My Review: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2): by Sarah J. Maas

***WARNING*** This review may contain spoilers from the previous book in the series, so continue reading at your own risk! You’ve officially been warned!***

To see my review of book #1 – Throne of Glass – Click HERE

Total Star Rating: 4 Stars

The ever-amazing Throne of Glass series continues into this exciting sequel, which has so much more action, suspense, betrayal and badassery than the first book. If anyone was feeling meh about it, I sincerely suggest giving this book a try and possibly change their mind. Instead of dresses and love triangles, there’s more characterization and much more surprises!

What It’s About:

Calaena Sardothien has won the King of Adarlan’s tournament to become his champion and royal assassin, but her loyalties remain in question as she’s sent on specific missions to kill his enemies, all of whom may or may not be innocent. One target in particular, Archer Finn, is suspected to be the leader of a rebel group in search of the lost princess, Aelin Galathynius, in order to restore the lost kingdom of Terrasen, Calaena’s homeland.

Calaena also deals with the changing of her relationships with those closest to her in the castle. The most notable change is her relationship with Chaol Westfall, the Captain of the Guard. It’s obvious that they both have unreqruited feelings for each other, but where their true loyalties lie may be the thing that tears them apart.

More clues are also revealed as to what is building behind closed doors within the castle. The King is up to something sinister, and Calaena is unraveling more and more about the wyrdmarks and the answers to the riddles that reveal secrets far beyond anything she’d imagined.

Tragedy strikes, and Calaena’s word is flipped upside down. Suddenly, no one is to be trusted and she turns to unconventional means to get what she wants…

What I Liked:

1. The Bigger Sense of Direction! After reading this sequel, readers will be shown a much more intricately drawn out plot towards the overall story. The first novel, as it turns out, was merely setting the scene and introducing the world and characters that the author created, but this book takes it all so much further, and gives a much more exciting and unpredictable story to enjoy. The author truly stepped up her game with the characterization, the worldbuilding, and the rising tension that makes readers so eager to turn the pages to find out what happens next.
2. Calaena Becomes a Bigger Badass! In the first novel, readers merely caught a glimpse at the warrior that Adarlan’s top assassin is capable of. In Crown of Midnight, it’s like she’s been unleashed, and her wild, deadly ways are truly shown. She also keeps her sassy, witty, arrogant attitude that made me like her immediately and remains absolutely ruthless towards those that threaten who she cares about. She is lethal, plus there’s so many reveals for her in this story, its amazing how many secrets she actually has about herself.
3. The Romance! It’s no longer a love triangle, it’s a slow burn of unreqruited love between two great characters, each being torn between what they want, and where their loyalties lie. Calaena and Chaol’s relationship was filled with unexpected moments in this novel, it started off with humorous banter that makes readers ship them so hard, to much more meaningful moments that makes us think true love exists, but has a few sobering moments that make us think that romance is dead…
4. Dorian Gets A Twist! He may not have gotten the girl, but he did get something a little unexpected…But I’m not going to spoil it for anyone!
5. The Character Development! The original trio really change throughout this story; Calaena finally stops running from her past, and both Chaol and Dorian finally gain the courage to stick up to their fathers.
6. That Revealing Ending! It was the moment that I knew that I loved this series.

What I Didn’t Like:

1. Straining Relationships…Dorian became a favorite character of mine because he was as an apple that had fallen as far from the tree as physically possible from his father. Dorian is a great character; he’s handsome, he’s charming, he reads. for fun. The boy is straight up marriage material, but in this story, it felt like he was put on the backburner in terms of his relationships with Chaol and Celaena. He deals with a specific twist that’s life changing, and doesn’t know how to share that tidbit with anyone, but the other two seem too worked up in their own issues to even be decent friends to him anymore. Plus, Celaena’s relationship with Nehemia takes a downward turn at one point, and her and Chaol go from extremely high to low, it was all so surprising to be honest.

Conclusion:

The scene had been set, so the story can finally begin! The author went above and beyond to bring more action, excitement, danger, betrayal, and surprises; it’s added a much needed new depth to the overall story. If people get past all the less than interesting first novel filled with clichés, this novel will save their interest, and believe me, the time investment that this series requires is so worth it!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell