Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. MaasSeries: Throne of Glass #2
Published by: Bloomsbury USA Childrens on August 27, 2013
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 432
Source: BookExpo America
Buy on Amazon • Book Details
Rating: ★★★★★
An assassin's loyalties are always in doubt.
But her heart never wavers.After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown—a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.
Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon—forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.
Where do the assassin's loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?
Throne of Glass was a great book, but Crown of Midnight rocks ten times harder! Seriously… Crown of Midnight was INCREDIBLE!!! I actually think it was even better than Throne of Glass! It was so intense, the plot moved swiftly, there are EPIC twists/turns/unveilings, and a delicious swoony romance! Oh, and Celaena kicks some serious ass.
[Celaena] was a weapon forged to end lives.
Page 217
THIS BOOK WAS SO FULL OF SWOON!!!! I did not expect that! I loved Throne of Glass, but OH. MY. GOD! Crown of Midnight was packed with sexy, swoony scenes and a book boyfriend that will make you blush all the shades of crimson.
Just the touch of his fingers on her skin could turn her into a feral beast.
Page 199
I became a HUGE fan of Chaol in Crown of Midnight. I wasn’t rooting for him in Throne of Glass because I felt like he never spoke. He was so quiet and withdrawn. But in Crown of Midnight he really comes out of his shell and I LOVED reading from his point of view! He’s a great character, and ohmygod he is seeeeeexy! He and Celaena have so much chemistry. Although, I was really disappointed when View Spoiler »
And, Crown of Midnight finally shows what a badass Celaena is! I think one of the biggest criticisms of Throne of Glass was that Celaena didn’t feel like much of a badass assassin. Well, in Crown of Midnight Celaena completely owns!
“Enough! We have enough enemies as it is! There are worse things out there to face!”
Celaena slowly turned to him, her face splattered with blood and eyes blazing bright. “No there aren’t,” she said. “Because I’m here now.”
Page 221
There are crazy, maddening, brutal killings, and Celaena finally acts like the assassin she is. We get to see her in action, taking people down! She can be seriously ruthless when she wants to be!
Crown of Midnight was action-packed and entertaining right down to the very last page. Something was constantly happening and there were no slow moments! There are even more hot, badass, and intriguing scenes than in Throne of Glass and I was so bummed when the story ended! I could just keep reading, and reading, and reading. I loved the plot developments and I’m seriously so psyched to see how the series continues!!
Sarah, you have blown me away!!
The Verdict
I’m so pleased to see you enjoyed this one even more than the first book, it is definitely one of my most anticipated reads for this year and so far the advance praise has been awesome & I adore Chaol so thank god we get more romance..
Thankfully only 3 days until it is released 🙂 🙂 🙂
A fabulous review Ashley!
OMG, I am so excited. I still need to read the first book. If the second book is even better though, I will have to get these sooner rather then later.
Wow….I gotta read this, but I haven’t read Throne of Glass. Is it a must to do that one first? When you give 5-stars to a book, something inside me jolts, electrifying wires of curiosity slither through my mind, and regardless of what’s next on my TBR, I wanna—no need to—experience this ah-mazingness 😀 Thanks Ash. I pray for the day one of my books rocks you like that, you know, in the 5-star kinda way. Nothing would warm my heart more because I think of you that highly. And we tend to enjoy reading the same books. Even the contemp romances (which I never would have even got into if it weren’t for you)! <3
A huge congrats to Sarah…I wonder if she has any relation to Donald and Lisa? ~AR
Yeah you really do have to read Throne of Glass first because there’s a whole history there that’s extremely important to be able to get this book!
And I’m sure one day you’ll write a totally rocking five star book! ♥ Your books are already awesome and I know that sooner or later you’ll whip out one that will get 5 stars from me!!
Ok. I added both books to my TBR. You know how I’ve been liking more “mature” books lately (new adult/adult…even a little erotica) so this will be my first YA attempt in a while. The last YA book that blew my mind was Poison Princess by Kresley Cole….I still think about that damn book. It was epic.
I’m glad to see so many positive reviews for Crown of Midnight. I liked Throne of Glass, but Calaena herself annoyed the living crap out of me. Hopefully she improves with the second book…
I have this one but have been putting it off because I am 100% Team Chaol and I’m scared she will end up with Dorian. I have to squeeze it in soon if you loved it so much. And part of the reason why I don’t like Fantasy books is because there is hardly any swoonage. The only fantasy books I like is when lots of people kill each other 🙂
This one has both!
There’s definitely a lot more swoonage in this book, and I think you’ll really like Crown of Midnight because Chaol is TOTALLY OWNING! Lol. This is completely his book. Dorian is like a little speck off to the side. Who knows if that will change in future books, but at least for now, it’s Chaol all the way!
Never heard of this series but it sounds interesting.
I need to read Throne of Glass FIRST! So excited that you enjoyed this. That means that I MUST read this. You and I tend to agree on bookish things.
Eeks I hope you love it!! Even if you’re not crazy about Throne of Glass, you should still give Crown of Midnight a try. The most common reasons for people not liking ToG are: 1) they think Celaena is annoying; and/or 2) They’re disappointed with the lack of actual assassinations.
And although those things didn’t bother me, Crown of Midnight improves on all those fronts!
Awesome. Then yeah I need to read them both.
FINALLY! An assassin who kills people 😛 Ya, that was one of my main faults with the last book as well, but now I’m super excited to read this one! And I was team Chaol from the start hehe. Great review, Ashley!
I definitely think you’ll be satisfied with the bloodshed in Crown of Midnight! 😀
I couldn’t help it… I read the spoiler and now I’m uber sad. I don’t know how I’ll get myself to read it knowing that particular nugget, though I will probably read it as soon as I see it delivered to my Kindle. Thanks for the review!
Yeah that bit REALLY disappointed me!! 🙁 *sigh* It’s still a great book though!
I haven’t started this series yet, but every time I see a review for one of these two books pop up in the blogosphere I’m smacking myself for not having read them because they seem to keep getting rave reviews. And a second book that’s better than the first?! That sells me more than anything else. Stupid Second Book Syndrome. Awesome review! 😀
So glad to see folks loving this one like I did. Ashley, your review is AMAZING. You highlighted all the wonderful things (C/C, Celaena being a badass in this one) that made it so awesome. I was heart-broken with what happened in regards to your spoiler – I even cried. BUT. SJM seems to have plans for that couple, and I think if ANYONE can overcome what happened, they can. 😀
I was so heartbroken too! 🙁 As you said, there will definitely be more there in future books, but I’m still SO SAD!!