Lovin' los libros

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

Publication Date: Aug. 27, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: Received from Literary Lushes ARC Tours
Page Count: 420 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Gosh. I am completely torn apart right now. This book shattered me in every way. I will be honest- I did struggle getting into this book. I think the main reason for this was that it had been so long since I read Throne of Glass. I had a lot of trouble remembering who some of the minor characters were (like Nehemia) and remembering the magical aspect of the novel with the wyrdmarks, etc. While there are still things I don't recall from the first book, I was able to find my groove and not read through the book with a look of confusion on my face.

Celaena, the famous Adarlan's Assassin, is now the King's Champion. She has been tasked with taking care of people that the King suspects traitorous and part of a secret movement to dispose of him. However, Celaena is playing a very dangerous game. Instead of killing those the King suspects, she fakes their deaths and presents appendages too mutilated to truly identify in their place.

Let's just say it now and get it over with. Celaena is a badass. She just is. She is strong, cunning, precise, but in this book we see a ruthlessness to her that had me cringing. I spent the last half of the book really pissed off at her and irritated because damn the girl can hold a grudge. And I didn't like that. I understand that betrayal is a slap in the face, and that withholding information from her for her own good is NOT ok with her. But to completely do a 180 and act like she did? I get it, but I didn't like it. Not one bit. I wanted to throttle and shake her so many times and tell her to get the eff over it already. Find acceptance and offer forgiveness. She sort of heads in that direction toward the end, but I'd better see it hardcore in the third book! Celaena is a woman who has known more loss and suffering than any person should. She has lost people dear to her and continues to do so. I feel like she is at such a crossroads in this book. She may have won the battle to become the King's Champion to avoid being sent back to the mines, but unbeknownst to her, her work is far from over. She must decide where she stands: whether she is going to let evil win out or if she will step up and find out the truth about the King and the wyrdmarks and how the two are connected.

I really liked seeing how Maas brought everything together in this novel. She has carefully constructed every detail to make the story flow seamlessly and is definitely setting us up for something much greater in the third book. The magical aspect and how the Fae ties in is brilliant and Maas, while didn't leave us with a cliffhanger per say, definitely left us with an "oh snap!" ending that had me craving more.

In Throne of Glass we had two men that had both grown to care for Celaena: Dorian and Chaol. Dorian, the Crown Prince of Adarlan, is not your typical smug, haughty, playboy prince. He is kind and sweet and really cares for Celaena. His role in this book is the beginning of something so much greater and I get chills just thinking about it.

Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Guard, is a stoic character, who we really get to see shine in this book. I like Dorian a lot, but at the end of the first book I knew Chaol had a much larger role to play in Celaena's life. Watching these two become so comfortable in their friendship was absolutely heart-warming to me. I loved their easy banter together and then watching them long for more nearly killed me. Chaol knows there's a line that he shouldn't cross when it comes to her, but sometimes lines blur and what can you do? There aren't a whole lot of romantic moments in this book, but I felt those we did get are so subtly placed that they made my heart jump and skip a beat every time.

I don't want to give anything away, but my heart cried out for these characters and I hated how their growth and development had to involve so much heartache and pain. All of the characters seem to be at war with themselves over what is expected, what is right, and what they cannot live without. Seriously. I've been shattered into a million pieces over this book. With that being said- if you're a fantasy fan- you need to read this series. If you have read Throne of Glass, but haven't picked up Crown of Midnight- get on that!