Photo Credits: Breno Machado
Edited by Vaishali
Title: ‘Throne of Glass’
Author: Sarah J. Maas Series: (Throne of Glass #1) Genre: Fantasy Fiction, Young Adult, Romance Publisher: Bloomsbury Year of Publication: 2012 Version: Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4088-3233-2
Themes: Romance, oppression, slavery, faeries, friendship, hope, freedom
R E V I E W...
"You could rattle the stars. You could do anything, if you only dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you most.”
Celaena is an assassin with the heart of a healer. Dorian is a prince with the dreams of a romantic. Chaol is a patriot who loves his country.
The crux of ‘Throne of Glass’ by Sarah J. Maas is about searching for and regaining hope in a restrictive, unjust, dark world. The hope of a young assassin to be released from the chains she has always been shackled in. The hope of a young Prince to uncover the brave man he has always been and make a stand against wrong. A young warrior who hopes for the restoration of honour in a dishonourable world. Celaena Sardothien must work for the one man she has feared and loathed her whole life should she be freed after a four-year service to him. Celaena has hope for the first time that freedom actually may not be out of reach and maybe hope itself is worth believing in. And that is what this is, a narrative of hope, trust, friendship but disparity in equivalent measure.
“Names are not important. It’s what lies inside of you that matters.”
Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan’s most notorious assassin. She has been serving as a slave in the salt mines of Endovier (one of Erilea’s death camps aka another version of hell where life expectancy doesn’t stretch past a month for most people) for over a year after being betrayed and consequently captured. Celaena is expected to rot in this hellhole until one fateful afternoon when she is visited by brooding Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Royal Guard to the autocratic King of Adarlan – a royal dictator who unleashed a campaign of death ten years ago and overthrew most of the leaders of the land and has already conquered most of it. Magic used to exist they say, so did the ethereal Fae, older than dust and the humans that now walk the earth. That was until they were targeted for extinction and their race slaughtered by the King along with any who practiced magic and posed a threat to his rule.
"Sometimes, the wicked will tell us things just to confuse us-to haunt our thoughts long after we’ve faced them.”
Celaena has pure undiluted hatred for the King and those who serve him, for he was responsible for the death of her home, Terassen, and her loved ones. She is offered a deal by the Crown Prince of Adarlan, Dorian Havilliard, son of the King who makes a case of offering her everything she has wanted: her long-awaited and imagined freedom in exchange for her participation as the Prince’s champion in a dangerous tournament battling the most disreputable criminals in the land. Celaena has endured, with an impressively stellar will, the brutalisation and animal- like treatment as a slave by narrating the one thing that has prevented her from breaking: I will not be afraid.Endovier is nothing more than a gradual killing ground intended to slowly break the hope and will of its inhabitants. Celaena must return to where she was raised in the city of Rifthold by her master and reside in the glass castle: the King’s home.
“We each survive in our own way.”
Celaena however, gets much more than she bargained for. Half eaten bodies, skinned corpses, strange languages, demons, portals, hauntingly scary dreams, visits from an enigmatic long dead queen, an ancient amulet, terrible creatures, and ominous clock tower were just a few of the things Celaena never thought she would witness upon entering the castle. The competing champions are being targeted for murder by an unknown source only to be found mutilated, and some even barely unrecognisable. Chaol enlists the help of Celaena in uncovering the murders and their findings are incredibly disturbing.
Celaena’s competitors do not see her as a threat but a laughable addition to this competition. Her biggest competitor being the gargantuan man of muscle: Cain- always provoking, always taunting. Much deadlier than he appears to be however, Cain is well-versed in hiding his own secrets. Celaena more than holds her own among her brutish, vulgar male competitors. She’s fierce and takes no prisoners and I love her displays of dominance. Celaena makes an alliance in a young man called Nox Owen (who I really like) who is the only one who overlooks her sex and sees her for the worthy strong fighter that she is.
“Here’s a lesson for you, Weapons Master. Give me real men to fight. Then maybe I’ll bother trying.”
Princess Nehemia of Eyllwe is a superb female addition to this story and in Celaena’s life. Their attachment promotes positive female friendships. Nehemia is just as fierce as Celaena. She is strong hearted, strong minded, dominant, forthright and a loyal friend to Celaena. She is exactly what Celaena needs right now, and I love what they become to each other.
“You bear many names, and so I shall name you as well. I name you Elentiya. I give you this name to use with honour, to use when other names grow too heavy. I name you Elentiya, ‘Spirit That Could Not Be Broken.”
Dorian Havilliard is every bit the charming, kind, handsome, elegant flirtatious womanising Prince. Dorian however has his own motives and does not desire his position for he too is a man of hope and promise, fighting for his own freedom. Dorian does not agree with his father’s choice but feels he has little power ultimately. Dorian is careful to teeter the line of disobedience in his quiet defiance. Though he is of noble birth Dorian has never really felt the same as his peers and is searching for something other than his mundane court life. Forced to find a bride of nobility, he does not wish to marry for gain or to produce heirs. He wants to marry for love and he sees no other way. Dorian however did not expect to find love in the dangerous assassin that is his champion.
“He loved her, and no empire, no king, and no earthly fear would keep him from her. No, if they tried to take her from him, he’d rip the world apart with his bare hands, And for some reason, that didn’t terrify him.”
A loyal man of honour, a strict rule follower, a man of his word, Chaol's loyalty will always be to his kingdom. Chaol has to tolerance or respect for criminals or opposers to the throne and has no greater goal than to protect his country and his best friend. With Celaena being a criminal their relationship is rocky and cautious to begin with and he struggles against his own reason and starts trusting her. Chaol’s priority is to protect Dorian but he finds himself caring for his enemy – the one woman who is the biggest threat to him and his people, and he might just care about her more than a friend. Dorian and Chaol discard their prejudices when they realise that despite her occupation Celaena Sardothien does have a heart. That she is not such a cold, heartless monster, that she still has her humanity. Celaena comes to understand that she finds friends in her enemies and that they just might be part of her salvation.
