Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight is part two of the Throne of Glass series by author Sarah J. Maas. If you read my review of Throne of Glass, you'd know that I had to race to the library to pick this up because I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Celaena. Putting this into words without spoilers is going to be tough!

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.

I think that synopsis sums up things succinctly. Celaena has survived the competition and has become the King's Champion. She's  still living in the castle and has been able to feed her expensive tastes once again. Though she's sent on various missions by the king, she has her own agenda, *obviously*.

In Crown of Midnight, we learn more about Celaena, bits and pieces of her past, small parts of why she's afraid to get close to anyone. We see her relationship with Dorian turn from comfort to true friendship, Choal turns from irritation to infatuation, and Nehemia is still her closest friend and confidant. Celaena's continues to delve deeper into the mystery of what happened to magic in Erilea, the depths of evil the king of Adarlan is capable of, and figuring out what she can do about it. In the midst of this, her world is turned upside down one night by a horrific event that changes things forever.



My heart broke for Celaena. And Choal, and Dorian, and Nehemia. Seeing how far Choal would go to protect Celaena even after what they go through, and how Dorian and Choal grow apart. UGH! OH! AND TALK ABOUT BOMBSHELLS! If you're clever and paying attention to Maas's hints along the way, you might be able to figure it out ahead of time, but there's some serious, life changing facts dropped on you at the end.

Maas continued to surprise me with her ruthlessness when it came to her characters. She pulls no punches and her attention to detail is amazing. Just look at that map of Erilea! I had 50 pages left in Crown of Midnight when I put it down long enough to see which of my closest libraries had a copy of Heir of Fire on the shelf, drove over there, checked it out, and finished this one so I wouldn't waste a minute wondering what happened. I guess I'm lucky I got into the series later than most so I didn't have to wait on a list 20+ long for the next installment!

The story is fast paced and I never felt a dull moment! If you enjoy epic fantasy, bad ass leads (male and female), great writing, and/or love/hate relationships with characters, this series is for you.