Crown of Midnight Review

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Published:  August 27, 2013
Synopsis from Goodreads: Celaena Sardothien is the king's Champion—yet she is far from loyal to the crown, for the man she serves is bent on evil. But working against her master in secret is no easy task. As Celaena tries to untangle the mysteries buried within the glass castle, she can trust no one, not even her supposed allies Crown Prince Dorian, Captain of the Guard Chaol, and foreign princess Nehemia.

Then, an unspeakable tragedy shatters Celaena's world. She must decide once and for all where her loyalties lie . . . and whom she will fight for.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars but can 10 out of 5 stars and option?

This book Broke. My. Feels.

ALL of them. The good feels, the bad feels, the WTF just happened kind of feels.

THEY. ARE. ALL. BROKEN.

Let's start from the beginning shall we? Crown of Midnight picks up right where Throne of Glass ends. Celaena has won the title of King's Champion and is now slave to the King's wishes. However, she is nowhere near as loyal as she pretends to be. And so begins a 418 page journey of heart wrenching, nonstop adventure complete with blood, love, magic, death, plot twists, and so much more. 

In my review for Throne of Glass, I said that saying I immensely enjoyed it was an understatement. This time around though, when I say that Crown of Midnight BLEW Throne of Glass out of the water, that is a massive understatement. The first book was a really good beginning that perfectly set the stage for what was a crazy epic second book. Sarah J. Maas certainly did not fall prey to the second book lull that some authors do where their sequels are just standard in-between happenings between one book and the next. No, Ms. Maas created an amazing adventure that put her first book almost to shame (not really though because the first book is still amazing.)

One thing I forgot to talk about in my first review is how well Maas uses the third person point of view. Sometimes third person makes me feel disconnected with the characters especially when the author jumps around from talking from one character's perspective to the next. However, Maas uses third person so flawlessly that hopping from one character to the next (sometimes mid-scene) only enhanced the imagery and broke my feels even more. Did I mention yet that my feels are broken? Because they are - shattered. 

Another thing I forgot to mention is the WORDS. Not since reading Harry Potter have I found an author whose words are so important. A major lesson I learned while reading Crown of Midnight was to pay attention to the particular words that Sarah J. Maas chooses because she is the queen of the absolute most subtlest form of foreshadowing. You don't even realize that she's using foreshadowing until an epic plot twist happens and all the words fall into place and you find yourself flipping back through book one just to make sure you're remembering everything correctly.*

*Just as I was writing this, it happened again. I just remembered a scene from practically the third chapter of Throne of Glass that makes so much sense now that I just finished Crown of Midnight.**

And so concludes the spoiler free portion of this review. If you haven't yet read Crown of Midnight, run away now because spoilers in the minor and major sense are coming. 

Spoilers in 

You were warned.

CELAENA AND CHAOL!!!!! My OTP of this series finally became cannon!! Okay so things left off rocky for them in the end but UGH they were so adorable together in the first half!! Maybe adorable isn't the right word for them but I just love them together! I can't imagine them not working out eventually. They need to - it must happen. Why? Because he will always care what happens to her. Because she feels safest when she's with him. Because he knows when she needs chocolate cake. Because she threw him a perfect birthday party with all his favorite food. Because he would disappear with her. