Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Published: August 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 404 {paperback}
Initial Thoughts Upon Finishing
Well hello, fellow ToG friends. It’s been six (6!!) years since I first read this book. Do you have any idea how scared I was to dive back into this? Being the old and sarcastic hag I now am? So scary. Eye-wateringly terrifying (is that a thing?). But HOLY SHIT – can confirm: Sarah J Maas is a bloody brilliant baffling brainiac whose writing will forever capture my heart.
Throne of Glass
It’s weird to be re-reviewing this so many years down the track *leans heavily on walking cane*. But far more importantly, I’m amazed that I genuinely still rate this 5-stars and still consider this an all-time favourite. This was nearly a nerve-wracking as re-reading Tiger’s Curse (my one true love).
This is, of course, the infamous, legendary, YA story of Celaena Sardothien – OUR QUEEN. We follow her on an incredible journey from the wicked salt mines of Endovier (possibly the only place in the literary world scarier than the Shrieking Shack? Yes?) to her challenge to become the King’s Champion. Being Adaralan’s Assassin and the wittiest, wise-crack of her time, good laughs and rollicking adventures ensue.
Truth be told, I think you all know this story and I don’t need to elaborate any more than that. What you REALLY want to know is: is it still possible to enjoy this when you’re oLd? (I’m 23, in case anyone was worrying I had, in fact, mysteriously aged about 50 years – shush, dramatics, okay?). The short answer is heck yeah!
Why You Need to Re-Read Throne of Glass
^^ The only heading in a review you ever need to read. SO. Firstly, I will reiterate that it has been six years since I read this book. But Throne of Glass was released seven years ago, so don’t even lie about your memory being excellent and you remembering all the details. Unless you’ve already gone off on your journey of self-discovery and trotted through the sparkling halls of the Glass Palace once more, be honest: you’ve totally forgotten what happened in book one.
You’re sitting there asking yourself: was that book one? Or book two? Who does she fall in love with this book? Is it him? Or HIM? Oh wait, no he doesn’t turn up until book five . . .
SEE. You’re a mess. Tsk. As it turns out folks, staggering off the mammoth scale of books three onwards, book one has a teeny weeny scope. Celaena hardly does anything (but everything that she does do is amazing and brilliant and I wish I was Celaena Sardothien).
I personally, fell dramatically off the band-wagon at book . . . um . . . six? Idek. Empire of Storms was the last one I read. And then it woefully all became too much. Simply TOO much time between books – how can I possibly get this world straight in my head?! But I *do* want to finish the story, so my plight is to reread this monolithic memoir of a made-up assassin.
Okay, So Really, Why Do You Need To Re-Read This?
There are two reasons, really. Firstly, if you reread in chronological order (not publication order) it’s amazing. You get such a surprising depth of character that makes Sardothien’s character LIVEN up because you know her past, seeing as you’ve now read The Assassin’s Blade.
Secondly, it was SO MUCH FUN. This book is as fantastic as I remember. I enjoyed every page as much as I remember. I also found myself swapping ships. I’ve always been a die-hard Dorien shipper (much the chagrin of many a friend who thought I was an idiot) – and now I (!!) believe my past-self to be an idiot. Naturally, I’m team Chaol. How could I possibly (??!) have thought otherwise.
The waves of emotions, adventures and turmoil in these brief 400 pages are amazing to rediscover with another six years of life under my belt. This has done wonders for hyping up my excitement at getting back into this series (even though omg, I’ve still got 547 books to read before I reach Kingdom of Ash, right? UGH).
PLUS. You get the added joy of revisiting old characters like Nehemia (and trying to forget what comes next . . . ), Kaltain (omg I spent so long trying to remember how she got where she was later in the series and now I’m like OH THAT’S WHAT YOU DID) and also dabbling back into brief, innocent (not really) characters like Nox. YES, I SAY.
Summary
I think if you’re stuck like me or simply considering re-living your youthful days of book one, then I can’t recommend re-reading this enough. I promise you, hand on heart, that you won’t cringe, you won’t gag: everything is as pristinely perfect as when you left it. So dust off your edition and go shake hands with the wee babbit that Celaena is in book one. As I said in my original review, and I quote: READ THIS BOOK. Or you are missing out. Big time.
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Have you read Throne of Glass?
Are you planning on reading it?
~~ Kirstie ~~
Upside-Down Books 
Yes to all of this!!! I did a FULL SERIES reread when Kingdom of Ash released last year (which you 100000% need to read…it will break your heart in all the best ways), and loved it just as much as I did when I read it the first time. SJM is a queen.
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Oh wow, good job you!! Hopefully I can achieve that too 😅
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