Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2)

by Sarah J. Maas

The action-packed, heart-wrenching and fantastically addictive sequel to Sarah J. Maas's epic fantasy debut THRONE OF GLASS.

Eighteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien is bold, daring and beautiful – the perfect seductress and the greatest assassin her world has ever known. But though she won the King’s contest and became his champion, Celaena has been granted neither her liberty nor the freedom to follow her heart. Celaena faces a choice that is tearing her to pieces: kill in cold blood for a man she hates, or risk sentencing those she loves to death. Celaena must decide what she will fight for: survival, love or the future of a kingdom. Because an assassin cannot have it all ... And trying to may just destroy her.

• ISBN10: 1408834944
• ISBN13: 9781408834947
• Publish Date: 15 August 2013
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 14 April 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Imprint: Bloomsbury YA
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

First Read: December 13, 2015 – December 17, 2015

Second Read: May 1, 2021 – May 2, 2021

Crown of Midnight is the second installment to Sarah J. Maas Throne of Glass series, and it left me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Storyline/My Thoughts: I was excited to read the second installment due to how Sarah J. Maas left things during Throne of Glass. I wanted to know how Celaena Sardothien would handle being the King’s Champion and find out if Chaol would finally admit his feelings. Let’s say I got my answers plus more.

Celaena is put through a lot in this book. She has to do unthinkable things for the ruthless King she serves, and both Dorian and Chaol find that she has changed since becoming the King’s Champion. Even her friend Nehemia notices changes with Celaena, but Celaena knows that Nehemia is also not telling her everything. Celaena will have to control her heart in the story because she’ll end up hurt again if she doesn’t. She doesn’t want it broken again after losing Sam. In this book, she’s going to deal with secrets coming out and lots of betrayals. Those betrayals will break her into pieces and show her real self to everyone. She doesn’t know who to trust once she starts finding out truths. Sarah J. Maas revealed so much in this book that it left me in shock.

Now Crown of Midnight made my emotions go like crazy, especially towards the middle of the book. I was in tears and feeling angry, just as bad as Celaena was feeling. I thought Celaena took Sam’s death hard, but this one character killed in the book made Celaena show the abilities she learned as an assassin. I wasn’t expecting the story to end the way it did too. The biggest secret comes out at the end of the book. I was surprised how it was revealed. Celaena trusted the one person in her life that betrayed her to uncover the truth about her. It’s a doozy! 

I loved every bit of Crown of Midnight that I can’t wait to start my re-read of Heir of Fire. All I can say is I despise the King more than ever after reading this book and hope he gets what is coming to him eventually. Power-hungry, greedy King! Grrrr!!!

Celaena is one of my favorite female characters in Young Adult Fantasy, and I look forward to the next story because I know I’m going to adore her even more.

I also love how Sarah changes the POVs of the story from Celaena, Chaol, Dorian, and more because you get to understand what each character is going through. You get a more broad range of what is happening in the story. Plus, I’ve learned to love Dorian and Chaol even more, seeing how they react to everything that has occurred. I’m having a hard time deciding between Chaol and Dorian, though. Sarah makes me love them both in different ways.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I give this book five stars and highly recommend this book and the first book to YA Fantasy readers out there. It does take a while for Celaena to grow on you in the first book due to her personality. Crown of Midnight will show off the Celaena that I read in the novellas. She’s growing up and realizing what she has to do to save everyone from the ruthless King. 

[Mad Soul Child]

Селена вообще как то хреново поступает по отношению к Дорину, Шаол так проебался, а она все равно ему больше рассказывает, а Дорину какие то объедки информации
ее связь с Аэлиной стала понятна естественно при первом же упоминании пропавшей принцессы
Ставлю 4, потому что первая половина книги была откровенно скучной
Шаол придурошный, он меня раздражает, а Дорин вообще такого не заслужил

[pamela]

Phew, what a ride! But good lord does Calaena go through men. And I'm still not entirely convinced she's a very good assassin. She's spotted every time she tries to track someone and misses almost every time she tries to kill someone.

There is also the plot crutch of good guys never talking to each other, and the bad guys never shutting up! But still, Crown of Midnight is the kind of swashbuckling romantic adventure you can just lose yourself in. I read the whole book in 24 hours which should give a pretty clear indication of how engrossed I was.

Again, it's tropey and predictable, but a cracking good read nonetheless! I'm hooked.

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog: www.thepunktheory.wordpress.com

Plot twist, plot twists everywhere I look. If I hadn't been intrigued by the Throne of Glass series before, I'd certainly be now.
We only began exploring the huge world SJM created and dive deeper into our favorite characters' pasts - and futures!
The character development game is going strong and once more I have to applaud Sarah J. Maas. She creates characters like no one else. Compared with Throne of Glass, she even took it up a notch for this novel.
I'm itching to find out more about those mysteries and dark powers lurking in every shadow. Although I'm not sure I can't take many more of those chapters as they always make me hold my breath!
The biggest twist came almost at the end of the book. I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers but I saw that one coming. Saw it coming and hoped I was right. I almost did a little dance, I was so excited, once I found out it's indeed true!

