Bookreview Throne of Glass

Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #1
Release date: August 2012
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 404











Expectations
I've been hearing a lot of praise about this series by Sarah J Maas, so I decided to check it out. The beginning of the synopsis sounds promising:

'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.'

Review
In general I enjoyed reading this. I enjoyed the competition part of the book and I wished we got to see more of the battles. I liked the writing style and the world Sarah J Maas created. I like that we get to read from different perspectives.  Loved that there was a map! 

Overall I liked most of the characters, like Chaol and Dorian. I think the author does a good job of describing them. I am liking Chaol more than Dorian at the moment, but that might change. I like Dorian as well.  Having said that, our main character Celeana is not my favorite protagonist. First of all I had some problems with her age, when she is only 18, she has spend a year in Endovier and is suppose to be the greatest assassin? I wish she would have been a bit older, around 22 maybe. But I get why the author made her 18, since young adult books are aimed at a younger audience. 

There were a lot of moments in this book were Celeana doesn't hear someone standing at her door or entering her room. One time she adjusts the locks on her bedroom door so she will hear when someone enters, a little later we see Chaol standing next to her bed when she is still sleeping. Not so impressive for an assassin.. 

Celeana has a lot of ups and downs, her uncontrollable anger wasn't my favorite characteristic either. On the other hand she is one of those characters who doesn't make a lot of stupid decisions without thinking. For instance she doesn't just go into a secret doorway. When she discovered it, she went back into her own room and made a plan! So nice to read about characters that think before they act. 

Overall I liked the worldbuilding and the way the author introduced the world with some hints to magic being there. I am excited to discover what will happen next, where will this story go? 


Rating
I am looking forward to see a lot of character development over the next books in this series. I am also curious if we get to read more about Celeana's history and her childhood. 
I'll give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. 

Have you read this series? Are you excited for the last book to come out? Let me know!