From the Bookshelf of Reading In Between The Lines YA Book Club…

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)

Sarah J. Maas

Start date: January 19, 2015

Finish date: February 28, 2015

Discussion: Montlhy Reads

Discussion leader: Jordan

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The Queen of The Tearling Discussion
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last updated Mar 06, 2016 07:38PM

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What Members Thought

Aug 17, 2015 g. rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015

how do i even begin to explain celaena sardothien?
celaena sardothien is flawless.
i hear her hair’s insured for $10,000.
i hear she does car commercials... in adarlan.
her favorite movie is varsity blues.
one time she met dorian havilliard on a plane... and he told her she was pretty.
one time she punched me in the face... it was awesome.

this is basically how the book rolled for me. nonetheless, I really liked it.

6 likes · Like · see review

May 12, 2015 Rebecca (whymermaids) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The king hosts a tournament to decide his next assassin. The world’s most notorious assassin, Celaena Sardothien ,who hates the king, is recruited by the Prince as his champion in the competition. Meanwhile, there’s a darker evil floating around the castle, which Celaena must be the one to stop.

Everyone RAVES about this book. It was okay.

It’s your standard YA fantasy: girl protagonist is better than everyone and must save the world; all the boys love her; she has a dark and twisty past she won’ The king hosts a tournament to decide his next assassin. The world’s most notorious assassin, Celaena Sardothien ,who hates the king, is recruited by the Prince as his champion in the competition. Meanwhile, there’s a darker evil floating around the castle, which Celaena must be the one to stop.

Everyone RAVES about this book. It was okay.

It’s your standard YA fantasy: girl protagonist is better than everyone and must save the world; all the boys love her; she has a dark and twisty past she won’t reveal; she’s perfect.

The things I liked:

Overall, I liked the characters, and I liked the story. It’s standard, but it’s enjoyable. I also liked the intrigue and the fact that Celaena is a bit of a badass, which was a nice change. I’m a sucker for fantasies and their different worlds, and this was no exception. The backstory of the world itself is rich, and I’m excited to see more of that in future books.

It was a really easy, enjoyable read. I was captivated by the mystery of the killings, and I’m also a big fan of competitions, which is partly why I love The Hunger Games and The Testing so much too. I almost wish there’d been more, but what there was, I really liked.

That being said, I did have some problems:

Celaena is supposed to be the best assassin in the world, yet she’s only eighteen. She does comment on this, but it still seems implausible. That means she probably started killing when she was like twelve… how is she as calm and normal, if not more so, than everyone else? Also, for being the “greatest,” some of her choices were a bit odd, and I would’ve liked to see that awesomeness detailed in the story rather than just told about it. I mean, I totally get her picturing how she would kill everyone around her, but just once I’d like to actually SEE her do it.

And while I appreciate that Celaena is a badass, she was just too perfect for me. She is the best assassin in the world, sure (or so they say), but she’s also amazingly talented at chess and piano, is an avid reader, and apparently solves crimes too. Like, come on. Oh, and she has two guys in love with her, and is obsessed with clothes and her looks. Where are her weaknesses, and how do all these things tie together? She’s not THAT well rounded. No one is.

Some of the details were either missing, or contradictory. I couldn’t quite picture the Glass Castle… how does that work exactly? Everything is made of glass? So couldn’t everyone see everyone all the time? And in one scene, Cain is super fast and beats Celaena, but the next time she sees him she’s faster? Also, the clocktower’s placement confused me. How was it in the middle of the fighting ring? That makes no sense.

As for the love triangle and secondary characters, I was not a fan of the pseudo-love triangle between Celaena, Chaol, and Dorian (especially since SO MUCH TIME was wasted on it, for nothing). She’s a super strong independent woman (sort of) but yet she’s, at times, boy crazy and wishy-washy about both of these guys.

On their own, I really liked Chaol and found him to be the most realistic character, though I wished for more backstory and for his character to be more fleshed out and dynamic… though I did find it slightly hard to believe he was the Captain of the Guard so young and without killing anyone. I was not a fan of Dorian, I found him arrogant and stereotypical and a waste of Celaena’s time. Then there were the other women. Nehemia, I really liked, and I’m hoping to see more of this relationship in the next book; as for Kaltain, I felt really sorry for her, but she was interesting to read. Elena just confused me, but I suppose that was the point.

I’ve heard the second book gets better, so I’m hoping some of these things clear up. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 18, 2013 Katie (Kitkatscanread) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

**Re-read September 2016**

Loved it just as much as the first time.
It was nice to refresh my memories on what happened.
I will have a book talk up on my channel at the weekend to know more on my thoughts.

___________________________________________

**1st time reading**

What an awesome fantasy, murder, mystery romancey novel!!
I really enjoyed this.
Can't wait to see what's going to happen next!

Full review to come... ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2015 Mared Owen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. (2.5*)
You know, I did like this book. I was just annoyed by too many things to give it five stars:

1. The world was disappointing. I knew this going in that it would not live up to my lotr-based standards, but I thought there were some great ideas that the author could have really expanded upon. This aspect got much better towards the end, but I still felt it was slightly lacking. There was one scene at the end involving the King which really interested me, and I hope this becomes a bigger part o ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 30, 2014 Michelle (Bookaholic Banter) rated it really liked it

This book was so different than anything else I have ever read. It was great to read something original for once. I enjoyed it very much and read it quickly. Excited to read the next one.

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 28, 2016 Brianna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, borrowed-from-a-friend, read-in-2016

*4.5 stars*

Sorry for this ramble-y, incoherent review. My apologies.

I actually loved this! I went into it completely ignoring the hype (I know, what a surprise), so my expectations were fairly low which really helped with my overall enjoyment. I only have two small complaints.

1) Celaena is basically perfect
Let's make a list shall we? Celaena can play the piano, loves to read, use every weapon , speak in Eyllwe, is beautiful, incredibly smart... need I go on? While some of these traits make ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 29, 2017 Stephanie (Gorelenore) Cover2CoverBlog rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio, adult

I bought this book a while ago and put it on my shelves. After a clean up and a bookshelf move, I asked my husband what I should read next and he thought this looked fun. This is another book recently that I CANNOT believe I have owned and it took me forever to read. I knew there was hype going into it so I was skeptical but it is SO worth all the hype.

The book follows Celaena, an assassin who has been confined to a prison after being caught, who now has been chosen to play for the honor of bri ...more

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Jul 01, 2014 Ashley rated it it was amazing

HOLY COW DID I LOVE THIS BOOK. I can't believe I put this off for so long. I loved the characters, and how we could see through some of the other characters besides Celaena at points. I loved the plot of this book, and how everything is set up for more greatness in the future. The only thing that I had a problem with is I had a bit of difficulty getting into the book, but after the first 50 pages I didn't want to put it down! ...more

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