Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

CROWN OF MIDNIGHT
Series: Throne of Glass #2
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Release Date: August 27th 2013

Book Length: 418 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: Physical Copy, Goodreads 

Review: 5/5 *Full Review Below.

Blurb: 

"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as 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. 

“If they wanted Adarlan's Assassin, they'd get her.

And Wyrd help them when she arrived.”

Wyrd help anyone who decides to read this book, every single aspect of Throne of Glass; action, mystery, romance, plot twists, magic… everything is taken to a whole new level. In short, you need this!

Celaena Sardothein is back and she’s more ruthless than ever. After becoming The King’s Champion, Celaena travels all over Erilea to assassinate those who plot against The King but the ever cunning assassin refuses to be a pawn to the man who ruined her life. While dealing with the King’s enemies Celaena gets ever closer to discovering the dark secrets of the castle, with whispers of a rebellion of the horizon, Celaena must act carefully and fast to unravel the mystery that is the King’s power, with shocking revelations and heart-breaking losses, trust me you will never see any of this coming.

Firstly let’s start with Celaena, it became quite clear in The Assassin’s Blade and Throne of Glass that she’s quite the deadly powerhouse, watching her train and become more invincible. I can honestly say that Crown of Midnight makes the previous reads seem like child’s play.

After a devastating loss, Celaena completely breaks down which was great in terms of character depth, she hits rock bottom, eaten away by her grief but to be able to see so vulnerable and then come back from this was magnificent. She’s comes out of this fiercer than ever, don’t get me wrong Celaena see’s her fair share of romance and happiness in this book and I was delighted for her because she does deserve this and more after everything she has been through….. but when I reached this part:

...An icy, endless rage swept through her, wiping away everything except the plan that she could see with brutal clarity. The killing calm, Arobynn Hamel had once called it. Even he had never realized just how calm she could get when she went over the edge...

I was totally fist pumping, cheerleading, fangirling because you just know shit is about to go down. TEAM CELAENA!!

As I’ve said Celaena gets her romance and it’s so so sweet. The love triangle is completely non-existent here, just a good old-fashioned romance with words that melt your heart and actions that could later break them. What I didn't like was the way Celaena dealt with the 'other love interest', she was cruel and unpleasant and I really didn't see any reason for her to act like this.

This fantasy gets better and with it’s intricately woven plot that leads to shocking truths, this book is in no way predictable. I managed to guess little things a long the way but they are seriously insignificant in the greater scheme of things. We are only giving glimpses as to what the bigger picture is but from here until book 6 a lot can change, I have no idea where Maas is talking us but I am loving it so far, it’s sure to be brilliant and utter genius.

With more of a focus on magic and the slow introduction of witches and what exactly Wyrdmarks are used for, the fantasy was completely captivating and will keep you enthralled until the very end.

Lastly the over so clever, bitch of a cliffhanger. Celaena’s darkest secrets are finally revealed… WHO IS SHE? Well that question is answered and even though I’m re-reading this book doesn’t make it any less groundbreaking, I can only thank god I have Heir of Fire sat next to me, begging to be read this instant.

Overall this book brings so many emotions ranging for badassery, a loss that will shatter you, a romance to make you happy and revelations that leave your jaw somewhere along the floor long after reading. I highly recommend this to lovers of Throne of Glass but even more so for those who maybe didn't quite connect with the characters or felt that Throne of Glass was a little slow. Crown of Midnight does not suffer from second book syndrome so I encourage you to stick with this epic series and read this.

“But death was her curse and her gift, and death had been her good friend these long, long years.”