Review: Crown of Midnight

CROWN OF MIDNIGHT :: SARAH J MAAS

GENRE: HIGH FANTASTY

RATING: 4 STARS

SUMMARY: Celaena Sardothien is back in the second book in the Throne of Glass series, chopping off heads and taking names, all for the King of Adarlan. Or is she? Celaena’s deep buried secrets start bubbling to the surface as she is tasked to uncover traitors in Rifthold by the king she would just love to dismember herself.

 

REVIEW: First off, this book is a gagillion times better than its predecessor, Throne of Glass. (Check out my review to that beastie HERE). Throne of Glass was written by a teenager just getting the hang of grammar and the finer points of storytelling. Crown of Midnight is written by a woman well on her way to becoming the Queen that we know her as now.

The world building continues to grow, revealing a varied and magnificent continent. In Crown of Midnight, we being to learn more of the cultures that Adarlan has conquered, including my very favorite, the Fae (if you ain’t Fae, you ain’t bae). In Throne of Glass the finer points of the King’s rape and pillage of Erilea was discussed as a distant event, but in Crown of Midnight we see how all of this conquering has affected Celaena and her friend, Nehemia.

The plot is also much more fleshed out than your run of the mill competition and spooky tomb stuff, with Maas bringing in references to stories from Assasin’s Blade and dumping a WHOLE BUNCH of foreshadowing on our feet. I’m rereading the entire series after finishing Empire of Storms, and if you haven’t done it I highly recommend it. I already thought Maas was a genius, but now I’m ready to kiss her feet. The way the stories are woven together is pure art.

The characters are still gold.. Dorian has grown from a rather naive, spoiled prince into a man who is beginning to wield his power to better the world. Chaol spends the majority of the book torn between his sense of duty and his heart, and choosing wrong at every turn. The perfect example of what often happens when you always try to do what’s right … it all goes to shit. Nehemia… oh, Nehemia. She is a simultaneously the most tragic and hopeful character in this series, and after reading EOS and learning more of her story I am utterly in awe of her strength and nobility.

And if Celaena drove you nuts in the first book, do not despair. She is far more tolerable in Crown of Midnight. While still swaggering and arrogant, you begin to see those traits for what they are… a wall constructed to hide her heart as well as her identity. 

Please, if you’ve read Throne of Glass and were entirely underwhelmed and unimpressed, GIVE THIS BOOK A CHANCE! This is a series that just gets better and better.

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And for those of you who have read Empire of Storms…..

Gold gleamed in Celaena’s palm. “Name your price.”

The woman studied her from head to toe, sniffing once. “Nameless is my price,” Yellowlegs said. “But gold will do for now.”