Throne of Glass

Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #1
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure
Release Date: August 7, 2012

Summary: After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. 

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Chaol Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. 

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. 

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

Review: First, let me start off by saying that I finished this book in ONE DAY!! If that isn't an indication of how much I loved it, I don't really know what is. Throne of Glass starts off with an attention grabber and continually blows the roof off for the remainder of the book. After finishing the first chapter I knew I was going to be in very capable hands. Even when there was nothing extremely crucial to the plot happening, I was still totally engrossed in everything and anything that deals with Celaena's world. Throne of Glass was unique in its own way (and I'm extremely impressed that Maas wrote the first draft when she was only 16 years old!), but also could see some similarities between Touch of Power and Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. I loved both of those books though so I didn't really mind!

The overall mystery hidden within this book was excellent! Maas has woven in plot twists and foreshadowing like nobody's business so when everything started to finally click I looked somewhat like so:

Celaena's character was by far my favorite. Her sarcastic, witty banter with everyone she comes in contact with was refreshing. She was a strong main character and one that I enjoyed reading about. I didn't love Prince Dorian, but I didn't hate him either. It bothered me that Celaena was so drawn to him . . . I mean . . . what about Mr. Hottie Captain of the Guard Chaol?! (.......insert cricket noises....) I often felt that Chaol was overlooked and under-appreciated, but I guess I can understand why; he doesn't have a butt load of money to his name or the power to free Celaena. The ending left me breathless and completely ready for Crown at Midnight. 

If you have yet to read this book, definitely give it a try. This was an amazing read and one I plan on reading again and again.

The 4th book in this series (Queen of Shadows) is set to release September 1, 2015.