Crown of Midnight

An addictive sequel

This installment brings drama, heartbreak, and game changing reveals as it ramps up the intensity. I loved the first book and am even more impressed with the sequel. How often can you say that?

In the first book, Throne of Glass, the world building is set up nicely and we get acquainted with the key players in the series. In the sequel Crown of Midnight, the author gets to have more fun with the characters and push some boundaries. The action, romance, and suspense build to higher levels of intensity. And excitingly, Celaena gets to strut her stuff as the assassin only hinted to in book one.

As the king’s champion/assassin, Celaena has to do his bidding, no questions asked, in order to earn her eventual freedom. She has some trusted allies in the kingdom including Chaol, the Captain of the Guard, Dorian, the crown prince, and Nehemia, a visiting Princess. This series has one of my favorite love triangles currently in YA, since I’m quite fond of both Chaol and Dorian. Depending on who your favorite is, you may be in for some pain as the romance takes a turn for the angst. (But there’s still more books in the series for the author to fix things, right?)

For me as a contemporary fan to rate a fantasy series 5-stars is pretty unusual. But man, I just eat these books up! Sarah J. Maas weaves a great story no matter what your preferred genre is. There are so many emotional highs and lows in this book that you know as a reader not to get too comfortable when things seem to be going too smoothly The plot moves in unexpected directions and effortlessly weaves magical elements into the story.

There is character development with all of the key players in this installment. Celaena is more confident, calculating and kick-ass when she needs to be, while also keeping her softer side. And there are new dimensions to explore in Chaol, Dorian and Nehemia in the sequel. There are so many surprises in this one that I just have to be vague about all the exciting developments in this one.

I again listened to the audiobook, performed by Elizabeth Evans. With all of the action in Crown of Midnight, Evans keeps up by reading with more intensity. She matches Celaena’s growth beat by beat and gets you good and wrapped up in the story. Evans makes all the characters sound unique and with their own personalities so there’s never any doubt as to who is speaking. She uses an appropriate tone for the romantic, action, and quiet scenes and reads with a brisk pace. This 12-hour audiobook just flew by and I was anxious to keep listening to it.

Be warned that this book ends with a big cliffhanger that will leave you clamoring for the sequel.

14 of 16 people found this review helpful

It got better!!!!

Celaena Sardothien is now the hated tyrant King's personal assassin. The King is sending Celaena out to kill anyone that may oppose his rule. As Celaena encounters people on the King's hit-list more information is revealed on how the King really gained his power. Celaena is faced with her past revealed and her future destiny, her relationship with the captain of the guard and the crown prince. This series is very well written and I alright pre-ordered the next book. Can't wait... this is a very credit worthy series!

12 of 14 people found this review helpful

she is a bit more deadly this book

What did you love best about Crown of Midnight?

the book didn't seem to be fluff or dribble to make more money, but to continue the story and the allow the reader/listener to gain more insight into the characters.

What did you like best about this story?

it seemed like what took place in the book to the characters would have happened in they where real. Not a made up stuff to keep the story going.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Hmmm, I don't think they did.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

touch my heart and your dead.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Standard YA girl series, which I loved

I've noticed trends in a lot of the YA scifi books that I've read, particularly those with a strong female lead, and this one followed all of them. It has the usual love story/triangle, and the usual rise from the lower class, and a strong female protagonist - which to be clear, I always enjoy, AND, this book still managed to give you a plot line to love, even though you've kind of heard it all before.

This is a great YA series, which I'm officially hooked on, and can't wait to listen to the next one! This one was as good, if not better, than the last book.

6 of 8 people found this review helpful

Engaging story with a subpar performance.

The story was entertaining and kept me interested through the entire novel. I did not enjoy the narration of the novel. The narrator's interpretation was vastly different than my own and made it difficult for me to enjoy many of the details in the story.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Easy on imagination

A very enjoyable story line, but so very transparent. Some twists and turns, but lacking a great amount of depth on some areas...and too much detail of love, desire, and longing. This book is really suited for young adults in the fantasy genre. It may be sold as such and I was just not paying attention, but it's an easy story with a pleasant story arc.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good narration.

Even though this book had a few holes and contradictions in the story (please don't hate me!) still is better than the first one. Full of action, adventure and.....yes...the romance ( which I don't buy all that much).

Anyway, it leave us with the hope of good or/and better sequels. The book is mostly well written and the characters (main and otherwise) are well drawn and likeable
I read this as an ebook and audiobook, the reading (narration) was also very good (the same as the first one, actually).

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The word that sums up my feelings is... BLEGH.

I read and loved Throne of Glass (first book in the series) and was really looking forward to the sequel. Now I'm 90% sure I won't continue on to book #3.

Here's my main problem: all the problems I remember from book #1 are back in book #2, but even STRONGER than they were before.

Examples:
1. Celaena is a shallow main character.
2. Too many subplots.
3. Too many unexplained details.
4. Other main characters are insincere.

I guess I could sum up all these problems into one larger, global problem with the writing: Just because there's this really cool new fantasy world and a super badass heroine and other "cool" things in these books (princes! magic! monsters!) doesn't make me BELIEVE IN THEM. I need good writing for that. I need the author to give me characters who have more merit than the fact that I am told she is totally badass and cool. I need to see her being better than this, I need to connect with her.

And in Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight, connect with Celaena I did not. (Actually, connect with ANY of the characters I did not.)

An example of a book series that does this infinitely better is Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Never once does she have to say outright that her characters are funny or brave or richly layered or very human despite their non-humanness; She makes us believe it first, and I feel like Crown of Midnight throws all the coolness at you before you actually believe in the coolness.

NOTE on the Audiobook: I thought the performance was just okay. The narrator has a very snarky reading style that wears on you after a while. Plus, since she read the entire novel in the same tone, it all became a bit... boring. Tedious. Blegh. Just listen to the sample before you buy and imagine that same tone the entire 15 hours or so!!

All in all, I'm very disappointed and wish I would've spent my credit on something else.

16 of 24 people found this review helpful

Fantastic listen

Really good story, fantastic narration. Kept me engrossed for a few days. Thoroughly recommended.

Can't wait for the next book.

6 of 9 people found this review helpful

The narration is just too distracting and tedious

I really wanted to like this book. The first one was OK. But I was hoping things would improve with book 2.

But above all else, I just can't get over the narrator. She reads like a pissed off teenager. She makes the characters one dimensional and snarky and nonsensical.

Should I blame it on the writing? Maybe. But I honestly can't decipher if it's the writing because the narrator is that bad and that distracting.

So, while I have to agree with one of the other reviewers that there are a lot of issues -- Celaena is a shallow main character; there are too many crazy sub-plots and unexplained details; and the characters are rather lame and undeveloped -- I think I could actually overlook most of that if the narrator hadn't made it such a chore to listen to.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful