Review of The Crown of Midnight: A Book by Sarah J. Maas

The second installment in the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series…
“A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.  It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend.”

The Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas picks up where Throne of Glass left off.  It was just what I needed…  I was curious about the characters and what was next for them.  On Sarah J. Maas’s website, you learn that in this story the king still has a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch.  Bold, daring, and lethal, assassin Celaena Sardothien won the brutal contest to become his Champion.  Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown.  She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.  Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice.  As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer.  It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.  Then, an unspeakable tragedy shatters Celaena’s world. She must decide once and for all where her loyalties lie . . . and whom she will fight for.

VERDICT:  Wow…I’m finding myself very intrigued by these last 2 novels I’ve read by Sarah J. Maas.  I started with the first book in the Throne of Glass Series called Throne of Glass (I picked it up in the “young adult” section because I thought the cover was cool – I know…you can’t judge a book….).  I was curious enough about what was going to happen to the main characters after finishing the first book, that I picked up the second novel in the series called Crown of Midnight.  And to my surprise, it was just as intriguing as the first one.  I’m so interested in the characters and what’s going to happen to them – I’m hooked on their story now.  I’m surprised, because this really isn’t the type of book I’m normally drawn to.  I did love The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins – very different than what I had been reading when I discovered these books.  After I finished the trilogy, I found myself looking for another series similar to The Hunger Games.  I found and read several good ones – I read The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth – liked it a lot and the movies, and I read  The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey – loved this book and the movie, but I haven’t ventured on to the second novel yet – The Infinite Sea (it’s in my stack on my nightstand – see featured image).  It is also a trilogy.  So…that means I have 2 more to read to finish the Rick Yancey’s series.  Uh-oh…  What now?  Do I finish the books in the Throne of Glass series first, or finish The 5th Wave Trilogy first?  Like I’ve said before – – too many books and not nearly enough time to read them all!!

Back to Sarah J. Maas’s novels…  I really do like them.  My niece is ahead of me in the series, and she says the books are all still great and she is continuing on with them to see what happens.  She has promised not to spoil the ending for me!  There are many titles that are part of this series – 5 total.  They are:

1. Throne of Glass
2. Crown of Midnight
3. Heir of Fire
4. Queen of Shadows
5. Empire of Storms (Release date of September 6th, 2016)

(Click Below to Purchase on Amazon)

There is also a prequel to this series called The Assassin’s Blade.  If I make it through the 5 listed above, I might go back and check it out.  And for those of you who get totally sucked into this series, there is also a Throne of Glass Coloring Book!  Yes…I said it.  There is actually a coloring book.  Might have to look in to this one…  But for now, I think I’ll just order the next book, Heir of Fire!  I have to keep following these characters to see how it all turns out.

If you haven’t heard of Sarah J. Maas, you might want to check out some of her books.   Sarah is a native New Yorker, and she currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and dog. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Hamilton College in 2008 with a degree in Creative Writing and a minor in Religious Studies.  And would you believe that she wrote the first incarnation of the Throne of Glass series when she was just sixteen?  Crazy, right?  The books are now sold in twenty-three different languages.  Very impressive – a book for all kinds of people from all over the world.

I was impressed to find out that the Throne of Glass Series has its own Facebook Page!  Pretty cool, huh?  There are over 42,000 people following this page too!  Wow…I wish I could get that many people to follow my Ball Cap Mom Facebook Page (go ahead and click on it – I dare you to)!  I wonder how she did that…  I think this is an author to watch – I’m liking her work more and more.  It’s a bit out of my comfort zone – perfect poolside reading, but typically not what I lean towards.  Guess it’s good to step outside of my zone once in a while!  Right?

Happy reading!  Let me know what series you get hooked on and tell me what you think.  For now, I’m going to hit the nearest bookstore and pick up a another Sarah J. Maas book very soon!  I’m excited to see what Celaena and Chaol do next!  Until next time…