Trono de Cristal (Throne of Glass, #1)

by Sarah J. Maas

The book that started the phenomenon. Sarah J. Maas's global #1 bestselling THRONE OF GLASS series has taken the world by storm.

Meet Celaena Sardothien.
Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake. She got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament - fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin's heart be melted?

• ISBN10: 607112316X
• ISBN13: 9786071123169
• Publish Date: 14 November 2012 (first published 2 August 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 1 July 2021
• Imprint: Alfaguara
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 528
• Language: Spanish

Reviews

Reread: August 21, 2014

....Holy...I don't even know what to say! That was utterly fantastic!
Characters = amazing.
Plot = amazing.
Whole freaking book = amazing.


You know those books where you don't want it to end? You just want it to continue on forever and ever and be blissfully unaware of everything in this world except for this book? Yeah, that's definitely this book.




What I loved:

Celaena:
This, this is a strong female character. She kicks ass, she's strong, independent and sassy. She's got a sharp-tongue and sharper mind. She doesn't take crap from anyone and isn't afraid to speak her mind, no matter the consequences. But what makes her even more awesome? She's so unexpectedly girly. I love it that she can be physically tough, but still loves all things sparkly. She loves to dress up, wear make-up and flirt. She's the perfect mash-up of femininity and strength.


Dorian:
I must say, I was rather surprised I fell in love with Dorian as I did. He's a total playboy, confident flirt with a sarcastic sense of humor that I loved. But underneath that is a guy who you know will grow up to be a good leader one day. He's defiant, strong and smart. While I'm not sure I liked his and Celaena's relationship, I did adore him as a character.


Chaol:
While I actually ended up loving Dorian more than I thought, I'd be a big fat liar if I said I didn't fall head over heels for the ever stoic Captain of the Guard. He doesn't quite trust Celaena, but he's on her side. He's broody, stoic, honorable and incredibly loyal but you get those little glimpses of his dry humor and softer side. I can't wait to see more of him in the upcoming books!


Nehemia:
Another tough female character. That's right. There's not one but two tough female characters. Ha! And both are fantastic! She's intelligent, snarky and just all-around awesome! She's got an air of mystery that kept me guessing on what she had up her sleeve.


Character interactions:
By far what made me love this book were the interactions between the characters. Honestly, I don't think I've ever fallen in love with a set of characters as much as I have these. I was constantly laughing at the witty banter and relishing in the tension filled goodness between the characters. Simply perfect.


Plot:
I absolutely loved it! It was interesting and creative and I loved the competition. And the ending just blew up! The mystery was a bit slow at first, but then during the last half the mystery really comes into play and everything just happens and it's a crazy fast whirlwind of absolute awesomeness! Sword-fighting, princes, assassins, soldiers, knives, mystery, fighting princesses, crazy tyrants and complex worlds. What more could you want?!?! I love that there are little snippets here and there of more awesomeness to come! More fae and magic and more information about Celeana's past. I must say I was really surprised with the addition of the fae, but it keeps me hooked for book two. This book really only covered the surface of what this world is capable of and I really look forward to the expansion of the plot!


POV Changes:
While most of the book is from Celeana's point of view, you get random views from Chaol and Dorian and while they are sporadic, I must say I really enjoyed it. It allows you a glimpse into their lives and views of Celeana.


World-building:
Oh, fantasy. How I love thee. I could easily imagine this complex world and can't wait to explore even more of it! Though I do wish there was a map (however, I have an ARC so one may be included in the final copies). I really can't wait to learn more about Adarlan's tyrannical rule and all the interactions between the nations and their pasts.


1 minor problem:
Minor Spoiler Ahead:
It took too long to get to the mystery. But my main problem was that I felt that everyone (except Celaena) were kind of idiots when it came to solving it. I feel as if the author needed Celeana to be the one to solve it, so she purposefully made the other characters stupid when it came to the mystery. But the other characters were smart enough to have started to figure it out themselves ya know? I'm not saying solve it because obviously the MC is Celeana and she needs to be a big part of it, but the other characters didn't need to be quite that slow.


Overall:


To be honest, I could go on and on about all the fantasticness of this book. I didn't want to put it down. I literally ignored everything else in my life in order to finish this book and when it was done, I didn't want it to end! The characters by far made this book for me. Their interactions were fantastic! This is another great book to add to your favorite fantasies! Goodness, my review doesn't do this book justice in the least. I've tried re-writing this too many times to count and can't get all my love for this in words. 2 months later and my mind is still reeling from all that is this book. Please, I beg you to go read it and fall in love with it as I did.


All the best ♥
Mackenzie @ Oh, For the Love of Books!

