Buddy Read - Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (February 2016)

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

Yes, I'll be continuing the Throne of Glass series buddy read in February! We'll be sinking our teeth into book two, Crown of Midnight.

Things will be a little different this time. I won't be running a readalong on my blog as I plan on writing a review this time (never got round to it during my first read). This means we won't be reading the book in 'parts', and we'll just start reading in Feb, and write about what we've read as we go along.

Therefore, if you want to share any spoilers, PLEASE put them within the spoiler tag on this thread.

Let me know if you're interested! As before, this thread will be for gauging interest as well as discussing the book.

[Shawnie]

I'll continue. The buddy read was fun, and I really want to start the next. :)

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

Wonderful! I'm putting them close together because I want to get on with my re-read too ;D

[Kimberley]

I was planning to get the second book and read it soon anyway, so yeah, count me in! The buddy read was definitely fun :)

[Susie]

Sure, count me in! The February flexibility works in my favor so I can snag it from the library. From what I've read, book 2 sounds like an excellent sequel.

[Vera]

I'm in as well. Want to continue the series and the buddy read was fun.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

I'm in

[Whitney]

Will keep an eye on this thread to see how others feel about it. I chose not to continue for now after reading this book. Maybe someone can sway me to move on to book 3.

[Leigh]

I haven't stopped by here in forever, but noticed this buddy read! I actually just started this book two days ago, so count me in. I had mixed feelings for number 1, and so far am not impressed by the first couple of chapters. However, I've heard it picks up about half way through. The buddy read is a good excuse to keep going and find out. :-)

[Whitney]

I didn't feel drawn to any of the characters or really care where they were going and what was happening. I think for me to care about a love triangle there has to be something else that i care about or atlas a guy that i lean more towards etc. i didn't feel anything for any of the characters I also feel that things are easily figured out before the characters do which makes it a slower read. I flew through and liked her other book A Court of Thorns and Roses and look forward to the next book in the series.

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

I just bought A Court of Thorns and Roses the other day, so I'll be reading that one soon too. I heard it's more 'adult' than ToG?

Just a heads up - I probably won't do buddy reads for books 3 & 4 but will read them in my own time (probably as soon as book 2 is done...), however always happy to discuss!

[Christina]

Count me in!

[Whitney]

Rinn wrote: "I just bought A Court of Thorns and Roses the other day, so I'll be reading that one soon too. I heard it's more 'adult' than ToG?

Just a heads up - I probably won't do buddy reads for books 3 & 4..."

It is I was kind of surprised my book store put it in the YA section and yet they put The Return by Jennifer L Armentrout in adult romance section for its sexual content.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

I'm thinking I will be starting this soon, I just finished Ancillary Mercy and the next book on my list is a Malazaan book, which will not be finished before February starts if I start it now...

[Kimberley]

A Court of Thorns and Roses is not -really- adult with explicit sexual content; but it is more than Throne of Glass. It's young adult, but leaning more towards the older, more mature ages in the genre; at least in my opinion!

[Whitney]

Never read a book in YA that went into so much detail about sex. To me its equal to THE RETURN as far as that goes. But each person will be the judge of that. IMHO if it doesn't fad to black before its time to get it on it isn't YA any longer haha.

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

Has anyone else started this one yet? :) I'm almost 200 pages in. It's almost like reading it for the first time - there are some key bits that I remember, but other bits feel totally new!

[Whitney]

Glad your liking it , Rinn. no reread for me. Didn't really care for it and I'm looking for validation to keep reading the series. I'm not completely sure why I didn't enjoy it though. i'm not sure if its writing style, character, plot...

[Shawnie]

I plan to start after I read the BoTM's. :) Next week. Looking forward to starting it!

[Susie]

Apparently I'm still 7th in line for the ebook copy via my local library. =/ I'm traveling a lot this upcoming week, but if I'm not much closer by next weekend, I'm going to track down a physical copy!

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

I finished this in a few days and quite enjoyed it, (view spoiler)[ glad they revealed that she is fae, that leads some credence to the fact that she's so much better at everything. I found the Archer to be a very flat character, if he had gotten a little more depth then maybe the betrayal would have had more of an effect on me. It was a nice little twist in the story but I could not have cared less that it was the Archer that betrayed her. It also seemed like a bit of a cop out on her assassination secret. I was pretty interested in seeing how she was going to pull of not assassinating him and in the end it became a non factor (hide spoiler)].

[Whitney]

Roger wrote: "I finished this in a few days and quite enjoyed it, [spoilers removed]."

I remember her heritage being one of the things that I didn't like as it was something that I had guess pretty early on. so I was just waiting for the characters to realize.

[Vera]

I am going to start in the next day or so

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

I just finished my re-read, I'll type up my thoughts tomorrow! :)

[Matías]

I have to say that I find the description of the books quite corny. Can someone give a short pitch stating the virtues of the saga and if it's corny or not? Thanks a lot!

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

Okay, here are my notes from my re-read :D As I've finished the book, I'm popping everything in spoiler tags.

