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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.

The beginning and the end of this book were both fantastic. The magic system is a lot of fun. The characters were interesting and their interactions were entertaining. The problem was in the middle. A large chunk of this book takes place with the main character in a magical trap, which is not a problem in an of itself, but the fact that during this huge chunk of the book, she does not actually interact with other "real" characters, just the magical avatars of them. It was a slog through that part of the book, which as I say was not small. If she was in this trap with some other characters, and we got to see them interact, then it would have been more forgivable. As it was, it was still a pretty good read. I would not discourage anyone from reading it.

I am sort of on a mental illness novel kick right now. I read this one in basically one go. The main character, Audrey, suffers from intense anxiety brought on (or at least made acute) by a traumatic event in her past. The novels plot and the events that take place are based on her journey to at least partial recovery.

The format of the novel is unique. It is largely a first person perspective narrated by the protagonist, Audrey. It is punctuated throughout with "Transcripts" of a "documentary" she is making at the suggestion of her therapist. The transcripts are formatted basically as screenplay pages. It is a unique format, and it actually does lend something to the book. It is refreshing to "get out" of Audrey's head, and to see her life without so much of her personal spin on the events. Because of her anxiety, she tends to see things in a certain light, generally negative. It is interesting to see how her family and the other characters think of her.

Audrey is a compelling and complete, though damaged, character. We see her in her ups and downs, and in the throws of anxiety attacks. She is very likable and quite funny. The other characters are interesting, and color the story well.

I highly recommend this book. It is similar in subject matter and style to John Green's Turtles All the Way Down. It is more upbeat for the most part, but similar. I enjoyed it very much.