Hey Foreverbookers,
How are you all doing today? Hope you’re well!
I’ve just finished reading “Crown Of Midnight” by Sarah J Maas and I absolutely LOVED it!!! I thought it would be boring as it’s book two in a series but it was anything but. I don’t think I was bored once, while I was reading it! The book is split into two different parts. This was necessary to see Celaena’s growth as a character. I’m not going to go into great depth below with the spoilers because “Crown Of Midnight” is a fantasy and it’s always better to be surprised I think, rather than just told straight what happens as anything can be created or made to happen in a fantasy world, so I’ll summarise the significant points. For Crown Of Midnight I literally had 175 pages of notes typed up on my computer for this review so I’ve really condensed what I wanted to say.
5 Stars!!!!!
The Readathons that I read Crown Of Midnight for were:
NEWTS examinations - I read “Crown Of Midnight” to complete my Newts examinations! It fit the prompt for “Read a book with a map in it,” as there’s a map of Erilea, the world in which the Throne Of Glass series takes place before the story starts. I passed ALL of my NEWTS within the month as well so I’m now a qualified writer/journalist in the Wizarding Realm!
The Cardcaptor-a-thon - I could have read “Crown Of Midnight” for a few different prompts but in the end I chose The Mist - A book where something is discovered or understood because a character finds out their true identity within the book - #7
POPSUGAR 2019 - A book inspired by mythology, legend or folklore - there are fae beings in “Crown Of Midnight,” as well as witches, and other creatures.
I read “Crown Of Midnight” too late for it to be counted for either Reading Rivalry or Fiction Feud Society this month.
“Crown Of Midnight” does have some scarier parts towards the end as well as off page sex scenes, there are also threats made against our main character throughout so I’d say anyone aged 17+ could read it!
Spoilers Below...
“There is a growing rebel movement here in Rifthold, a group of individuals who are willing to do anything to get me off the throne—and who are attempting to interfere with my plans. Your next mission is to root out and dispatch them all before they become a true threat to my empire.”
This is the basic plot setup for “Crown Of Midnight.” The king, who employed Celaena as King’s Champion in “Throne Of Glass,” book 1 to the series, to hunt down the “growing rebel movement in Rifthold” wants her to kill these individuals because they’re interfering with his plans, according to him. When it’s revealed later what his plans actually are, though, what will Celaena do? You’ll have to read to find out.
I absolutely loved the characters in “Crown Of Midnight.” They all had their quirks as well as some negative points. This made them feel real, even though they’re from a fantasy novel. One of these characters is Mort, a skull shaped door knocker who has the best one liners and is a jovial character. He can be quite moody as well but this just added to his character. Mort comes from old magic so is still able to talk, even with the ban on magical abilities that’s now in the kingdom. It’s revealed in “Throne Of Glass” that the king doesn’t like magic and kills anyone he sees using or talking or even signing about it, which happens once to a very minor character in “Crown Of Midnight.”
“Aren’t you even going to knock, after all that? You truly have no manners.”
is one of many funny lines Mort says. This is just after he meets Celaena for the first time. He’s a recurring character in “Crown Of Midnight.” He helps Celaena find the answers she needs in order to have a chance at succeeding in getting the king off the throne.
There’s a carnival happening in the background while the events of “Crown Of Midnight” play out. Some of these events take place at the Carnival. “She didn’t give a damn about what was in the cages. Not anymore, not with Yellowlegs to hold her interest.” Baba Yellowlegs is a character that holds Celaena’s attention. We’re not sure what to make of her at first. Does she just work with the carnival or is she more sinister? You’ll have to read to find out!
The romance isn’t the main part of “Crown Of Midnight” but it’s still there. Celaena makes a choice between Dorian, Crown Prince and Chaol, Captain of the Guard. Who does she choose and is it the right choice? You’ll have to read to find out...
“Of course the Captain of the Guard stepped right up to her side,” is a moment where Chaol helps Celaena out of a tricky situation. As for Dorian he helps Celaena in a different way, as he discovers he has magical abilities. Of course he knows as do we, that his father, the king of Adarlan doesn’t allow magic within his kingdom. Does he learn about his son’s abilities? You’ll have to read to find out.
As I noted above there are sex scenes in “Crown Of Midnight” and although they’re not on the page we still know they’re happening. These are between Celaena and one of the men that I’ve already mentioned. There isn’t much of a love triangle at all in this series so far. In the next book, I know we meet an important character to do with Celaena’s love life but out of Chaol and Dorian, it’s pretty clear who Celaena chooses.
One of Celaena’s friends from “Throne Of Glass,” Nehemia has a quest in “Crown Of Midnight,” to avenge her people. We learn of this in “Throne Of Glass,” but it’s more so expanded on in “Crown Of Midnight.” A new character, Archer pleads with Celaena to help people, the people that Nehemia is also trying to help.
“Be our eyes and ears in the castle,” Archer whispered. “Help us. Help us, and we can find a way to save everyone—to save you.”
Is Archer a good character or a dodgy character with hidden motives? You’ll need to read to find out...
We see outside of the castle more so in “Crown Of Midnight,” than we did in “Throne Of Glass” as Celaena is sent to “Rifthold,” a town in this world to get information for the king about “the Rebel Movement.” This is where most of the encounters with Archer happen.
The end of “Crown Of Midnight” became a little info dumpy where we were learning the basic ins and outs of the fantasy plot line. This was to be expected though, as Celaena herself is learning who she truly is...I would have liked for this part to have been told in first person, like ACOTAR, the author’s other series. It would have been good to have been Celaena for a few chapters, to get inside her head to see how the experiences, the joys and the tragedies of this book have shaped and changed her. I don’t want to spoil who but one of Celaena’s close friends dies during the events of “Crown Of Midnight.” Celaena blames herself for this death.
The end of “Crown Of Midnight” leaves a little cliffhanger, which I knew before I started reading so it might shock someone who has no idea about anything to do with the world of “Throne Of Glass” more than it did for me. Although I’m not desperate to read “Heir Of Fire,” I will definitely read it within the next few months!
Overall then, I loved “Crown Of Midnight” sooooooo much!!! I think it’ll be in my top 5 books of the year, maybe even my top 3! I highly recommend this series. It just keeps you guessing. I’d say the cast of characters was smaller in “Crown Of Midnight” than it was in “Throne Of Glass.” This is a good thing, though because the author could focus more on building each character as well as the world. The main characters all appeared to be very human, even Mort, the door knocker. I think I preferred “Crown Of Midnight” to “Throne Of Glass” too because it expanded the world and the characters at length.
Stand by for my next review, coming soon...
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