Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass # 1)

Fantasy. Young Adult. Badass Protagonist. Power. Magic. 

Time for another Emotional Support Re-read!! Mostly just so I can get to the later books, but still.

Rating: 4/5

Pages: 404

Started: 5 July 2023

Finished: 5 July 2023

Summary:

    Celaena Sardothien, formerly Adarlan's Assassin, has been a prisoner in the Endovier salt mines for over a year. When she is visited by crown prince Dorian and his captain of the guard Chaol, Celaena can't turn down their offer: she will enter as the prince's champion into a competition to become the King's Assassin. If she wins, and agrees to work for the king for four years, she will be free. But for Celaena, haunted by her past and weakened by her year of enslavement, the competition proves to be more difficult than expected. When the champions begin dying, murdered and ritualistically desecrated in secluded palace hallways, Celaena realizes she needs to call on more than just her strength as an assassin to win the competition and earn her freedom before she, too, is targeted by the murderer

Thoughts:

    I think this was the most engaging re-read of this book I've ever done. I read it intending to skim through so I could get to the rest of the series, since it really picks up at book three, but I was kind of enthralled. Maybe I just really needed to be back in Celaena's head, but reading this felt quite perfect. I also have been paying more and more attention to the inter-world world-building, knowing that Maas's next book will involve some kind of crossover, which made the world-building feel more complex and interesting. I do recognize the flaws of this book. Celaena is projectable and a bit of a caricature. The men are romanticized ideals (and if Dorian and Chaol,  supposed friends, had just machinated together like friends should, they would have been a lot more fun to read!!). There's nearly no diversity. And the writing is not the most artistic thing ever. But something about the characters' competence and the scope of power is really immersive and makes me feel so much better. I do not have time for a full-series re-read, but I am going to do it anyways. Oops!