“When you do, I want you to remember that it wouldn’t have made any difference to me. It’s never made any difference to me when it came to you. I’d still pick you. I’ll always pick you.”
I’m going to keep this quick, because if I’m honest, this is my least favourite Throne of Glass book. That is for 2 reasons mainly. 1) The events of this are heartbreaking and painful, I cry every time I read it. That is testament to S. J. Maas’ writing, and the plot of this story. It is remarkable when you find a book that makes you feel so deeply that you cry, the emotions connecting with you on that level to result in a physical reaction. But, I digress. 2) In hindsight, it does contain many plot-moving elements but it’s also a little bit dull. We’re within a setting we have experienced already, with characters we have also experienced already, and each and every one is slightly… stale? They don’t seem to DO much, apart from live it up in the castle.
For that reason, this gets 2 stars. Celaena undertakes her role as The King’s Assasin with all the fervour you would imagine of a trained assassin, which was one of my favourite elements of this book. She develops further with her relationships and there is a sense of comraderie built up which you can definitely see forming into strong undercurrents throughout the rest of the series. We are also introduced to the initial foundations of a rebellion looking for a certain long-lost queen. Little do we know, as readers, that this long-lost queen reveals herself at the end of this book (not a spoiler as it’s pretty intrinsic to the whole franchise). Dorian is depicted as the ever-galavanting Prince but a discovery of flaws fleshing out his own storyline begins to form, alongside that of Chaol. I already know what happens, but this did spark excitement inside me and I can’t wait to see how this plays out (and who with…).
Ultimately, this final 20% were the most interesting moment of the whole book (sorry!) for me. Definitely got filler vibes and second-book syndrome from this, however not enough to totally nullify my interest and I will be picking up the third in the series.
belle in pages 