Scan barcode
A review by shaysshelf
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Sarah J Maas has a particular skill for breaking the hearts and destroying the souls of her readers - in the best way possible. In Crown of Midnight, I have the feeling we're only scratching the surface.
I often find it challenging to write reviews about individual books in a series, when I'd rather write a review of the overall series as a whole, however - I do want to give it a go.
Crown of Midnight is already a much better book than Throne of Glass. Don't get me wrong, Throne of Glass was great, but you could tell it was more or less setting the scene for what's to come. Crown of Midnight gives us the Celaena character development we need and as a result, she has already become a significantly more dynamic and entertaining character. We are seeing more sides to her and a leveling up of her skill. We see how she transforms between the assassin she works as and Celaena the girl who is just trying to survive. We discover secrets, lies and deceptions all while watching as relationships develop and devolve. The one thing I love above all else in relation to Celaena's character development is that she doesn't become fearless. So often in fantasy books with strong female characters they are described as strong fearless women. But fear doesn't need to be a weakness. Regardless of being an assassin, Celaena is still afraid of the king and still has plenty of compassion. This makes her character so much more relatable.
Although the relationship development with the love interest was much better in COM compared to TOG, I'm still not 100% sold on her feelings for him and vice versa. Obviously, this could be because of the knowledge that they aren't end-game. But, I truly feel that there is something missing between them or more like a distance between them. I guess this was written that way intentionally, with that minor disconnect of mistrust.
I love that we're getting more relationship development from not only between love interest characters, but also in friendships. I can see so many of these friendships being incredibly valuable in the future of this series and cannot wait to see how they play out. I can't say I'm entirely shocked that there has already been a death of a significant character in this series, but I will admit that it did take me by surprise. I think I was more sad/heartbroken about that death simply due to Celaena's reaction to the death than I was personally affected by that character's death which just goes to show the emotional impact of Celaena's character growth.
As for the cliffhanger SJM left us on - all I had to say was "I KNEW IT!" I called early on while reading Throne of Glass and I'm so happy that particular thought/theory of mine was correct.
I have read both of SJM's other series (ACOTAR & CC), but for whatever reason, I have been procrastinating Throne of Glass. I know many people have said it's their favourite of the three series, and lots of people have opinions about reading order, etc. But I'm so glad I'm reading this series last. Of course, this is where it all began and she has built her worlds from these early ideas right from the very beginning. Having read ACOTAR and CC already, I find I am able to pick out all of the similarities between worlds and the frequently used tropes and plot devices. Yet, even though there are so many similarities between characters, tropes and plot devices between her three series, she still manages to make them all feel unique to each series.
I often find it challenging to write reviews about individual books in a series, when I'd rather write a review of the overall series as a whole, however - I do want to give it a go.
Crown of Midnight is already a much better book than Throne of Glass. Don't get me wrong, Throne of Glass was great, but you could tell it was more or less setting the scene for what's to come. Crown of Midnight gives us the Celaena character development we need and as a result, she has already become a significantly more dynamic and entertaining character. We are seeing more sides to her and a leveling up of her skill. We see how she transforms between the assassin she works as and Celaena the girl who is just trying to survive. We discover secrets, lies and deceptions all while watching as relationships develop and devolve. The one thing I love above all else in relation to Celaena's character development is that she doesn't become fearless. So often in fantasy books with strong female characters they are described as strong fearless women. But fear doesn't need to be a weakness. Regardless of being an assassin, Celaena is still afraid of the king and still has plenty of compassion. This makes her character so much more relatable.
Although the relationship development with the love interest was much better in COM compared to TOG, I'm still not 100% sold on her feelings for him and vice versa. Obviously, this could be because of the knowledge that they aren't end-game. But, I truly feel that there is something missing between them or more like a distance between them. I guess this was written that way intentionally, with that minor disconnect of mistrust.
I love that we're getting more relationship development from not only between love interest characters, but also in friendships. I can see so many of these friendships being incredibly valuable in the future of this series and cannot wait to see how they play out. I can't say I'm entirely shocked that there has already been a death of a significant character in this series, but I will admit that it did take me by surprise. I think I was more sad/heartbroken about that death simply due to Celaena's reaction to the death than I was personally affected by that character's death which just goes to show the emotional impact of Celaena's character growth.
As for the cliffhanger SJM left us on - all I had to say was "I KNEW IT!" I called early on while reading Throne of Glass and I'm so happy that particular thought/theory of mine was correct.
I have read both of SJM's other series (ACOTAR & CC), but for whatever reason, I have been procrastinating Throne of Glass. I know many people have said it's their favourite of the three series, and lots of people have opinions about reading order, etc. But I'm so glad I'm reading this series last. Of course, this is where it all began and she has built her worlds from these early ideas right from the very beginning. Having read ACOTAR and CC already, I find I am able to pick out all of the similarities between worlds and the frequently used tropes and plot devices. Yet, even though there are so many similarities between characters, tropes and plot devices between her three series, she still manages to make them all feel unique to each series.