[vagasker]

Though it's pretty cliche (bad-ass girl, two dudes who fall in love with her etc. etc.) I really enjoyed it!I didn't like the main character much at the beginning, because she's almost too perfect, but I really warmed up to her. Overall, it was a quick and fun read.

[Nessa Luna]

Read this review, and many more on my blog October Tune!

Celaena Sardothien is an assassin, probably the best in her country. Except for one small detail. She got caught. Having spent a year in the salt mines of Endovier, she gets an opportunity to win back her freedom. Become the King’s champion, work for him for five years, and walk away a free woman. But with a mysterious and vicious killer on the loose, determined to wipe out all the potential champions, winning back her freedom isn’t as easy as Celaena had thought it would be.

I had added this book to my to-read list a long time ago, but I never got to reading it, even though a lot of people absolutely loved it. When I got a VVV cheque for my birthday, I decided to go to the Waterstones store in Amsterdam and there I finally bought Throne of Glass. I fell in love with the cover, because it just looked absolutely gorgeous!

When I started reading the book, I felt like I was rereading Poison Study. In a land ruled by a man who got his power by killing the royal family, where magic is forbidden, a murderous girl gets a chance to earn back their freedom. They have to do dangerous things (participate in the competition/become the general’s food taster) and risk being killed or send back to their prison each day. There is also a (part of the) country that is still not in the hands of that important person, but they are trying to make it theirs. But other than that, the stories were also quite different from each other, and I enjoyed both of them a lot.

First thing I noticed about this story was the map. I L O V E maps in books, especially if it’s a fictional country. This helps me imagine the world they live in better, and I found myself flipping back to the map in the front of the book very often to see which city or country they were talking about. I once made a post about how much I love books in maps, and this always gets the book an extra point!

While the story was mostly about Celaena trying to become the King’s champion, we didn’t read a lot about those tests she was supposed to do. I had hoped to read more about those tests, though they might have been simple, that was what the story was supposed to be about. Of course, there was another story line that was going on, the murders of the champions, but still the author could have cut some of the romantic parts and added more of the testings, in my opinion. Which brings me to the next part, the romance. Yes, there is romance in this book. At some points, I actually felt like there might have been a love triangle, which is something I despise. I can’t really say I ‘ship’ the two, maybe after reading the second book in the series. If there isn’t going to be another love interest of course.

I kind of felt like Sherlock Holmes, trying to solve the murders before they were actually solved in the book, and I personally think I did a very good job. The first person I suspected ended up being the one who had caused everything, but to me it had been kind of obvious (though some things in the story made me confused).

I liked the characters, but there was only one that I really loved. Nehemia. She was an amazing friend to Celaena and she made me so happy every time. There were parts where I actually suspected her of all the murders, but I think I suspected every character in the book at some point. Anyway, she was just such a lovely person and it made me happy every time I read about her.

I thought this book was very well written, only I would have loved a little chart that taught you how to pronounce all the names, because that is one thing I don’t like about fantasy novels, the difficult names that you think are pronounced like this, only to find out that they are pronounced like that. In the end, I enjoyed Throne of Glass a lot, and I will definitely be checking out the rest of the series! I recommend this book to you if you love fantasy with an awesome heroine, and especially if you loved Poison Study (because even though the story sounds similar, they are both amazing in their own way)!

[KitsuneBae]

If Celaena had been a boy, I wouldn't hesitate to hook up with him. Hahahaha. Assassins and witty sarcasm are an awesome mix.

[Chelsea]

Initial Thoughts

I was sucked in as soon as I opened this book. I had high expectations because I've seen a lot of reviews about this book and they stayed high as I started to read.

My New Best Friend

I'm going to say Celeana since she's so awesome. But I loved Nehemia as well. Both characters were strong and fantastic female characters, which I loved. I'd choose either of them for a best friend. I'd actually choose any (good) character as my best friend. They were all really well done.

My Crush

I love Chaol so much. I had a hard time going through the book and not seeing him sometimes. I just love him so much. He's on my top crushes list now. Easily. I just love how completely innocent he is. He doesn't even realize he's in love with Celeana. Usually I hate it when the main character picks the guys I like but this time I feel like she's good for him. Not that she can have him since he's mine.

Writing Style

I loved the writing style in this book. It was quick and simple but the author still showed that she was an excellent writer. She managed to suck me right into the book and I couldn't stop reading. I loved everything about it.

Closing Thoughts

I am in love with this book. I can't believe I didn't read it sooner. I love that the main character is an assassin and that she can fight. It's a nice change from having the typical girly girl who can fight in case she'd break a nail. She was a great main character and a great girl to look up to. This book is going right onto my favourites shelf. Everything about this book was amazing. I'd recommend it to everyone.

Bonus

I love the cover art. It's beautiful. I also love that the character on the cover actually looks like the main character. Bonus points for that. ALSO, the main character was a book nerd. LOVED IT.

