Throne of Glass: Reviews by 2022 Reading Challengers

[Winter, Group Reads]

Tell us what you thought of the book! You can leave your review here. Even if you read the book outside of the group, please feel free to let us know what you thought of it.

Please make sure to mark your spoilers by typing [spoiler] at the start and [/spoiler] at the end but replacing the [] with <>.

[Rachael]

On my personal Maas scale, I would place Throne of Glass somewhere between the rather enjoyable A Court of Thorns and Roses series and the not-so-great House of Earth and Blood. This book includes many generic YA fantasy elements. I also found Celaena to be a bit vain and easily distracted by books, pretty boys and/or food. But there are plenty of moments that made we want to keep turning pages to find out what happened next. I'm looking forward to continuing the series eventually.

[Ashleigh]

I gave this book 4 stars. I rather enjoyed it. I enjoyed the mystery elements in the fantasy setting!

[bailey, Challenges]

I loved this book! 5 stars for me but there were definitely aspects that I felt could've been better.
(view spoiler)[I agree with what others have said about SJM telling rather than showing when it comes to Celaena's assassin background. Her profession is the perfect place to do some fun flashbacks or any other form of development and instead it looks like that is reserved for the prequel series. I also felt there was a lack of focus on the castle being made of glass considering the title is Throne of Glass. It felt like this should've been explored more than it was. (hide spoiler)]

[SarahKat, Buddy Reads]

Here is my review from when I read it 4 years ago. It was my first Maas book. I think if I were to read it now I would have different things to say. Different things annoy me now. But I'd still probably stick with 3 stars. The rest of the series does get better!

(view spoiler)[
Throne of Glass is a perfectly fine YA novel. My expectations were actually very low for this because it sounded a bit juvenile, plus the cover (this one) looked terrible. I picked it up anyway for a challenge fulfillment, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t awful.

Calaena’s Character

Positive: The first thing I noticed was that Calaena’s personality was girlier than expected of a badass assassin. Reading some of the reviews on here, this apparently is a negative? At first it annoyed me a bit, but I found it refreshing that Maas was not afraid to allow the character some joy in beautiful dresses and her ability to turn the male gaze upon herself, while also having the ability and readiness to obliterate anyone she needed to in the interest of her survival.
I also found it new and different that Calaena was not immediately on board with the whole (view spoiler)[ fighting the evil in the castle when Elena puts her on that quest. She does it, sure, but only because it happens to coincide with her own goals: winning the competition and not getting eaten by an unknown savage beast. (hide spoiler)] She just wants to live her life and she’s doing that as best as she knows how with the tools are her disposal.

In defense of the fact that she seems rather well-adjusted for a girl who’s been enslaved, in one way or another, her whole life: people handle grief and trauma differently. She obviously has a lot of resilience. I’m sorry she’s not tragic enough for some readers. If you’re looking for someone who melts into a puddle or reacts in a fiery rage because she’s been through some s***, this is not the character for you. Her badassery comes mainly in the form of still having some interest in living life for herself after all she’s been through. In defense of some of her other less-than-appealing character traits, such as her arrogance, selfishness, fickleness, etc., she is, in fact, EIGHTEEN. I’m sorry but this is enough of an explanation, assassin or not. It’s not a complete character flaw. It’s her age. However…

Negative: This doesn’t make her any more likeable or any less obnoxious to the reader at times. While we KNOW Calaena is an assassin, Maas does not take enough time allowing that part of her personality show. Her characterization seems girly while most of her actions are assassin-y. I wish a bit more of the assassin came through in her thoughts and feelings, rather than just when she’s training or fighting.

It was also pretty stupid of her (view spoiler)[ to eat an entire bag of candy that randomly appeared in her room at night when potential champions were dying left and right. (hide spoiler)] She probably should have been a little more vigilant about that, as well as being such a sound sleeper apparently. I feel an assassin at any age would have better reaction times and sense than that.

The Story

Positive: I found the main plotline intriguing. I was glad that there was more to it than just the competition, and there was actually some intense evil stuff going down as well. There were quite a few times I was on the edge of my seat needing to get through the section to find out what happens, even though it was predictable, the journey is still exciting. It did have me guessing a few times as to what certain characters were doing or what their motives were (Kaltain, Nehemia, etc.).

I also enjoyed the romantic plotline. Contrived YA romances are a guilty pleasure of mine I suppose.. (view spoiler)[ The love triangle thing was a bit Twilight-y, but unlike Jacob and Edward, I actually like Dorian and Chaol, and they both seem like they could possibly have a chance with Calaena, unlike in Twilight where it was glaringly obvious who she’d end up with. (hide spoiler)]

Negative: Much of it is predictable; most of it, actually, once you figure out what’s going on in the first place. This includes the main plot as well as the romantic one.

Many of the explanations of characters’ motives or movements (Kaltain, Nehemia, etc.) were pretty shallow or so obvious I hadn’t even bothered to think about it. I absolutely hated the way Nox (view spoiler)[ was “saved.” I was hoping for some drama where she’d have to kill or be killed by him (this is back when I thought the duel was actually to the death; it’s not which is sort of a let-down as well). Or I thought he might be one of the victims of the ridderak. No such luck. She just tells him who she is and that he should leave before he’s killed, and he does. Problem solved. I am hoping we see more of him in later books to correct this absolutely terrible bit of writing. (hide spoiler)]

The writing itself is not great. I can’t put my finger on why. However, if you can get through the first few chapters, it does start to flow better. Some of the character interactions were cringe-worthy and awkward; not because of the characters, but because of the writing. However, neither of these things are terrible enough to stop reading.

In all, I enjoyed it, and will probably read the rest of the series. (hide spoiler)]

[Winter, Group Reads]

Finished it! This is my new review for this reread:

3,5 Stars

Wow so time changes things a bit. This is still an enjoyable fantasy, but I definitely feel like as I'm getting older the character development of a lot of YA don't quite cut it for me. Celaena Sardothien in her very young age, with her vanity and young girl vibes isn't really believeable for me as the worlds most dangerous assassin. I feel like the author tells more than she shows and particularly in the beginning it's hard to believe the narrative.

As the story goes on though my gripes are forgotten a bit as the story and world in itself are enjoyable. So yeah this is a fun read, but not quite as gripping as I remember.