[maggiefan]

It was a decent read. 3.5 I would say. But the main character still bothered me, a lot. Although I'm looking forward to continuing the series. It was a very interesting book compared to the first one.

I really enjoyed this book. Unfortunately, most of the plot twists were obvious from the start of this book, which took away the element of surprise. All went as expected, making this book seem more like a filler than an actual book in the series.
However, there were new important elements added to the story which I enjoyed and we got to know more about the characters. Overall, this was a really entertaining book, although I would not consider it a well written book simply because of the fact that the major plot twists is given away in the beginning of the book, and there is not a lot of character development in terms of their personality.

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews

Throne of Glass was a great book, but Crown of Midnight rocks ten times harder! Seriously... Crown of Midnight was INCREDIBLE!!! I actually think it was even better than Throne of Glass! It was so intense, the plot moved swiftly, there are EPIC twists/turns/unveilings, and a delicious swoony romance! Oh, and Celaena kicks some serious ass.

[Celaena] was a weapon forged to end lives.
—Page 217

THIS BOOK WAS SO FULL OF SWOON!!!! I did not expect that! I loved Throne of Glass, but OH. MY. GOD! Crown of Midnight was packed with sexy, swoony scenes and a book boyfriend that will make you blush fifty shades of crimson.

Just the touch of his fingers on her skin could turn her into a feral beast.
—Page 199

I became a HUGE fan of Chaol in Crown of Midnight. I wasn't rooting for him in Throne of Glass because I felt like he never spoke. He was so quiet and withdrawn. But in Crown of Midnight he really comes out of his shell and I LOVED reading from his point of view! He's a great character, and ohmygod he is seeeeeexy! He and Celaena have so much chemistry. Although, I was really disappointed when their relationship kind of fell apart. SO BUMMED! They're so perfect together and I loved all their hot, flirty, swoony scenes! I'm sure there will be more romance between them in future books, but I was still really disappointed when it ended in Crown of Midnight.

And, Crown of Midnight finally shows what a badass Celaena is! I think one of the biggest criticisms of Throne of Glass was that Celaena didn't feel like much of a badass assassin. Well, in Crown of Midnight Celaena completely owns!

"Enough! We have enough enemies as it is! There are worse things out there to face!"

Celaena slowly turned to him, her face splattered with blood and eyes blazing bright. "No there aren't," she said. "Because I'm here now."
—Page 221

There are crazy, maddening, brutal killings, and Celaena finally acts like the assassin she is. We get to see her in action, taking people down! She can be seriously ruthless when she wants to be!

Crown of Midnight was action-packed and entertaining right down to the very last page. Something was constantly happening and there were no slow moments! There are even more hot, badass, and intriguing scenes than in Throne of Glass and I was so bummed when the story ended! I could just keep reading, and reading, and reading. I loved the plot developments and I'm seriously so psyched to see how the series continues!!

Sarah, you have blown me away!!

[Stephanie]

Baba Yellowlegs is a queen and I love her. We are soulmates.

But for reals, I had a difficult problem swallowing the severity of Celaena's anger at Chaol, which really made me frustrated with the book overall because I just didn't understand how we got from Point A to Point B. Or why. I get being mad, but THAT mad? IDK.

Also, Dorian. You do you, man.

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

~*Full review here on The Bent Bookworm!*

Everyone has read this book already. Everyone, except me. Therefore, I’m departing from my usual format for my Crown of Midnight review. This is a play-by-play of my reactions as I read the book – yes, I kept very detailed notes, down to the page number! I probably could have finished it a lot faster without…but I just couldn’t stop. I also took a lot MORE of these notes in the last half of the book than the first, hehe. It probably goes without saying, but, um…

******SPOILER ALERT!!! For ToG, Books 1 & 2*******

Beginning: Well, hopefully a few people will have become actual adults this time…(you can see my rather unimpressed review of Throne of Glass here)

6 – Ewwwww…glad to see Celaena hasn’t lost her love of the dramatic, I guess?

15 – “Plans” seem a little overrated.

25 – Why is Chaol still so worried about the king? The king is evil. Chaol is not. I don’t understand this loyalty.

29 – I don’t like this Roland person.

31 – WHY SO MANY CLOTHES AND SHOES?!? I don’t understand.

36 –

Unlike Celaena’s [bookshelf], which housed every title she got her hands on, whether she liked the book or not.

THERE’S my girl.

43 – I want a necklace that glows when danger is near, damn it.

74 – And now I miss MY best friend, damn it. Nehemia is the best.

89 – Chaol, you overprotective ASS…you better watch yourself.

91 – Ugh. I’ve never been comfortable with the idea of courtiers/courtesans, male or female (not in this context, anyway). I get that sometimes it’s a lifestyle choice, but in this case it’s pure slavery and…UGH.

