Age Group: YA
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Pub Date: August 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
I
had mixed feelings coming into Throne of
Glass, mostly because I had been hearing a lot of different opinions about
it. My conclusion is: I totally get why people love or hate it, and I really
can’t decide how I feel.
Celaena
Sardothien is an assassin in slavery until the Crown Prince, Dorian, pulls her
out to become his champion in a competition held by his father to find the new
royal assassin. Along the way, she is trained by the handsome Captain of Guard,
Chaol, whilst trying to fit into the royal court. Yes, it’s a little
ridiculous, but sometimes you have to shove away logic and sit back and enjoy
the ride.
Let’s
talk about the elephant in the room: the love triangle. Shockingly, I am not
opposed to love triangles, as over-used as they are, as long as they are done
well and this wasn’t the worst one I’ve read. I liked both of the male
characters, and it wasn’t blatantly obvious which one Celaena was going to pick,
so my issue wasn’t with the triangle itself, but more with the number of clichés
used. Up-close-and-personal-training, masquerade balls,
childhood-friends-turned-love-rivals… Do I need to go on? I quickly stopped
reading this as a fantasy book with a healthy dollop of romance, but as a
romance with a fantasy background. Which is fine, as long as the writer knows
what she’s writing.
I
found both the plot and writing jumpy. It felt like Maas couldn’t decide if she
wanted to write a riveting romance or an action novel, and the book wasn’t long
enough to accommodate both. I found the stark contrast between cute and real
romance, and grisly murders really bizarre. And the writing was painful to
read. It was melodramatic, over-written, and sometimes made no sense. “Her
blood grew warm and glittering” is an example of the problems I had.
Once
I got past the writing and accepted the crazy premises, I actually enjoyed
reading the book. I really loved the characters: Dorian was fun and Chaol
serious, but most importantly both seemed like they had some depth to them. As
for Celaena? I liked her character, but I didn’t feel like it fitted with her
story. She was cool, witty, confident, and smart, but she didn’t strike me as
an assassin. As much as I liked this version of Celaena, I wanted her to be
darker and grittier, as the only way I kept on remembering that she was an assassin
was because everyone kept on saying it.
Throne of Glass was a guilty pleasure for
me. It was good in a bad way, and I understand why so many people love it. Despite
it all, I found it really addictive and fun to read. However, if you’re looking
for a more meaningful read about a teenage assassin, I would look elsewhere.
Sum It Up: Romantic fantasy, which is
at sometimes a bit contrived and far-fetched, but really fun to read.
Rating:
6/10
