Review Detail

For me, Throne of Glass wasn’t a book I was particularly looking forward to reading. As a rule, fantasy isn’t my favorite genre, and I was very afraid that Celaena would turn out to be some macho super-human knife-throwing chick (AKA, taking female empowerment too far). However, I was pleasantly surprised.

Celaena is an amazing protagonist. Yes, she’s tough and edgy, but she’s also feminine. She isn’t some glorified warrior princess who flamboyantly beats her male competitors and shoves her superiority in their faces. She likes dresses, she enjoys reading, she has nightmares, and she likes dogs. She was a very real character for me—Maas found the perfect balance between insipid tea-sipper and leather-eating man-woman.

I also enjoyed the cast of characters as a whole. Together they made for a dynamic story, interesting interactions and conversations, and on the whole made my reading experiences a hundred percent more enjoyable. Characters and characterization are the two things I value most in a book, and Throne of Glass delivered.

The plot itself was okay. There were no surprising twists, and I was certainly never on the edge of my seat. Truthfully, Maas employed some very predictible plot elements that I rolled my eyes at, and her attempts at suspense didn’t entirely work. However, the plot was good. It wasn’t horrendously ridiculous or irritating by any means, just predictible.

Going off of that, the pacing and style of this book were a bit unimpressive for me. Towards the middle, things started to drag, as I felt Maas was spending too much time working on the romance aspect instead of the more important stuff. And when the big end-of-competition duel came around, I was bored—the action didn’t hook me.

Oh, and on the topic of romance—love triangles. I hate ‘em, hate ‘em with a hate that goes beyond hate. In my opinion, a love triangle is THE WORST plot device to use. Ever. Period. End of story. And because the romance was such a big part of this book, I spent most of my time annoyed with Celaena’s love life. Only in a book, where you’re an absolutely stunning blonde beauty with gorgeous eyes, will you have not one, but two equally gorgeous and enthralling men vying for your attention. Only in a book. Ergh.

Okay, off of that topic. I do understand that the majority of YA readers adore love triangles, so I’ll keep my mouth shut.
One element that did surprise me about this book was the paranormal/supernatural slant that things took. Magic is a better word, I suppose. I definitely didn’t think this was going to be one of those fantasy books. Overall, I’m not sure if I liked it—Celaena’s “chosen one” aspect was a bit aggravating. I think I’ll withold judgment until I’ve read the whole series.

I feel conflicted with this book. In the beginning it was absolutely unputdownable, but as things moved on the appeal started to wane. I will say, though, that Throne of Glass is a very good book, an excellent contribution to the genre, and is recommended by me to anyone who likes fantasy. Not the most spectacular book I’ve read, but very good all the same.