Book review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Finished reading: 17 January 2024
Rating out of five: 4.5/5
We’re rolling right in to the first book of the Throne of Glass series titled—if you can guess--Throne of Glass. If you read these books in chronological order, not publishing order, then you’ll know where we left off and where our main character, Celaena Sardothien, has been hanging out.

If not, well, welcome to the Throne of Glass series, which starts off in the salt mines of Endovier. This location is a slave camp, where those imprisoned in the salt mines suffer years of hard labour and live in absolute squalor. So, as you can imagine, after spending a year here, Celaena is having a great time (sarcasm, in case you missed it).
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That’s until she’s brought to the Crown Prince—known as Dorian Havilliard—by Captain of the Guard, Chaol Westfall.

Why does the Prince want to see her? Well, his charming father (you know, the King—and you’ll learn soon enough why he’s so charming) is holding a contest to determine who will be his champion to basically do all his dirty work. And the Prince is here to assess whether she’s suitable to do this.

Oh yeah, and if you’re new here, Celaena’s an assassin. Or was. Even better, she was known as the most feared assassin in Adarlan (the kingdom this story is set in). So, you know, she’s probably pretty capable.

After some questioning between Celaena and Dorian, they reach an agreement. Celaena will compete, using the alias Lillian Gordaina in a bid to hide her true identity (quite a funny concept, if you’re in the know).

Before we go further, let me quickly give you the run down on this King. He’s a very not nice dude. Why? Well, he’s the conquering sort—a nasty man set about taking over kingdoms throughout Erilea (the name of the world this series is set in). He also did this thing where he hit the ‘off’ switch on magic in the kingdom and nearby lands 10 years ago.
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Becoming his champion isn’t the greatest concept, but when Celaena’s freedom is on the line—and with her previous experience as an assassin—she can probably handle serving a man like that, considering how she was also treated by her previous master—Arobynn Hamel (if you haven’t read The Assassin’s Blade yet, you might not get this yet, but trust me—he also isn’t a nice guy).

Anyway, fast forward, and Celaena spends a lot of time training alongside the Chaol as well as the other competitors. Without going into spoiler territory, let’s just say that there are really good competitors and not so great ones, but none of that matters when there’s something insidious looming in the shadows, pipping them off one-by-one.

Throw in a dash of ghosts, forbidden magic, and some really sick action sequences, and you’ve got an incredibly gripping storyline that really propels you into this series and wanting more.

There’s also some good ol’ attraction and romance. If you can imagine it, put together an incredibly attractive 18-year-old assassin who holds her personal appearance in high regard, and two also described as attractive young men—the Prince and Captain—and you can probably figure out a three-sided shape of love forming here.
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And, being an absolute sucker for it, I lapped it up.

So, what did I like? The action. The mystery. The romance. The ease of which I could read this. I could sit down, pop open this book, and know that I was going to have a good, gripping, and enjoyable time.

I’m also a sucker for an omniscient narrator. You give me chapters or sections of books where the perspective changes from character to character, and you’ll have me hooked instantly. I absolutely love when I get to see the world from another character’s perspective. It allows me to understand their character deeper, why they think the way they think, and outline their past in a way dialogue never could.

And when it involves romance, oh boy… I’m sold.

Coming off the back of The Assassin’s Blade, I also enjoyed stepping into this world a year after the events of the final short story. However, acknowledging that The Assassin’s Blade was published after the second book in the series--Crown of Midnight—I think I would’ve disliked the beginning of this book if I hadn’t read The Assassin’s Blade first.

Having the context of the five short stories made it a lot easier to enter this series for me, and I think I would’ve struggled otherwise. Why? Because I don’t think I would’ve connected with Celaena’s character as much, and I would’ve gotten frustrated by the lack of ‘why?’ in some of the things Celaena does, what she says, and more. 

What didn’t I like? Look – it’s a young adult (YA) book, and I enjoy a good YA book. But there can be cringe in them, and let’s be honest… this book does contain a good sprinkling of cringey moments. It can sometimes be frustrating to have Celaena complain over the most benign things, considering where she’s come from and that for a year she was barely given food, drink, clothing, or a place to bathe. But with that being said, I think this helps highlight the flaws in her character as well.

She doesn’t have a perfect personality and that’s important because I hate a character that has… ‘flaws’ rather than actual flaws. Being frustrated at a character can be good and bad, and there were some moments where it was bad for me, and some where it was fine.

And, are there some elements of predictability in this story? Sure. But, there’s also plenty of twists and turns, great lore building, and more, so that predictability isn’t too much of an issue.

I think I’ll leave my review here, but I’m keen on your thoughts. What did you think about this first instalment into the series? Did you read this before or after The Assassin’s Blade, and do you think that impacted how you felt about the book? Let me know in the comments!