Live, Laugh, Love with Gladz: Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas | Throne of Glass Book 1

"We all bear scars. Mine just happen to be more visible than most."

Throne of Glass series has been constantly popping out on my books to-read recommendations list. Having the knowledge that it contains six books and that the final book is yet to be released, I had been hesitant to start on reading it. Knowing that once I finished reading the first five books, I will be left hanging. There are a lot of good reviews on this book series that's why I gave in, and started on reading it.

The story revolves on a convicted and enslaved former notorious assassin - Celaena, whom had been offered by the Crown Prince her freedom, but in exchange of becoming the Prince's Champion in a tournament against other council's Champion to become the King's Royal assassin for four years. Only after then, will she receive her ultimate freedom. As the tournament goes, she finds her a friend in her trainer, Chaol - the Captain of the Guards. But, the Crown Prince has caught her interest. Then one by one, the other champions turned up to be brutally murdered. As she struggles to protect herself on becoming a victim. Her curiosity got her access to a powerful ally and ultimately lead her to a path truly unavoidable.

When the term assassin is associated with a woman, I expect a totally badass woman with a lot of angst, sexiness and scenes filled with action and blood. Unfortunately, this book only got a former notorious assassin turned very soft by just seeing candies, dresses, gowns, prince and castle. I totally didn't mind showing the feminine side of an assassin, it only gets to show that she is still a woman, only with a badass career. But since it has been reiterated that she is the so-called the "Kingdom's Most Notorious Assassin", a reader can't avoid to have a very high expectation.

As the story goes, there are a lot of predictions I have in mind, but since this is only the first book, I still have to continue on reading the series to confirm them. Also, there is a certain mystery surrounding the King, that I can't still point out, the threat / fear that Celaena feels whenever she is with him is kind of troubling - which I will definitely look forward on learning the reason why on the sequels.

There's an uncertainty as to whom between the Crown Prince, Dorian and the Captain of the Guards, Chaol, will Celaena ultimately fall in love with. It seems like Celaena has more connection with Chaol, but whenever she is with Dorian, she seemed to be more attracted to the Crown Prince. The romance build-up is very slow, it seems that the first book is like a test-run, for the readers to be torn between two-lovers for Celaena. She may not seemed to be interested in any relationship, as her focus is on getting her freedom.

The love-triangle in here, just like any other story that have one is just like an added spice to the story. Both are convincing love-interest for our heroine. Both seemed manly but a more developed characters are much expected as to the future books. Even though romance is slightly built-up in this book, an intimate kiss has been exchanged only about the second half of the book.

There are a couple of raise eyebrows worthy scenes but the witty and humorous banter, even some scenes that turned out to be slightly comedic have somehow enlighten the mood while reading this book.

"Libraries were full of ideas - perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons."

The first part of the story seemed to be full of information dump and interesting scenes only occurred on the later part of the book. It has a good story but I was kind of looking for more. In all honesty, if I have not heard that this book gets better and better in its succeeding books, I may have not started reading it knowing that the final book is not yet released. But, the sequels seemed to be really interesting as they have a lot of good reviews, so I definitely need to continue on reading. As I am a bit late on this book series fandom, my hopes are still high that ultimately I will be hooked by the story as others were.

Lead Characters: Celaena Sardothien, Chaol Westfall and Dorian Havilliard
Point of View: Multiple

Ratings
Heroes: 4 stars
Heroine: 4 stars
Intimate scenes: 4 stars
Imagery: 4.5 stars
Setting: 4.5 stars
Narration: 4.5 stars
Dialogue: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars
Climax: 5 stars
Ending: 4.5 stars
Story: 5 stars
Overall Rating: 4.5 stars

Do I recommend this book? Yes with the belief that the story gets better.
Will I re-read this book? Probably once the final book is released.
Will I read other books from the same author? Definitely.

Throne of Glass Reading Order: