Title: Crown of Midnight
Series: Throne of Glass #2
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publish date: August 27th 2013 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Source: BEA
Buy it from: Amazon
Goodreads summary:
An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt.
But her heart never wavers.
After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king’s contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.
Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king’s bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she’s given a task that could jeopardize everything she’s come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon — forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.
Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?
Review:
OOPS, I read Crown of Midnight in like… JUNE. It was actually a book I read DURING BEA while I camped out in lines. Should I have reviewed it then? Probs, but I am a procrastinator, my dudes.
Here’s what you should know though: Crown of Midnight had me SCREAMING (not out loud of course– I imagine I would have garnered some LOOKS at BEA). I was caps lock texting Alexa much of the way through my reading.
Celaena is the king’s assassin now, and it’s REALLY interesting how it shifts her dynamic with others. The fact that she’s an assassin was obviously something that those closest to her knew, but the way their expectations and thoughts of her change with visceral reminders is fascinating.
Celaena’s changed as well, and she’s remained a character that I love. I love how she’s both kick-ass and a complete girly-girl who loves to shop. It’s something that I find fascinating– so often in fiction, women who like dresses or activities like shopping are written off as frivolous. It’s typically an easy way of stating that facet of their personality. But with Celaena, we have someone who is more than just one part of her personality. She can be soft, she can be hard, she can be frivolous and she can be serious. Just because she’s one way at one time doesn’t mean she’s that way all of the time. It makes her character incredibly dimensional and it’s one of the strongest things about Maas’s work.
Other characters are dimensional too, of course. This is one of the only series in which a love triangle (though that’s not an element that’s at play too much in this one… you’ll see) works for me. Why? Because I like both of the men involved. Of course I have a favorite, but I wouldn’t think Celaena was smoking something if she chose the other!
Naturally, Crown of Midnight is also filled with magic, intrigue, and action, and it’s an equation that equals an explosion of awesome. I’ll admit that I totally saw a twist at the end coming (from like… last book), but there are a MULTITUDE of other twists that I did not expect. Crown of Midnight is such a strong sequel… that it may have actually topped Throne of Glass.
Need a second opinion?
“Crown of Midnight is an action-packed, rollercoaster ride of a book that will make mincemeat of your emotions” –Writer of Wrongs
“I have to say it…I truly think Maas has mastered the high fantasy genre.” –Lili’s Reflections
“WARNING: Reading this book will lead to frequent and overwhelming FEELS. ” –The Quiet Concert
