Name: Nessa Luna's review of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Item: Throne of Glass
Rating: 4
Author: Nessa Luna

Sarah J. Maas

Lethal. Loyal. Legendary.Enter the world of Throne of Glass with the first book in the #1 bestselling series by Sarah J. Maas.In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not come to kill him. She has come to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three murderers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will be released from prison to serve as the King's Champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And a princess from a faraway country will befriend her. But something rotten dwells in the castle ¬ and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying mysteriously, one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival -- and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.Thrilling and fierce, Throne of Glass is the first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series that has captivated readers worldwide.

Throne of Glass

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

Throne of Glass #1

Angelica Garcia

“Celaena," Chaol said gently. And then she heard the scraping noise as his hand came into view, sliding across the flagstones. His fingertips stopped just at the edge of the white line. "Celaena” he breathed, his voice laced with pain-and hope. This was all she had left - his outstretched hand, and the promise of hope, of something better waiting on the other side of that line. Moving her arm made sparks dance before her eyes, but she extended it until her fingertips reached the line of chalk, and stayed there, not a quarter of an inch from Chaol, the thick white mark separating them. She lifted her eyes to his face, and found his gaze lined with silver. "Get up," was all he said.

RO RO..omg this reread is going to kill me😭

Miranda Watson

“My freedom?” At the sound of the word, she saw a land of pine and snow…

Hannah 

“You could rattle the stars," she whispered. "You could do anything, if you only dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That's what scares you most." 

 He was just a man--a man with too much power. And in that one heartbeat, she didn’t fear him.

Find the evil in the castle ... But the only truly evil thing in this world is the man ruling it.

Isabelle

"Mt name is Celaena Sardothien," she whispered. "But it makes no difference if my name's Celaena or Lillian or Bitch, because I'd still beat you, no matter what you call me." 

"You bear many names, and so I shall name you as well. I name you Elentiya." She kissed the assassin's brow. "I give you this name to use with honor, to use when other names grow too heavy. I name you Elentiya, 'Spirit That Could Not Be Broken.'" 

For a heartbeat, she saw the king with stark clarity. He was just a man—a man with too much power. And in that one heartbeat, she didn't fear him. I will not be afraid, she vowed, wrapping the familiar words around her heart.

here we see chaol discovering that the world is not as black & white as he's been led to believe

[...] what terrified him even more was that he trusted her. And he didn't know what that meant about himself.

"When I play, I'm not... for once, I'm not destroying. I'm creating."

"Crazed criminal," he returned, grinning too.

"I can survive well enough on my own—if given proper reading material."

"Well, who wants to be hated? Though I'd rather be hated than invisible."

—and sometimes the absence of him hit her so hard that she forgot how to breathe.

It was easy to be mean, but it was also getting far too easy to be nice.

Through a clearing in the swirling mass, a cluster of stars could be seen. He couldn't help thinking that they gazed down at her.

How unfair of him to be royal and beautiful.

emma adkins

Pure, fresh, warm sunlight. Sunlight that she could bask in day after day if she got her freedom, sunlight to drown out the endless dark of the mines. 

She' d felt everything- the reverberations of tne key turnıng in the lock of her irons, then again as they loosened and fell to the floor. She could still feel the ghost chains hovering just above her skin. 

She tried to think of music, tried to think of a celebratory tune, but Could only recall a solitary line from the mournful bellowing of the Eyllwe work songs, deep and slow like honey poured from a jar: And go home at last.. 

Celaena's lovely visions exploded like dust from a slammed book.

"My freedom?" At the sound of the word, she saw a land of pine and snow, of sun-bleached cliffs and white-capped seas, a land where light was swallowed in the velvety green of bumps and hollows- a land that she had forgotten. 

