Thorne of Glass series review
Guys! I finally did it. I finished the behemoth of a series that is Throne of Glass. Of course, after reading ACOTAR like so many of us, I needed more SJM goodness and this experience was just perfect. Now, not to say that the series has no flaws, we will definitely get into that in this review later on, but I must admit that Throne of Glass definitely reached my expectations. I am so excited to read Crescent City after Christmas, and can’t wait to hopefully read a crossover from TOG, ACOTAR and CC in the upcoming book this coming January. I truly believe if HBO made this whole thing into a tv show, we would have another Game of Thrones on our hands, but better. Without further ado, here is my detailed review of the entire Throne of Glass series.
No spoiler review: Celaena Sardothien, known among some seedy sorts as Aderlans Assassin is a strong, independent, snarky blonde full of attitude. But how can she not have an attitude, she is after all, the best. Well, that will be tested thoroughly in the coming books, as everything in her life will change. After coming to the Glass Castle with the Captain of the Guard in order to compete to become the King’s Champion, Celaena is faced with the complicated history and present at the castle. Having to solve riddles and compete with rowdy men for a coveted position will be the least of her problems once everything goes to mayhem. I literally cannot summarise more without insanely spoiling the series, so I will leave it at that. Trust me, each book gets better and better so no matter what: do not quit before Empire of Storms AT LEAST.
Assassin’s Blade – 5/5
Ok, I know there is a lot of controversy around the topic, so let me set the record straight. I did not start with the prequel Assassin’s Blade, and I deeply regret it. A lot of my faults with Throne of Glass concerned not knowing why Celaena considers herself as so skilled and amazing while we know nothing about it. Well, I definitely recommend reading this book first. My initial thoughts of the prequel Celaena were so strongly positive as I loved her young vibe with a very headstrong attitude. The different situations she finds herself in showed me her character in so many different ways, and I loved them all.
My least favourite part was the Pirate’s Bay section, as I did not find Rolfe to be as interesting as other characters. Luckily, I LOVED the humble and shy Yrene Towers. I found her brief interaction with Caleana to be so important for both of their characters and I knew straight away that she would become a very important character later on. The story in the Red Desert was my absolute favourite. I found the world building so interesting, with a lot of sprinkles of knowledge, for instance the Spider Silk. I thought the training montage chapters were really well done and did not get boring at all, while Ansel’s betrayal actually surprised me.
Now for the ending… obviously losing Sam Cortland broke my heart into a million pieces, but since I did not read Assassin’s Blade first, I knew it was coming. I think if I read this book first I would be completely surprised and the loss would hit me even harder. Sam was such an interesting character and I would have loved to see their relationship blossom further. Side notes for this book is that Arobynn was a horrible horrible guy but his character is awesome. I cannot wait to talk more about him later.
Throne of Glass – 4 / 5
While yes, it can be argued that the official first book of the series is written in a younger style, I think it was a very good way to introduce the world. While keeping the stakes a LOT smaller than the other books in the series, we got to learn about the world from the inside out. I found the overall plot easily digestible with the A plot being the competition and the B plot being the murderous creature in the castle and Elena.
I think both plots were equally interesting. The relationships between the characters were nice, I liked the way Dorian started out as a run of the mill prince guy and we got quite a lot of development into his character as the story progressed and I kind of hoped her and Cealena would stay together for the next book. I heard lots of people say online how they did not like Kaltain while I actually found her quite enjoyable to read about. She was a young woman in this world trying to make the best of her position, simply going about it in a naive way. Overall I don’t have that much to say about it other than it was nice and I enjoyed it. Well… I definitely enjoyed it more than the next book.
Crown of midnight – 2 / 5
I really struggled with this book. Since I read it second, I still did not understand Celaena’s backstory, and I think if I had maybe I would have been slightly more into it. I found it quite forgettable other than the loss of Nehemia of course, whom I loved in Throne of Glass. I was never that into Chaol, but I figured early on that he could not be ‘the one’ for our protagonist so I always saw him as a placeholder boyfriend. The plot was overall okay but I got quite bored with a lot of it. Always thought Archer was shady so when it all came out I was already over it. Really hoped the next book would be better by the end, especially since we found out Aelin’s true identity.
Heir of fire – 4 / 5
I liked this book a lot more than previous. I thought that the new settings and perspectives on top of the plethora of new characters was much necessary for the series to progress. My most favourite part of the book was Manon. I fell in love with her from the very beginning and could not wait for her to switch sides. I found Abraxos to be so interesting as an animal companion and the connection between the rider and wyvern was so fun. As for Celaena’s story, I really loved how she got her butt kicked by training with Rowan, and
how Rowan became her equal and she wasn’t able to overpower him with magic, skill or intellect. No other character could get to that point so finding Rowan felt like a breath of fresh air. The side characters from Wendlyn were great, especially the one friendly guy from the kitchen (neither I nor the internet seems to remember his name). I liked Sorscha but I hoped she would not be ‘the one’ for Dorian as I wanted him with someone who had a bolder personality, kind of like Aelin’s. In the end I liked the twist of Sorscha working with the rebels and being a spy but ultimately I wasn’t invested enough to care about her death. Chaol was just… a slightly frustrating nuisance.
Queen of shadows – 5 /5
Absolutely loved it. I will try to keep this part of the review structured but this book excites me so much I will definitely lose track of what I’m writing about. First off, I found coming back to Rifthold very nice and we got to know the setting even more. I fell in love with the city and its nasty but nostalgic elements. Celaena really grew in my eyes this book, with her power but also the relationships with Aedion, Lysandra and the rest of her court. I liked the conflict between Aelin and Lorcan, but knowing he will surely join the court eventually I just wanted them all to be one team already. I felt very bad for Dorian this whole book and the way his story was written was extremely sad.
The mention of the Witch Towers by Manon’s grandmother was slightly anticlimactic, but other than that I loved the storyline of the witches. Manon and Elide were a very interesting pairing and I really liked the way the witches claimed Elide, showing her not give up on her situation but instead be smart about getting out of Morath. Overall great book, one of my favourites in the series. The plot surrounding Aelin and the King of Assassins was amazing, the Assassins Keep is one of my favourite locations from the series. The glass castle shattering was a beautiful moment, especially after Dorian’s release from the Valg Prince. His arch came to a satisfying yet bittersweet conclusion as he killed his father who was not evil after all. As can be expected, Chaol just got on my nerves the whole time so I was glad he will now have his own trauma to deal with. If it seems like he is an afterthought in this review, it’s because he is.
Empire of Storms – 5 / 5
Again, full marks. EoS was definitely my favorite book in the series. It was extremely action-packed and all the things I was waiting for, finally happened. Going chronologically:
The meeting with the lords infuriated me. SJM is so good at writing unlikeable characters and with these guys, she did so well. The court is so badass so I am glad they had a small show of strength but ultimately it was very frustrating. Manon and the witches sacking Rifthold was so sad, as I still enjoyed the city and hoped Dorian would be able to rebuild it into a Utopia soon. I was very proud of Manon for saving Dorian and making that pivotal step in changing her allegiance.
Dorian and Rowan’s conversations were a little stale but I still would rather have that than the two of them somehow arguing over Aelin which I kind of expected. Gladly surprised. Then came Manon’s trial for killing a witch and Asterin got sentenced to death! My jaw was on the floor. I knew that would be the end for the witches because there is nothing Manon cares about if not the Thirteen. Meeting Erawan at the temple: scary. But also Aelin was so powerful killing that guard earlier on, I was expecting her to at least attempt fighting him a little bit.
Lorcan and Elide adventures feel like a different book, which is a nice break from the overall vibe in the high-stakes Aelin storyline and the super tense Witches storyline. The Cadre meeting up with Aelin and Rolfe and the whole Skulls Bay section was fun. I ship Lysandra and Aedion but I think Aedion will need to grow up a bit before he can keep up with our leopard girl. Aelin talking to Rolfe and revealing she is Celeana was genuinely funny and the battles at sea were very entertaining. I was so excited when Manon ended up on Aelin’s ship and I was kinda just waiting for them to become friends, knowing that it’s coming.
The journey through the Marshes was cool, I think it solidified this book’s atmosphere of being one huge adventure with different settings and all of the characters finally meeting. Then came the memories about Nehemia and it made me so sad.
Now, I will skip over the battle, and jump straight into the events at the beach. Before reading the book I knew that Aelin would at some point be captured so I was dreading it, knowing how every decision leads to this. I thought the execution of the scene was so good, and at the end I could have cried just as much as Rowan.
Best book in the series, can’t convince me otherwise.
Tower of Dawn – 2 / 5
I hope you don’t hate me for this but… I did not finish ToD. I got about halfway through as I did a tandem read but then EoS was so much more interesting so I just kept listening and by the time I knew it, I finished EoS. Then the idea of continuing ToD alone felt like the hugest chore. Since I don’t like reading books that aren’t fun for me, I decided to just read a summary of the rest of the book. But here are my notes for the first half of the book, which I managed to get through.
Yrene was such a disappointing character for me. Knowing that she joined the Torre Cesme I was expecting her to have grown into a total badass healer, and maybe she would have been if she wasn’t so moody all the time. She seemed to struggle with healing Chaol so much, making me doubt the whole healer concept in the universe, like isn’t she supposed to be the best one out there? Why is she struggling with everything? Chaol did not grow on me at all, I found him to be a boring character ever since ToG,
and sadly I think that is how he will stay forever. The plot was very slow and not that much happened. The royal family was boring and annoying and I don’t mind annoying characters as long as they are entertaining (like Kaltain for example). But this book seemed to struggle with every element in its path. The one thing I did enjoy was the setting and world-building. I think the city itself was described beautifully, the customs and history as well.
Kingdom of Ash – 4 / 5
Aelin’s imprisonment was heart-wrenching and made me absolutely hate our antagonists but, storyline-wise: it was very interesting. The rescue made me so happy, but I did cry when Aelin wanted the chains taken off her and they didn’t know how to help her do it. I liked Lysandra more as the book went on, as in the beginning of the book she annoyed me just a little bit. I understand why Aedion was mad at her, but if I was in her shoes I would not tolerate his snooty attitude all this time. Like get over it Aedion, there’s people dying out there. Unfortunately, I found all the battle scenes to be dragging quite a lot. Maybe for bigger fans of pure fantasy that would be great, but for a romantasy girl like me it was a lot to get through.
I found there to be a lot of interesting worldbuilding done especially with the tunnel creatures when Aelin and the crew were stuck in the boat for those few days. Now.., I guess for the ending. The ending itself would be fine in a lot of ways. I loved that Aelin and Dorian had to work together and that Aelin did not have to sacrifice herself. The Gods were infuriating, like you’re a God, why are they beefing with a teenager? I totally supported Aelin in her decision to basically kill them all, what a badass move. Loved how we got a sneak peek of Rhysand and Feyre and can’t wait to see them meet one day hopefully.
In the end, Dorian’s dad cameo was nice because it provided closure, but I am so upset that Aelin lost her powers. For the very end of the book with the battle, I was disappointed we didn’t get a scene of Aelin just eviscerating everything evil with fire and maybe I would like Yrene killing Erawan if I enjoyed ToD, but I didn’t, so the whole thing felt a bit empty. I still cried at the end when Aelin saw the flowers bloom from her window, it’s the end of an era, especially since it took me months to read this series.
Final thoughts
What. A. Ride! This series definitely had its faults, but ultimately, the experience was a clear 10/10 overall. It was extremely rewarding to know these characters and see their progression across a lengthy timeline and so many fully developed settings. SJM as always provides an interesting storyline, amazing characters, relationships, and weaves in tropes without making it cringy to read. The most impact was made on me during my reading of Empire of Storms and Assassins Blade. Manon became one of my top 3 characters ever and I hope we get to see her again if this series ever gets picked back up (cough, cough House of Flame and shadow?). I finished ACOTAR a few months back and hope to get into Crescent City soon! Thank you for reading my rambly review and thoughts on this series.