Crown of Midnight (Miniature Character Collection) (Throne of Glass Mini Character Collection) Flexibound – November 5, 2019

I’m not sure where to start with this one. I tend to write shorter reviews as a series progresses, unless a book shocks and/or greatly disappoints.This is the second book in the TOG series, and I am a prisoner of this story. I’m so invested! It’s taking every bit of power (which I DO NOT have) to pick up any other book. I was able to squeeze a Mitch Albom book in between the first and the second, but I’ve no clue how successful I’ll be in my future attempts. I’ve already started reading the third!In this second book, the plot expands but not as significantly as I would have wanted. It picks up immediately where its predecessor left off. The series of events thereafter are fun, fast-paced, and keep you wanting more. Rather than learn more about its world, this book focuses more on some of its history to tries and help us understand why things are happening. SJM still does an excellent job at making sure we’re well engaged and has shown, time and time again, that no one is safe. <i> SJM is a secret murderer. No one can convince me otherwise. You fiend! </i>C remains one of the most fun characters I’ve ever read, and I value her dynamic personality. So scary but so lovable. So prone to getting hurt and she does…repeatedly. <i> Give the woman a break! </i>I learned to love Chaol in this book and was devastated, in the end, when everything unfolded. Dorian…eh. I like him less and less. Dunno why.One place where I feel SJM can do a little better is in creating stronger connections. Despite hating some of the things that happened, I did not feel that C’s reaction was warranted. I think that’s due to there not being enough material for us to feel as intently as C does about other people. I’m more invested in C than anyone else. I’m not even afraid of this terrible, scary king…I did love learning a lot more about the history of Erilea and am even more excited about the next book. Adarlan almost feels like a rat-infected sewage of awful people and I need things to move away for a bit. <i> Or forever. </i>I must commend SJM for her writing style. Some fantasy books spend so much time building a world and the story sometimes gets lost in all this. I enjoy that she does world-building but keeps the story moving. It helps that her writing is very good.I love this book, but I can’t lie and say that I didn’t see the big reveal coming. I didn’t connect some of the dots, but the *gasp* wasn’t there. It also made me a little angry at C. I get the fear and understand some of the reasons she’d shy away from some things, but ***’s death was hardly the trigger she needed. I would have figured 500 dead rebels or two whole slave camps would have done it, but alas.I’m looking forward to the next book and can’t wait to see where this goes.

