Reading With Tyler

, , , , , , , ,

Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

Published

on

Name: Crown of Midnight
Series: Throne of Glass #2
Author: Sarah J Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Kindle
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Noted Tropes: Revenge, Questionable Love Triangle
Steam or Spice: None

Rating:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Synopsis: Goodreads

Never trust an assassin.

Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become the King’s Champion. But she is far from loyal to the crown. Though she goes to great lengths to hide her secret, her deadly charade becomes more difficult when she realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. Her search for answers ensnares those closest to her, and no one is safe from suspicion-not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a 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 decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie . . . and what she is willing to fight for.

Review:

We’re on our journey to give Sarah J Maas a second chance in 2025 – to finally allow me to talk to my partner about one of his favourite series, and to finally join the rest of the world in reading ACOTAR.

Crown of Midnight is Book 2 in the Throne of Glass series and so there may be spoilers below for Throne of Glass. Any spoilers for Crown of Midnight will be labelled as such. Onto the review…

I’m not ready to say ‘I’m converted’ yet. Because ultimately I enjoyed Crown of Midnight the first time I read it (though not as much as this time as I bumped its rating from 4 stars to 4.5!). But she’s hitting me in different ways to the first time round… If I can get past Heir of Fire, I’ll love the series – that’s what I’m told. And loving Crown of Midnight more than the first time round is giving me hope!

Let’s talk about Crown of Midnight first. We pick up after Celanea has been deemed the King’s Champion and part way through her latest mission. It’s made clear that her friends within the castle, Dorian (the Prince), Chaol (the Captain of the Guard) and Nehmia (a Princess from a rebelling country) do not like the person Celaena has to be, for the King. Let’s not forget that Celaena is just trying to survive so she can have her freedom back! But it seems, everyone else wants something from her.

Let’s first discuss this so called love-triangle… I love Dorian for Celaena. Apparently Celaena doesn’t love Dorian for Celaena very often as she’s a bit flip floppy. Now I understand this is partially to do with the threat the King made at the end of Book 1… but did that stop her from switching back to team Chaol? Man. I don’t like it. In Crown of Midnight we get to explore her relationship with these men a little further and it’s anything but clear which way this story will go. For all I know there could be 10 other lover interests that pop up. I’m not convinced Celaena actually knows who or what she wants either! So it’s safe to say I’m not a fan of this love-triangle, and actually it’s what cost this book it’s half star.

Everything else, was brilliant. I had my heart ripped out, I was tearing my own hair out because I was so tense, I was awwing, I laughed! I was intrigued… Sarah J Maas, I feel like, did it all in this book. She had me feeling so many emotions! And I love her for it. I can clearly see she isn’t done playing with my emotions… multiple books follow this one and she is a fantasy author so I’m sure I’ll have to keep tissues with me going forward…

Safe to say, I’m in. I’m ready to open my arms completely to Throne of Glass and give Heir of Fire my absolute best try… Just got to get through the novella’s first… and this will go one of two ways… let’s see!

“To escape death, she’d become death.”

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Leave a comment

Hello,

I’m Tyler-Rose

I’m rediscovering my love and enjoyment of reading and I’m inviting you along with me! I’ll be posting reviews predominently! But there will be posts talking about TBRs and Read-A-Thons / Reading Challenges as well!

Join me as I pick up my next read, curl up on the sofa with a cup of tea and venture into my next story!

Let’s connect

Instagram Posts

So, I went through my books read this year and realised that not only was I having rating regrets on a few books, but also that there were many months this year where I read a lot of excellent reads! As a result, picking the best and worst book of the month came down to ratings first, and what stuck with me second. Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber was described as an adult Caraval - and I adored Caraval so naturally I was hyped for this release. Then the reviews came out which made me nervous… I put it off until I drew it for a TBR prompt and then accidentally ended up buddy reading it with a friend. I had an excellent time doing so. Here’s the thing, there are so many books releasing next year, and there is no way I have heard about them all or have them all on this list… but this list are the ones I either have on preorder or reminders set to buy them (because I can’t keep surprising myself with these preorders that you have to pay for later!!). Oh it feels GOOD to have actually read book 2 in this trilogy! When I picked to reread Storm and Fury I knew I needed to actually continue the trilogy and finish it this time, so naturally I’m really pleased to have prioritised that and read Rage and Ruin!

Recent posts