By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
To Sum It Up: Now officially the King of Adarlan’s Champion, Celaena is sent on mission after mission to eliminate his enemies. Every one she completes brings her closer to her freedom from his service, or so she hopes. Celaena’s latest target is possibly involved in a rumored rebel movement against the king, and her investigation into the matter leads to some shocking discoveries not only about his foes but about the king himself as well as those closest to her. Most alarmingly of all, though, is the danger that an uprising poses to revealing a secret about Celaena that no one must ever find out.
Review: Oh. My. God. I have no clue where to start with this review of this absolutely PHENOMENAL sequel to Throne of Glass. I’ve had an amazing run of fantasy reads lately, and Crown of Midnight is the pinnacle of them. I cannot profess my love for this book enough. After I finished it, I couldn’t put it back on my bookshelf because I kept feeling the need to reread my favorite passages (many of which featured Chaol!) over and over again, then over and over again some more. I had a severe addiction to this book that I still find myself battling.
As much as I enjoyed Throne of Glass, I couldn’t quite give it five stars because I felt that Celaena did much more talking about how badass she was than actually showing how badass she was. Well, that is most certainly not a problem in Crown of Midnight. I LOVED Celaena in this book; she unequivocally demonstrates throughout the novel that she is, in fact, one hell of a heroine. I am in awe of this young woman, not only for her unrivaled, formidable fighting skills but also because she’s not afraid to embrace the side of her that loves shopping and devouring the entire contents of a buffet table. I myself am very fond of both of those activities and now feel a certain kinship with Miss Sardothien. Celaena has grown tremendously as a character since Throne of Glass; there are no words to fully capture how much she impressed me this time around.
The dark magic that was seen in the previous book (remember creepy Cain?) returns in an even more chilling and intense form here. I was both rather scared while reading some parts late at night and thrilled by all of the suspense and action. Fortunately, there’s also some comic relief thanks to a new character named Mort. To avoid spoilers, I’ll simply say that Mort is a very unique . . . personality and possesses a knack for igniting Celaena’s temper. Those two have some sidesplitting conversations.
I loved how Sarah J. Maas took the development of all of her characters to spectacular new heights in this novel, Dorian being no exception. What he goes through in this book—it’s such a brilliant plot twist, but I also felt so sorry for him because he couldn’t tell anyone what was going on. It’s amazing what a good soul Dorian is considering how evil is father is. And Dorian’s friendship with Chaol—there’s a certain someone who could come between them, but the two young men don’t allow that to happen. Maas masterfully avoids love triangle clichés here, for which I am extremely grateful.
As for Captain Westfall, he absolutely made me swoon all through Crown of Midnight. SWOON, I say! Chaol won my heart at the end of Throne of Glass, and in this book . . . he made my heart melt. I can’t even string together a coherent paragraph about this man; he’s just—AAAAHHHHH . . . . LOVE. HIM.
Crown of Midnight represents everything you could hope for in a sequel plus so, so much more. Action, romance, magic, and a stunningly realized fantasy world—they’re all here, and oh how they make this book impossible to put down. If you’ve read Throne of Glass but haven’t gotten to this yet, you need to. Right now.
All in All: You will not be disappointed by this sequel in any way. It’s sheer perfection.