Throne of Glass

Throne of Glassby Sarah J. Maas was recommended to me by iBooks. I've had a sample on my iPad for a few months now and glanced at it from time to time, but it was fifteen dollars and I couldn't justify spending that much money on a book just because I was bored. However, after turning in my last paper on Friday, I decided to treat myself and got the book. I was on the fence between this and some historical novel about Napoleon's court, and I'm really glad I chose this one.

For starters, Throne of Glasshas everything that makes The Hunger Games popular and none of what I hate about that series. The basic plot is that Celaena Sardothien, a renowned assassin, is pulled from her slavery sentence that leads to certain death to compete against twenty-two other assassins for the coveted title of the King's Champion. Death isn't certain, but it's a huge possibility.

That, however, is the basic plot; there is a lot more to the story than that. Maas manages to combine mystery elements, conflicts between tyranny and freedom, a love triangle that wasn't mangled like most modern love triangles are, and alternate dimensions - also known as Otherworlds. There are some moving themes to this story too, including personal freedom and its price, actions and consequences, friendship, betrayal - lots of betrayal - and courage.

What most impressed me about Maas' storytelling is how neatly she captured the attitude and mindset of someone who always appears confident but also has profound weaknesses. Anyone who has read my former book reviews knows that I absolutely have to like the main character if I am to like the book, and I loved Celaena. She was brave, confident, kind, and mightily amusing. Even her towering arrogance was endearing rather than insufferable. My favorite of her actions was when she was chained and she "readjusted her shackles as if they were laced gloves."

The other characters were also as they should be - I liked the good characters, and didn't like the bad characters. I will admit that I wasn't too fond of Dorian until the very end, but even he had his redeeming qualities. Chaol and Nehemia were absolutely fabulous.

The basics of the story were wonderful too - the writing was smooth and understandable, and it was usually clear what was going on. I was never confused, even with so many plotlines going on. In short, Throne of Glass was fantastic. Five stars out of five stars!