When it comes to this book, I like to say I was lovingly peer-pressured into reading it. Fourth Wing and Iron Flame are books I love and hold dear, and as a result, so many people assumed I had not only read but also adored anything by Sarah J. Maas. But the truth is? Throne of Glass was my intro to the Maasverse. I like to recommend A Court of Thornes and Roses, but it's been sitting on my shelf for years completely untouched. Crescent City has caught my eye, but I knew I would need the context of two entire series of books before I could even think about touching that one.
Long story short, the Sarah J. Maas books are an intimidating beast to conquer, and I was terrified it would be a fictional universe that could never live up to the hype due to it taking on a life of its own.
However, after watching one of my favorite people fly through and obsess over the series, I decided to finally buckle down and read it. And a week and a half, accidentally starting two different fights in my TikTok comments, and twenty-four pages of notes later- I am happy to say I absolutely loved Throne of Glass.
Now, I do understand why so many people say you should read The Assassin's Blade first, even though the author recommends reading it third. And that is because this book starts with the main character, Celaena Sardothien having survived a year in a death camp. I assume as The Assassin's Blade is a prequel, it gives a lot of context into how she was captured and put there in the first place, and I can see why people would appreciate this context. However, I could follow along just fine, and I appreciated I didn't know everything about Celaena's backstory as I read the book, as it gave her an aura of mystery throughout the novel.
And speaking of mysteries, this book's plot revolves around a giant one. After Celaena is recruited by the Crown Prince to compete in his father's competition for the King's Champion, aka the person to do his dirty work, it becomes clear someone - or something - is stalking each of the competitors. And brutally killing them. Not only does Celaena need to win the competition so she can eventually win her freedom, but she also needs to keep herself from getting murdered by whatever it is that's clearly stalking her.
I think the setting of the book is one of its biggest strengths. Erilea is a world in turmoil, because of the King of Adarlan deciding he needs to conquer everyone. He singlehandedly has wiped out countries, cultures, and magic. However, it's the magic that is the most interesting thing to me, because there are remnants of it everywhere. Erilea is a world settled by the fey and fairies, so there are many clues to them still being there. In addition, after magic was outlawed, it seemingly disappeared from the world. People with magical powers lost them, beings of magic retreated far away, and anyone who is even suspected of somehow hanging on to magic is immediately killed. I felt like this was an incredibly bold move for a fantasy series, as magic is one of the cornerstones of the genre, and as a result, it created something unique. It's obvious that somehow magic will be brought back somewhere in the series, and I am looking forward to finding out why it disappeared, and how it will be brought back.
Now, while I did love the book, I do think there were a few things that could have been done better. I felt like Maas was entirely too heavy-handed with her clues, and I figured out the twists of the book long before I was supposed to. In addition, I thought the identity of the murderer was entirely too obvious. I actually wrote in my notes I thought they were a red herring, just because of how obvious it seemed. But when the actual red herring was introduced, entirely too late into the plot, almost everything was already clear to me it just felt like Celaena wasn't living up to the smarts she was supposed to have. I am still looking forward to the rest of the series, however, I hope the foreshadowing is a little less in your face because while I love figuring out mysteries, I want to struggle a little bit while I put all the clues together.
Overall, I am hooked by the story and excited to see what happens next. I'm emotionally attached to these characters and want to know what happens next with their stories and how they fit into their overall character arcs. And where this book does not end on a cliffhanger, it does give enough hints as to what the next book will be like, and I can't wait to see more of this world within the next book.
Throne of Glass is available through Bloomsbury