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

Summary from Goodreads:
Celaena Sardothien is the king’s Champion—yet she is far from loyal to the crown, for the man she serves is bent on evil. But working against her master in secret is no easy task. As Celaena tries to untangle the mysteries buried within the glass castle, she can trust no one, not even her supposed allies Crown Prince Dorian, Captain of the Guard Chaol, and foreign princess Nehemia.

Then, an unspeakable tragedy shatters Celaena’s world. She must decide once and for all where her loyalties lie... and whom she will fight for.

I lowered my expectations for Crown of Midnight after being a bit disappointed with Throne of Glass. It turns out I could have raised my bar a lot higher and the book would have still delivered. It was an amazing sequel!

This book built on so much of the first book. In the first book I was endlessly complaining in my mind that Celaena had a backstory which was never told and she was all talk and no action, but now I know why she kept it in wraps and never said anything. The things she did in this book were so badass and erased my doubts about her credibility as an assassin. Blood and gore is what I find synonymous with the word 'assassin' and plenty of violence that had me awe-stricken was served in this installment. I frequently had no idea where the book was headed and I liked the surprises. More than just assassinating under the king's orders, Celaena discovers his larger plans for the realm.

Character development was much better here than the ToG. The relationship of Chaol and Celaena progressed and I found myself liking this development and caring more for them. This may have been partly due to Celaena becoming less self-absorbed and more focused on the seriousness of her role as King's Champion and the fact that she now had people close to her she could potentially lose if she stepped out of line. There wasn't a complete change in character though with just enough arrogance to remind me of the person she was in ToG.

I am totally ready for the journey set up towards the end of the book that will be continued in Heir of Fire.

Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Summary from Goodreads:
Meet Celaena Sardothien.
Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament - fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?

What disappointed me most was the heroine of the book, Celaena. She was the land's most deadly assassin, prisoned in salt mines of the beginning of the book. She was brought under order of the Crown Prince to compete against twenty odd others, to become the King's Champion. I expected a kick-ass heroine who was likeable but that wasn't delivered to me. Celaena was a self-absorbed showoff who annoyed the heck out of me! There were so many times she talked the talk but failed to walk the walk. I would've liked to see her actions define her but instead I was fed lines about her confidence in beating everyone/attracting attention.

Two love interests were provided to her and many other men stared her way, no doubt feeding her arrogance and bloated ego. I still can't see why the men pined after her even after finishing the book... OK, It was unique the way Celaena liked to dress prettily and cared about looking good, but some of the things she did e.g. throwing a fit at not being invited to a feast/ball, shouting at the pool ball for not going in the pocket and smirking when capturing the attention of men with her beautiful looks, eroded her credibility as a deadly assassin especially since we pretty much only had her reputation and behaviour to go on (as not much was revealed about her past assassinations and how she came to be).

The story otherwise was quite good with an unexpected focus on magic. I quite liked the supporting characters but unfortunately Celaena is the lead.