Book Review (6): Throne of Glass

You might remember that I've mentioned this some time ago. I'm done with the book shortly after that post, but it took me a while to get the review out. But I've done it, and here it is :)



Throne of Glass
Sarah J. Maas

Story Sypnosis (in my own words): Celaena Sardothien, legendary assassin who suffered a year in captivity, was promised freedom upon some conditions. She was to participate in a series of competitions against other fighters and emerge champion. Failure to do so will mean sure death. Celaena obviously accepts, and soon found many twists in what seemed like an innocent tournament.

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Let me get this straight - I love this book!

I did take a long time to get past the first 4 chapters (though that wasn't the story's fault, but my own work priorities). But one fine Saturday, I sat down, I read, and I didn't stop till I was done on Sunday morning... Okay, so I cheated, I slept a bit before I finished it on Sunday morning, but that's not important.

Overall, this book has gotten me on my toes and I'm eagerly waiting for the sequel to be out this fall (Yes, there will be a sequel!!) Let's get started!

1. Setting
The author spent about five chapters setting the story, which is really nice and stable. Five chapters to set the stage. The world is a medieval-like realm with castles and towns. The era was in oppression; a man who conquered the main city and declared himself King. Magic was banned, its books were burned and its people killed.

Yup, that's the underlying theme there. Oppression.

2. Costumes
I love the costumes. Nothing more I can say. Okay, so this has absolutely nothing to do with writing, but I just love the costumes. The description was lovely, though not as graphic as Memoirs of a Geisha (did you see the way the author describes the kimono? Absolutely love it.)

3. Celaena as a protagonist
I mentioned before that Eona was an interesting character, but I meant it in a negative way more than positive. Now, Celaena Sardothien is, in my opinion, a wonderful character. She is arrogant, cunning and witty, but also nice to the people that she likes. She also knows that she is beautiful, and often tries to use it to her advantage.

There is just something so attractive about her. To outsiders, she's elusive and mysterious. No one knows what the greatest assassin might do next. However, when the author writes in the perspective of Celaena again, you'll be surprised to find how normal she actually is. Also, it's so interesting to see her think throughout the book the thousand and one ways to assassinate people around her, albeit done too frequently.

In a way, she is like Christian Grey. Same multifaceted personality, but different. Different in the fact that Christian Grey's multicoloured personality backfires on him because he became very flat. For Celaena, the different parts of her personality, however extreme they may be, they made sense given the circumstances of her background.

4. Love Triangles
Argh. I hate this. I've said it again and again, I am so sick of love triangles. It's quite typical - Girl falls in love with Boy A first, but then there's Boy B. Plus, you can tell that eventually where the love triangle would result.

For some reason, even though I dislike love triangles, I'm super darn bad at guessing the result. I always brace myself for a possible twist. Never happened.

5. Plot
I appreciate the fact that the story has a pretty straightforward plot. There were some underlying subplots and foreshadowing, but nothing confusing. I need to take notes from these focused authors!!

Being a first part of a series, the book took some time to lay out its setting. However, what stood out for me was that the main plot was introduced by the end of Chapter 2. It's pretty risky to just throw out the main plot so early. You might lose the flavour and most authors prefer to roll out the story little by little. Well, it worked for me. I immediately got to know what the story is going to be about and that determines whether I'm going to like it or not.

Another author who did that was Maria V. Snyder. The initial plot was out by the end of Chapter 1, of which at the end of it I thought, "Sounds cool, let's go!" Some stories that dragged a little too long for my liking was Fifty Shades of Grey (review here) and "The Fire Within" by Chris D. Lacey. Alright, I'm about to be stoned because I know many people loved it. I've only read the first book and so far, meh. I am not giving up on the series though. So I'll try again!

Maybe I'm just a superficial reader who can't wait for the plot to thicken. Hmph.

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Rating: Love It

I loved the book, I'm looking forward to the sequel. Need I say anymore?

Pictures taken from:
Book Cover

Disclaimer: Despite the official term, the above book review is not a wholesome and fully critical one. The book is merely reviewed and reflected on based on story writing skills and other literary elements.