Crown of Midnight: 2 (Throne of Glass)

Crown of Midnight is the second book in the Throne of Glass series, it is darker, more emotional, and once again it has it all—an evil king, murder, love, betrayal, mystery, and secrets. So many secrets! It seems everyone is hiding something, including Nehemia and Archer. The story is darker, more emotional, and full of twists that kept me turning the pages. Celaena is forced to make impossible choices, and I loved seeing her character grow as she struggles between loyalty, duty, and doing what she believes is right. One quote really stood out to me: "The cape billowed behind her, her face remaining expressionless beneath her obsidian mask as she moved through the streets." I couldn't help but picture Darth Vader striding through the streets. It's amazing how a few words can create such a vivid image. Another quote that captured my imagination was: "Blue mist drifted by, and a rat scurried across the narrow passage. There was no noise..." It instantly made me think of an old Wild West duel, with two gunslingers facing each other in a deserted, dusty street. I love it when a book paints scenes so clearly that they come alive in my mind. Sarah J. Maas has a real talent for drawing you into the story. The ending left me eager to start the next book, and I can't wait to see what happens next. I would highly recommend this series. 5 stars

“It was hard to care, she realised as she started the trek back to the castle. Incredibly hard to care, when you didn’t have anyone left to care about.” YES. Yes yes yes. This book delivered everything I wanted. It upped the stakes, the action, and the emotional punch. Celaena Sardothien? Absolute queen. This sequel was intense, gripping, and honestly impossible to put down. From the moment she strode towards the king with that cape flowing and a head dangling from her hand? CHILLS The men were a little less annoying this time around – but yeah, they’re still men 🙄 And from chapter 48 on? I physically could not stop reading. I buddy-read this with my best friend, and it was WORTH IT. I insulted characters, held my breath, and felt so much pride for Celaena. If you’re craving a badass heroine, action that doesn’t quit, and some light but compelling romance without unnecessary smut, you NEED this in your life. Synopsis: Celaena Sardothien, the King’s Champion, has been tasked with eliminating his enemies. But Celaena has her own plans. Torn between her deadly assignments and the secrets she’s uncovering, she must navigate palace intrigue, dangerous magic, and the weight of her past. One wrong move could cost her everything – but Celaena is never one to back down from a fight. What to Expect: 🗡️ Assassin queen energy 👑 Epic power moves 🔥 High-stakes tension 💀 Gruesome, but in the best way 📖 Unputdownable from chapter 48 on Prepare yourself – this one’s a wild ride

Great book, if you love the acator series this is a must read. Crown of Midnight really pulled me in more than the first book. The story feels darker, the stakes are higher, and the twists actually caught me off guard. Celaena grows a lot in this one and the political side of the story becomes more interesting, even if I had to reread a few parts to fully take it in. It starts a little slower but once it picks up it is hard to put down. Definitely worth continuing the series.

This is my fourth Sara J Maas book of the year, and my god has it been worth every second of reading! Crown of Midnight takes off perfectly where Throne of Glass finished, you can read my review here, so after the fierce competition to become The Kings Champion Celeana now has to live with her life killing for the king. Although Kings champion Celeana us far from the freedom she desires. Does she kill for her master, or does she live by her own morals and risk everyone she loves and holds dear? Celeana was as bad ass in CoM as she was in ToG! In fact no, I think she kicked a bit more butt in CoM after finding her feet, her confidence and her weapons she really came into her own! She's such a strong character, and so incredible you can't help but absolutely love her. Even though Celeana's character developed in each book, it's nice to see her develop across the series as a whole. It took her a while to find herself in Throne of Glass and in Crown of Midnight once she's gotten comfortable in her own skin, you start to see who she really is, and what she's really capable of. I mean lets be serious now the best part of Crown of Midnight was Chaol and Dorian. I ship Chaol and Celeana so bad guys! Chaol and Dorian are so much more in Crown of midnight than they were in Throne of Glass. They've developed and become more solid characters in my eyes. Dorian was rather besotted with Celeana in ToG, that much was clear but in CoM he sits back and lets her do her thing, whilst hurting himself too! Got to admit I felt for him so much during CoM. Chaol did the total opposite, he was so reserved about her in ToG, to the point where I don't think he actually liked her at all, and then in CoM BOOM! Someones got his thaaaang going on for her! Chaol is one of those got to love, slightly damaged but loveable characters that you root for al the time. Lovable rogue so be it! I'm excited to see where these ships sail in Heir of Fire and the rest of the series! Crown of Midnight really develops the storyline of the series, it's stands as a fabulous book and an epic instalment in the Throne of Glass series of books. The characters develop, the storyline is fast-paced and gripping and all in all it makes you crave the next instalment. I really struggle to write reviews for the second or further books in a series because I don't want to say too much in case you've not read the previous books just yet. Be warned, the ending of Crown of Midnight is utterly heartbreaking and you're ships will sink, your heart will break and it'll take you some time to recover! Until you dive into Heir of Fire! It's epic, exciting and truly unputdownable. Crown of Midnight is a book you'll revisit time and time again, and t'll break you every time. A massive, huge 5 heart read!