[Berls]

My Initial Reaction...

Michelle @ Because Reading pretty much held me at shotgun - she'll be weighing in on my review throughout - and said I needed to read Throne of Glass. And then I won the book and there was no reason not to read it anymore. And boy am I glad!! It was flipping fabulous! I loved the characters, the magic, and the wonderfully medieval-esque fantasy world in Throne of Glass

The Characters...

The heroine of Throne of Glass is Celaena Sardothien, a teenage girl living a very adult life. At just eight years old she was orphaned and taken in by a master assassin. She trained with him and eventually became Adarlan's Assassin. As in  - the most notorious assassin in the land. But when we meet Celaena she's been down on her luck - she's been caught and convicted to work in the vicious salt mines until her death. And considering the horrible conditions there, her death probably isn't far away. But her luck is about to change - she's getting the opportunity to enter a contest to become the king's champion and earn her freedom.

Michelle Says:
Celaena was just a totally bad ass. Has to be one of my favorite heroines.

So I pretty much adored Celaena! She's your definitive bad-ass, independent urban fantasy heroine. She is stubborn as all hell and even more determined. I loved being inside her mind - she's so smug! This girl does not suffer from a lack of confidence and that was great - she was not broken by her time in the mines and she has a silent strength that refuses to be broken. period. She also has pretty much no sense of limits. She teases and sometimes crosses over to purposefully spiteful. And you can't help but love her for her flippant attitude.

Dorian, the prince, and Chaol, her guard and trainer, certainly aren't immune to her charms. I loved both these men and a part of me seriously hates that a love triangle is forming. I'm not a huge fan of love triangles in general and ones where I like both the love interests are the worst. Someone's going to get hurt and I'm going to hate that moment when it comes. I can only hope that something happens to make one of these two guys not quite right for Celaena and drop out of the race for her heart of their own volition. Maybe they'll fall in love with someone else...? 

Michelle Says:
Slow down young lady, Chaol is mine :) I would totally fight you for him. Triangles are tough when both guys are good but I am TEAM CHAOL :)

Anywho - as I was saying - I love both these guys. Dorian isn't what you'd expect from a prince, particularly the son of this horrible - downright vicious - King. He's nothing like his father - you can tell from the start that he really has a heart and feels horribly about what his father has down as he's conquered territories, leaving a destructive path in his wake. He also is a bit of a playboy, which makes the interactions between him and Celaena that much more interesting. And then there's Chaol, who I personally like better than Dorian for Celaena. I think he's a better fit for her and knows her better. I also think he's a bit more her equal - under that reserved proper facade is a man with many of the same qualities as Celaena (IMO). I guess only time will tell if I'm right.

The Story...

Michelle Says:
Did you not find the king to be so evil? I hated him.

The story for Throne of Glass surrounds Celaena's training and participation in the challenges to be the king's champion.I really enjoyed this element of Throne of Glass because it allowed us to see how tough Celaena is. She knows she's out of shape from her time in the mines, so she pushes herself in her training (as does Chaol). But in addition to the competition to be the king's champion, someone/something has been viciously killing contestants and Celaena's not content to wait for it to come and get her. She's a smart cookie and she's using everything at her disposal - including allies in the castle and the expansive library - to try and get to the bottom of what's happening.

Michelle Says:
I never expected magic and I was loving it too. I just felt like Throne of Glass had everything.

All this action and mystery is amplified as Throne of Glass progresses and you realize that this is serious fantasy. Early on there are references to magic, but it feels very unimportant. Then all of a sudden - BAM - magic is there front and center. I loved it, but really wished it had been developed a little more thoroughly early on. To be fair, I think it wasn't because this is a world where the king has worked furiously to remove magic and all the people we're seeing are somewhat in the dark.

Michelle Says:
I loved the life inside the castle too. I loved how she went from a prisoner to a royal. It was nice to see her be kind of girlie.

A final element to the story - which I also loved - was the life inside the castle. This had all the makings of everything medieval that I love. We're in a castle and there's all the elements of court life - the clothes, the balls, the conniving women, etc. It was the perfect mix of action, fantasy, and historical (yet fantastical) setting.

Concluding Sentiments...

Michelle Says:
I told you so :)

Well, I may have read Throne of Glass under pressure, but I'm sure glad I did. I enjoyed every element of it and I'm thoroughly looking forward to reading the next one!

[tellemonstar]

Really freakin good! Had it read in about 6 hours, just couldn't put it down. Review to come.

[Mercy]

3.5/5
Un libro realmente gracioso. Me ha gustado, pero si nos vamos a que esperaba fantasía épica se queda un poco corto. Pero los personajes son tan únicos, divertidos. Diálogos tronchantes- Es más bien como una parodia del género fantástico. En realidad, creo que promete mucho.

