BR: Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas 4/5

“My name is Celaena Sardothien. But it makes no difference if my name's Celaena or Lillian or Bitch because I'd still beat you, no matter what you call me.”

I heard so much about Sarah J Maas but I haven't read a book by her before I joined a book club. Thone of Glass is the first books we agreed to read and I had no idea what I am getting myself into...

The first chapter was very catchy. I was hooked, but then as I kept reading the first half of the book I found the plot a bit dragging. I have to say there is a lot of unimportant and unrelated information that is not connected to the main story. The things started to get interesting somewhere in the middle and that was the point for me where I had trouble to put it down. 

The story is a classic love triangle. Two men both in love with the female lead, which reminds very closely of Twilight. Luckily Sarah J Mass added the second main line to the story and saved the saga from being utterly boring. I can't really talk about this unless I want to give spoilers... but what I would like to talk about are the characters in this book: Celeana Sardonien, Dorian Havillard and Chaol Westfall. 

I have to say, I heard a lot of different opinions about the main character - Celeana. Some people don't like her as she is too childish and spoilt. I heard that she cares too much about her appearance. That she is too perfect and has no weakness. That her bad side (as being a killer) is actually not a flaw simply because she is the best of the killers... I get that and I completely understand. But I have to disagree. I think the fact that Celeana is a female assassin is perfect for the age we live in. She has a man's job and despite the fact, she stays female enough. Her job doesn’t mean she has to forget about dresses and pretty jewellery. We are living in the time of equal rights and feminism so I really enjoy the combination of both. I also like how sassy she is in certain situations and the banter between her and Dorian always makes me laugh. She is very direct and she doesn't really put filter on her language. 

Dorian Havillard, the crown prince. Despite of the description of him as being very handsome and popular and smart and amazing…(I am already rolling my eyes.) I don’t see Dorian being like this in the story. I find him a bit annoying and soft to be honest. What I really appriciate about Dorian is his sense of belonging and responsibility and surprisingly on the contrary of the environment he grew up in he is very different from what I would expect him to be. His ideas and thoughts are opposite to his father's and I am curious how it will inovlve in the next books. 

Chaol Westfall the Captain of the Guards. You probably noticed from my description of Dorian that I am a Chaol’s fan. I like him. He is though on the outside but he has heart on the good place. He is very stubborn and he doesn’t like to get distracted from his duties and meanwhile Dorian is dancing and being all pretty Chaol helps Celeana with her task which I find more appealing. He is the hero I want to see Celeana ending up with.

Overall I would say this is a good book. It did keep me entertained and after I finished I was very curious what happens next so I purchased the second part (the review is coming in few days)

I would like to hightlight one thning that made me love Sarah J. Mass the most. 
I really enjoyed the part about period. I find it perfeclty natural for a woman to bleed and I miss this in a lot of books. Just imagine how Twilight would look if Bella have ever had her period. Sarah J. Mass made me feel that Celeana is a real woman who sometimes feels the pain and stays in bed despite the duties.

I will add one more quote here for you, well because it is a good one:
“She moaned into her pillow. "Go away. I feel like dying."
"No fair maiden should die alone," he said, putting a hand on hers. "Shall I read to you in your final moments? What story would you like?"
She snatched her hand back. "How about the story of the idiotic prince who won't leave the assassin alone?"
"Oh! I love that story! It has such a happy ending, too—why, the assassin was really feigning her illness in order to get the prince's attention! Who would have guessed it? Such a clever girl. And the bedroom scene is so lovely—it's worth reading through all of their ceaseless banter!”

I am happy the bookclub made me read the Throne of Glass and I enjoyed the book. I would recomend the saga to everyone who likes young adult stories. Fantasy fans will find interesting topics too. There is lost magic that needs to be dicovered and different worlds to be explored and creatures from the other worlds...

Goodreads synopsis:

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.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her ... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead ... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.