She could destroy the king as he had destroyed her

I'm not an idiot, though I was foolish enough to be captured, and I can see that this is some sort of secret business. Why else would you leave the capital and venture this far? You've been testing me all this time to see if I am physically and mentally sound. Well, I know that I'm still sane, and that m notbIO- ken, despite what the incident at the wall might suggest. So I demand to be told why you're here, and what services you wish of me, if l'm not destined for the gallows.

Nessa Luna

Rebecca you were right I did love this book and I’m going to LOVE the whole entire series!!!!

ophelia ross 

I looooooooove Throne of Glass!!!!! I like it way more than the ACOTAR series.

Shauni Wuyts

Loved the characters and story! Can’t wait for the next one! 

Taylor Silveira 

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?

The world building is lovely. Celaena can be a bit grating at times, but she’s 18 so that’s to be expected. As is typical of Sarah J Maas books, I occasionally find myself getting frustrated and wanting to put it down. Overall, I deeply enjoy the characters and world. The writing style just is not my favorite.

Cenedra

Loved loved loved, so glad I finally got round to this series love the world and the characters, really sucked me in 

Kira Louise Morris

Marissa Hamrick

if SJM had courage she would make them poly

Jordan Chan 

I've read far far far better fantasy books on wattpad. I could never read this actually, I just listened to the FRENCH audiobook. I don’t have enough respect for this book in order to make the effort of reading it (or listening to it) in English. But i'll probably read the second book, because I need to direct my hate somewhere, and these are the perfect books to hate.

Lina <3

I didn’t find the narrative very compelling, but still had some fun character dynamics despite some of the cliches. Fun read!

Emilee Keawe Oldroyd

So far I love the main character. Very different for Acotar but I’m excited to see where this series goes! 

Leah Diaz 

This months book club pick was Throne Of Glass & I’m not mad about it because I have been meaning to read this series for a long time! I did like it but am ready for it to get into the story more. The world building & setup is my favorite part of story telling & this first book just didn’t have enough of it for me but I have a feeling that will come in time!

Mariah crawford

To be honest just continuing to read because I saw too many fanart edits on TikTok about TOG but none of the names from this book were mentioned and I fear a few Tamlin-ACOTAR-like plot twists coming 🙃

Hannah L 

she’s just a girl in a castle, who has a crush on the prince. 

neele

fun easy read! i’m excited about what it’s setting up for the rest of the series 

Kadison Cole

Great book. Solid opening to a series. Really enjoyed the character development and different perspectives. 

Kyle James

Celeana Sardothien is the world’s most famous assassin who was destined to die in a salt mine unless she accepted the bargain the Princeling offered her. But there is a catch: she has to pass the duels against the other lords’ champions.

This book has reminded me of V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series, particularly the heroines, who bear a striking resemblance. Perhaps that’s why I’ve enjoyed this book so far. Despite some illogical events occurring in the story, I find it overall to be a pleasant read.

Bilge Ince

Celeana Sardothien is the world’s most famous assassin who was destined to die in a salt mine unless she accepted the bargain the Princeling offered her. But there is a catch: she has to pass the duels against the other lords’ champions.

This book has reminded me of V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series, particularly the heroines, who bear a striking resemblance. Perhaps that’s why I’ve enjoyed this book so far. Despite some illogical events occurring in the story, I find it overall to be a pleasant read.

Nicole Mills

Really good start to the series! I’m enjoying these characters more than ACOTAR so far, as well as the slow burn into all of the new lore. 

Paige Paul

Although a slow start, the story definitely ramped up toward the end. I cannot wait to dive deeper into the craziness of the colliding worlds and to see how to love triangle unfolds. So far I am team Chaol. 

Isabella De Francesca

Femke

decent!! the only complaint i have with trials in a series is that obviously the main character wins or it wouldn’t be a series | assassin | magic | love triangle 

callie

Meet Celaena Sardothien.

Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, Celaena, an assassin, is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

eh. the love interests fall in love for no reason. there are a lot of problems that are easily solved by telling any one of the other characters… which the narrator often acknowledges by saying “MC didn’t tell X character about Y thing they should definitely know.” 

also don’t like how the MC thinks about other women, even though the example i have in mind turns out to be a villain later—really put me off lol

julia

eh. the love interests fall in love for no reason. there are a lot of problems that are easily solved by telling any one of the other characters… which the narrator often acknowledges by saying “MC didn’t tell X character about Y thing they should definitely know.” 

also don’t like how the MC thinks about other women, even though the example i have in mind turns out to be a villain later—really put me off lol

I was hesitant to start throne of glass after acotar because I didn’t know if it would be as good, but yeah it’s just as good if not better. Celaena is a badass obvs. But I’m annoyed at the love triangle that seems to be starting between chaol and Dorian like ugh why does there always need to be a love triangle. But imma read it lol 

Jacie Foydl

dragged out but at the same time a lot was skimmed over ? idk

rain

Read this review, and many more on my blog October Tune!

Celaena Sardothien is an assassin, probably the best in her country. Except for one small detail. She got caught. Having spent a year in the salt mines of Endovier, she gets an opportunity to win back her freedom. Become the King’s champion, work for him for five years, and walk away a free woman. But with a mysterious and vicious killer on the loose, determined to wipe out all the potential champions, winning back her freedom isn’t as easy as Celaena had thought it would be.

I had added this book to my to-read list a long time ago, but I never got to reading it, even though a lot of people absolutely loved it. When I got a VVV cheque for my birthday, I decided to go to the Waterstones store in Amsterdam and there I finally bought Throne of Glass. I fell in love with the cover, because it just looked absolutely gorgeous!

When I started reading the book, I felt like I was rereading Poison Study. In a land ruled by a man who got his power by killing the royal family, where magic is forbidden, a murderous girl gets a chance to earn back their freedom. They have to do dangerous things (participate in the competition/become the general’s food taster) and risk being killed or send back to their prison each day. There is also a (part of the) country that is still not in the hands of that important person, but they are trying to make it theirs. But other than that, the stories were also quite different from each other, and I enjoyed both of them a lot.

First thing I noticed about this story was the map. I L O V E maps in books, especially if it’s a fictional country. This helps me imagine the world they live in better, and I found myself flipping back to the map in the front of the book very often to see which city or country they were talking about. I once made a post about how much I love books in maps, and this always gets the book an extra point!

While the story was mostly about Celaena trying to become the King’s champion, we didn’t read a lot about those tests she was supposed to do. I had hoped to read more about those tests, though they might have been simple, that was what the story was supposed to be about. Of course, there was another story line that was going on, the murders of the champions, but still the author could have cut some of the romantic parts and added more of the testings, in my opinion. Which brings me to the next part, the romance. Yes, there is romance in this book. At some points, I actually felt like there might have been a love triangle, which is something I despise. I can’t really say I ‘ship’ the two, maybe after reading the second book in the series. If there isn’t going to be another love interest of course.

I kind of felt like Sherlock Holmes, trying to solve the murders before they were actually solved in the book, and I personally think I did a very good job. The first person I suspected ended up being the one who had caused everything, but to me it had been kind of obvious (though some things in the story made me confused).

I liked the characters, but there was only one that I really loved. Nehemia. She was an amazing friend to Celaena and she made me so happy every time. There were parts where I actually suspected her of all the murders, but I think I suspected every character in the book at some point. Anyway, she was just such a lovely person and it made me happy every time I read about her.

I thought this book was very well written, only I would have loved a little chart that taught you how to pronounce all the names, because that is one thing I don’t like about fantasy novels, the difficult names that you think are pronounced like this, only to find out that they are pronounced like that. In the end, I enjoyed Throne of Glass a lot, and I will definitely be checking out the rest of the series! I recommend this book to you if you love fantasy with an awesome heroine, and especially if you loved Poison Study (because even though the story sounds similar, they are both amazing in their own way)!

Nessa Luna &
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

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