REVIEW: THRONE OF GLASS BY SARAH J. MAAS

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 three years and then be granted her freedom. 

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. 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. (Summary via goodreads)


Note: This review will be spoiler free.

I've heard so much about this book recently, so when I saw it in the library I thought I'd pick it up. And I'm so glad I did! I could barely put this down, I literally had to force myself to stop reading and go to work. I didn't expect to get so hooked so quickly but the story really does get going straight away, and it's extremely fast-paced. I really love Fantasy books, and I haven't read a YA one in a while, so it was nice to read a fantasy book that wasn't completely life ruining (ahem, George R.R Martin ;))

I really loved Caleana immediately, I always love strong female characters but I mostly just loved how sarcastic and witty she was, despite what she'd been through. In my opinion she was the perfect balance of capable and talented but she also had her fair share of flaws.

I'm not usually a fan of love triangles, in fact I usually avoid them at all costs, but in this one I didn't mind. The love triangle develops extremely slowly, and its not really a main issue in the novel, just one that is touched upon. Although I'm sure it will become more of a big storyline in the future books. I usually have a preferences in love triangles too, but again, with this one I don't. I liked Caleanas scenes with both Chaol and Dorian, so I can't wait to see how that pans out in the next book, which I can't wait to get my hands on!

I'm curious to see where the storyline will go now, as there are 5 more books in the series. If you haven't read this one yet, definitely give it a go! It might surprise you.