Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

From Goodreads: After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men - thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Chaol Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her ... but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead ... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

My Rating: 2 hearts

 

Thoughts on the Novel: One of the books I’ve been most excited about reading this year was Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Each time I saw another four or five star review for it, my excitement level ratcheted up. So, when I finally got approved to read it on NetGalley, I eagerly downloaded a copy to my Kindle and made myself comfy, expecting a novel that would suck me in.

After finishing Throne of Glass however, I can’t help but be severely disappointed! Here’s why:

• I realized I’d have trouble liking Celaena right from the start. How could I warm up to a girl whose first thoughts after meeting the prince whose father was responsible for sending her to Endovier be how attractive he is and how she looks like utter crap?! Thinking that perhaps I was being a bit hasty in judging Celaena, I tried to be more open-minded. Unfortunately, my opinion of Celaena didn’t improve. Not only did I continue to think that she was kind of shallow, but by the end, I also thought she was an incompetent assassin for three reasons:
1. She boasts about how she can kill people in various ways … and yet never kills anybody. I did not read 400+ pages about an assassin for no reason!
2. She finds a possible escape route … and never uses it to run away.
3. She manages to become attached to Dorian and Chaol awfully quickly. If I were an assassin, the last thing I’d be doing is forming attachments to people in positions of power (because you never know when they might need to be eliminated)! 
   
• It’s not just Celaena who displays ridiculous lapses in judgement though. Dorian, for example, decides that it’s okay to visit Adarlan’s greatest assassin in her bedroom without bringing any guards! Oh, and not only does Celaena have a bunch of rooms to herself, but she also gets to wear pretty dresses and seems to be able walk around in the castle with minimal guards. I had no idea that this was a successful method for dealing with notorious criminals and assassins!
• I found the romance to be rather lacklustre since it seemed like Celaena was only attracted to Dorian because he was good-looking.
• The Tests – one of which Celaena cheats in – that were discussed in Throne of Glass were covered with little fanfare; and in between, competitors I barely got to know were brutally murdered by the blatantly obvious villain. It just seemed as if a significant chunk of the book involved Celaena admiring her clothes, thinking how attractive both Dorian or Chaol were, and being petulant about not getting invited to fun gatherings like a feast or a masked ball.
• The world building was weak since anything that couldn't advance the storyline was either only hinted at or mentioned in passing. In fact, even Celaena’s relatively little backstory was hard to figure out and had to be pieced together.

Throne of Glass wasn’t all bad though. I liked Chaol and the Eyllwe princess Nehemia; and despite guessing who the suspected killer was, I managed to remain interested in the mystery and read the book in one sitting.

Although I can see the potential in Throne of Glass; ultimately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. If you’re in the mood for a novel featuring a female assassin, I’d recommend reading Robin LaFevers’ Grave Mercy instead.  

Throne of Glass will be released by Bloomsbury UK on August 2, 2012.

Comments About the Cover: I like how badass the model looks (even if her outfit looks kind of modern). It’s too bad she doesn’t fit the image of Celaena in my head.

In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (Bloomsbury UK) for free via NetGalley.