Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1) in The Wide Web of Friends in YA Books

Jul 01, 2012 Booknut 101 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, can-t-get-enough-of, fantasy-tales, heartbreak-and-loss, strong-and-kickass-heroines, books-i-love-dearly, forever-re-read, super-bad-bad-guys, ballgowns-and-intrigue, bodies-bones-and-psychopaths

Celaena Sardothien is the kingdom's most feared assassin - renowned for her cunning, stealth and (of course) her ruthless killing of her enemies, she seems more myth than person.

Though they never expected her to be an 18 year-old girl.

Released from her imprisonment in the salt mines of Endovier, Celaena is given an ultimatum - go back to the mines and eventually die of exhaustion and torture, or become The Crown Prince Dorian's Champion and, after four years of service, gain her much-sought-afte Celaena Sardothien is the kingdom's most feared assassin - renowned for her cunning, stealth and (of course) her ruthless killing of her enemies, she seems more myth than person.

Though they never expected her to be an 18 year-old girl.

Released from her imprisonment in the salt mines of Endovier, Celaena is given an ultimatum - go back to the mines and eventually die of exhaustion and torture, or become The Crown Prince Dorian's Champion and, after four years of service, gain her much-sought-after freedom.

But before she can be announced his Champion, she must compete against the best the kingdom has to offer - poisoners, vagabonds, lords, knights, mystery men and thieves - in a competition to see who is worthy for the title of King's Champion. Self-assured, Celaena has no doubts she can win. But at what cost, when she is fighting for the chance to kill for the man she hates more than any other?

Taken to the palace, Celaena is given a new identity as she enters court life - sizing up the competition, training with the Crown Prince's friend and comrade Captain Westfall and becoming the envy of every court lady due to her stunning looks and her proximity to the Crown Prince. The competition begins and Celaena is in her element...until one of the competitors fails to turn up to one of the Tests.

Instead, he is found dead - torn apart as if by wild animals. And suddenly the competition takes a sinister turn as Celaena realises that the killing was no coincidence and that something dark has entered the palace - something with a thirst for killing. In a kingdom where magic has been all but eradicated, Celaena takes on the task of searching for the unknown enemy's identity and their motive...before she herself becomes the next target.

And not even an assassin is afraid of death.

Romance, adventure, mystery and fantasy combine in a story that is a cross between Maria V Snyder's Poison Study, Tamora Pierce's Alanna the Lioness and Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel. With a feisty and witty heroine and new friendships to be formed, this book is worth reading it all in one sitting (like I did :D) and will become a fast favourite. ...more

27 likes · Like · see review

Jan 12, 2013 Booknut 101 rated it it was amazing

Celaena Sardothien is the kingdom's most feared assassin - renowned for her cunning, stealth and (of course) her ruthless killing of her enemies, she seems more myth than person.

But they never expected her to be an 18 year-old girl.

Released from her imprisonment in the salt mines of Endovier, Celaena is given an ultimatum - go back to the mines and eventually die of exhaustion and torture, or become The Crown Prince Dorian's Champion and, after four years of service, gain her much-sought-after Celaena Sardothien is the kingdom's most feared assassin - renowned for her cunning, stealth and (of course) her ruthless killing of her enemies, she seems more myth than person.

But they never expected her to be an 18 year-old girl.

Released from her imprisonment in the salt mines of Endovier, Celaena is given an ultimatum - go back to the mines and eventually die of exhaustion and torture, or become The Crown Prince Dorian's Champion and, after four years of service, gain her much-sought-after freedom.

But before she can be announced his Champion, she must compete against the best the kingdom has to offer - poisoners, vagabonds, lords, knights, mystery men and thieves - in a competition to see who is worthy for the title of King's Champion. Self-assured, Celaena has no doubts she can win.

But at what cost, when she is fighting for the chance to kill for the man she hates more than any other?

Taken to the palace, Celaena is given a new identity as she enters court life - sizing up the competition, training with the Crown Prince's friend and comrade Captain Westfall and becoming the envy of every court lady due to her stunning looks and her proximity to the Crown Prince. The competition begins and Celaena is in her element...until one of the competitors fails to turn up to one of the Tests.

Instead, he is found dead - torn apart as if by wild animals. And suddenly the competition takes a sinister turn as Celaena realises that the killing was no coincidence and that something dark has entered the palace - something with a thirst for killing. In a kingdom where magic has been all but eradicated, Celaena takes on the task of searching for the unknown enemy's identity and their motive...before she herself becomes the next target.

And not even an assassin is afraid of death.

Romance, adventure, mystery and fantasy combine in a story that is a cross between Maria V Snyder's Poison Study, Tamora Pierce's Alanna the Lioness and Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel. With a feisty and witty heroine and new friendships to be formed, this book is worth reading it all in one sitting (like I did :D) and will become a fast favourite. ...more

16 likes · Like · see review

Jan 02, 2013 Maira rated it it was amazing

Shelves: awesome-ya-must-read-funny-wit, books-that-remain-forever

this was on of the greatest books that i have read. there were some issues with it but they were ignored by the intriguing story. i admire the writer's style of sending us the message that can make our lives so much easy. the story, style, plot, theme and most importantly the clarity of idea with which the writer gave us a clear view of our reality of life and its importance.

its a story about a girl who became an orphan a the age of 8 and learned the harshness of the world way early then any chi ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2013 Parmida Reads rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I love this book SO SO SO MUCH!
I cannot stress this enough.
I thought: wow I'm so smart I'm actually figuring out the plot twists...man was I wrong.
I'm going to be blunt, Celaena is my favorite character. Ever. I love her so much that I'm starting to ship me and Celaena together and Chaol and Dorian together. How's that? ;)
Nehemia! Do you know what made this book really precious? how not every girl has to be Celaena's rival for getting the guys' attention. The concept of having a true best friend ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 22, 2012 Raihana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-books, 2012

OH. MY. WORD.

