Crown of Midnight By: Sarah J. Maas

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• Title: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2)
• Author: Sarah J. Maas
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
• Publication Date:  August 27, 2013 
• Pages: 413
• Genre: Fantasy/YA
• Recommended Age(s): 13+
• First Read: 2017
• Source: Library 
• Rating: 5.0 / 5.0 stars

Celaena Sardothien is the land's most feared assassin- and now she is serving as the King's Champion as well. And although she is a trained killer, Celaena has not taken the life of any of the men the king has sent her to kill. Instead, she plays a dangerous game, playing the part of a loyal assassin while all the while trying to discover the king's secret agenda. After a night filled with the terrible truths of the secrets swirling around her, Celaena must decide what to do in the face of her greatest challenge yet.

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Oh. My. Gosh. I am absolutely reeling at everything that has just happened and even as I write this, I don't think I've completely processed everything yet. This was so good; who says sequels aren't as good as the original? I finished this in record time and all the intense action and information in this book made for a very quick read.

I think my favorite part about this book is seeing how much Celaena grows in such a short amount of time. I also loved how much we get to see just how badass she really is. One thing's for sure- I sure don't want to get on Celaena's bad side! I've loved Celaena from the moment I realized she loved books just as much as I did, and as I've gotten to know her better, I see how much she reminds me of myself- just you know, without the whole assassin thing going. I also really like this book because it depicts Celaena as capable of making her own, rational decisions without some guy clouding her feelings from what she really needed to do. Don't get me wrong- I fell in love with both Chaol and Dorian (and may have teared up a bit at *certain* scenes) but the focus of the series isn't solely on some lovelorn teenager who sacrifices everything for some guy.

The action was so intense and Celaena delivered on all those promises she made in the first book. And in this book, I can't think of anything I didn't particularly like. I know this is a fantasy novel and everything, but I kept wishing that I was half as athletic as she was. I also liked learning a bit more about Celaena's past, even though some of what I learned tore me apart.

And man, this book gave me feelings and made me gasp out loud at some of the background information that I got. I certainly didn't see that twist coming- that's all I'm going to say. And right after writing this, I'm diving right into the third book to see what comes out of all information that was revealed. I simply cannot wait.