Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #2
Published by Bloomsbury USA Childrens on August 27, 2013
Pages: 420
Format: Hardcover
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"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

On a scale of one to ten, Crown of Midnight was a twenty… thousand… million… and one. Sarah J. Maas blew the lid off the notion of Second Book Syndrome – which I know is typically something reserved for trilogies anyway. Unfortunately, I’ve come to expect Second Book Syndrome from every series of every length. But Crown of Midnight did NOT read like a second book. It stood on its own and blew my mind.

Like I said in my review for Throne of Glass: Celaena is a kick-ass bitch. She’s fierce and loyal to those she trusts. She’s amazing at what she does, yet DESPITE what she does, she’s still managed to hold on to her humanity – for the most part. I can’t say much without risking spoilers, but the things she did in the first half of the book were epic. What happened in the second half though… My heart broke for her. She was broken and lost, lashing out at whoever she could. But, as always, Celaena can handle herself and she did what needed to be done. The reveal with Celeaena at the end was epic, insane, crazy… But I figured it out 83 pages in, so it was more about the validation than the shock of finding out for sure that I was right.

I adore Chaol! He’s just.. Chaol! I love the way he and Celaena strengthen each other. In some ways, they bring out the best in each other. And in some ways, they bring out the worst in each other. They’re definitely working on building the trust, but they challenge each other. What happened between them half-way through the book, though… And then the things left unsaid at the end? IT BROKE MY FEELS!

Dorian was a thousand times more awesome in Crown of Midnight than he was in Throne of Glass – and that’s really saying something because I already really liked him in Throne of Glass. His is a very heavy burden to bear, one he still has to come to terms with. But he grew and matured a LOT in Crown of Midnight – though I suppose he didn’t have much of a choice. Still, he really came through in the end and I’m very eager to see where his character goes in Heir of Fire.

For the most part, I really loved Nehemia, but I was very suspicious of her all throughout Crown of Midnight. I thought I had finally started trusting her by the end of Throne of Glass, but there were just too many things going on in Crown of Midnight.. And then the end of Part One.. Oh, man.. I can’t even.. Another notable character was Archer. I actually really liked Archer and trusted him right from the beginning. I never doubted his loyalties or his motives. But… Hm…

Despite being epic, Crown of Midnight still had its moments. There were sections that were a bit boring and small plot points that dragged. The book could have been 50-75 pages shorter and still epic. It was also pretty predictable; I’d say I guessed over half of the plot twists, both major and minor. Despite all that, Crown of Midnight still had some epic revelations and crazy plot twists. I still love all the characters and I have a feeling Heir of Fire is going to completely and utterly break me.

Overall, I really, really enjoyed Crown of Midnight. Though I wouldn’t call it my favorite in the series, it was better than Throne of Glass, had some major twists and turns and kept me engaged and interested, even during several boring sections. Crown of Midnight stands tall as an epic sequel, with no traces of Second Book Syndrome in sight. If you weren’t a fan of Throne of Glass but are debating reading on, I highly encourage you to do so. I was told each book is better than the last and, so far, that statement is holding true!