Throne of Glass

Hardcover, 406 pages

English language

Published Aug. 23, 2012 by Bloomsbury USA Children's.

ISBN:
978-1-59990-695-9
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4 stars (38 reviews)

After she has served a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, Crown Prince Dorian offers eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien her freedom on the condition that she act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

15 editions

Review of 'Throne of glass' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Celaena Sardothien spent years in the Endovier death camps, where she would spend the rest of her life. Until, crown prince Dorian appoints her to enter a competition for the title of King’s Champion, who will tasked to do the King’s secret bidding. But when one by one, the competitors turn up dead, Celaena knows that something evil lurks in the castle.

This was a huge letdown for me. It mainly involves the writing and the major lead.

For someone who’s supposed to be a deadly assassin, ’s pretty weak. I get it. She's a girl who likes to be pretty and wear nice clothes and date popular boys (I actually love when female characters are both girly and badass at once). The problem is that she is so narcissistic and stubborn that you can't help but focus on the tooth-cringing parts of her personality. She never (or rarely) speaks …

Review of 'Throne of glass' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A good, fast-paced read, but not quite as good as Maas's later work; certainly feels the Y in YA. Can be read as a standalone but is probably better if you continue on to read the whole series (I assume).

To summarize it briefly: Celaena, a proficient assassin, has been in the salt mines for a year when she is taken out by Prince Dorian and his guard captain Chaol to be the prince's candidate in a competition to find the next King's Champion. But someone, or something, is picking off candidates even outside of the competitions designed to winnow out the unworthy. Celaena's heart is also pulled into two directions, between the overtly romantic Dorian and the steadfast Chaol.

The major drawback to the book is that it's so clearly written to be part of a series. For instance, from very early on, I started to suspect that Maas …

Review of 'Throne of glass' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I can't say I'm as enthusiastic about this series as I've seen so many people be, but I enjoyed this book! I went in expecting something similar to ACOTAR and, thankfully, this series seems to have quite a different tone. There are probably more plots going on than is really necessary but given that there are 7 more books in the series, I guess I'll let that particular criticism go. This is very clearly the first book in a series, with a lot of things left unexplored. I'm looking forward to continuing with the series!

Review of 'Throne of glass' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

After having read the series introductory novella, I had great expectations for the Throne of Glass series. Sadly, the only exciting part of this story was the final battle. The remainder of the book was quite dull and boring. To my mind, there are simply better written, more exciting, (similiar) series. I'll be moving on to something else...

Review of 'Throne of glass' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Throne of Glass was a fun read. It was not particularly thought provoking, the characters were not particularly compelling, and the plot was not particularly inventive. It was still fun though. I enjoyed every page. There was not a point where it bogged down in nonsense as there so often is in a book that is trying to set up a large series. It kept up its pace, and kept my attention and for that I have to commend it. I liked the characters by the end of it. The two primary male characters were sort of two dimensional until about 3/4 of the way through the book, but they came into their own by the end. I would recommend it as what my wife calls "popcorn reading." Fun, but not nourishing.

Review of 'Throne of glass' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

TL;DR: Look at the shelves I put this one on. Everything you expect from a fantasy, romance, YA with an 18 year old female assassin for a protagonist.

So what is it about. The setting is a classic fantasy kingdom/continent including the Fae. However 10 years ago, magic left the continent in one big rush after having been outlawed for decades before that. Magic users lost their abilities and ... suddenly no more magic was possible. The Fae have also left. Or have been killed. The sinister king of A. (a country of rather unrememberable spelling) has been trying to take control of the whole continent.

And now the king of A. is holding a competition for the position of court assassin. Enter Celaena. (How please is this pronounced?) She's a formerly infamous assassin with a mysterious past who just spent a year slaving away in the kingdom's salt mines, …

Review of 'Throne of glass' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

This book was "recommended" by Goodreads, but honestly, it was straight up terrible. I had to stop at page 26. The reader is constantly told how beautiful and talented the main character is, as well as how handsome everyone else is. In the very first paragraph, the main character is "Adarlan's most notorious assassin." On the second page: "It was true that she had been attractive once, beautiful even, but -- well, it didn't matter now, did it?"

A little later, "She was important enough to warrant an execution from the Captain of the Royal Guard himself." (Thanks for letting me know!)

And, "She looked at her rags and stained skin, and she couldn't suppress the twinge of shame. What a miserable state for a girl of former beauty!" (Truly a tragedy!)

And others are described thusly: "Yet there was something in his eyes, strikingly blue -- the color of …

Review of 'Throne of glass' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

This series is all the rage for a lot of the book people I follow on Twitter.  When I saw the first book was available to read on Oyster I decided to see what all the fuss was about.  I got about 25% through and quit because I was bored.  This week another book in the series came out and people on  Twitter were all excited like it was the second coming of Harry Potter.  I decided to try again to see if I missed something.  I forced myself to finish it this morning.  Yeah, forced.  That's not a good sign.  Checking the % finished number every few pages wasn't a good sign either.I checked reviews on Goodreads after I finished and am relieved to see that I am not alone.  This seems to be a love it or hate it book.Here's what bothered me.






Creepy Male Main Characters

Celaena …

Review of 'Throne of glass' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

What a great start to a series! Good stuff. Can't wait to read the next one.

Celaena is my favorite kind of character. Strong, independent, a little sassy, but still can be hurt, both emotionally and physically. She's not super-human. She's like Katniss in a fantasy setting. She says the wrong things sometimes and isn't perfect, but people still like her. In fact, there are several similarities between this book and The Hunger Games. Competition for their lives, evil leaders, love triangle. It's similar, yet different enough to work. I enjoyed the supernatural/magical element, the setting, and the characters. A very solid 4 stars for me.

Review of 'Throne of glass' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Celaena Sardothien is condemned to a life sentence working in the salt mines of Endovier. Ardalan’s most famous assassin is a mere eighteen year old girl. Starving and beaten, she is approached by Chaol, on behalf of the Crown Prince with an offer. Compete to be the feared King’s champion, win and she will earn her freedom after four years. Fail and she will return to the salt mines where she will die. There isn’t much choice really.

Rather than an action adventure story, it’s more of a Cinderella story with a twist, although poor Celaena never really gets invited to the balls. She must pretend in court to be a lady of breeding whilst in reality, she’s a notorious criminal, constantly under guard. She takes to her courtly life quite well however and I loved that she could be both kick ass and girlie. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. …

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Subjects

  • Assassins
  • Princes
  • JUVENILE FICTION / Love & Romance
  • Prisoners
  • Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General
  • Court and courtiers
  • JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic