Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Pages: 404
Intended Audience: Teens
Genre: Fantasy / Adventure
Notes for Parents: Some mild language, graphic scenes, and violence.

The Inside Cover

When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom. If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the King’s Champion and be released from prison.
Her name is Celaena Sardothien.
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her.
And a princess from a foreign land will become the one thing Celaena never thought she’d have again: a friend.
But something evil dwells in the castle—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying, horribly, one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival—and a desperate quest to root out the source of the evil before it destroys her world.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

The author was just 16-years-old when she published an early draft of Throne of Glass on the FictionPress website. “Many years and revisions later, Sarah is delighted to be publishing the final version of Throne of Glass as her debut novel.” This is the first book in a series.

What’s good?

Good pacing and lots of action headline this fantasy adventure. The premise is unique and quite daring – a young, female assassin is rescued from a work prison so she can be part of a competition that will determine who will be the king’s own assassin. A strong female protagonist fronts a cast of likeable characters. Mystery swirls strongly as a string of murders in the palace and the discovery of mystical symbols creates loads of tension and suspense.
Best Part: Chaol.

What isn’t good?

A few inconsistencies distracted from what could have been a crisp, original story. There are no guns (invented in the 14^th century), but Calaena plays a piano (invented in the 18^th century) and eats gummies (invented in the 1920s) and says things like “shove it up you’re a**.” The author’s habit of describing people according to how good-looking they are was annoying. But my biggest issue was the main character. It’s difficult to see 18-year-old famed and feared assassin Celaena as cold and calculating, or even capable of hurting someone, when she hardly trains, she obsesses with her appearance, and she never actually defeats anyone.

Worst part: The cover of the edition I read. (There's an alternate cover that I'll post here that's way cooler.)

Recommendation þþþoo

This story had so much potential! This could bode well for the series, but as a stand-alone story, it’s ultimately about an assassin who never actually proves herself. The romance is dry, the adventure is fleeting, and the mystery fades by the end. However, having said all that, it was entertaining and easy to read. Recommended.

Maas, Sarah J. Throne of Glass. New York: Bloomsbury, 2012.