Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #2
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Genre: YA Fantasy
Format: Hardcover, 420 pages
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Source: Mid-Columbia Libraries
Rating: 5 Stars
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Synopsis
from Goodreads:
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?
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?
My
Review:
Everyone told me that this book was better than the
first one. I didn’t believe them. There was no way. I loved Throne of Glass so much that there was
absolutely no way the sequel could live up to it. They were right. It was so
much better. Oh my god it was better.
This book picks up right after Celaena was crowned
the King’s Champion. She is being sent on missions to kill whoever’s name is
listed on the piece of paper the King hands her. Pretty normal stuff for an assassin.
Then things get crazy. I mean, really crazy. Shockingly crazy.
Everyone has secrets in this book. Chaol has
secrets. Celaena has secrets. Dorian has secrets. Nehemia has secrets. And
obviously the King of Adarlan has secrets. Big secrets. And then all the
secrets unravel and collide at once and sh*t hits the fan. Something terrible
happens and Celaena loses herself. She goes crazy. I mean certifiably insane.
My heart broke for her, for what she was going through. But she also scared me
during this time. I feared her and feared that she wouldn’t be able to pull
through.
“In that moment, after ten long years, Celaena looked
at Chaol and realized she was home.”
The other thing everybody told me was that Chaol was
going to get even swoonier in this book. Holy swoon! Chaol and Celaena are so
damn perfect for each other. Chaol is good to the core and loyal. He has a hard
exterior shell that he keeps on nearly all the time. I mean he is the Captain
of the Guard. He has to be pretty tough. But the thing that attracts me the
most to Chaol is all of his internal feelings. He’s so real to me. Outside
tough. Inside just absolutely perfect. He isn’t afraid to share his feelings
with Celaena. This is a real man. I teared up during many moments in this book
because of Chaol. He is officially my #1 book boyfriend. Move over, Warner; you’ve
been demoted.
“Believe me, Celaena, I know you can look after
yourself. But I worry because I care. Gods help me, I know I shouldn’t, but I
do. So I will always tell you to be careful, because I will always care what
happens.” –Chaol Westfall
This book read so fast. I couldn’t put it down,
couldn’t stop turning the pages. I also read this book really close to my face.
(I know that sounds weird.) But I couldn’t get close enough to the book. I
couldn’t get close enough to the characters, the action, the mystery. I wanted
to climb inside. There was so much going on in this book, but don’t worry. You won’t
be confused. You get to see just how lethal Celaena is in this book and just
how badass. She is one tough cookie. She goes through a lot, but all the
experiences in this book help her finally see what she needs to do.
Oh yeah, and holy twist! I need the next book right
this second!!! You can’t just drop a bomb like that and then make us wait until
next year, Sarah J. Maas!!! I’m freaking out. Like seriously freaking out. Like
I literally yelled when I finished reading this book. I think I thoroughly
freaked my husband out.
Okay, I know this review is cryptic and really makes
absolutely no sense, but I don’t want to spoil anything. And I also just don’t
have words for how good this was. My new favorite series. Sarah J. Maas is
incredible. If I ever meet her I am going to flail and fangirl like crazy. I’ll
probably cry. Literally. That’s how much I love this series. Go read it right
now. You won’t regret it. I like this series better than The Girl of Fire and Thorns series and you all know how much I love
those books. Happy reading all!
Let's talk! Have you read this series? Do you swoon over Chaol as much as me? Did you see the twist coming? I didn't.
I agree with you 100%, this was such an incredible book and Chaol...oh Chaol. I'm so glad to hear he's replaced Warner. :)
ReplyDeleteI do have one criticism of Chaol (don't kill me I still love him) but why is he so blindly loyal to the king? What is up with that?
And here is my cryptic comment about the one scene where Celaena goes crazy. I understand she was upset and understandably so but really? What if she hadn't been stopped? I just thought it was so extreme and it made me question her love a bit. Also, it's not like she's completely trusting him because hello, keeping absolutely huge secret from him.
One of my favorite series and I don't know how we're all supposed to wait for the next one.
By the way, two of the best book boyfriends ever are Aiden from the Covenant series (I'm telling you, he is amazing) and Daemon from the Lux series (who you've probably heard more about than Aiden). I'm determined to have Warner keep falling until he's off your list. :) ~Pam
Oh no, you're a Team Adam person aren't you? We can't be friends anymore... Jk!
DeleteI do agree about Chaol being so loyal to the King. I mean, the King is obviously evil and Chaol is so good. It does bug me. But I think that maybe Chaol is more loyal to Dorian than he is to the King. And I think that being loyal to Adarlan is what he knows. And now that Celaena has shown up, he is starting to see things differently.
And yes. The scene where she went crazy. I was scared of her and for her. She is a pretty complex character and she obviously has some major psychological issues. I think that Chaol loves her more than she loves him. I think that Celaena needs to learn how to love herself and how to forgive herself for all the things she has done before she will truly be able to love someone else.
I have heard of both of those boys and still need to meet them. :) I'll get on it, but I don't know... Warner isn't falling off my list anytime soon unless he does something terrible in Ignite Me... He's second now. It goes: Chaol, Warner, Hector currently. But I love Warner. He's so misunderstood and broken. And sexy. Um, chapter 62??? *fans self*