Reseña completa: http://thebooksaremylife.blogspot.com/2014/01/resena-trono-de-cristal-sarah-mass.html

[elysium]

Celaena is an assassin who has been in prison at Endovier for a year. She’s being dragged from the prison and given a choice to become the king’s champion for 4 years and then get her freedom. But first she has to win the competition against other criminals to win the price.

I’ve read lot of great reviews about this and I’m so glad it lived up to those!

I loved the fact that Celaena was an assassin and not some damsel in distress. What’s not to like in a girl who speaks her mind? The book starts after she was captured so we don’t see her killing people or anything like that. She manages to become friends with princess Nehemia and she’s lot more friendly and likeable with her.

And of course there is a love triangle. This is YA book after all. I have to say I’m all for Chaol, the Captain of the Guards. Dorian, the crown prince, didn’t do anything for me and I didn’t really believe in their romance. It felt awkward and they fell for it way too easily. But yeah, I’m rooting for Chaol.

[limabean74]

This is a YA Fantasy with so much detail, story and character development I would call it EPIC. I never use the word EPIC but it's the only way I can describe it. When I first picked up this book I saw it described as a Cinderella retelling. It's has a Cinderella feel but it is not a retelling. It’s an AMAZING story all by itself.

It took about a half a chapter for me to know I was going to love this book. I'm really trying to find the words to explain. I seriously LOVED it. One of my all time favorite books. This one book has everything humor, Sarcasm, Sword Fights, Murder Mystery, Ghost Story, Monsters, Romance and the best part the Hero is a girl and she's a fierce assassin.

I WANT TO BE AN ASSASSIN!!!! Well not really but If I could be something it would be AN ASSASSIN!!! (Ninjas have nothing on Assassins)

The story begins in the Mines of Endovier. Celaena Sardothien was captured and banished to the mines. Abused and neglected she is eventually taken out by the Crown Prince Dorian and Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Royal Guard, to escort her to the castle to compete in a competition to become the Kings Champion if she wins she will service the crown for a couple years as the kings personal assassin and in return will be granted freedom.

Celaena's character was fantastic. Funny, Badass, passionate and believe it or not she had a very big heart. As much as she was a kick ass assassin on the outside you can tell she really just wanted to be a normal girl and live a normal life but circumstances didn't allow that to happen. Her parents died when she was young and she was taken in by the King of the Assassin's, Arobynn Hamel, who taught her everything she knows, making her Adarlan most notorious Assassin and she's only eighteen.

The Crown Prince of Adarlan Dorian is a very handsome, well put together and very charming. He is also quite the bookworm. He will at some point become King but he finds Celaena to be more then just an assassin. He is drawn to her and wants to get to know her and spend more time then the king would like. However he was not my favorite.

Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Royal Guard totally made my book boyfriend in this book, He is handsome, protective, dreamy and strong, He can guard me any day. He was funny, sarcastic, did I mention handsome? (oh ya, I did) ***sigh***

Celaena has some great interactions with all the characters; she becomes quite friendly with Princess Nehema of Eyllwe and the princess is a lot more than what she seems. It was great to see her bonding with someone after being alone for so long. Plus she was a great secondary character.

Her relationship with Dorian and Chaol was FANTASTIC!!! I seriously loved it the banter was great and at some points very funny. Did I mention I Loved Chaol ;)?

100% TEAM CHAOL!!!!!!

The Competition is a series of tests and the last man (or woman) standing would become the Kings Champion. Each competitor is has a different background and each one has a different skill but something is killing them one by one and Celaena is determined to find out what is causing the death of these men.

This causes a series of events and discoveries about what is really going on. Fae magic and any magic for that matter has disappeared from the world anyone possessing magic is killed. Once the king comes into power he did away with magic and most of the Fae have gone into hiding or were killed.

Soon Celaena finds herself in a hidden room and confronted by the first queen of Adarlan. Who asked her to win the competition no matter what and help the people of the kingdom? Can she? or is her freedom more important? and how will she handle her feeling for both Chaol and Dorian?

The story is original; fast paced and kept you reading way past your bedtime. I get a feeling when I read books like these, it's an excited feeling in my tummy that makes me smile at how much I know I will love this book. It did not disappoint. This series will go very far and will be one of those books that everyone will be dying to read.

I really LOVED this book I cannot wait to read the next one. I am not only going to recommend this book but I am going to TELL you, you MUST READ IT. You will not be disappointed. I have added this to my favorites.

I cannot wait to read more from Sarah J Maas if this is her debut book. I can’t even imagine what she will come out with next besides book #2

And Speaking of Book 2.. I was approved on Netgalley **book shimmy**

So now I’m off to read Crown of Midnight Book #2 :)

http://love2readalways.blogspot.com/