Book 2 in Throne of Glass
Crown of Midnight is the second book in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, and it kicks up the overall intensity quite a bit. We pick up shortly after the first book ended. [Spoilers ahead if you haven’t read Book 1!].
Plot Overview (Spoilers Ahead!)
Celaena is officially the King’s Champion, serving him for a number of years before being promised her freedom and total pardon from her past. When she’s not cutting down the King of Adarlan’s enemies, she’s enjoying her substantial salary and comfortable living in the glass castle – training with Chaol, having study sessions with Nehemia, and avoiding Dorian after breaking things off with him.
Of course, it’s a little more complicated than all that because she’s not actually killing anyone the King sends her to. And her feelings are all over the place about Chaol. And she’s concerned about Nehemia’s rebel leanings. And Dorian is acting awfully suspicious. And she keeps encountering that magic that’s not supposed to exist anymore. And when her next assignment is a former acquaintance from her painful past… Well, you can see, it’s a very complicated time indeed.
This is another 600+ page book, so I’m just skimming the plot there. As mentioned, the intensity ramps up in Crown of Midnight. There’s higher stakes and a lot more risk. There’s more pain, more fear, more grief, and more lying.
My Thoughts on Crown of Midnight
As a whole, I felt similarly to this book as I did the last.
- It was a good continuation of the story
- It built the overall plot well while still having a lot of standalone action.
- It had enjoyable romance that I invested in (I was pretty devastated when it became clear it wouldn’t last)
- I thought the character development progressed in a natural way for each of the main characters.
My Criticisms
A few critiques (take ‘em or leave ‘em):
- [SPOILER WARNING] Nehemia’s demise is a major turning point in the story and in Celaena’s personal journey. While their friendship has been fleshed out some, most of the relationship focus of Crown of Midnight and Throne of Glass are between Celaena and Chaol/Dorian. So, even though I liked Nehemia and could tell she and Celaena were good friends, the impact was lost on me, especially for it being as big a deal as it was. In short, my emotions were not affected by it at all.
- I have a little bit of a hard time tracking all the magical stuff going on. I think it became more clear in this one than the first, but occasionally I still felt rather lost and thus, slightly disinterested, in the secret magical happenings Celaena encounters. I take responsibility if that’s a “just me” thing; I’m definitely not a huge fantasy reader, so I’m not practiced in all the fantastical storytelling elements.
- The book is WORDY. I don’t think it needed to be 600+ pages to tell what it did.
Final Thoughts
So, there are my thoughts on Crown of Midnight for you. I gave it 3.5 stars, rounded up. I definitely plan to keep reading, but I’ll admit… I’ve a nasty suspicion I may burn out on the series before reaching Book 8.
Head here to see my review on Book 3 (Heir of Fire)!
Content Rating: Moderate
for fantasy violence, some language, and innuendo
Copyright Sarah J. Maas and Bloomsbury Publishing. Image from Amazon.
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