92 – I’m a little disturbed that so far the only same sex relationships in this series are portrayed as a taboo thing, something to hide and keep behind closed doors. I get that maybe that’s how Adarlan’s society IS, buuuuut…it seems like it never occurs to anyone, even our heroine, to look at it differently.

111 – Aaaaahhh secret passageways and tunnels!! Or rather, more of them.

138 – Phew. There for a minute I thought we were headed for a love SQUARE. At least now we’re back to love triangle that IS NOT a triangle, according to Dorian. Just keep believing that there, little buddy.

192 – Ok. I love Chaol, as much as he’s flawed and torn by his idea of loyalty. And I feel like my heart is going to be broken by it somewhere along the line…

223 – Now there’s the assassin I’ve been waiting to see!

229 – WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING OMG NO NO NO NO.

230 – THIS IS ALL WRONG. SO WRONG. WHAT EVEN.

241 –

Death was her curse and her gift, and death had been her good friend these long, long years.

246 – I’m so sad I don’t even know if I can keep reading this.

(puts book down for about a day)

267 –

Then Celaena and the King of Adarlan smiled at each other, and it was the most terrifying thing Dorian had ever seen.

Yikes.

291 – I love how everyone gets upset and distraught and…runs to the library for their happy place.

294 – Are you kidding me, Chaol?? You’re STILL having twinges of conscience about this bloody tyrant of a king? Or is it Dorian you’re actually worried about? Because that’s slightly more acceptable even if it doesn’t make you any less stupid.

296 – Ooooh is the battle hungry rebel guard a woman?

297 – LOL JK

300 –

“Then you will always have a place here.”

Oh, god, Dorian. Come on now.

309 – Well, that doesn’t reek of LotR AT ALL.

313 – OH MY GOD CHAOL. Just because she’ll never trust you again doesn’t make her a threat to one of her best friends.

328 – Hold on – does it occur to anyone that she’s going to have to walk/climb/run back up ALL THOSE STAIRS? That’s a lot of freakin’ stairs…

339 – Haha. Ok well, glad someone addressed that problem.

357 –

The world didn’t need an assassin with a coward’s heart. It needed someone like Nehemia.

366 – Archer =

373 – Yes, yes beg ALL the gods that will listen.

374 – NOT FLEETFOOT!!!

378 – Okay, any man that will risk his life to save her dog…

379 – Well I knew SOMETHING was coming I just didn’t expect THAT SOMETHING.

Am I the only one that was just…not expecting that AT ALL??

389 – That’s right, call her a good woman. Probably not the best thing you could have said right there.

393 - WAIT WHAT?!?!? SHE KNEW ALL ALONG?????? WTF?!?

398 – “Her” kind, clever prince? WHA?

405 –

“Knowing the truth, whatever it may be, will not change what you must do tomorrow – where you must go.”

Why have I not seen THIS quote on a t-shirt?

408 –

Never forgive, never forget.

Yeah, ok. So. That was one big puddle of feelings and some confusion. I have many mixed…thoughts. I felt this one was much better written than the first (thank you, SJM, for sparing us the many repeated descriptions of just.how.beautiful. Celaena is), and it was overall much more interesting. We learned a lot more about the world, about Celaena’s background (OBviously), as well as Chaol’s, and some new, very interesting characters were introduced (Baba Yellowlegs?? I was so disappointed that she had such a brief part).

I’m so bummed that Nehemia died. And in such a truly SENSELESS way. Actually, bummed doesn’t even begin to describe it. The book itself even states that it was a catalyst, an instigator, that she sacrificed herself in order to goad Celaena into action…WTF?!? That is so wrong and sad on so many levels. I’m extremely disappointed in that aspect. I’ve seen a few different bloggers talk about how in some very popular books, POC are used as plot devices…and I’m guessing that this is one of the chief offenders. No matter how much of an amazing character Nehemia was, the fact is that her death was used as a tool is just beyond sad.

The ending was awesome, though. I love that Celaena is strong enough to say goodbye, even when she knows it is probably goodbye forever, or at least goodbye to the happiness she had. I still love Chaol even if he’s a complete dunderhead, and I have hopes that he will come around. He doesn’t seem to be an ENTIRELY lost cause. And Dorian…I can’t even begin to figure out what’s going on with Dorian. He’s such an utterly nice person, and it kind of makes him boring but I want him to be happy. Oh, and whatever happened to Roland?? Like he was there, and vaguely creepy and unsettling and then he was just…nothing. So confused.

This is such a popular series I’m sure most people who read my blog have read it, so (WITHOUT spoiling the next books, please!), tell me what you think! I’d love to talk about it some more.

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[Katie King]

Still going strong!

I can see where people thought this dragged though, and the major reveal at the very end I saw coming SEVERAL MILES away. I also think there might be too many things going on at once, and the details get lost or skipped over, leaving me a little confused or saying "hey, wait! what???" Other than that, this was quite enjoyable.