“Courage of the heart of is very rare. Let it guide you.”
Celaena Sardothien is a refreshing young protagonist and I’ve not met one quite like her. She is the anomaly of proud, ruthless, arrogant, cold, brash, bitter, vexatious dispatcher whilst being the girly, extravagant drama queen who loves a lavish lifestyle. Because one can’t wield a blade without manicured nails, right? Celaena may be one for materialism but she certainly is not. She is a walking contradiction, but her impertinence signifies her defiance and her vulgarity is little more than a defence. She is a hard, calloused young woman and though her exterior may be rough, and she is outwardly opinionated, she is still vulnerable. Because a person had to have been broken multiple times or quite deeply to have become so callous. She has a sharp wit and a clever mind whilst being trained in every form of combat.
“The next time we pair of for lessons, find me, will you?”
“Why?” She reached for another dagger, but found she’s depleted her stock again. Nox threw another dagger and , and hit the bull’s eye this time. “Because my gold’s on you winning this whole damn thing.”
I love Celaena’s cocky swaggering self, her fierce defiance, though beneath it she hides a great deal of unbelievable loss and pain, broken wishes and hopeless endeavours. She is rebellious in her terror and in her pain. She is snarky in her banter; she has a sassy outspoken mouth and charismatic demeanour. Covered in scars from her life as an assassin and prisoner, her mind drenched in them too, Celaena is a survivor. Her body is a map of hurt though she wears her scars with intent and purpose for they are reminders she cannot allow herself to forget. She is a vessel of fire and passion -tools she uses to fuel her own survival and she burns with it. She is the human embodiment of fire and just as nuanced as it as well. Celaena is a woman of many secrets and her past is not fully disclosed; instead we get little nuggets of her history which tend to create more questions than answer, but I found myself wanting to know more and trying to decipher the cryptic hidden messages.
“I like music because when I hear it, I lose…I lose myself within myself, if that makes sense. I become empty and full all at once, and I can feel the whole earth roiling around me. When I play, I’m not…for once, I’m not destroying. I’m creating.”
'Throne of Glass' is told from the 3rd person narration, shifting from person to person. On a personal note I favour the 1st person narrative because I prefer to be inside a person’s head rather than observing them like a spectator (though I do enjoy that too). I’m also not a fan of alternating perspectives, but Sarah J. Mass is exceptional in her story telling and she knows how to build and tell a story. Sarah J. Maas is a world building extraordinaire, she knows how to create an atmosphere and setting. Her writing is coherent, beautifully descriptive and vividly envisioned. I could follow her words smoothly without misunderstanding and she left me hanging off each sentence. Her attention to detail is thorough and clear-sighted and consuming. Her words? like feasting on the colours of a magnificent painting or floating through the notes of a symphonetic masterpiece. This applies to her ‘ACOTAR’ series as well which has a special place in my heart and is up there with the greats.
“What’s the point in having a mind if you don’t use it to make judgments?”
“What’s the point in having a heart if you don’t use it to spare others from the harsh judgments of your mind?”
'Throne of Glass' questions the moral rightness of criminals, whether their souls are still intact and worth restoring. Whether they still have a place among humanity despite committed atrocities. Whether they have truly lost all human components and virtue, or do they just make the best out of the bad choices they are faced with…This story is centred on three young individuals navigating a despotic society who band together whilst uncovering where their loyalties lie. Their hostilities and prejudices grow into meaningful friendships, and Celaena understands what it means to have true friends. Celaena’s time at the glass castle is full of political intrigue and court affairs. As the trials wear on Celaena realises that there is more to fight for than just her own freedom because she never thought anybody could come to mean as much to her as her.
“No matter what happens,” she said quietly, “I want you to thank you.”
Chaol tilted his head to the side. For what?” Her eyes stung, but she blamed it on the fierce wind and blinked away the dampness. “For making my freedom mean something.”
As traitorous as she feels working for the man who tore her life to cinders and is continuing to wage warfare of those not under his rule, Celaena has no choice as her goal is one; to await her liberation. And so Celaena Sardothien signed away her soul to the King of Adarlan until the time came for her chance at liberty.
“You were brought here – all of you were. All the players in the unfinished game.”
“Alone, Celaena looked to the window and put a hand on her heart, whispering the word to herself again and again. Free.” I gave this book 4 stars -
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M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read ---------------------------------------
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R E L A T E D P O S T S:
● Book Review: 'The Assassin's Blade' by Sarah J. Maas
● Book Review: 'Crown of Midnight' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Heir of Fire' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Queen of Shadows' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Empire of Storms' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Tower of Dawn' by Sarah J. Maas ● Book Review: 'Kingdom of Ash' by Sarah J. Maas _____________________________________________________
S O M E F A V O U R I T E Q U O T E S:
“Libraries were full of ideas – perhaps the most dangerous and powerful weapons.”
“I hate women like that. They’re so desperate for the attention of men that they’d willingly betray and harm members of their own sex. And we claim men cannot think with their brains! At least men are direct about it.” “The notes burst from her fingers, staggering at first, but then more confidently as the emotion in the music took over. It was a mournful piece, but it made her into something clean and new. She was surprised that her hands had not forgotten, that somewhere in her mind, after a year of darkness and slavery, music was still alive and breathing. That somewhere, between the notes, was Sam. She forgot about time as she drifted between pieces, voicing the unspeakable, opening old wounds, playing and playing until the sound forgave and saved her.”
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