ARC Review of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

by Isabelle Doan

Website/Goodreads/Amazon

Random Info:
Release Date: August 7th, 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's

Pages: 416 pages (paperback)

Series: Yes, this is #1

My Format: ARC from a friend

Time it Took me to Read: 12 hours

Rating: Library/Borrow/e-book/Paperback/Hardcover

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

It's no secret that Throne of Glass was once one of those books published online. The first thing I saw when I got the ARC was "Maas already has thousands of fans" and "published on FictionPress, where she has thousands of loyal fans". Yup- it was used as a marketing tool.

I don't blame the publishers one bit. I'm a fan of quite a few online authors- Hope Adon from Wattpad wrote one of my favorite books ever. So I was not a bit skeptical when I went into Throne of Glass. I was expecting it to be as awesome as her rabidly loyal fans have said.

Throne of Glass is about an assassin, Celaena, who is taken from the prisoner's slave mines and is thrust into competition, in order to win her freedom. Said competition features 23 other competitors- other assassins, thieves, mercenaries, Chic-Fil-A employees*, you know- all the kinds of people capable of murder and wrong doing. They each compete to become Ardalan's assassin. But I quickly learned there's something more sinister involved.

From what I've researched, the original actually did not have the competition. The original Throne of Glass - titled Queen of Glass- was a retelling of Cinderella. I can see many places where this original badassery might have gotten diluted.

For one, in the FictionPress version, Celaena had many suitors, not simply the love triangle between Choal, a captain, and Dorian, the prince. I can see why this would be true, because in the beginning, when male characters were introduced, they were either described as handsome or total brutes. Or old.

The love triangle itself was very reminiscent of the one in Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. Seriously. Dorian makes for a good Will impostor. Both enjoy banter, and being jerks sometime. Both are also good love interests.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that both Tessa and Celaena like books??

Seriously. Assassin has time to read. I didn't believe it either. But apparently, Celalena has enough hours in the day to work out her bod, solve mysteries, be friends with a Princess, and manage to snag two guys. And be a highly skilled assassin. At age 18.

(That's yet another change. The Celaena in Queen of Glass was in her twenties.)

I guess you can tell that I thoroughly enjoyed Celaena's character. She was what you might you call a BAMF. Like, even more of a BAMF than Katniss. Because really, Katniss picks plants in the woods. Celaena swings from ropes to save her competitors.

So really, it was very much a tale of friendship and strength as much as it was a believable romance with strong characters. I'd recommend it for those who loved middle grade fantasy as a child, and are looking for something with a bit more depth.

All in all, a satisfying read with extravagant detailing and world building. I am really looking forward to book number two.

4 STARS.

*I was kidding about that, if you sincerely thought I was serious. No really. THERE WERE NO CHIC-FIL-A EMPLOYEES!

Wattpad Books that are Better than Published Ones

Forgive the long title, but after reading it, you're probably thinking that I'm off my rocker. This is not the case, no! I am in fact, 100% sure that the following Wattpad books are worth reading.

If you don't know what Wattpad is, it's an online site where people can post their stories, and gain support along the way. In the digital age nowadays, self-publishing is becoming easier and easier, and when you do so, you prove to real publishers that you already have a market. That's where Wattpad comes in.

Wattpad is useful because you basically gain harems when it comes to your fans. These fans can give testimonials to agents, publishers, etc.

ANYWAY, I'm just mentioning this because I ENJOY READING STORIES ON WATTPAD. For those who understand the notoriety of the stories on Wattpad, you're probably virtually kicking me in the liver right now.

Here are a few stories that I read, and freaking loved, that I think you need to read too.

1. Conduit by Hope-Adon

This is number one because it's great. I have no other adjectives for it. There's surprisingly no bad grammar or spelling (yay.) Though there are obviously some areas for improvement, (like it can be confusing at first, and she doesn't really re-mention important things) I actually really want this book on my shelf, if it ever gets published.

Not with that cover, obviously (because you can easily tell it was made in GIMP with the Supernova effect) but still. READ IT.

2. The Replacement Girlfriend by AubreyEatsHearts

This. Book. Is. Adorable! At times it reminds me Anna and the French Kiss which I am currently reading. For being a romance, the romance is really on the backburner, and it's really cute. It's somewhat episodic, being a Wattpad book that is released in chapters, but I think that's nice.

P.S. It's not finished yet, so you'll have to keep checking back on this one!

3. Believe Me, I'm Lying by XxSkater2Girl16xX

Okay, I realize that the author's username is somewhat sketchy and denotes what may be a fanfiction account, but she really is a good writer.

It's a really cute romance, and it's not even erotica, for being so popular on Wattpad! (yay.) In fact, I think there's only like, one kiss. But that's beside the point. This book was really fun to read on the airplane, and a really nice break from all the authors who try to hard to write. (Are you trying to write The Epic of Gilgamesh or are you trying to write for fourteen year olds, your main audience?)

4. The Lost Boys by liliancarmine

This book is pretty long, so I just skimmed it, but it really is a good book. It's about music, love, and paranormalness. And, of course, an amazingly headstrong girl. Nothing much more to say.

I skipped a few chapters in this book, but I who doesn't do that?

5. I Sold Myself to the Devil for Vinyls... Pitiful I Know by Darkness and Light

Sigh... what can I say about this book? You have to be.... open-minded. That's a disclaimer right there.

Sure, there are a lot of mistakes. And I mean a lot not as in, "I have a lot of fingers!" No. I mean a lot as in "A lot of people in America are fat." That being said, read this book for its content, because you might like what you find. Besides the conventions, the writing is very smart, as is the dialogue. (Of course the big reveal isn't all that showy, but GOD. Is the romantic suspense amazing!)

This book is also really long, so I recommend just skimming it.

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