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

SYNOPSIS:

“A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend.”

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realises she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

***

Genre: YA Fantasy

Page count: 418

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After reading the first book of the series, Throne of Glass, I knew that I’d enjoy Crown of Midnight, but I’d never anticipated I’d enjoy it that much.

I’ve decided to read this book in a teeny-tiny complicated period of my life: I’ve been categorised by my ophthalmologist (‘cuz yeah, I wear glasses, not one but two pairs, one of them being for reading, ‘cuz yeah, my blind arse doesn’t see well enough) as a „rare case” and my eyes are „smashed” because of too much reading and it’s not normal. Sooo I’ve been put through an „a carrot a day” cure and also „only 30 minutes of reading” cure. Because of that, I was not able to actually read as much as I wanted. But this book giving to me a dependence that I am totally approving of, made me read so super-humanly fast that I’ve managed to actually read enough in a day to accumulate the plot, the characters’ stories and the magic happening in general in Sarah J. Maas’ world.

This book was better than the first book from the beginning. I think it is so much easier to get into the second book of the series because you have the advantage of the first one. In some series, the second, third, fourth etc. books are not as good as the first one. But in this series, you can actually sense them getting better and better. So second book of the Throne of Glass series > the first book (but don’t get me wrong, I loved the first book too).

Do you remember how the world’s greatest assassin didn’t assassinate absolutely anyone in the first book? Yeah, this is going to change and she’s doing a good job okay? A bit twisted though. But she knows what she’s doing, I’ve checked. And it seems like Celaena has some plans to deal with on her own, even though from now on she is King’s Champion, basically King’s Puppet. She is actually a good person and she does things she thinks are best, but I think (as someone who hasn’t read spoilers until now) that these decisions will cause some delicious action later.

Now, talking about delicious, I must bring up some spice, right? Okay, even though I am actually kind of a bit (more) in love with Dorian, the Crown Prince of Adarlan, and I think he is the most charming and witty son of a wicked king I’ve encountered (since present moment) in any of my reads (remember that I am fairly new to YA Fantasy club) and I love his beautiful soul and the way he and Celaena work together, I cannot not be happy to see how the relationship between Celaena and Chaol Westfall, Captain on the Guard, grew. At least in this particular book, at this given moment. Even though some batshit happens and Celaena goes cuckoo bird.

I love Chaol. I really do. One of the main reasons (probably) why I love him is that his soul is broken. Yes, you understood it well. His soul is broken and people with a broken soul carry on their shoulders a great history thinking it is not worth sharing the heaviness of it with anyone. So maybe I love him because he’s broken and I agree. He’s broken; not worth pity, but love.

*

Chaol Westfall, a well-trained, muscular grown-arse man, Captain of the Royal Guard: *gets all soft and smooshy in this book*

me: *needs to wrap him in a blanket, feed him some good hot Romanian rice pudding with lemon and sour cherry jam and protect him from the rest of the world because he is that precious*

– Actual plans that I really think about considering in a very serious way

*

(That above was a loss of thoughts, it might happen unexpectedly any time given, enjoy the weirdness as it comes, thank you in advance)

Now, I’ll twist the situation a bit and I’ll turn back to Dorian. Something strange is happening to our Prince that scares him to death, not knowing he’s part of a greater plan than he imagined. He’s a very important piece in a very big game whose rules he doesn’t completely comprehend (Do you remember the Romanian rice pudding I’ve previously mentioned? Yes, that offer stands for my poor baby Dorian too at any time, at any hour, I’ll keep the pot on the stove just in case).

A warning sign about this book should be put on in this review: it gets better and it intensifies until your senses turn into mashed potatoes and you’re completely done with life because at the end of the book you’ll realise this book became your life. Just saying. And leaving it there. To sink.

It is useless to talk about the plot at this point already: it’s the second book, some covered plans are being made in order to wipe the fussy king from the surface of this world. Talks about rebel alliances and plans and talks about some long-lost heir of Terrasen’s throne, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius start pumping the air of the book. Some think they are just rumours; some believe in them because their lives depend on these rumours. But until the end of the book, everything becomes just a huge ball of energy that absorbs everything (including your soul) and in my opinion, this is so important.

Sarah J. Maas is, in my opinion, a genius mind. She makes us fall in love, she makes us sigh, get angry, cry, wanna die and so on. All these elements are important spices in the whole dish of a book. I don’t know about other people, every single person has a personal taste, but I really think that this whole series is based on a brilliant idea, also very good narrated, even though I’ve read only two books.

So, now, I go back – I gave the first book a lower rating (4/5 stars), not because I didn’t like it, but because I knew that the books upcoming were going to be better and better. And I was right. This book, the second book out of seven, blew my mind, made me laugh, made me sigh, made me cry, made me mad. And it was fantastic. Totally worth every single second I’ve spent reading it. I loved it.

Also, Nehemia Ytger, thank you for existing, Queen!