I may not be a direct member of a royal family myself, but I know there are things such as court intrigue and hidden agendas and hell, there are hundreds upon thousands of discrete allegiances and plots being made left, right and centre.

I originally started THRONE OF GLASS three years ago. I hated it, and wrote a scathing one-star review of it filled with swear words and vitriol. That original review was actually deleted by me, along with about 3000+ books I rated and reviewed between 2009 and 2016, for a variety of reasons, which I discuss here (and will touch on as well at the end of this review). I originally planned to read and review the entire series, but the first book put me off so much that I never attempted the series again - until now. Beautiful ladies are always associated with the Crown Prince – you should be flattered that you’re attractive enough to be considered his lover.”Grumbling, Celaena slithered to the edge of the bed, dangling a hand over the edge to touch the floor. "Fetch my slippers," she mumbled. "The floor's like ice." [Yeah, put those servants in their place , Cinderella!]

I have a new hero!! She bad to the bone! Assassin Celaena Sardothien! She's the toughest assassin around and she loves books and plays the pianoforte. Imagine that :-) Her skills as an assassin aren't really explored in Throne of Glass, it's all talk and no action. But reading the prequel novellas, you are able to see how hardcore she actually is, thus accepting the all talk and no action that happens in Throne of Glass. I don't think Celaena is in the King's palace for a day before she starts obsessing over her looks, her new dresses and whether or not either or both of the aforementioned men find her attractive. She still manages to have more badassery than Alina in Shadow and Bone and the book is, in my opinion, nowhere near as boring as Grave Mercy. But, still, I couldn't help being like "BUT you said ASSASSIN!" when she's there swanning around in front of the mirror. I like that she's "feminine" (whatever you want to take that to mean) as well as a brutal killer, but there's only so much high school changing rooms behaviour I can take. I think there's an excellent quote, a question that Celaena wonders to herself, that basically sums up what was running through my head for a lot of this novel:

The concepts in this book sound right up my alley. Female characters? Yes. However, my gosh, this is probably the most unlikeable character that I have ever endured. I was hoping that someone would finish her off. UGH! Terrible, terrible, horrendous. Nonsensical, stupid, pointless. Fluffy, pathetic, ridiculous. Need I say more? Really? Need I? I really liked Chaol, the captain of the guards. I loved Nehemia, she is a tough princess in her own right and a great friend. Celaena is as much an epic hero as Frodo or Jon Snow! (Tamora Pierce New York Times bestselling author on HEIR OF FIRE) You could rattle the stars," she whispered. "You could do anything, if only you dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you most.”

She loves dogs because that's how we know she's a kind-hearted person. No evil person is an animal lover!: In sum, THRONE OF GLASS was not a very good book in my opinion and at times was incredibly annoying. I have heard that the second book has more action and fight scenes, and since those were the parts of this book that I enjoyed the most, I will be reading CROWN OF MIDNIGHT soon (probably this week) to see if it's enough to compensate for the glorious bore that is Celaena. The world the author has created it's brilliant,especially the caste and it's chambers.The big library with a million books,the icy throne and castle,the tomb and the secret tunnel,the gargoyles,everything.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Overall, the concept of a strong female assassin in a slightly fantasy setting sounds appealing; however, Sarah J. Maas did not execute it properly in Throne of Glass. If you really want a strong female character in a fantasy setting, I highly suggest The Golden Compass or Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. Lyra beats Celaena every single day of the week. Throne of Glass is my first Sarah J. Maas novel, and I don’t understand the hype. Warning: extremely sarcastic book review coming up! What was a "Champion" but a dressed-up name for murderer? Could she actually stomach working for him?And I suppose "assassin" is just a synonym for mercy-killer? But enough of her faults. Let's take a look at her more positive attributes. She's beautiful. In fact so beautiful that she drains the blood out of people who sees her: The other characters didn’t really convince me that much (although no one got nearly on my nerves as Miss Main Character did), I felt like there could have been more work behind, just like the whole story didn’t exactly engage me from start to end for the very same reason. In terms of plot, I cannot deny that there was always a level of suspense present. I did want to know how this story ended, and yes, there were actually parts when I feared the whole thing would not end well – partly because my beloved heroine did not deem it necessary to inform certain people about what she had witnessed in the castle. Overall, though, the story remained a tad too juvenile and simple for me. Important events were mentioned only in passing and the mythology did not go any further than what was important for the main story line. Many things remained unsaid – doubtlessly for the sake of sequels yet to come – but it was not the subtle way of remaining unsaid but hinted at I love in fantasy novels, it felt more like remaining unsaid to lure me into reading on.

I love it when all the characters literally spend their spare time reading. Makes my heart happy. Libraries were full of ideas—perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons. Well, I did like Celaena's relationship with the err, Indian princess. I forgot her name. Because I didn't like the actual princess herself -- she doesn't know tact. She doesn't know diplomacy. She comes to a foreign realm and all she does is whinge and insult their language and clothes and court. But it was her golden hair that caught the attention of most, hair that still maintained a glimmer of its glory. In short, Celaena Sardothien was blessed with a handful of attractive features that compensated for the majority of average ones; and, by early adolescence, she’d discovered that with the help of cosmetics, these average features could easily match the extraordinary assets. Creo que la autora presenta los elementos necesarios para comenzar a dibujar un imaginario sobre el universo creado, desde la magia hasta criaturas o leyendas antiguas, dinastías monárquicas y casas, relaciones de poder, estratos sociales o incluso economía y política. Plantea todo de una forma sencilla, fácil de captar, para desarrollarlo más profundamente en las siguientes entregas. Agradezco que no entre a trapo con esas cosas y que se centre más de momento en el personaje principal y los secundarios, porque creo que una historia sin buenos personajes, pues chica, me da igual. Así que well done. I am so disappointed by all this character could have been and all this character is not. completely lighthearted. Again, that could be super enjoyable to read about! I'd LOVE a book about a slightly unbalanced girl who murders people with a smile on her face. This could be Celaena if she were cleverer and a bit - okay, a lot - more fleshed out. But she's just an unbelievable, annoying heroine.

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I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well formed and excellently developed. There are recognisable and enjoyable twists on the classic Cinderella. Example Celaena Sardothien's fairy godmother is a ghost of an ancient warrior queen. There are also slight touches, such as Celaena having an innate charm with animals.