Crown of Midnight – Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight

By: Sarah J. Maas

Book #2 in Throne of Glass Series

Content Warnings: Violence, blood, gore, death, alcohol consumption, mention of trafficking, language

Book Review

I’m only in the second book of the Throne of Glass series, Crown of Midnight, and it seems nearly everybody has a deadly secret to hide.

I’m not talking about who took a piece of chocolate from Celaena’s stash. Although that could push you up to the top of this assassin’s list.

Rather, I’m talking about big reveals just begging to push up through the surface and change the game board entirely. We’ve gone from court intrigue and competitions to a conflict that encompasses the continent. I think this is what made Crown of Midnight so exciting. It seems like Maas is setting up the characters for critical roles and determining where their loyalties will lie once everything comes to a head.

Some characters are concealing their identities, others are hiding their true motives, while still others suspect their new powers may only make them more vulnerable. Please forgive my vagueness. For those who haven’t read this novel yet, I guess now I have a few secrets of my own. 🙂

There’s also hints of rebellion about to boil over. The King of Adarlan has banned magic and conquered a huge chunk of the continent, but with each victory he also ushers in more discontent towards his rule. Can he continue to suppress his opposition? How exactly did he manage to destroy legendary courts with such swiftness and ease? These questions may be connected, and I don’t think anyone in this series can ignore them for much longer.

Suffice it to say I enjoyed Crown of Midnight even more than its predecessor! While Throne of Glass was an introduction that tried to charm with the main characters’ dynamics, I think Crown of Midnight focuses more on darker matters. Characters make huge mistakes, the plot grows into something bigger and nastier, and everyone has reached some new highs and lows. Whatever will happen in the next installment, the only thing for sure is things are about to bust wide open. That perfectly worded ending was proof enough of that.

More Musings & Magic

Normally I don’t think much about whom the characters get romantically involved with, but the love triangle in this series made me scratch my head. I’m referring to Dorian and Chaol both showing interest in Celaena.

Celaena’s decision in the end to walk away from Dorian because he’s the son of the tyrant king made no sense to me. Not when she contradicted her own logic immediately afterwards by choosing Chaol – he’s more loyal to the king than even Dorian himself. Not to mention her involvement with either one would endanger them all. My ramblings aside, I’m so glad they all managed to preserve their friendships in the end. So there’s that. 🙂

Please keep the magic alive and share your comments below!