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Before I start, let me reassure you : I was a Sarah J Maas fan before you. I read Throne of Glass back when it was Queen of Glass on Fictionpress, when I was twelve. I knew Rowan back when he was still Raonn, and remember Sam as Symeth. I remember Caelena ending up with Dorian, not Raonn. And I don’t love these books anymore.

I was super excited, nostalgic, to see this book on the shelves. It felt like I was reaching full circle in some ways with reading and fandom. So…I was ready to fall in love all over again, the way I did when I was clearly a more naive girl; one who obviously wasn’t exposed to great writing. Fight me on this.

Throne of Glass, like Caelena’s character (told to us, rather than shown) has so much potential. I mean, what a premise : an assassin, now ex – slave, in a tournament of killers. I guess in some ways it’s like a fantasy Hunger Games. And that’s as far as it goes before it goes down the drain. I mean, why are we told that she has such a badass assassin, when so little of what she does is badass – or has anything to do with assassin-ating? It’s one thing to be everyone constantly rant about the assassin she is, but true character is action, not spiraling to homicidal tendencies in your head. She has very little action in this book. She spends hours gushing over a puppy. Which the prince got her. Because, of course, princes would fall all over themselves to give puppies to assassins. That’s such an obvious scene for an assassin to have. Her taking a commanding tone to the prince isn’t badass, it’s unrealistic and sounds whiny/ spoilt. It would be so much more badass if she actually used these skills we know so little about against the prince.

Also, I think I was a little girl, but I had no idea what a toxic, alpha male, toxic, douchey, toxic, jerk Dorian was, also how good it was portrayed as in the book. I mean, who brags about having “at least” two women? Let alone connect it to some weird festival? He is dangerously upset that Caelena doesn’t want to sleep with him, even shocked momentarily out of his “treating women like objects and trophies” attitude. Also, why would a prince be so utterly obsessed with an assassin? I’m not saying he shouldn’t be, I’m saying give me reasons in the narrative and story. None of this feels realistic!

Kaltain seems to be a far better antagonist than Cain. She both makes sense both thematically (SJM is really leaning into the whole feminist angle, and Kaltain is clearly a toxic female) and emotionally. She is more compelling as a villain too. I don’t like the special snowflake – ness of Nehemia Ytger (Sorry, I’m not sure if that’s the spelling of her name). I mean, before you give her a flawless personality and a fancy title, maybe give her some flaws so I can relate to her and feel for her as a person. Kaltain feels far too villainous to be realistic; I mean, is it too hard to give her some vulnerability? What is at stake for her if she loses this competition? Why does she want to live so badly? I have questions about all of these characters, none of which feel too fleshed out.

Caelena suffers from the same snowflake issue – she is deus ex machina’d out of the climactic fight. What about what she learnt? Why wasn’t this the story of a ruthless killer girl who learned empathy and that was what saved her? Why wasn’t her victory an internal one? Isn’t the biggest weakness of an assassin like her a heart? How compelling would it be to be on that journey? Why did she pray to a Goddess who of course saved her because she is just such a special girl? So that just means that the other contestants were not deemed important enough to save. The whole thing feels arbitrary. Also, her needing to be saved from the male competitor, instead of, oh, I don’t know, “Adarlan’s most notorious assassin” killing him herself somehow? The climax just made me so annoyed.

Which brings me to the fact that she doesn’t act like an assassin, or, at least, it hasn’t seemed to hurt her at all. Perhaps she hides her feelings, you say. She has enough time to talk about reading all night before the fight of her life, and pages of the narrative are devoted to her puppy and interactions with the douchey Prince. I, for one, would be so much more interested to read about the life and thoughts of an assassin girl who stayed more true to her nature. She doesn’t need angst, she needs to feel realistic. The salt mines had a greater effect on her psyche than the hundred killings. I am fine with someone who is badass about killing – in fact, bring her on. I don’t want a more angsty Caelena. Instead, I just think there should be some effect of some kind on her psyche.

I think there doesn’t seem to be much thought put into her characterization. Which, again, is such a shame, because I think this could have been one of the best books I could ever read, if there had just been well – rounded characters and a better paced structure. I think we are still hung over from Harry, who of course has the minimal personality required to exist. Caelena’s fun, and a cool character to read about, but it gets annoying when she doesn’t grow.

A character’s story is determined by her flaw. Caelena has no flaw, so she has no real story. No change. We could put Feyre in this story and the same exact things will happen. Most of what happened in the story happen because of chance.

For instance, what I mean is Katniss’s major flaw is her inability to have social interactions aka put on a polite lie. This was caused by her taking on mother and provider roles in her home and life, and her early tragedies related to her parents. She craves truth more than any other female character in YA; she clings to the truth that her world is cruel and violent. It is what forms her world view. Her story isn’t fighting in the Hunger Games, it’s trying to get people to like her, root for her and to pretend to be in love with Peeta. To some small extent, her social awkwardness is indeed portrayed as a flaw instead of a cute quirk.

Now, look at Caelena. What is her flaw? A flaw can’t just be a negative trait as perceived subjectively by the reader. It has to exist within the world, and act as a major drawback in some way. What, then, is Caelena’s flaw and her story?

I think I am disappointed with this book because the twelve – year – old at the back of my head started reading with high spirits. She really wanted to fall back in love with the story. The twenty – six year old me, however, has grown as a writer and reader. So, perhaps, a lot of these strong opinions come from the fact that I am coming from a strong place in my life. So, take my opinions with a pinch of salt.

I would say Caelena’s flaw is her arrogance. However, it didn’t draw her back in any way. I would love to read a book, where she was sure she knew everything, and realized she was actually perhaps mediocre and needed help, weak and had to reassess her approach, or that she was wrong in some huge, life affecting way, and had to learn humility. I get that this character shouldn’t ever have to be humbled – and let’s face it, probably never will, but I’m just trying to figure out a possible development to make sure that my problems with the book make sense and don’t sound unfounded. Like I have already said, I would have liked to read about a ruthless Caelena, who learns to use her heart again – somehow.

I don’t recall the book being so boring, too. It’s a miracle that this book, with this kind of premise, even manages to get boring. I’m not sure what this says about Maas. After a strong beginning, which left me hopeful, the pacing slips in and out, needless discussions, exposition and events happen, and the writer, whom I used to be such a huge fan of, skips over the tournament itself. Yes, I know that isn’t the mainstay of the book. Caelena is.

Caelena is the spunky, unlikeable but charming, feisty heroine we should all have and root for. However, that seemed to take precedence over telling a great, compelling story. With well – rounded characters. Prince Love Interest, too, had little to none substance, forget layers. What did he even want, outside of banging the heroine? That seemed to be his only purpose, the only thing he went after.

Sarah J Maas is not someone I hate, but she is someone I feel let down by. I am not looking forward to the Hulu adaptation. I think her fans today would probably look back when they are ten years older and wonder what went wrong. I’ve heard that another Fictionpress author I know, Monica Jimenez, is coming out with her book. I am not looking forward to the release of the Firebird trilogy ; it may have utterly wowed my twelve year old self, but I’m ready for another let down. Come to think of it, I remember Firebird having a done – before premise, a perfect main protagonist, and a perfect alpha – male love interest, and I’m pretty sure I have read this story before.