Written by Sarah J. Maas, Throne of Glass is a young adult fantasy novel that follows a young assassin named Celaena Sardothien. This book explores themes of oppression, treachery, bravery, and romance as Celaena strives to reach the top of her kingdom. This book is the first of an 8-part, slow-burn series. Throne of Glass immediately hooks readers, and you won’t be able to put down the book!

Synopsis

Throughout the book, Celaena competes for her freedom and the title of King’s Champion. She starts as a slave, locked away for her past, but is brought to compete with the prince’s sponsorship. As the book progresses, she faces numerous struggles as she competes against the kingdom’s strongest, but is also hit with a romantic spark.  However, as she is in the midst of competing, she begins to discover dark secrets of the kingdom and dangerous forces living alongside her. She is not only trying to win the competition, but she is now forced to fight for survival as well.

Review

Maas starts slow, implying the book is more of a slow burn. However, once you reach around the halfway point of the book, things take a turn. This book speeds up, with a conflict on every page. The writing is more casual, easier to read for young teenagers, but she includes various terms of the fae world. 

The characters are extremely dynamic. Every character in the book has some sort of internal conflict and is shown to be more than surface level. She still keeps the basic personality of the characters the same throughout the book, but she shows deeper into their thoughts, revealing more complex and interesting characters. 

The plot was somewhat original. This specific idea of an assassin competing to work with the king is fairly unique. However, many ideas in this book align with other fantasy romance novels. Ideas such as a fae kingdom, the romance trope, and the development of characters. Also, the plot is well-structured in chronological order, making sense to the reader. 

I liked the pacing of the book, as it was mostly fast-paced and full of conflict. This kept the book interesting and made me want to read constantly. I also liked the romance of the novel, as it was not too much, but still an important part of the book. 

I enjoyed this book a lot, however, I did not enjoy the world-building. It was a bit confusing at first, as there was little to no world-building. Many things were thrown in the book as if we should already know what they are. This caused me to have to search many things up and be confused for numerous parts of the book. 

Overall, this book is a great fantasy book, which is for readers who enjoy a novel that is fast-paced and full of plot twists. There is a minor subplot of romance, so it keeps the readers engaged on that level as well. I would recommend this book to young readers who have already read fantasy before and are looking for a more in-depth, complex fantasy novel. 

I would give Throne of Glass 📚 📚📚📚because it was engaging and interesting, but was missing some of the important world-building for being the first part of an 8-book series. (4/5)

Love, Saavri

GFB Ambassador