Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas Review + Giveaway

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, #1)
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury; 416 pages

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, 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.

Throne of Glass was simply amazing. There’s no other simpler way to put it. I stayed up two nights in a row until 4 or 5 am reading it. I don’t do that often. I’m at a loss of words to describe how I feel after reading this book besides the fact that I desperately need more.

So far this year, the only book that has made me totally have a girl crush on the heroine has been the Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa. Let me just tell you that I can now add Throne of Glass to the list. I am totally crushing on Celaena. She is the most well known assassin, though in name only, not appearance. So obviously Celaena is strong, smart, brave, skilled and simply kickass if she’s made that type of name for herself. What you see throughout the book is that she is all of those things but her personality, her humor, makes her so unique. She’s lost everything (and when I say I everything I literally mean everything) but you would never know by how she acts. She is so good at hiding all those memories that really pain her. That right there shows us how much strength she truly has, not just physically but mentally.

She meets the Crown Prince, Dorian, and is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to get her freedom back. She has to fight 23 other criminals to win the role of as the King’s Champion and serve four years (which she negotiated with the Prince, it was originally six years) to do his bidding in which, at the end, she would be a free girl. Sounds simple enough, seeing as she is the most feared assassin. Turns out, it’s not so simple as something evil lingers in the castle and starts to kill off her opponents one by one in the most gruesome way possible.

Prince Dorian is young, handsome and rather the opposite of his evil father, the King. There is the instant kind of attraction between he and Celaena, one that builds throughout the novel. But it is not a young adult novel without a love triangle, and I must say this is one I absolutely love. Probably one of my favorite love triangles (besides Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices triangle). The Captain of the Guard, Chaol Westfall, who is also handsome, though not as strikingly so as the Prince, but he connects more with her on an emotional level, I think. He is the one who is always escorted her throughout the castle, the one training with her and the one we see reading with her a lot. The entire time I was rooting for Chaol and I still am. I cannot wait to see how their friendship (and hopefully relationship) blossoms in the next installment because the author has certainly left me craving for more.

There were things I saw coming and things that totally took me by surprise. You know there are certain characters in which you couldn’t trust but then there were others that you didn’t realize were a victim rather than the suspect, if you will. Celaena is constantly fighting, whether it’s for her freedom or to rid the evil that is slowly killing off people one by one that could soon come for her.

You don’t even need to know that I recommend this book to everyone. Seriously, everyone. There are paranormal aspects in this book, like the fae but not a whole lot. (But sure, those aspects are important so don’t think that they aren’t) When this book is out, you need to get your hands on a copy. I am so grateful I was able to get a copy (and meet Sarah) at BEA.

*highlight to view spoiler* I adore the Prince, he really is a great guy and he truly does love Celaena but I’m totally on Team Chaol, here. To me, they have such a great connection and you can see how easily they can joke and get along with one another, from early on in the book. It took her a really long time to truly understand how she felt about him and when she did, I nearly squealed. I am sadden there was no kiss shared between the two, however, it makes me crave the next book even more. You know it’s coming but it’s just a matter of when. I cannot wait for more of not only the love triangle but the story, I have no idea what’s in store for Celaena but with the King and the Duke in control, you know it’s not going to be good! So absolutely LOVED this book! *spoiler*

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I was lucky enough to get a second copy of Throne of Glass while at BEA and I'd like to be able to share this amazing book with one lucky US winner. So, I am giving away that ARC, all you have to do is enter below! (Unfortunately, because this is an ARC, it will only be open to US residents, sorry!)


a Rafflecopter giveaway