Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, Book 1)
Released: August 7, 2012 | Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
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In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.
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Throne of Glass started with Sarah J. Maas listening to Disney’s Cinderella soundtrack. The music playing as Cinderella flees the ball seemed too dark, so Maas imagined a different scenario: what if Cinderella were an assassin escaping after trying to kill the prince? She began writing the story at just 16, originally calling it Queen of Glass.
REVIEW
⭐ ⭐ ☆ ☆ ☆
The root of all YA’s problems. 🌱😈
(This might feel like a half-review since I will redirect you twice, but I promise, a lot of thought went into this.)
I was told I’d enjoy Throne of Glass more than A Court of Thorns & Roses, and that’s true. I did. But is it actually good? Well… yes and no.
It’s more intriguing, has stronger characters, and a better-developed story. The problem is Sarah J. Maas herself, or rather, her influence. She’s a trendsetter, and unfortunately, some of her worst habits have become genre staples.
Bad Habit #1: The “badass” main character who never actually does anything badass. We’re constantly told how amazing they are, but rarely shown why. For me, this is one of the biggest failures in character development. I was going to explore this here, but the topic grew so much it became its own blog post, which will be coming soon.
Bad Habit #2: Making main characters teenagers solely so the book can be labeled as YA. Apparently that’s all it takes. Change the age and voilà, YA fiction.
The problem with this approach is that YA has become more mature over time, making this choice feel increasingly unrealistic. Celaena Sardothien (awesome name, btw) simply does not work as a teenager. I find it unbelievable that someone so young could have lived the amount of history and experience she supposedly has.
Rather than repeat myself here, I’ll point you to my Ignite the Stars review, which goes deeper into why this kind of age mismatch breaks immersion.
