Caelena Sardothien is an assassin, or at least she was until she was captured and forced into captivity and slavery. When the Crown Prince finds her and offers her one shot a freedom, she has no choice but to accept his offer. She is to be placed into a competition (with all men) as Prince Dorian's champion and fight to become a royal assassin. will live in the castle and be trained by the Captain of the Guard Chaol Westfall. When one of the other competitors turns up dead, Caelena discovers there is a lot more going on in the castle than she expected. For Prince Dorian, selecting Celaena Sardothien as his Champion in the competition was a way to thumb his nose at his father's authority while still adhering to his father's wishes. His relationship with Celaena was never supposed to get personal, but her wit, passion and snark, so different from that of the simpering court ladies, intrigues him in ways he never expected. Celaena Sardothien, Adarlan's Assassin - feared, fierce, lethal. Everyone in Erilea knows her name, a name synonymous with death. But then betrayed, caught, tried, convicted, Celaena is sentenced to a lifetime in the unforgiving salt mines of Endovier as punishment for her many crimes. In an ironic twist of fate, she's offered the chance to compete to become the Champion of the very king who condemned her; in doing so, earning her freedom... and possibly becoming Erilea's best hope against the dark forces that would seek to destroy it.

You could rattle the stars," she whispered. "You could do anything, if only you dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you most.”

Maas's writing is sophisticated and evocative. She excels in crafting tense action sequences and emotional moments with equal finesse, while the dialogue is sharp, often laced with a dose of humor.

No summary of the plot that I could write would accurately show just how awesome this story is. There is action and mystery and the supernatural. There is a love story ... sort of. It's pretty subtle at this point in the story. This is a story of survival as well as a story of a society which is potentially at the dawn of a new age. This is the story of a girl who has gotten by in this life by taking care of herself and herself alone for the most part, but who finds herself letting her guard down enough to find friendship and companionship. There are so many things to like about this story. I think I'll boil all of it down to these things: I also completely adored Nehemia and her strength and smarts. This girl had willpower only comparable to Calaena's. That's right, you read it correctly... TWO amazingly strong heroines to take part in this story! I agree completely with Lisa that Nehemia was just as amazing! Nehemia provided Caelena with a friend and confidant and I loved their friendship. Once they learned to trust each other, they were unstoppable!Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas is a complex and engrossing fantasy epic that ultimately triumphs, despite its slow start, earning a laudable 4.5-star rating. Celaena is some fraction of fae and human crossbreed princess, last survivor of her family, trained from the age of eight by the unironicaly named King of the Assassins to murder people without remorse. Whom does she assassinate, you might ask? Anyone and everyone she is paid to, as assassins do? Nah. That's too pedestrian. Celaena only assassinates corrupt politicians and people who cheat on their spouses. But that ridiculousness is not what this review is really about, so moving on. In short, don't bother. Read Tamora Pierce instead. Or read this if you want. But also read Tamora Pierce. My problem is not (entirely) that she is a terrible fighter and an even worse assassin, though I do find it problematic that our main character is a woman and supposedly badass while continuously being shown to be bad at her job or rescued by one of the love interests. My problem with Throne of Glass and many YA novels lately is the raging epidemic of Special Woman Syndrome (shortened drastically from what I called it in my review of Defiance). Only the main woman is important. Other women can't do what she does. Much like Celaena, who says on the one hand that she hates women like Kaltain while being exactly what she accuses women like Kaltain of being while the book tells us she isn't, YA novels have a bad habit of saying "you can be special. Only you, though, because only you are like the heroine, not those other girls, who have sex and hate women. You can't trust those girls, they aren't like you. No other girls are like you. Those other girls get raped and murdered. But you're strong. You're special. You are not like other girls."

Philippa: I really have nothing much more to say about Philippa. I guess at least she has bulk 'contained by her cobalt and peach dress' whatever that means. Yes. I'll just put it out there... this is a love triangle. But the way it's developed, it's believable, and never feels overly melodramatic. Two best friends; two guys who are both very similar in values, and yet very different in personality; two guys, flawed but wonderful; two guys who both compliment Celaena well, but in different ways; Two guys like this falling for the same young woman for different reasons? I can totally see that happening. I loved the gradual change as both of them began to see Celaena as more than just a convicted criminal and as an actual person with a heart and a soul... and eventually, perhaps, as a friend. Knowing the state in which the novellas left her heart, I was a tad hesitant about the romance aspect of this book (Sam...), but it works and it's done really well... to the point where it's tearing me up a little because both guys are just so...sigh-inducingly wonderful.Even the villains were perfect! Kane, Princess Kaltain and The King were so unlikable and despicable and I loved to hate them! Queen Elena: ancient half-fae queen known for her beauty and grace and purity and stuff. There's really not much else to say aside from a side-eye of yet another stereotypical queen trope. Oh, did I mention she is also super pale and blonde and beautiful. She and Nehemia would probably wrestle for the presidency of the Celaena Sardothien fanclub, were Elena corporeal. I guess they can now, SINCE THEY'RE BOTH DEAD. Leaving aside their eventual fates (to the point of a fourth-ish through the way of the third book because for some reason I keep reading them, I don't know if I expect them to get better or what), there is the matter of competence. Dorian and Chaol are both lovely. She makes it clear that there's much more beyond the surface than she's allowed us to see in book one and I can't wait to continue.

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