YA in Review: Throne of Glass (Sarah J. Maas)

First of all, this post will essentially be Spoiler Free, however if there are any I need to mention, they will be marked by an asterisk and will be elaborated on following a dividing line. Any comments by other users will not necessarily be spoiler free, so read at your own risk. Ready? Here we go!

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Throne of Glass is the debut novel of Sarah J. Maas, which she started writing at 16. Consequently, there are some things about this story that feel a little juvenile and not properly fleshed out. BUT, not only did I finish it, I am currently on the fourth book of the series.

What it's about:
Celaena Sardothien is seventeen, beautiful, and adores clothes. But don't let that fool you - she isn't like other seventeen year olds. Celaena is an assassin - not just any assassin, but the famed Adarlan's Assassin. After being betrayed and spending a year in the prison mining camp Endovier, she is offered the chance to be free by no other than the crown prince of Adarlan. There's just one teensy tiny condition: she has to compete against 23 other criminals, assassins, and soldiers in various trials and battles. Oh, and if she wins? Then she serves the King as his personal assassin for several years before earning her freedom. Sounds fun, right?


Why it's worth a read:

• Um hello, the main character is a female assassin!
• There is mystery, fighting, suspense, intrigue, romance, and magical elements
• It's a pretty quick read. I finished it in 3 days (I spent a lot of time reading, but you'll likely have it done in a week if you put it down to have a life from time to time)
• There is just enough in it to keep you interested for book 2
• If you like love triangles, but want a smidge more substance, this is a good bet

Where it disappoints:

• Celaena can be a pretty wimpy assassin at some points. She often sulks, cares more about clothes and her looks. Not entirely sure how she survived for so long in her profession at points
• The competition is really interesting, but occasionally trials are glossed over with a "the fifth test happened, and so-and-so was last" instead of getting full details, which felt like a bit of a cop out
• Repetition. Repetition. Repeti...tion. Celaena often thinks of the same few things, obsesses about the same few things, etc. So sometimes you want her to just get over herself.

Final Thoughts:

This is YA fiction. There is no pretending it isn't, because it feels like this at all times. That isn't a criticism, it just doesn't delve into a lot of the grittier aspects of an assassin's life, and focuses more on teenage drama type feelings. It's overall not particularly graphic, however if you are sensitive to violence I would give this one a pass as it still is a predominant element to this series. If you are able to read this book for what it is, without analyzing it too fiercely, it's an enjoyable and quick book to get through. As a stand-alone novel, I find it really lacking in many areas, but if you are able to see the potential in the story and choose to move along to further books, many things that were not fleshed out well get resolved in a more satisfactory way. What I'm trying to say without spoilers is that some things were given justification and feel at least a bit more into Celaena's backstory later on.

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What did you all think  of this book/this series? Please leave a comment if you'd like further reviews of this series, or a more in-depth, highly spoilery analysis.