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A review by keysmashhh
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Plot: 3.5/5
Character: 3.5/5
Relationships: 4/5
World-Building: 3.5/5
Genre: 3/5
things i liked
- THE NOSTALGIA. reading this book sent me straight back to being 11 again when i read this book for the first time. ironically, I felt meh about the book when I first read it, but i think the series has grown on me now.
- this book doesn't reinvent the wheel or do anything particularly new in terms of the fantasy genre but its impact can't be understated as it pretty much invented so many of the tropes that are staples of the trashy-fantasy world nowadays (eg. the "who did this to you?" and that scene where they're playing billiards)
- the first time i read this I hated Celaena, but tbh she actually grew on me throughout this book. She's less one-dimensional than i remember and I appreciate the snarkiness of her dialogue - she's actually a badass and way cooler than a lot of other fantasy heroines (especially for the time)
- the first time I read this book I wanted to hate on it to be "quirky" but it actually really isn't as bad as I remember - I feel like having grown up the cliche-ness of the book makes it comforting rather than infuriating.
- there is so much more depth to the world-building than I gave it credit for (sure some things could have been explained better) but the way she constructed this world is pretty impressive for a first time writer. and the commitment to authenticity in terms of the realism of the characters in a fantasy world was surprisingly refreshing (eg. Celeana getting her period - something just never shown in fantasy books really)
things i felt meh about
- the romance. you know what love triangles suck, especially when there's a clear winner out of the two men (DORIAN OF COURSE!!!) but I appreciate how SJM balanced the romantic-coded scenes between both characters to at least give the illusion of competition (not that there is any competition in my mind over who is best)
- Talking of Dorian....DORIAN <3 that's all I need to say. HOWEVER, I have criticisms, is he kind of just a Will Herondale, but like less perfect and set in a more fantasy world. Like, pretty - funny - and reads a lot. It's kind of giving a less amazing Will (because Will Herondale is the standard for which all book men will be compared to for me!).
- the actual plot of this book fell kind of flat for me, both the main plot (the competition) and the sub-plot (the mystery of the funky mark thingies) were all a bit bland and unfeeling, maybe now I'm older I crave more complexity in my fantasy book but there was just something lacking in both sides of the plot.
- the other characters, all of them felt significantly underdeveloped. Tbh even the main character did. I felt like I knew nothing about the character's in this book and their motivations were frustratingly unclear at times. Nehemia, Kaltain, Philippa - all had so much to offer the book in terms of other types of strong female characters but all consistently felt like they were swept to the side.
- Kaltain especially had just so much mystery around her, and I'm really hoping she's not neglected/written out in the next book because I feel like she's got so much more intrigue in her.
- there's a lot of weirdness surrounding Sarah J Maas books which I don't really know how to feel about, there are defiantly issues within the books themselves which probably haven't aged as well as she would have hoped and overall the books definitely don't have the magic of some of my favourite amazingly well-written fantasy series but there is definitely something in this book which made me feel something.
- the writing style of this was so hit and miss at times - some moments I was impressed by the prose choices but most of the time I was kind of cringing trying to ignore some of the more cliche writing tropes she used. - HOWEVER, I appreciate this was SJM's first book so I'm hoping that it improves as I read more.
things i didn't like
- the way people hail this book as the "best YA fantasy book ever" just frustrates me. Like the book doesn't really excel at anything in particular, except being the origin of many cliche tropes. it's not a bad book, but it's not as amazingly good as people keep advertising it as.
Character: 3.5/5
Relationships: 4/5
World-Building: 3.5/5
Genre: 3/5
things i liked
- THE NOSTALGIA. reading this book sent me straight back to being 11 again when i read this book for the first time. ironically, I felt meh about the book when I first read it, but i think the series has grown on me now.
- this book doesn't reinvent the wheel or do anything particularly new in terms of the fantasy genre but its impact can't be understated as it pretty much invented so many of the tropes that are staples of the trashy-fantasy world nowadays (eg. the "who did this to you?" and that scene where they're playing billiards)
- the first time i read this I hated Celaena, but tbh she actually grew on me throughout this book. She's less one-dimensional than i remember and I appreciate the snarkiness of her dialogue - she's actually a badass and way cooler than a lot of other fantasy heroines (especially for the time)
- the first time I read this book I wanted to hate on it to be "quirky" but it actually really isn't as bad as I remember - I feel like having grown up the cliche-ness of the book makes it comforting rather than infuriating.
- there is so much more depth to the world-building than I gave it credit for (sure some things could have been explained better) but the way she constructed this world is pretty impressive for a first time writer. and the commitment to authenticity in terms of the realism of the characters in a fantasy world was surprisingly refreshing (eg. Celeana getting her period - something just never shown in fantasy books really)
things i felt meh about
- the romance. you know what love triangles suck, especially when there's a clear winner out of the two men (DORIAN OF COURSE!!!) but I appreciate how SJM balanced the romantic-coded scenes between both characters to at least give the illusion of competition (not that there is any competition in my mind over who is best)
- Talking of Dorian....DORIAN <3 that's all I need to say. HOWEVER, I have criticisms, is he kind of just a Will Herondale, but like less perfect and set in a more fantasy world. Like, pretty - funny - and reads a lot. It's kind of giving a less amazing Will (because Will Herondale is the standard for which all book men will be compared to for me!).
- the actual plot of this book fell kind of flat for me, both the main plot (the competition) and the sub-plot (the mystery of the funky mark thingies) were all a bit bland and unfeeling, maybe now I'm older I crave more complexity in my fantasy book but there was just something lacking in both sides of the plot.
- the other characters, all of them felt significantly underdeveloped. Tbh even the main character did. I felt like I knew nothing about the character's in this book and their motivations were frustratingly unclear at times. Nehemia, Kaltain, Philippa - all had so much to offer the book in terms of other types of strong female characters but all consistently felt like they were swept to the side.
- Kaltain especially had just so much mystery around her, and I'm really hoping she's not neglected/written out in the next book because I feel like she's got so much more intrigue in her.
- there's a lot of weirdness surrounding Sarah J Maas books which I don't really know how to feel about, there are defiantly issues within the books themselves which probably haven't aged as well as she would have hoped and overall the books definitely don't have the magic of some of my favourite amazingly well-written fantasy series but there is definitely something in this book which made me feel something.
- the writing style of this was so hit and miss at times - some moments I was impressed by the prose choices but most of the time I was kind of cringing trying to ignore some of the more cliche writing tropes she used. - HOWEVER, I appreciate this was SJM's first book so I'm hoping that it improves as I read more.
things i didn't like
- the way people hail this book as the "best YA fantasy book ever" just frustrates me. Like the book doesn't really excel at anything in particular, except being the origin of many cliche tropes. it's not a bad book, but it's not as amazingly good as people keep advertising it as.