Book Review : Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
Publisher/Year: Bloomsbury Publishing, August 2012
Genre: Young Adult , Fantasy 

‘She dropped into a crouch. As the blade sailed overhead, she lashed out at his legs. He didn't even have the time to cry out as she swept his feet out from under him, nor did he have the time to raise his weapon before she crouched over his chest, the iron-coated tip of the staff at his throat. She brought her mouth close to his ear. "My name is Celaena Sardothien," she whispered.’

Plot

Celaena Sardothien is a 18 year old trained assassin who is sentenced to work in the most dangerous mines in Endovier after getting caught by the King of Adarlan. Three years later she is given the choice to either keep working in the mines until her inevitable death or to fight for a chance to become the King's Champion and to have her freedom back. To her there is no choice.Live or die, she will be free.

Level of Feels

Honestly I expected to be a raving maniac throughout this book the way everyone on booktube and on the book blogasphere were raving about it but I kept my cool the entire time. I did shed an almost tear at one point but I don't even remember why. Hmmm 

More on the plot and My Thoughts
*Spoilers*

So we start off this book when we meet Calena for the first time while working in the mines in Endovier also known as a death camp. The crown prince Dorian who is a total dream boat by the way and his guards which includes Chaol arrive at the mines and escort Celaena to Adarlan. Ofcourse Celaena has no idea why she is being taken back to the palace after she had been sentenced to death and suspected that the King wished to have her killed instead of waiting for her to die in the mines. It is only after she met with Dorian that he informed her that he wants to sponsor her in the competition that will determine who will become the King's champion. This competition will be grueling and Celaena will have to compete against 24 of Erilea's most dangerous criminals because the best part of becoming the King's champion is the chance at freedom! The prospect of freedom is what initially sells Celaena to the idea of becoming the champion to the man who had sent her to her death and who has destroyed every inkling of magic that once was in Erilea.

Once at the castle Celeana starts her training with Chaol and meets her fellow competitors. Most of whom don't seem like much of a threat but even Celaena has to do a double take when she spots Cain. A man who is as vicious and skilled as he looks and maybe even more so. While focussed on the competition and her training Celaena finds herself not only slowly but surely entangled in some kind of love triangle but she also discovers that there is something lurking in the castle and as champions begin to turn up dead all around the castle the competition begins to take a dark turn. Celeana is visited by a Fairy queen who had died more than a thousand years ago and told that there is more at stake for her in this championship. It is no longer her freedom that is on the line but the future of Erilea hangs in the balance.


With everything around her falling apart Celeana has to try and keep her barings in the competition as well as in the castle. She's not safe anywhere. Will her rein as Ardarlan's greatest assassin come to an end  or will she win her freedom.

*****

I went into this book with my expectations fairly sky high. Literally everyone was raving about it and I couldn't find one bad review on the interwebs. I obviously had to pick it up for myself and see what all the hype was about.

First of all I have to say that I actually did enjoy reading this book. The main character Celaena was funny, bad ass and whip smart which was such a great change of pace for me since I've been reading a lot of books where the heroine is such a Judy broody downer (haha you get my point). Celaena was nothing like that she could be a little too concerned about her appearance at times but she made up for it by being a total book nerd which is something you wouldn't expect from Adarlan's greatest assassin but made for a really good character trait. Side note: I think we could be the best of friends:)

I enjoyed the fight scenes but with the exception of the last duel they were all pretty predictable to me. I absolutely loathed Cain I wanted him to die pretty much from our first introduction, he basically just gave me goose bumps and not in a good way in a way that makes you want to go take a shower and scrub yourself raw.

To me the love triangle wasn't so much as forced but I don't think that It was necessary to the plot at all. I don't know maybe I'll have a bit more clarity once I've read the second book but in the first one it just seemed like Dorian was a forced love interest. I mean she doesn't even really like him all that much(-_-)
Over all I did enjoy this book. As I said before I wasn't in love with the book I can probably go a while without finding out what happens next but I wont because apparently the second and the third books are much better. Here's to hoping that's true!

Who should read this book?

They say that if you are a fan of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones that you will love this book but I personally do not agree. A: nothing will ever be as good as the first book in the Hunger Games Trilogy and B: Fans of Game of Thrones will read this and think that it is a total girl fest which I'm sure they will not enjoy as much. I will however recommend this to people who loved reading Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers.
Read the first 2 Chapters of Throne of Glass here

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts? We should discuss:)

Monthly TBR list

1. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Celaena is a trained assassin who is sentenced to work in the most dangerous mines in Endovier after getting caught by the King. Three years later she is given the choice to either keep working in the mines until her inevitable death or to fight for a chance to become the King's Champion and to have her freedom back. To her there is no choice.Live or die, she will be free. 

2. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

"There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark's Eve. Either you're his true love... or you killed him"

Blue Sargent is a non seer until one day when a boy emerges from the dark. His name is Gansey and he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. The boys who go there are known as the raven boys and Blue knows to steer clear of them but she is drawn to Gansey in a way she can't explain. For as long as she can remember Blue has been warned that she will be the cause of her true love's death, ofcourse she never believed it until she got drawn into the sinister world of The Raven Boys and now she is not sure about anything anymore.

3. 127 Hours On The Moon by Johan Harstad

It was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. Mia, Antoine and Midori had different reasons to enter NASA's competition for a seat on the first shuttle to go to the moon in over forty years.

But while they all wanted to escape earth, they never realized there might not be a chance to come home...

4. Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

The third and final novel in the Chaos Walking trilogy.

Three armies march on New Prentisstown, each one intent on destroying the others.

