Review: Crown of Midnight

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SPOILER WARNING: There will be spoilers the last half of this review. There will be another warning before they show up.

You know those books that you start reading before bed, and then can't stop reading until you finish the book? Well, this was definitely one of those books for me. I started reading this book around nine o'clock on a Saturday night, and didn't go to bed until four in the morning. I took a couple breaks while I read to breathe and think about what was happening, but I did finish this book in one sitting.

This book made me feel all of the feelings. Honestly, there really is no better way to phrase that. I felt giddy, devastated, excited, surprised, shocked, and furious at any given moment. I mentioned in my review of Throne of Glass that Sarah J. Maas' writing is perfection, and she did not fail in this sequel. Apparently sequels usually end up being the worst books in a series, but I absolutely loved Crown of Midnight. It picked up a few months after Throne of Glass, and immediately we know that not all is as it seems.

Before I go into spoilers, I'll just speak generally to Sarah J. Maas' impeccable writing. The complexity of this book is beautiful, the character development is to die for, and the foreshadowing is unbelievable. If you thought the relationships in Throne of Glass were well thought out and realistic, the intricacies of each relationship in Crown of Midnight will have you in shambles. Nehemia and Celaena's friendship is one of the most raw, honest, and emotional portrayals of female friendship I've ever read about. They are not competitive, they are not chasing the same guys, they are pushing each other to be their strongest selves. The romance is pretty nice to read, too. If you liked Throne of Glass, and even if you didn't, you must read Crown of Midnight. It is one of the most intense books I've ever read, and is even better than Throne of Glass.

Now onto the spoiler filled rant because I need to debrief this book. This is not going to be grammatically or, read at your own risk.

***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***SPOILERS***
Oh. My. Goodness. This. Book.

Sarah J. Maas' skill in foreshadowed is unparalleled. It was obvious in Throne of Glass that Chaol and Celaena would get it on at some point, but I still squealed a little bit when it finally happened. They are honestly the cutest, most badass couple ever! I wish I could pretend that the whole end of the book didn't happen and that they could stay together forever, but the end was just so artfully crafted and well thought out that I can't imagine anything else happening.

I don't really understand why Celaena was so mad at Chaol. It was definitely a mistake to no inform Celaena of the threats against Nehemia, but it is not his fault that Nehemia died. An
d what a brutal death that was! She was ripped to shreds, a bloody mess on an otherwise quite nice bedspread. Celaena's reaction to her death was shocking, to say the least. She tried to kill Chaol, blaming him for Nehemia's death. I was actually really worried that he was going to die at that moment. Thankfully he didn't. But the chapters following Nehemia's death were so heartbreaking I could barely breath or keep reading.

Ok, now that I've had a quick little rant about the end of the book (I'm still in denial that Chaolaena is over), I'm going to discuss my ship for this book. I won't judge you if you ship Celorian because let's face it Dorian is basically perfect, but Chaol and Celaena are just so cute together. Even before they were hooking up in broom closets right before meetings, Celaena was spending most of her time in Chaol's room because that was where she felt safe. At home. It was obvious they truly loved and cared for each other. Celaena wore Chaol's ring, Chaol wouldn't admit how he felt about Celaena just like Mr. Knightley in Emma. If Chaol loved Celaena less, it might have been easier to talk about it more.

Celaena did tell Chaol that she would always pick him, but I'm not expecting them to be a couple again in later books. That saddens me to no end, but it won't stop me from reading the rest of the series. I am very excited to learn more about the Fae world, and about Celaena's Fae heritage. I suspect she'll meet a Fae male that I will hate because he's not Chaol, but then end up getting used to. Like Stockholm Syndrome.

Sorry about all the muddled, stream of consciousness writing. I just needed to get out what I felt about this wonderful book.



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