Throne of Glass totally blew my mind. I had no idea it was going to be this good. From the very first scene till the very last, I was hooked.

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 31, 2012 Ifrah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Wow! It's as good as I thought it would be if not better. I'm a huge Celaena fan now.

Believe the hype and read the book! ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 20, 2012 bliss rose rated it really liked it

Shelves: other-supernatural, magic-books, unique-books, faeries, action-books, favorite-books, pure-awesomeness, awesome-heroine, assassins, romance

I. Loved. This. Book. So. Much. I. Can't. Even. Describe.

First off, it's been a while since a read heroines that could fight, that could stand up for themselves. Calaena reminds me so much of Penryn form Angelfall, they both have so much in common! Including witty comments, the attitude, and I feel like I should applaud for their logical thinking because in most YA novels, the heroines are weak little things that can't do anything-girls that can' survive without their boyfriend( or love interest I. Loved. This. Book. So. Much. I. Can't. Even. Describe.

First off, it's been a while since a read heroines that could fight, that could stand up for themselves. Calaena reminds me so much of Penryn form Angelfall, they both have so much in common! Including witty comments, the attitude, and I feel like I should applaud for their logical thinking because in most YA novels, the heroines are weak little things that can't do anything-girls that can' survive without their boyfriend( or love interest).

I. loved. LOVED. LOVED. this book so much, it's been a long time since I've read such a great read. You know you loved a book when you stay up until very early in the morning reading it, even if you have an exam the next day.

At first, I wasn't expecting much because of the hype (from experience) and I was expecting this book to be cliche and terrible. I was wrong. How wrong I was This book is amazing because it has a legit plot and awesome characters that aren't 3-dimensional, and romance that's REAL, not based off of lust/appearances/"his sexy voice."

I don't get it when authors write "his voice was deep and sexy" and I also don't get how the female characters fall in love with his "deep and sexy voice." Really? Every time I see this, I start shaking my head and rolling my eyes. It'll be totally different if they loved the sound of his voice, meaning they felt at ease and at peace. BUT, YOU CAN NOT LOVE BASED ON HIS VOICE. "Love at first voice." Sigh...

Now back to the actual story, I loved Calaena, she was one of the heroines of 2012 that I actually respected. She's been through hardships, she's tough, she has witty comebacks, and she can fight. In fact, she's an assassin, the best assassin of her country, the most feared. But guess what? No one knows she's a woman, everyone thinks she's older. (view spoiler). When she is caught and is sent to prison, she gets whipped, many, many times. But surprisingly, even after she was released, (view spoiler) she is not hardened. She is still comedic at times, and she still has that softness about her.

**more review to come. ...more

Like · see review

Feb 14, 2013 Jade rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, owned, library, top-rated, 2024

At first the book was like 3 then it reached a 4. But by the end, oh my gosh I'm stunned. It was AMAZING.
And the author wrote the first draft at 16.
That's incredible.
I can't wait to read the sequel. I spent all last night and all today reading this book it was so addicting.
Celaena was such an amazing strong female character. She had amazing courage and her sarcasm was hiarious. Although, I will admit she was abit of a brat at times. And she was way to obsessed with her looks and being beautiful. At first the book was like 3 then it reached a 4. But by the end, oh my gosh I'm stunned. It was AMAZING.
And the author wrote the first draft at 16.
That's incredible.
I can't wait to read the sequel. I spent all last night and all today reading this book it was so addicting.
Celaena was such an amazing strong female character. She had amazing courage and her sarcasm was hiarious. Although, I will admit she was abit of a brat at times. And she was way to obsessed with her looks and being beautiful.
Prince Dorian and Chaol (i love that name btw) were also amazing characters. However, I'm still conflicted as to wether or not I like the prince. Sure he was nice, but he still liked to rub it in that he was handsome.
Chaol was probbaly my favorite character. Not because he was handsome, and "hot" like every other teenager will like about him. But he seemed like a really nice and funny kind or person. Although he could get a little aggrivated at times, he really truly cared.
All the characters were so strong... it was so captivating.
And the end was so well written. The whole book was well written.
I can say I have become a big fan of this book.

—-

december 2024

I cannot believe this book went viral 10+ years after this review. I just had to read it again. As an adult instead of a tween, I would probably rate it 4/5 now. I would agree with my former self in that I went back and forth on Celaena, but this time I was conflicted on quite literally every character. They all had some negative qualities that were hard to get over. Dorian’s self involvement. Chaol’s ignorance and hypocrisy. Calaena’s mood swings. Nehemia being sketch. Elena somehow having enough energy to tell Celaena there is evil lurking and to give her a riddle but not enough time to just say what the evil is bluntly. However, I feel like this was intentionally done by the author. The main theme of the book seems to be things aren’t just black/white. Most people are morally gray. I appreciated that the romance aspect isn’t in-your-face and more subdued. It gives the reader time to analyze the characters and themes. ...more

Like · see review