Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: Four stars
Series: Throne of Glass #1
Date published: August 2, 2012
Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis from Goodreads:

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her ... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead ... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

Exactly one month before Empire of Storms (book five) comes out, I decided to set a goal for myself: reread all the books in the Throne of Glass series. Since then, I have been wondering if I'm crazy because four books and a prequel book is a lot to read in just one month. However, rereading Throne of Glass was a pleasure. I loved being back in Celaena's world, reliving this wonderful story.

I loved this novel from start to finish. I think one of my favorite things was the beginning. I love how it starts just as Celaena's being pulled out of Endovier and being offered the chance to get out of the prison by entering a competition to become the King's Champion. It's one of the strongest parts of the novel, because of the little things, such as Celaena following the path the guard takes her in, despite the fact that she's blindsided. We get little things like that the whole novel, bringing Celaena to life and showing how smart she is.

The whole competition was an interesting concept on its own - to have criminals compete to become the King's Champion. Sarah J. Maas has created some great characters. Even Celaena's opponents are well-written and dynamic.

Throne of Glass isn't my favorite book in the series, but it's still a great read. It's a good setup for the rest of the series as well. The first book doesn't delve as far into the fantasy genre as the others do, but it's an entertaining book that you won't be able to put down.