Todd and Viola are caught in the middle, with no escape.

As the battles commence, how can they hope to stop the fighting? How can there ever be peace when they're so hopelessly outnumbered? And if war makes monsters of men, what terrible choices await?

But then a third voice breaks into the battle, one bent on revenge...

So those are my four picks for this October I've been so bad at finishing anything lately because I have so much to do for varsity. I've started reading Throne of Glass and Monsters of Men but unfortunately I haven't  been able to have a real sit down mini read-a-thon. Hopefully I will be able to finish off this list before November. I'm not sure how this will go since exams are just around the corner but we'll see. I am really really looking forward to reading and reviewing all of them so be sure to stay tuned if you want to know what I thought about these four exciting reads:)  

So tell me are there any books you would like to get to this October? Have you read any of the books selected for this month and if so what did you think about them? I would love to get some feedback!

Sorry, Not Sorry!

It has come to my attention now that I’m in varsity and after I had fallen victim to the freshman 15 (or in my case the freshman undetermined) that my weight gain offends the people around me for some reason...  It is not enough that my clothes have turned against me and shrunk in disgust to the most unrealistic sizes, or that strangers give me dirty looks because I have the audacity to eat a freaking ice-cream cone and that I’m constantly comparing my body with every other girl in a crop top and Daisy Duke shorts...No, apparently I need to be reminded of the weight I've gained by every single adult in my life which is ironic because lets be brutally honest once you've passed the age of 40 the chances of you rocking a crop top and Daisy Dukes are slim to none so why is everyone and their grandmother commenting on my body? Do I relinquish my right to receiving the common decency of a white lie every once in a while simply because I am young and my metabolism should be on point or can you just say what you want because of all your apparent wisdom? Okay so I’m being a little mean and I apologize for that but I won’t apologize for gaining a few kilograms and having something to say about it.

People wonder why women resort to eating disorders in the pursuit of attaining a skinny frame when they know for a fact that women are constantly being bombarded with images of slim women parading around half naked in music videos and clothing adds (defeating the whole purpose of the add in the first place by the way) while women with regular curvy bodies are presented as the before in weight loss adds or the quirky funny best friend in romantic comedies, like being chubby automatically makes you a comedian. Come on now people we get exposed to these subjective beauty ideologies more than we can stomach the least you can do is keep your snide remarks and ‘helpful’ encouragements to yourselves. Telling me that I need to start making a plan ‘wink wink nudge nudge’ is not helpful it is bullying and offensive. What makes you think that I am not completely comfortable and happy with the way that I look? Your view on beauty is not automatically the same as mine. The only time ‘encouraging comments’ might be acceptable is if i’m on my way to becoming obese and there are health concerns associated with my weight. In this scenario I would gladly accept your concern but don’t feel the need to voice your opinion simply because my thighs are covered in cellulite and the sight of it burns your eyes, I would recommend that you simply divert your gaze and appreciate the clouds or something.

Would you find it offensive if I went up to you and suggested plastic surgery for your crooked nose or braces for your vampy teeth? Yes, of course you would so next time you feel inclined to comment on my thighs or tummy I’ll be morally obligated to punch you in the face and you’ll walk away knowing that you very much deserved it.

Women are not placed on this earth simply with the intention of becoming vessels for procreation or to look good on the arm of their male counterparts, we are not objects simply to be admired from a far. Women are complex creatures who have the ability to be powerful, successful and happy despite what they look like because when it comes down to it idealized beauty is often unattainable unless you resort to mutilating your body through various plastic surgeries because weight is not the only factor. You might be stick thin and still find yourself being attacked by various ideals of beauty. At the heart of it all you can never measure up to anyone’s expectations because there is such a huge variety of men and women who all have their own idea of beauty and unless you feel the need to change your look every day to please other people you will have to realize that you determine your own view on beauty and that your happiness and your opinion is the only one you should be listening to.

I might lose what I've gained this year or I might not. The point is that it is my decision. Being a specific size does not hinder your ability to reach your goals in life or to find love so why is everyone making it a priority? If it would make you happy go for it if you couldn't care less and you quite enjoy your new found curves embrace it and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. In conclusion I will leave you with these wise words by Mindy Kaling, a woman I have infinite love and respect for: 

  

The aspiring writer's proses

So lets just get this out in the open despite what some may think writers don't always get their ideas from observing people and landscapes or by having them fall from the sky on a tragic but beautiful day..No, sometimes writers need to brainstorm for ideas on what the hell to write about and sadly it generally goes a little like this 

Ok, so maybe the first 100 things don't make sense at all or they do but you know for a fact that you are in able of doing it any justice because lets face it genetically formed clones/ android armies might sound awesome initially until you realize that your knowledge on the subject is quite limited to say the least so you do the smart thing and put that idea on the back burner and continue typing nonsense until.. DING! 1100 random words later an idea manifests

Yay! You had a thought! Good for you now start outlining your plot, forming your characters, structuring the story and create! You've got this, how hard can it be?

Low and behold things are actually starting to take form, you have your whole story mapped out and dang does it sound awesome. Divergent what? Veronica who? This is a bestseller in the making and soon everyone will be buying your book... but first, you are gonna have to start typing so you do

and you type some more

and more

Only two hours later...

You couldn't even get passed the first sentence. 

but never the less you deserve a break only...

another two hours later you return to your desk less than enthused but this is your dream right? You have to suck it up and do it and some point

or you can leave it for tomorrow and start fresh and by tomorrow I mean NEVER

Jip, that's pretty much how it goes because you know what?



The End