Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1) in Shut Up & Read

Jun 18, 2014 Yzabel Ginsberg rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: magic, fantasy, young-adult, romance, group-reads, annoying-characters, assassins

An easy enough read—it didn't take me long to finish it—, and enjoyable for the most part, though nothing really mind-blowing.

World-building:
Some interesting ideas, only not fully exploited. I liked the concept of runes operating outside the more widely-known system of magic. However, the world was somewhat bland and generic (king attacking and enslaving other kingdoms around his, court politics not pushed far enough, etc.)

Characters:
I actually preferred secondary characters to main ones. Nehemi ...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-science-fiction, young-adult-teen-new-adult, library-has-a-copy

This has been one of the more heavily hyped YA fantasy novels of the past few years and it's been on my radar for quite a while now and after seeing this book on a list of YA books recommended for Game Of Thrones fans and after having finished A Dance With Dragons this year, I decided it was finally time to read it. And overall, I really liked this book. It definitely took some time for me to really get into this book and for the plot to get off the ground, but once it did, I was absolutely hook This has been one of the more heavily hyped YA fantasy novels of the past few years and it's been on my radar for quite a while now and after seeing this book on a list of YA books recommended for Game Of Thrones fans and after having finished A Dance With Dragons this year, I decided it was finally time to read it. And overall, I really liked this book. It definitely took some time for me to really get into this book and for the plot to get off the ground, but once it did, I was absolutely hooked. I found the plot to be creative and well done and very original. Sure, there's mention of magic and fairies and so on and so forth, but the evil that's menacing the castle and the (view spoiler), are, as far as I can tell, wholly original. The magical elements weren't explored super in depth mostly because the plot was largely given over to the competition and world building and character development. The world building wasn't anything that spectacular, it was basically the same quasi medieval Europe we've seen in dozens of fantasy novels. It wasn't bad, but it didn't blow me away either. The characters on the other hand were excellent. They were all very well developed and interesting. Celeana made for a fine and very multilayered protagonist with many likable traits and she was a total badass! Chaol and Dorian were also very good and I definitely cannot wait to read more of them. (view spoiler) Nehemia was awesome as well and I can't wait to read more of her. The plot was very good and kept me guessing and went some very interesting places. As for the Game Of Thrones comparisons... It's hard to say at this point. This book definitely had some political plotting and intrigue, but it wasn't that heavy. The fantasy elements were unquestionably there, but they didn't feel quite as strong as they do in Game Of Thrones. The violence is also there, but it's nothing too extreme. So, I'd say that the first book at least reads like a very soft and much more simple Game Of Thrones. No matter what though, I found this to be an overall well written and very enjoyable book that I definitely recommend. ...more

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Mar 07, 2013 a_tiffyfit rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites-2013, kindle-bruiser, reviewed-2013, re-readable

Will post review soon.
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Man, I knew I had written a review of this somewhere but I couldn't find it! Here it is!:
Review:
 Intrigue
 Romantic interests
 A true heroine, who is both feisty, self-reliant, and feminine
 Action
 History
 Fae
 Magic

Yup. Those alone would have prodded me into reading this book. Toss in a delicious cover and the fact that the main character is an assassin? Woo! It opens at the death camp/salt mines of Endovier and Celaena is being lead out of the mines into ...more

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Jul 23, 2013 Monica Millard rated it really liked it

Shelves: own-paper, 2013-reads, pleasantly-surprised, character-love, fantasy, loved, cover-envy

Okay, so I'm going to let on how much a cover influences me. I probably picked this book with the other cover, and maybe was even interested mildly, but I buy a lot of books and as a result my tbr pile is enormous. So, if a book doesn't hook me right off I might buy it eventually when it comes out in paperback or it's offered at a low low price as an ebook to lure me in when the second or third is coming out.

It wasn't until the paperback cover that this book really gained my attention... I still ...more

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Oct 22, 2013 Sarah-Jayne Briggs rated it really liked it · review of another edition

(This review may contain spoilers).

I think that, although this book is primarily a young adult fantasy, it could probably be seen as a multi-genre book.

This was a young adult book that I found easy to read, with well-written, interesting characters that I could relate to - at least with the 'good' guys.

I did like Celaena as a character, though I found her to be quite contradictory. Given her past, she seemed to be a little too lighthearted. I think I would have liked to see more of her past and ...more

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Sep 03, 2015 Angie Taylor rated it liked it

This was a fun enough book, but it was more fluff than tough. I wanted less courtly castle stuff and more action scenes. The magic and world building were fun. I hope to see more about the fantasy world in the next book. Oh, and I really hope it's Choal and not Dorian... ...more

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Dec 27, 2024 Sasha rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This was just alright. I’ll be honest, this does read like something from FictionPress. Clunky dialogue, 2D characters, and a plot that seems slapdash and telling, rather than showing, which is my pet peeve. It’s clear the author evolved a lot before she wrote ACOTAR, thank goodness. I’m not put off the story, and I’ll still be reading this series. But was just expecting a lot more from Maas’ debut.

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