Book Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

**WARNING: This is the second book in a series. Review may contain spoilers from book 1.**

Title: Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Published: August 27th 2013 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Pages: 420
Genre: YA Fantasy

I finally got around to picking this up and I was definitely not disappointed. Celaena Sardothien continues to be one of my favorite characters in YA Fantasy and this book reiterated that fact 10 fold. Seriously. If you're looking for a kick-butt female protagonist, look no further. Celaena is your girl. Not only is she strong, independent, and powerful, but she's also relatable.

Yes.

Celaena Sardothien. Deadly assassin is relatable.

She is selfish. She is vain. She is very big-headed. She likes cake! She is flawed and it's in those flaws that her character really comes together. Too often you see characters that can do no wrong. You see a lot of selflessness, especially in female protagonists, but you rarely see young women portraying the stubborn, narcissistic,  snarky rolls and I really love that Celaena is not afraid to do that. To be herself.

*rant rant rant*

Moving on.

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

---

You end Throne of Glass realizing that Celaena is more important than she herself even realizes, but you're still not quite sure what that entails. In fact, the only person who really seems to be in the know about anything is Nehemia, whose interesting story line could probably be a series in it's self if we're being completely honest here. 

So Celaena is doing the kings bidding, and being pretty reckless while she's at it, until she's sentenced to kill one of her old childhood friends, and that's where the story really takes off. There are so many twists and turns you practically get whiplash.

Did I even mention the political intrigue? Holy guacamole, there's political intrigue galore. (Which was nice, because that's something I really enjoy.)

There are new characters introduced, my favorite probably being Mort, a sarcastic... well I won't ruin the surprise, but he definitely adds some comic relief, along with offering (and I use that world very loosely) help now and again.

You also can't forget the budding love triangle which nudges the story along in all of the right ways. This is not primarily a love triangle. There is SO MUCH going on in the story, the romance takes a back seat, however it's prominent enough to where if that's something you really look for in stories, you'll still get your fill.

All I really have to say about that is: #TeamChaol.

All in all, Sarah J. Maas is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and this series is one of the best YA Fantasy series I've read in a while. If you enjoy AWESOME female protagonists, unique fantasy settings, well done love triangles, or just YA in general, you should pick up this series. Seriously. It's fantastic.

Overall rating:

Find this book on: Goodreads | Barnes and Noble | Amazon