The Throne Of Glass, Sarah J. Maas

Book: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas Her Site
Series:  Throne of Glass (#1)
Genre: Fantasy/YA Fiction
Rating: 3/5
Moral: 2/5

 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 king's 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, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. 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. 

Sarah J. Maas has drop dead style and a talent to inspire. I was completely enthralled by Throne Of Glass. 

The Plot:

I am one to gush. I gush often, especially when I read a book with a fantastic plot. The idea of a competition that is full of danger, and the winner becomes the champion is extremely cliche. Lots of things are in the YA world. Undoubtedly, Sarah has written a unique cliche. It was magic in the mid-evil times, but it was new magic. The rules are different, the ideas stronger. Yes, it was pretty cliche, but the book was written with such a fast pace and fresh style I didn't care!

The Characters:

Her characters were realistic and strong. A lot of times, when the protagonist starts out as an awesome assassin they end up being total lazy snobs. In Throne Of Glass, that didn't happen! Celeana remained awesome! The romance was here and there, which I really like. It portrayed that Celeana wasn't untemptable and that heightened the stakes. Caption Westfall (Choal) was this tough, mysterious guy who left me guessing. I could never figure him out, and I can't wait to read about him in the next book. Dorian, the prince, was as annoying in my mind as they go. He constantly got on my nerves, lacking sense and drive. I pretty much ended up booing him. I think he was written originally and superbly. There were many other characters as well, including Celeana's personal friend who happens to be a princes. 

The Setting:

This bit was extremely original, and not done well enough. The glass palace was just about as unique as they go, but I don't feel that Sarah wrote it well. I don't know, but it seemed like I was looking through a blurry lens. It could have used some 'cleaning'.

The Standout:

The things that stood out to me were Celeana's flaws.The idea of her being terrified of the king was odd. I didn't find him at all scary. It had something to do with this secret past of hers that was never quite revealed. It was interesting. It was this constant question, "Why is this amazing assassin scared of a sucky king?" In most books they would make the assassin perfect. Lacking nothing. I loved that Celeana had so many flaws.

The Moral:
Throne of Glass was, sadly, without a real moral. I didn't see the point. Yeah there was a determination between right and wrong. There were people who tried to walk the line, but the book didn't have an ultimate reason. It didn't have a strong point. There was heavy making out, but no sex. Although I really don't see a huge difference at that point. So the book was okay in it's idea. But it just wasn't amazing.

Throne of glass was definitely an amazing book, and worth reading!