Review of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Release Date: May 7, 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children

Page Count: 404

Format: Paperback

Genre: YA/Fantasy

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. 
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass--and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

 One of the books I've heard being talked about the most is Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, for over a year I wanted to read it but never did. It sounded so awesome but I never had the time, that is, until I was approved for an ARC of Heir of Fire on NetGalley. I knew it was finally time to read the series and so grabbed my copy of Throne of Glass which I had bought a while ago and started.

Throne of Glass had one of the BEST world-building I have ever read, it even came close to tying with Snow Like Ashes which is my favorite book of 2014 so far. As I've mentioned before multiple times, I LOVE fantasy type books with world-building and all kinds of settings like various kingdoms and territories. Throne of Glass had all of those and they were all described vividly. The beginning of the books with the mine scene was especially interesting (although not exactly a happy situation for Celaena) and it just kept on getting better as the book progressed. Although most of the settings I had seen similar examples of in other books, the way Sarah incorporated them into the plot and made it work with the characters freshened it up. I could write a whole page raving about the world-building but it all comes down to one sentence: one of the best world-building in ANY book I have ever read.

Almost from the beginning of the book I noticed one thing that I usually dislike, a love triangle, between Celaena, Dorian, and Chaol. However, each of them were so interesting that it didn't detract from how much I loved Throne of Glass. Dorian is the Crown Prince and the future heir to Adarlan while Chaol is the Captain of the Guard. They took Celaena from the mines in exchange for her being part of a competition to choose the king's champion. While we didn't get to learn as much about Dorian's past he stills strikes out as a wonderful character that I enjoyed reading about. It was Chaol that we get to learn more about, his past and his family. He's given up a lot to reach his position and he won't give it up without a fight. Celaena, the main character and one of the best assassins' in the world is the person the whole books revolves around. It's obvious how much of a strong character she is but she also has some weaknesses that she has to overcome. She faces numerous obstacles during the competition and after it. Her background is only partially revealed (there are a couple novellas about it though) although I feel like we will learn more in the sequel. She's gone through a lot of pain in the past but she slowly grows stronger through the book, even affecting some other positively. She befriends Nehemia, a princess from one of Adarlan's captured kingdoms. Slowly they become really good friends and Nehemia even saves Celaena's life. There are a plethora of secondary characters although most of them get killed or leave. Just like the world-building these were some of the best characters I read about and I didn't want to leave them when the book finished.

Throne of Glass is the first book in what is set to become a six-book series, the second book is out while the third comes out September 2014. I would advise you not to rush the books because once you're finished you'll want to next book really badly but you'll have to wait. This book is perfect for people who like world-building, amazing characters, fantasy, magic, and Game of Thrones.

5/5 - Amazing book