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Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (JUST IN TIME FOR HEIR OF FIRE)

3 Jun 2014

by Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury   
Release Date: August 27th, 2013 
Format: ARC 



 "A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached. 

 It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend." 

 From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil. 

 Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

 Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.


Adarlan's Assassin is back as the King's Champion, and this time she's deadlier than ever.

Throne of Glass immediately shot up to my all-time favourites list when I first read it in 2012. Between the sassy, fiery and fearless protagonist, some kick-ass action, layers of mystery and a certain handsome Captain of the Guard, I couldn’t resist the book’s charm! I'll admit that after more than a year, my memory of ToG was a little fuzzy, but luckily Crown of Midnight started off in such a way that I didn't need to skim through my review of the first book in order to understand what was happening.

Crown of Midnight admittedly started off slow; I wasn't exactly bored but my mind did occasionally sway to other things whilst I was reading it. However, the real action picked up soon and I was able to completely immerse myself in this fantastic sequel.

The highlight for me for the majority of the book was obviously Celaena and Chaol's relationship/interactions. I'm a firm Team Chaol (wait, do the 'Teams' still exist? It doesn't feel like a love triangle anymore) and I absolutely loved his banter with Celaena, his protectiveness and most of all, his love for her. All the things he did, said, thought and felt touched me, and honestly, if they don't end up together by the end of the series, I'm going to chuck the world's biggest tantrum. And no one wants to see that.

Celaena unveils another side of her a few times in this book; one that is ruthless, uncontrollable,  and the epitome of 'deadly'. It's a side that no one wants to see, and suffering her wrath is not something anyone wants to experience. Ever. Unleashing this side of her scared the crap out of me, but it did add some heart-thumpingly intense scenes, and demonstrated exactly what the world's best assassin is capable of.

There is so much I loved about this book. I loved Celaena and Nehemia's beautiful friendship. I loved Chaol's fiercely selfless actions to protect the person he loves most in the world. I loved Dorian's newfound vigour, aggression and desire to do something right for his country.I loved the new revelations, some that were slightly predictable, others completely mind-blowing. I especially loved the ending. It set the scene for the next book, which by the way I'm willing to trade my first newborn for and was a revelation I had not seen coming. Thanks to that though, I've set my expectations for Heir of Fire miles high and I'm expecting something monumental to happen, something along the lines of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Remember the war? Yeah, that's exactly what I'm anticipating in the next (few) books in this highly recommended series!

Sooooooo guys READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY! I was literally chanting “HOLY CRAP. HOLY CRAP” all throughout the last few chapters of the book – my friends can vouch for me. This is simply a sequel you cannot miss!



A massive thank you to Bloomsbury Australia for providing a copy of Crown of Midnight for review! (So sorry for the super late review!!! But at least it's just in time for Heir of Fire :D) 

2 comments:

  1. TEAM CHAOL. I guess you still have to say which team you are on, because there are a lot of firm Dorian team members out there. I also love Nehemia/Celaena's friendship. *sob*

    SO EXCITED FOR THE SEQUEL.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree! This was so, so, SO good, right!? The many themes it touches on - from friendship to love to magic - are all so wonderfully done. I can't wait to see where the series goes in Heir of Fire! Thanks for sharing, and, as always, BRILLIANT review! <3

    ~ Zoe @ The Infinite To-Read Shelf

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