A review by jessicabearbooks
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

"My name is Celaena Sardothien, but it makes no difference if my name's Celaena or Lillian or Bitch, because I'll still beat you, no matter what you call me."

I picked up this book for the first time about seven years ago and read it in one sitting. I'd never done that before. Reading this for the third time now, and I still enjoyed it as much as I did back then.
As always I hugely recommend reading this with an ambience/soundtrack! Immersive reading is 100% the way to fully experience this series.

These characters feel like home. There's such a nice balance of characters to love (Chaol), and those to hate (Duke Perrington rot in a hole challenge), and some that I can't decide my feelings for and change my mind every chapter. Chaol has always stayed as my number one though. Celaena wake up from all this Dorian rubbish, and look at the man that literally risks his life and future for you. Dorian you're sweet but shut tf up tbh. I was just as confused as Celaena about my feelings on Nehemia, so I'm excited to see where she goes in the next book. Even the side characters became loveable and interesting (Philippa and Ress). The majority were well introduced throughout so I'm feeling confident in the rest of the series.
Please rename the dog though. Celaena said her name like it was the only obvious choice...girl no.

The relationships are already so well built I think. I'm enjoying Celeana's 'bratty younger sister' vibe with Chaol and Dorian's 'protective older brother'/'absolute pining lover' vibe - really interested to see how this develops for both. The banter is so well supported, and can be backed heavily by Celaena - that girl knows she's funny, but the scenes where she just walks into it are brilliant. 
I'm really appreciating the contrast between Chaol and Dorian as love interests. They're clearly very different characters, with different stories and approaches to the story as well as the romance. Maybe that's why I love Chaol so much. He's...different. 

The different Povs are nicely explored - they're not crucial to the story as such, so I didn't feel pressure to read a thirty page chapter from a character I didn't care about as much. They just add a bit of context here, and some added emotion there. 

The LORE in this book, hello? SO much is introduced and it's overwhelming but is explained as and when you need it to understand the plot. Each small point is significant and well built upon when necessary. Although the last few chapters did feel a little 'oh and here's the answers to everything else' so there was no build up for a few plot points at the end. 

The stakes throughout genuinely felt very high throughout! I remember being shocked at the plot twists years ago, and was even surprised a few time again this time around which was nice. I didn't mind the 'Cinderella' style plot twist at the end - I thought it added another layer to each character and the relationship between them all. Sometimes the strong FMC does need the man and sometimes she doesn't, and sometimes she changes her mind right at the end...who's to say?

Straight onto Crown of Midnight!

"Thank you for making my freedom mean something."
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