Crown of Midnight – Sarah J. Maas

I can’t even begin to describe how amazing this book was. Honestly, there was so much going on throughout the entire book and I just couldn’t stop reading! The plot development was very thorough, and I feel like this book made me understand a lot more about the world that the characters were living in. It made it a lot easier to visualize everything going on throughout the story. 

Plot

After the events of Throne of Glass, Celaena is now the King of Adarlan’s champion, however, it isn’t what it seems. Celaena is going behind the King’s back to find out information about each of her assigned victims. Along with this, there is a rebellion forming against the King, and it is Celaena’s job to dispatch the leaders of the group. 

Celaena discovers more about the magic of Wyrdmarks and what Nehemia had been warning her to stay away from and it leads her to a new order from the ancient queen Elena who wishes her to find the great evil still looming in the castle. 

I think that the plot in the book was really interesting. Not only do we find out more of Celaena’s history, but also of the magic still in this world, despite the King wiping it out ten years earlier. It was really refreshing to have a world that is discovering the magic and what to do with it. Our main characters are even struggling to grasp the concept of having and controlling magic that they have inherited which I find really cool. 

Characters

Celaena definitely has her ups and downs in this book. There were a lot of times where I didn’t understand her reactions to certain things, but after a while, it became clear why she does everything. She is a very mysterious character, which is different from most main characters because usually, we know everything important about them, but in this book, I found myself needed to find out more about Celaena and her past. I think that she is a really interesting main character and I always love how she is a strong person who can take care of herself. 

Dorian became a character I really loved in this book. His love for reading has always been something that I can relate to, but the fact that he develops magic is very cool, especially since his father is the King who banished magic in the first place! I think that his journey from being infatuated with Celaena, to being her friend is also a really nice addition to the storyline of the book. I think that it made me like him that much more, because he wasn’t pushing her to be in a relationship with him, but instead respecting her wishes to stay friends and keeps her secrets for her as she does for him. 

Chaol is also a character I found myself enjoying. The friends to lovers trope were clearly visible in the book with Celaena and Chaol’s relationship, but if I’m honest, Chaol lost my trust completely after what he did to Celaena and Nehemia. I still like him as a character, but I feel like he can’t be trusted with certain things that Celaena is telling him, especially because of his loyalty to the crown. His loyalty seems as if it changes towards protecting Celaena, but I feel like, after the amount of time he has spent to get to his position as Captian of the Royal Guard, he may not be the character that I think he is. 

Of course, my favorite character Nehemia has to have the worst fate of the entire book. It destroyed me. She was a selfless character, who wanted nothing but to fight for her countries freedom and I respect her for that. What happened to her is a shame, but it also added to the plot of the book a lot. I feel like if Celaena hadn’t seen what happened, she wouldn’t fight the way she is going to now, so it was overall worth it for the long term goals to be completed. 

“Chaol sank to his knees.”

Setting

This book took place in Rifthold, in the Kingdom of Adarlan. 

The palace is the main setting for the book, especially the catacombs and forgotten passages beneath the castle. Also, there are many scenes that take place in the city of Rifthold. 

I think that these settings are really different from anything I’ve read before. The forgotten passages beneath the castle are so cool to read about, and I feel like it would be kind of creepy but really exciting to go down and see what I could find. The city of Rifthold also seems like such a typical city. I always love seeing new and different places, and traveling so I definitely think it would be nice to take a tour of Rifthold, maybe take pictures in front of the Glass Castle!

Writing

The writing in this book always kept me engaged and wanting to read more. I was constantly reading in whatever free time I had and a lot of the time, I could imagine myself inside the story which I always really love. 

In Conclusion… 

This is definitely a book I would recommend to fantasy/romance/YA lovers. It has everything you could really need, all wrapped into one book that makes you want more, more, more!

Rating: 5/5⭐