Dear readers, I am sorry. Why am I sorry I hear you ask? I am sorry for the mess of a review that is sure to fallow, I'm sorry for going all out fangirl leaving you with a unreadable jumble of words. I am however not sorry that I liked loved this book enough to rave about it, to feel how the characters felt, to be happy and dad with them in all the right moments. My only grievance with this book is that it's finished. One of the things I loved the most about Throne of Glass was the deliverance of a strong minded deadly assassin that we were promised, what I loved about Crown of Midnight is the characters didn't lose any part of themselves. Too after have a read a book with characters who were brilliant, only to have them seem.. a little bit less than so as the books go on. Of course there are times when you like characters, only for them to get better, like Chaol. I loved him in the first book, but I had to stop myself from swooning in this one. Gone is the act professional for the sake of Dorian, gone is the hiding his feelings and not embracing them and gone is the shame I sometimes thought he felt. His character really flourishes in Crown of Midnight and I was so excited to read more about him. When it comes to Dorian, I liked him just as much as I did in the last one, which is to say I could take him or leave him really. That's not to say he isn't a good character, he's just forgot about for my favourites is all. Action? it has just as much as the last one, only all the things I seemed to find fault with Throne of Glass were fixed. The problem I had with the first book of the series is it felt like everything was more focused on what was going on around the trails than the trails itself, and considering the importance of it, I felt a lot more could have gone in to that side of the story. However with Crown of Midnight though we have Celaena doing the kings bidding and going after his enemies, that wasn't the focal point, finding out what the king was up to and where he seemed to be getting his power was. So in that sense, the lack of action in parts felt just right because it wasn't supposed to be a book based around it, if that makes any sense at all? haha Love? ........ can we just not. The romance in this novel really did at time seem to be stomping all over my heart. I was happy, then I was sad. And just like the grand all duke who marched his men up to the top of the hill, when it was up it was up, and when it was down it was down. It was one extreme to the other, but everything was beautiful and well developed, even the heartache (yes.. I did quote a nursery rhyme, but I am tired and ill so don't judge me to badly). The end? First come the shock, then the disbelief that it was actually happening, then came the acceptance of it. Was the ending brilliant? without a doubt. It made me have hope only to rip it out again. Crammed in to such a few pages is one emotional ride. Over all I loved it, in case you didn't know. I honestly wasn't sure that the second book could be better because of how great the first was but I'll tell you, I have very very high hopes for the rest of the series.

The second instalment of this series begins with Celaena undertaking her new job as King's Champion by assassinating those who have earned the King's displeasure. Through this she comes into contact with some people from her past. I would definitely recommend reading the e-novellas before reading this, just to meet anyone who appears in this book. I didn't read them until I had finished this book and it really felt like I was reading a series backwards, spoiling all the characters I met in Crown of Midnight but should have met in the novellas. My favourite character, understandably, is Celaena. Sarah J Maas has written a perfect character in my opinion. Celaena is perfect in her imperfections. She is a kick-ass assassin that could hold her own in a fight with any man in this series, but still manages to be a shopaholic like an average teenager. When I am reading these books I always feel like Celaena could be a friend with mine. A character I can connect with as much as I can with Celaena is a rare thing! I love how she made mistakes in many ways, such as judging too harshly in some situations and letting her anger get the better of her. She is a fully fleshed out character that is utterly lovable even as you plead with her in your head not to do certain things or say certain things. (This review seems far too vague but it's either this or a spoilerific review!) Chaol, Celaena's love interest (unless of course you're a Dorian fan, in which case you couldn't be more wrong! Team Chaol all the way!) becomes a lot becomes a much more fleshed out character in this book, something which added quite a bit to the story over all. There were no other characters featured heavily. Nehemia was again present but not much was developed from her personality in the previous book. Dorian was, of course, present again and there were a few scenes from his perspective. I have to admit that I really enjoyed these. Even though I'm a Chaol fan, seeing how much Dorian truly loved Celaena was lovely. For anybody who hasn't read this yet, there will be a big surprise for Dorian in the course of the book! There were no primary characters I actively disliked, though there were a few secondary characters. The King of course begs to be hated, along with Roland, a new character to the book in the form of Dorian's cousin. Another new character I could not stand was Archer. He was a part of Celaena's latest assignment from the king and every time he was on the page he annoyed me. I felt justified in this by the end of the book, which you'll find out about! The actual romance in the book was tooth-achingly sweet in the best way possible. The romance felt very natural and wasn't forced at all. One of my pet peeves is insta-love, and no one can accuse this romance of being an insta-love. There is of course a bit of a love triangle, though I wouldn't consider it a turn off for the book as it is very clear who Celaena prefers! I have only praise for Maas' writing style which flowed really well. I hate descriptions that last pages and Maas managed to describe everything perfectly without resorting to this. I would fully recommend this book which is far superior to its predecessor. If you didn't enjoy the first one, I think you should still read this one, and if you liked or loved the first book in the series then Crown of Midnight will definitely be in your top ten for the year! Go get your hands on this immediately!

This is by far the best of the series so far. We follow Celaenas journey in to the heart or Andarlan. There is intregue, Love, Lust, new friends but with shocking twists and turns and betrayal to contend with, plus ethereal monsters, tournaments and mysteries to solve this book gets you hooked in from the start. It's a must read in this amazing Throne of glass series.

‘But death was her curse and her gift, and death had been her good friend these long, long years. If you thought things couldn’t get anymore dark, twisted, dangerous and intense after reading ‘Throne Of Glass’ then you’re certainly in for a surprise with ‘Crown Of Midnight’. Truthfully it amazes me that I’d somehow managed to forget some of the events from this book as they dealt some pretty serious emotional blows to me at times. I literally couldn’t put this book down and there were segments where I didn’t even want to blink due to how intense things became. Like with book one in the series the action and intrigue is pretty much non-stop. There are more stirrings of magic, plenty of twists and turns, some pretty major revelations, swoon worthy romance and so much more. It’s the sort of fantasy novel that manages to balance all of its elements gloriously; having a mesmerising mix of darkness, danger, romance and even, on occasion, humour. I love watching the interactions between the major characters from book one; they contain the sort of banter that never fails to steal my heart. Character wise there’s a lot of revelations and development for all of the major individuals from the first book in the series. The path that Celaena’s on is one that never fails to mesmerise me although just how dark she could get at times surprised me. She’s definitely the sort of central character that you can never fully predict or put anything passed. Both Chaol and Dorian are on roads that leave me longing for more too; travelling towards future endeavours that I couldn’t even begin to predict. The world continued to dazzle and delight me, the level of work that must have gone into crafting it simply staggering to behold. There’s so much to discover in the past, present and future, that I can’t wait to devour more. And the ending is one that leaves me infinitely relieved with my ability to dive straight into book three. It’s certainly the sort of outcome that would have readers bursting with impatience at any kind of wait for more. So altogether I think it goes without saying that I recommend this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the series. It’s one of the most widely known YA fantasy series out there and for good reason. With so many twists, turns and devastation in book two I truly cannot fathom where the series will ultimately end up.

I love everything about the book 📕 the characters and the adventures and fantasies I can immerse myself in

Rezension Seit dem gewonnen Wettkampf ist Celaena Sardothien, Adarlan’s größte Assassinin, nun der Champion des Königs. Ihre Aufgabe: Seine Feinde zu eliminieren und ihm ihre Köpfe zu liefern. Und um ihre Freiheit wieder zu erlangen, muss sie vier Jahre in den Diensten des Königs stehen. Doch Celaena kann und will die Unschuldigen nicht töten – und täuscht deren Tode vor. Was passiert jedoch, wenn der König jemals herausfinden sollte, dass sie ihn hintergeht? Denn mit jeder weiteren Lüge die sie erzählt, ist nicht ihr eigenes Leben in Gefahr – sondern das der Menschen, die ihr am meisten bedeuten. Als es zudem zu einigen mysteriösen Ereignissen kommt, muss Celaena ihr Schicksal in die Hand nehmen und für ihre Ideale einstehen - auch, wenn das Opfer dafür groß ist… »If they wanted Adarlan’s Assassin, they’d get her. And Wryd help them when she arrived.« (Aus: Crown of Midnight, S. 215) Mit Crown of midnight schafft Autorin Sarah J. Maas einen beeindruckenden und phänomenalen zweiten Band ihrer Fantasyserie um Celaena Sardothien, welcher schon den sehr guten ersten Band der Serie, Throne of Glass, völlig in den Schatten stellt. Beeindruckende und unglaublich nahe Charaktere, eine extrem spannende Handlung und ein ausgeweiteter Rahmen, in welchem die Story ausgebaut wird, sowie die sich ständig verschiebenden und sich verstrickenden Charakterbeziehungen und Intrigen innerhalb der Handlung lassen den Roman zu einem grandiosen Pageturner werden, in welchem Celaena, Protagonistin der Geschichte, zu einer wahren Rachegöttin heranwächst, der sich nichts und niemand in den Weg stellen kann. Von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite wird der Leser dabei gefangen genommen in einer Geschichte, die ihn nicht zu lösen vermag, in der man sich völlig in dieser detaillierten und absolut glaubwürdigen Welt verliert. »Some things you hear with your ears. Others, you here with your heart. « (Aus: Crown of midnight, S. 168) Dabei stellt die Autorin nicht nur die voranschreitende Handlung oder gar die Dreiecksbeziehung der Charaktere, sondern vor allem deren Entwicklung untereinander und zu sich selbst dar. Nicht nur Celaena macht in diesem Roman eine enorme Entwicklung durch, sondern auch die beiden anderen Hauptfiguren, Chaol, Hauptmann der Leibgarde des Königs, und Prinz Dorian, erleben einige Überraschungen, welche sie in ihrem Tun und Handeln und in ihren Gefühlen beeinflussen. Das Besondere dabei ist vor allem, dass alle drei Charaktere einstecken müssen: Geheimnisse aufdecken, Verrat wegstecken und Brüche in den Freundschaften überstehen. Dabei gibt es riesige Gefühlsachterbahnen, Emotionen wie Verlust, Trauer, Hoffnung und Glück, Verrat und Vertrauen –alles Gefühle, mit welchen die drei Figuren zu den unterschiedlichsten Zeitpunkten zu kämpfen haben. Celaenas Arroganz leidet dabei und bricht ebenso, wie Vertrauen für sie neue Maßstäbe annimmt. Und dasselbe gilt auch für die beiden Männer, deren Herz an ihr hängen und eine neue Basis zu ihr finden müssen, um die schwierigen Zeiten zu durchstehen und sie alle ihren Weg zu sich selbst wiederfinden werden. Neben den unglaublich nahen Protagonisten schafft es die Autorin aber auch auf gekonnte Art und Weise Nebenfiguren zu inszenieren, die nicht nur die Handlung voranbringen, sondern auch ein gewisses Bild der Authentizität mit sich zu bringen wissen. Dabei erstreckt sich eine enorme Vielfalt an Figuren, welche weit entfernt von stereotypen Figuren verkehren und die Handlung umso spannender gestalten, eben weil sie nicht durchschaubar agieren. Und genau diese Mischung macht die Sympathie aus, welchen den Leser für die Figuren des Romans einnimmt. Und vor allem ist die Zeichung des Antagonisten, Prinz Dorians Vater und König von Adarlan, gelungen, denn weil so wenige Informationen über ihn preisgegeben werden, wirkt er nicht nur unberechenbar – sondern wird zu einem gefährlichen Gegner, den niemand unterschätzen sollte. »It was hard to care, she realized as she started the trek back to the castle. Incredibly hard to care, when you didn’t have anyone left to care about. « (Aus: Crown of midnight, S. 297) Neben den Charakteren ändert auch die Handlung sich deutlich gegenüber Band eins, welche durch ruhigere Phasen und das erste Setting doch sehr ausgeglichen war. Ganz anders kommt Crown of midnight daher. Als absoluter Pageturner wartet der Roman mit Rasanz, Spannung und Überraschungen auf. Immer wenn man denkt, man weiß was passiert, wird man vom Gegenteil belehrt. Unberechenbar ist die Handlung, wie auch die Hauptfigur selbst. Sehr gut gelungen ist der Autorin auch die detaillierte Zeichnung der Welt, auch wenn die Geschehnisse noch immer in Adarlan selbst passieren. Aber der Roman schafft einen Blick über den Tellerrand und bietet auf, was an Potenzial von Band eins noch liegen blieb. Mit voranschreitender Seitenzahl kann der Leser nur ungläubig den Kopf schütteln, denn die Geschehnisse sprudeln nur so vor sich hin und immer wieder wird man überrascht. Entsetzt, erstaunt, mitfühlend – so erlebt man als Leser die Geschichte hautnah mit und wird mit einem überragenden Ende belohnt, welcher es faustig hinter den Ohren hat. Fazit Crown of Midnight von Sarah J. Maas ist ein phänomenaler Roman und ein Pageturner ohnegleichen. Band eins war schon sehr gut – aber Band zwei ist einfach nur grandios. Sowohl Charaktere, als auch Handlung und Grundidee können restlos überzeugen. Zweifler des ersten Bandes sollten sich bereithalten, denn hier wird alles ausgemerzt, was je als Kritikpunkt hätte gelten können. Ein absolut phänomenaler Roman, welcher es locker mit den Spitzentiteln der hiesigen Fantasyliteratur aufnehmen kann und viel Potenzial für weitere Folgebände bietet. Bitte, bitte mehr davon! Pro & Contra + Handlung verdichtet sich + Entwicklung der Figuren + Beziehungsstrukturen + Celaena als potenzielle Rachegöttin & unglaublich ambivalente Figur + Spannend von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite + Pageturner ohnegleichen +Tolle & passende Aufmachung + Überzeugende Grundidee + Überraschende und unerwartete Wendungen + Undurchsichtiger Antagonist + Unglaublich viel Potenzial Bewertung: Handlung: 5/5 Charaktere: 5/5 Lesespaß: 5/5 Preis/Leistung: 5/5

I just love this series. It's beautifully written. I can kick myself for not starting it sooner.

The book was fantastic. Go read it. The emotional quotient is higher in this second book. You get more invested in it.

*Sigh* this book! It was almost too much for me to handle, these emotions, such a Roller Coaster! Honestly, I hope to be as good as a writer as Sarah J. Maas someday, now that is a goal :) Her stories are SO good and gosh darn it, this book kept taking my breath away, it kept distracting me from studying (wasn’t a good idea to start a book near exams on my part heh…) Well I still did pretty good ^^! Sorry for that aside… back to Crown of Midnight. Gosh…golly… where to start? When I said this book took my breath away, it literally did. There was so much more to this back than the first, so many secrets, so many lies 0.0! My mind was blown moment after moment, literally sweeping me away in the River of Feels. For me, Crown of Midnight was so much better than Throne of Glass, even though I still enjoyed the first book. Only in this book, Celaena wasn’t looking in the mirror the whole time going over her reflection or dotting over the Prince, she was kicking some serious butt and much more assassiny. The book went from Assassins Princess to The Greatest Assassin. The Crown of Midnight picks up pace like bam! Pow! Right off the bat it grabbed me in it’s… uh claws? and dragged me into its deep plot and heart wrenching moments. Seriously, I can’t even give this book words, because there aren’t any that could describe how much I LOVED this book. Hold on… must calm… calming… deep breaths… I CAN’T HOLD IT IN ANY MORE HERE COME THE TEARS! “I worry because I care. Gods help me, I know I shouldn’t, but I do. So I will always tell you to be careful, because I will always care what happens.” Now to my serious review hah, if I can write this with out fan girling every ten two seconds. I feel like I start a ton of my reviews saying: where to start? Where to start? I guess I will start with the plot since it blew me away. Prior to actually picking this book up and reading it, I wasn’t sure if I would like it since The Throne of Glass wasn’t my favorite, gooooosh am I glad I did! When people say the Throne of Glass series just gets better and better, do they ever mean it! The plot of the Crown of Midnight is really good, really really good. The whole book starts with such an attention grabber, and everything gets better from there. As the book continued, Sarah J. Maas kept adding more twists to the story and it really began to sweep me away. With every turn of the page, every end of the chapter, it all begged to be read. This book had it all, the emotions, the climax, the heart pounding moments… The characters were as stunning as ever. I still adore Dorian but found Chaol and Celaena cute as ever! Those two, I swear! Really, the characters were all taken to a whole new level, with such wonderful personalities (uh depending on who, I’m looking at you the King >_>) each one with their own distinct mind. What is even better is that the rotating chapters and ever-present love triangle don’t hurt the story ONE BIT! Yeah, I mention the love triangle in every review but Sarah J. Maas wove it in PERFECTLY into this story, and it felt right. The love in the book felt like it belonged, like the characters had made their way up to it and love at first sight was no existent, *swoons*. Honestly, I love uh… love in books :) as long as it isn’t over the top or just plain in the way :P! “It was like coming home or being born or suddenly finding an entire half of herself that had been missing.” Could the bad guys get more bad? Uh, yes and they really did! Throne of Glass had some of the evilest villains I can think of, but the Crown of Midnight? They went to a whole new level, the threat is there. It is best to mention that this book did have gore like the first book did, and I would say about the same amount. It’s not like the book is littered with blood, it’s just there so fair warning :) “To escape death, she’d become death” And the ending? I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! Cue the evil laughter >:D mwhaha… this was fantastic! Honestly, the ending made me want to run in circles and cry or something, it was mind blowing!