she can be totally badass assassin, the next she can be in complete book nerd mood, and the next she can be pretty much like an ordinary teenager – as much as you can say that about her, I mean, it is Celeana Sardothien we’re talking about, ordinary teenager doesn’t really apply to her.

Dorian or Chaol? I can’t decide!

   Let’s not even start on Chaol and Dorian – yes, both of them, because I’m still undecided. In Throne of Glass, I was kind of leaning towards Dorian, but in Crown of Midnight, I think I’m leaning towards Chaol. They’re both such great characters, both swoon-worthy, and I think they’re both perfect for Celeana; they both bring out the best in her. This is like Team Will/Team Jem all over again! It just keeps confusing my feels.

   And the twists. The second half of the book was filled with so many twists it kept my head spinning with all the new information. The last one, and certainly the biggest one, wasn’t all that surprising, but that might’ve been the thought too, as there were a lot of clues, if you were paying attention. But the others surprised me, and they just kept coming. After I passed half the book, there was not one quiet moment to catch my breath until the next twist appeared.

   Nothing to really say about the plot, it was good, interesting, and very fast-paced, and it kept me on my toes through it all. This is a perfect example of how a fantasy book should be. The writing was also great.

   Crown of Midnight has it all; loads of action, amazing characters, heart-stopping romance, character development, and twists that will keep surprising you until the very end. This book was an emotional roller-coaster like nothing else; it had me crying, laughing, giggling like crazy, fangirling, and then crying some more because those twists. If you haven’t read it yet, you have to get it now, I don’t care how, because you’re missing out on an amazing adventure like nothing else!