The opening was pretty gripping, showing Celaena as she was promised to be. (view spoiler)[At least, at first appearances, although things are not as they seem. We later learnt that Celaena was not killing for the king, but faking the deaths of the 'rebels' and helping them to flee the city. It was really brave of her to do this, but again we still haven't see how she is 'Adarlan's Assassin'. (hide spoiler)]

Archer is a male courtesan - what? They exist in fantasy fiction?? :P

A quote from page 18: (view spoiler)['Cain screamed her name, her true name.' Celaena has never mentioned/thought about her 'true' name. Is she aware of it, or is it something buried deep down in her subconscious? (hide spoiler)]

Mort felt like a Pratchett character - or was that just me? (view spoiler)[He's a talking door knocker, after all. (hide spoiler)]

Celaena and Nehemia, more moments of genuine friendship, yesssssssssssss. Not just girls talking about boys. Girls talking about anything and everything. Thank you, Miss Maas. (view spoiler)[But that also made Nehemia's death ALL THE MORE PAINFUL. She was a character that I felt I knew, but also that I felt I needed to learn more about. And now she's gone. NOT. FAIR. We also see Celaena fall apart from grief, and we realise just how fragile she is, despite her hard exterior. What has made her has also broken her. (hide spoiler)]

Did I need the romance elements? No. But at least it wasn't insta-love, so that's a plus.

This time round, the world felt a bit bigger. In Throne of Glass, it was pretty much all held within the castle. This time, Celaena goes into the city of Rifthold so we get to experience that too.

Later on, we see Celaena at work. (view spoiler)[Now we know why she is Adarlan's Assassin. There are certain moments where she just cracks and completely lashes out, causing devastation in her wake. Chaol witnesses one of these moments and it really really scares him. I'm so glad this decision was made and that he wasn't all 'Oh she's so talented and special' - because I could totally see that happening in some other YA novels. He knows what she is and it is not until he sees her in action does he truly realise what that means, and then his opinion of her begins to shift. Just because he loves her doesn't mean she's exempt from everything. (hide spoiler)]

Dorian takes a bit of a backseat this time round (view spoiler)[but he has his own problems that he can't share with a soul, and I'm interested to see where they will go! (hide spoiler)]

Has anyone else finished the book or read some of it? :)

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Rinn wrote: "Okay, here are my notes from my re-read :D As I've finished the book, I'm popping everything in spoiler tags.

The opening was pretty gripping, showing Celaena as she was promised to be. [spoilers ..."

You hit on a lot of things I liked as well, I enjoy YA but it seems like a lot of the time that there is a female protagonist it spends too much time on how "dreamy" someone is or how he is perfect and they fall in love instantly. (I'm looking at you Twilight) and that is not something I want to read at all. The author handles the romance well and the relationships well, they are very realistic.

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

Yes, that's definitely one of the reasons why this series works for me. Although ultimately I'd like to read a YA novel where there is no relationship at all, just friendships.

[Ty]

I'm a bit over halfway through this one. I liked the first one a lot and am enjoying this one even more. The more I learn about Celaena, the more I like her. It's great to see her in action out of the controlled arena environment of the first book. I was worried going into this series that the romance angle would overshadow everything else in the books, but so far it hasn't. I look forward to seeing how this book ends.

[Vera]

I finished it. I really liked it, even better then the first book, probably because it expanded the world and the characters more. I still didn't see much assassin, but felt like being told. Then when she snaps though, oh wow.
I think all the characters really starting to show something. (view spoiler)[ the king seems a jealous tyrant. Dorian has his secret. Nehemia just seems to know things. Celaena shows her strength, but loneliness and fragility. Though we find out her secrets and makes even more sense why she is how she is. With the romance we see another side of Chaol. (hide spoiler)]
So much is revealed in this book, yet so many questions of what is going on and what is going to happen next.
I felt like much of this book was predictable, but when she did the reveals it was still interesting and impacting.

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

I find the actions of Celaena to be a little bit contradictory (view spoiler)[ she says she's not willing to join the revolution actively but she also doesn't kill the kings targets. I doubt joining the revolution is going to be any more dangerous than what she is doing at the start of the book (hide spoiler)]

[Vera]

Good point Roger. I think it's because (view spoiler)[ as Nehemia pointed out she is running still. She runs from what and who she is. She is trying to hide out. If she joined she would eventually have to be who and what she was and stop hiding. I think she is more afraid of that then actually being a part of the revolution without the King finding out. (hide spoiler)]

[Roger, Knight Radiant]

Vera wrote: "Good point Roger. I think it's because [spoilers removed]"

Agreed, I debated making my point because I kind of understood where she was coming from, (view spoiler)[ she sees what she is doing as saving lives but not full fledged revolution (hide spoiler)] I'm glad I did though because I wouldn't have thought of the point you made.

[Vera]

I love buddy reads or group discussions because someone always makes some point that has me looking at situations a different way then I did while reading. I love seeing all the different points of view on the same book.

[Rinn, (Retired mod) Captain of the SSV Normandy]

Yes, it's definitely interesting to see all those different points of view, or people picking up something you completely missed :)

I'm glad to have generated some chat on both of these. I'll probably read books 3 and 4 in April but won't be running BR, however if anyone else reads them at the same time I will of course be happy to discuss :D Or I could just create a general discussion thread in our non-BotM section.

Hope to see you again for the Fellowship of the Ring buddy read! :)