Review : Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Mass

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2)
Author : Sarah J. Mass
Publication Date : August 27th 2013
Publisher : Bloomsbury Children
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt.
But her heart never wavers.

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

Personal Thoughts

Crown of Midnight, the sequel to Throne of Glass, is quite possibly one of the best books I've read this year. I did not think that Sarah J Mass could make this sequel even better than the first installment, which completely blew me away by the way, but obviously she proved me wrong by crafting this intense, action-packed book that I refused to put down.

Crown of Midnight starts off where Throne of Glass ended, with Celaena Sardothien now the King's Champion. Celaena is one of my favorite YA characters, because she's different from other YA heroines. She was quite the enigma. On one side she was this fierce, ruthless and headstrong assassin and on the other side she was this beautiful young woman with a love for fashion and literature. Those two different sides of her was what made her a complex character that possessed depth. However, I do think that some readers might not appreciate her because she comes across as arrogant and over-confident at times. I personally loved that about her because it made her seem like she wasn't a perfect character and that she did have her own set of blemishes, making her genuine. Celaena went through some tough obstacles in this book and by the end of the book she was stronger than ever, the events of Crown of Midnight roughening her up and helping her grow. This book might be written in the third person, but Celaena's range of feelings and emotions throughout the book were not only conspicuous but also palpable. Everything that Celaena felt, I felt. The secondary characters were also brilliantly well-developed. Chaol and Dorian, the two guys vying for Celaena's heart, were just perfect characters with flaws that made them realistic. Chaol has always been my favorite out of the two, but that doesn't imply that I disliked Dorian. In fact, I'd say that I grew to love him even more in this book. There were some major revelations with regards to his character and I have to say, I'm quite excited to find out more about him! As for Chaol, I don't even know what to say about him except that I fell even harder for this big-hearted guy. Celaena, Chaol and Dorian were characters that completely stole my hearts. It was difficult not to be emotionally involved with them because they were so beautifully written. And of course, every time Sarah J Mass would make them suffer, my heart would be weeping.

The plot in Crown of Midnight took a different turn from Throne of Glass, and I personally thought it was a whole lot better. Sarah J Mass is an extraordinary story-teller and this book, right here, is proof to that. This book left me breathless. My fingers refused to stop turning the pages of my e-reader because I was so invested in the plot line. From the very start, Crown of Midnight was engaging and as the plot progressed, it only got more thrilling. There was never one dull moment in this book because the author creates all these twists and turns that I never saw coming and had me gasping. Will you guys believe me if I told you that she had some kind of plot twist in every single chapter of the book? Yes, she did! You can clearly see why this book was so entertaining for me and why I loved it so much! The romance too was perfect. Book one had the prospect of a love triangle and for those of you who were displeased with it, you'll be happy to know that it all gets resolved in this book with Celaena making her decision early on. The romantic relationship was another highlight of the book and I loved how it strengthened the involved characters. I was worried that when Celaena made her choice, she would disregard the other guy, but she grew a touching friendship with him, which might as well have been even better than the romance. The world-building was also polished in this installment of the series and the politics and the workings of it became a lot clear. Sarah J Mass's writing was as stunning as in book one. If you know me, then you know how I'm not the biggest fan of 3rd person writing, but this author was so good at her prose that I didn't even realize the book was written in 3rd person until I was half-way through. She's definitely one author whose works I'll be purchasing without even reading the blurb.

Non-stop action, beautifully fleshed out characters, intense plot-line and heart-warming relationships all made Crown of Midnight 2013's best sequel for me. The ending, while not a cliffhanger, will have you itching for more. Fans of the first book or YA fantasy, this is not a book to miss out!

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 5/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the e-ARC of Crown of Midnight!