Now that Calaena is the King's Champion she has to face the responsibilities going with her title. He has a never-ending lists of man for her to dispatch, sending her on missions to spread his wrath. It doesn't mean she's ready to trade her soul for her freedom though and she finds original ways to convince the King of her loyalties.
Crown of Midnight was simply amazing and in perfect continuity with the first book, Throne of Glass. Miss Maas created an awesome world and I felt right back home when I launched beside Calaena into her new adventures. Filled with hidden magic, conspiracies and passion in a medieval setting, I had everything I like in a novel to be completely engrossed.
Despite its awesomeness, the world building isn't everything and the characters are definitely the main reason I love this series so much. Each character is so rich, full of life and mysteries, you really have to pay attention to the subtleties if you don't want to miss out on some very important nuances.
Caleana herself is a big secret to unveil. Who is she really? Where does she come from? Why won't she face her past? Why keep everyone at arms length? A lot of answers are provided in this novel and I have to admit I was completely shocked. Yes, I knew there was some big secret, but I never grasped the extend of it and now that I know, I feel this strong urge to re-read the book and see which clues I missed, and I MUST read book three ASAP or I'll go nuts. I want to know what happens next *cries*
Chaol and Dorian are both amazing for their own reasons. Dorian is a bit left behind in this novel mostly because Calaena broke things with him and despite his wanting to move on he is having a hard time and can't help but wanting her from afar. He isn't a groveling mess though and he isn't a fool. He stepped up his game by the end of the novel proving to be a very important element to the plot's progression and I applaud him for that. Go for boys handling their own! Chaol simply broke my heart for so many reasons. First, because he is intentionally blinding himself from his real feelings for Calaena and when he FINALLY decides to give in, because yes he does!!, I had to *awww* in an extremely girly moment. He is such a romantic under his thick armor, it's very endearing. He isn't perfect though and makes mistakes that will hunt him for the rest of his life, hence the third reason he broke my heart.
The plot proved to be everything I desired and then some. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the romantic aspect, but the conspiracies and the action completely satisfied me. Everytime you think you have everyone figured out, something happens and blurs the cards. Maas never allows you to sit back and be confident in your knowledge of the characters because she drops a game-changing bomb every once in a while and you are forced to reconsider everything. The plot is so intricate, the possibilities are mind-boggling!
If you haven't read this series yet, I strongly urge you to do so, starting with the 4 e-novellas available (I still need to read the 4th one). They will give you a great background on Caleana and even though they are not exactly mandatory, she refers to those events a lot in the two actual books so I think you would enjoy your experience more if you did read them.
Ahhh... Such a good series. One of my favorites. You said it very well. I enjoyed your review.
ReplyDeleteI keep hearing good things about this series! I guess I'll have to go hunt down the novellas so I can start reading this series... Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou must indeed :) I hope you like them!
ReplyDeleteGreat Review Tynga - so professional. I just posted a review on this as well and I agree with everything you said. I never knew who was behind everything and I was always kept guessing. Chaol ripped my heart out and I just loved him so much. I ship them all the way to the dock! The ending threw me a bit but had me so shocked and longing for book 3. I also loved that Dorian stepped up and became a important of the plot without being in the romance and I have a lot of respect for him. A awesome sequel, even better then Throne of Glass.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sunny! Glad you like it and we think alike ^^
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