*flails* This book was so good. I liked Throne of Glass, but I LOVED Crown of Midnight. (!!!) Watch out below for some spoilers if you haven't read Throne of Glass yet.Ten Likes/Dislikes:1. (+) Celaena, the protagonist - Celaena and I haven't had the best of pasts. When I first read Throne of Glass, I thought she was too arrogant - so arrogant that I found it hard to identify with her, so arrogant that I never really believed in the danger that she faced. My wishes were granted, though: you do find out more of Celaena's past, and you do get more into her head in Crown of Midnight. She's still bold and brash, clever and witty, strong and assertive, and yes, quite able to defend herself (and thus proves herself as an assassin and King's Champion)--but where she shines in this novel, it's none of those things. It's when she finally shows some vulnerability, some doubt, some emotion, and that actually made me want to hug her. That got me rooting so much for her that it was nearly inconceivable that I didn't like her before. So if you loved Celaena in Throne of Glass, you will ache for her in this novel. If you weren't her greatest fan in Throne of Glass, maybe you'll like her in Crown of Midnight.2. (+) World-building - You wanted more on Adarlan and life outside the court and in Rifthold? How about the political system? How about the magic and the King's nefarious plots? How about Elena's history and the beasts we found in Throne of Glass? There's that and much, much more. One of my favorite things about the Throne of Glass series is that there's so much to be discovered in the world, little details about the food and city that give it a different feel besides the usual medieval aspects of high fantasy. These are the kind of details that you can feel and appreciate as a reader but don't have to analyze (though Shannon does quite well in the linked blog post). Yeah, there are some epic fantasy cliches, but they never feel old and too much. Ms. Maas does a great job reinventing old tropes into her own world.3. (+) Romance - Undoubtedly, the romance will anger some fans as Celaena makes a clear decision in this novel but isn't too tactful about that decision. Personally, I wasn't a huge fan of the non-interest (not just romantic-wise but also character-wise), so while I recognized that Celaena and Chosen One could have done better, I still reveled in the slow-burn that soon came to pass. Most of all, I was just happy that there wasn't the same level of love triangle as in the first book. Both Dorian and Chaol spend some parts in the beginning fantasizing or moping about Celaena but not for too long. And the best part of it is that the romance is one of a few things that forces development of these three characters and fits unexpectedly into the plot. This novel is a much darker, more mature novel than its predecessor, so if you were concerned about that in Throne of Glass, take this as a warning for Crown of Midnight, though I personally think that Ms. Maas was tasteful about both the action and the romance scenes.4. (+) Plot - Ooh, wow. All the different plot threads of this beauty. The plot improved greatly from the Competition in the former book. There's still the loose threads introduced by the creatures Celaena previously encountered, the romantic threads, the threads of Celaena's past, Celaena as King's Champion, the King's plans and other events that are set into motion by all of the above. So much is happening in this novel, and all the threads come together beautifully. Some of the twists are a bit more predictable than others, but their predictability didn't take away any enjoyment (for me).5. (+) Character Cast - Nehemia's friendship with Celaena is one of my favorite female friendships in YA. I especially love that it's made clear that Nehemia has her own motivations, her own set of beliefs--a past and a personality before she meets Celaena. Other side characters from Throne of Glass who I didn't expect to be reintroduced are brought back to reinvigorate the plot in unexpected ways. Some new characters are introduced, though am I allowed to consider a talking doorknob a character?6. (+/-) Incorporation of Previous Work - Have you read the Throne of Glass prequel novellas? (Side note: they are being bound and made into a print book, if you're interested). If you haven't read them, there are some mentions in this novel that might confuse you (especially novella #2, in the desert). On principle, I dislike the feeling of inside jokes (from the novellas) that you won't understand as a regular reader and figured I ought to warn others of this, though I did think that Ms. Maas had a sneaky and cool way of incorporating the novellas and Throne of Glass (not just the events and relationships and plot details but other details I hadn't remembered until they came up again).7. (+/-) Themes - I think this is a book that will make some fans cry and rage with its careful exploration of the domino effect of choices and manipulation. The themes of love and loss also come into play a lot more fully in this novel than they did in Throne of Glass. That being said, there was one event in particular that I personally didn't think sent the best of messages, though I'm still not sure what else could have happened to have had as propulsive of an effect on character development.8. (+) Writing - The writing reminds me of that in Angelfall - not because they're from the same type of POV (they're not), but because they have a similar, cinematic effect that allows me, a non-visual reader, to picture clearly what is happening. There are a few fully-fledged narrative scenes and dream sequences, but overall they were so minor in light of the entire plot that I thought they actually sometimes helped.9. (+) Pacing - This book starts with action and ends with a bang. There's really no dull moment or unused scene. A lot of things contribute double time towards building the tension for the climax.10. (+) The Cover - I'm actually a fan of the new covers, though the pose for this one is quite awkward. On the flip side, you have Celaena in a dress, so you get both sides of her and the dramatic fiery colors work well for the book's content.All in all, Crown of Midnight does exactly what a sequel should do: advances the plot while developing the characters, world, and themes and maintaining high stakes. If you are a fan of Throne of Glass, you simply cannot miss out on Celaena's latest adventure. Highly recommended.

Todo llego bien, el libro esta muy bonito.

4.5 ⭐️The pacing of this book was a lot better than book 1 for me. I was really drawn to it. As usual the author gives you complete whiplash in the last 100 pages. I anticipated most of the bigger reveals but I still loved this book.My only issue is I am not as invested in the love triangle as I feel I should be at this point.

My fav book series im eating these books up i cant stop, would reccomend

This is the book where things start falling in to place and it gets you really excited for the journey ahead!I love Dorian & Celaena’s friendship it’s one of my favourite friendships throughout the whole series.I go back and forth with how I feel about Chaol in this book but i think it represents how he himself is in a constant struggle with what he knows is right and what he is duty bound to do.LOVE fleetfoot and I love how much the men look after her knowing how much she means to CelaenaMy favourite quotes in this book:“The best lies were always mixed with truth”Why are you crying?""Because," she whispered, her voice shaking, "you remind me of what the world ought to be. What the world can be.But death was her curse and her gift, and death had been her good friend these long, long years.Some things you hear with your ears. Others you hear with your heartIf they wanted Adarlan's Assassin, they'd get her.And Wyrd help them when she arrived.He would move on. Because he would not be like the ancient kings in the song and keep her for himself. She deserved a loyal, brave knight who saw her for what she was and did not fear her. And he deserved someone who would look at him like that, even if the love wouldn't be the same, even if the girl wouldn't be her.Ashryver EyesThe fairest eyes, from legends oldOf brightest blue, ringed with goldHe'd loved her so much that she still felt the echoes of it, Even nowPerhaps the world would never be perfect, perhaps some things would never be right, but maybe she stood a chance of finding her own sort of peace and freedom.When you do, I want you to remember that it wouldn’t have made any difference to me. It’s never made any difference to me when it came to you. I’d still pick you. I’ll always pick you.“But he had no idea what sort of darkness lurked inside her, or what sort of monster she was willing to become in order to make things right.”“In every way that counted, I failed him.”“She had a flicker of memory from a time when, just for a moment, she’d been free; when the world had been wide open and she’d been about to enter it with Sam at her side. It was a freedom that she was still working for, because even though she’d tasted it only for a heartbeat, it had been the most exquisite heartbeat she’d ever experienced.”

This whole series is peak SJM. I’m on my 6th read through. TOG is top tier high fantasy. Must read