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Throne of Glass

Book 1 in the series:Throne of Glass

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In "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas, readers are introduced to Celaena Sardothian, a skilled assassin who is given the opportunity to compete in a tournament to become the King's Champion and gain her freedom. The book follows Celaena's journey as she navigates the challenges of the competition, forms unexpected friendships, and uncovers mysterious murders that threaten her life. The writing style is described as vivid, well-written, and engaging, with a mix of action-packed scenes, intriguing characters, and a compelling murder mystery that keeps readers craving for more.

Characters:

Characters in 'Throne of Glass' are well-developed, with Celaena as a kick-ass female lead, supported by complex secondary characters.

Writing/Prose:

The prose blends engaging dialogue with vivid descriptions, although it occasionally suffers from awkward phrasing and descriptive excess.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot revolves around Celaena Sardothien's journey from a captive assassin to competing for the title of King's Champion, with supernatural threats and underlying mysteries.

Setting:

The setting is a fantastical medieval world with class and political tensions, creating an engaging backdrop for the story.

Pacing:

The pacing fluctuates between slow and vibrant, but becomes more thrilling towards the climax.
After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword-point. Most of the thousands of slaves in Endovier receiv...

Notes:

Celaena Sardothien is the most notorious assassin in the kingdom of Adarlan.
She has spent a year imprisoned in the brutal salt mines of Endovier.
The story follows her journey to become the King’s Champion through a deadly competition.
Celaena is known for her sharp wit and snarky personality.
There is a love triangle between Celaena, Crown Prince Dorian, and Captain Chaol Westfall.
The competition has various trials where contestants fight each other, but some killer lurks in the shadows.
Celaena befriends Princess Nehemia of Eyllwe, who becomes an important ally.
The book is filled with twists and turns that captivate the reader.
Magic is forbidden in the kingdom but seems to resurface in various ways throughout the story.
Cozy friendships and unexpected alliances are a common theme in the book.

Has Romance?

The book includes a significant romantic subplot through the love triangle involving the main character.

From The Publisher:

The book that started the phenomenon. Sarah J. Maas's global #1 bestselling THRONE OF GLASS series has taken the world by storm.

Meet Celaena Sardothien.

Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament - fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin's heart be melted?

Ratings (924)

Incredible (226)
Loved It (325)
Liked It (195)
It Was OK (101)
Did Not Like (50)
Hated It (27)

Reader Stats (1659):

Read It (950)
Currently Reading (7)
Want To Read (448)
Did Not Finish (28)
Not Interested (226)

25 comment(s)

Loved It
2 months

———4th reread———

This is the fourth time I read Throne of Glass and well after reading all the series till Tower of Dawn it’s obvious that Maas writing style has changed.. for the better of course!! I think ToG is more childish in comparison to the other books in the series but it’s still a great beginning. Rereading it again I spotted more info and a lot of hints for what’s gonna happen in the following books that I totally skipped the first, second and third time. But it’s evident that Sarah knew since the beginning what she wanted from this series. Now I need to reread all the other books and FINALLY start Kingdom of Ash

 
It Was OK
2 months

The book was good in the beginning, but towards the middle, it got boring and I was skimming through the pages.

 
It Was OK
2 months

Overrated

 
It Was OK
3 months

2.5 ⭐️

This books biggest crime was being dreadfully boring 70% of the time. I love contests in books; how did Maas make it boring and uneventful. I was never even a little bit concerned for Celaena’s safety.

I think the romance was just kind of weird. I obviously see what she was going for with the whole forbidden love thing but it wasn’t executed well. The chemistry felt really stilted and forced until over halfway through the book. It doesn’t help that all YA books feel the need to put in a shitty love triangle so that the FMC can pick “wrong” guy first before finally setting down with her soulmate. Why? You have like 12 books to go, just keep the tension and banter so that when they get together it is satisfying instead of Celaena bouncing around between love interests.

Of course it is a YA with a “strong” female lead meaning she is the best to ever do it, at literally everything. I think Maas went a little to far with this trope here. I get that she’s an assassin and can sneak and use daggers better than everyone, fine. But she is also the greatest with throwing daggers, bows, poisons, climbing, sword fighting, hand to hand, etc. This is insane.

The twist was super predictable and foreshadowed like an amateur (but I think this is a debut so I will forgive that).

I wish I had more fun reading this book. That is what saves a lot of YA and romantasy (and romance too lets be honest) books for me, even if they aren’t the best written. This definitely wasn’t the greatest written (although not offensive) but it also wasn’t that fun to read. I’ll stick with the series and see how it gets better. I believe Maas was younger than I am now when she wrote this so I can forgive a lot of the rough edges. The story at its core was interesting and I liked the characters well enough. Give Celaena even one flaw and I will love her 1000x more (and not putting others before herself, that’s not a flaw). By the end of the book I was invested in the romance with the Prince so honestly I’d keep reading just for that.

 
It Was OK
3 months

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Fast paced assassin goodness and some typical things thrown in but all round good start to a new series.

 
It Was OK
3 months

smoother writing

 
It Was OK
3 months

It's a bit trashy but very entertaining, looking forward for what will happen next.

 
Liked It
4 months

I like a kick butt heroine as much as the next person. Celaena (for the love of Pete - could just one YA main character be named Jane or Bob or something simple?) is a trained assassin and competing with other trained fighters to be the king's Champion.

I think I liked Celaena -- she was smart and strong and optimistic.

I hated the love triangle. Honestly, if I were in a situation where I could potentially lose my life, I would be focused on training instead of batting eyes at some boys. It felt forced and out of place.

There were sections where I just cringed at the amateurishness of the writing. Here's an example: "Oh how she loved candy!" I think my eyes rolled clear back into my head when I read that line.

Still, I'm curious enough to read book 2. Although, I'm very rarely NOT curious enough to read book 2.

 
Hated It
4 months

Writing style, the female lead was so annoying, I hate having witty and weak females

 
Incredible
4 months

Great read! Kept my interest, which is saying a lot, esp for a YA. In the beginning, her character annoyed me quite a bit - she just seemed to be a little “much”. But thankfully, that lessened as the plot went on. Great fantasy elements, although I was disappointed that the “map” really didn’t give me all the places that were named. Looking forward to the next book!

 
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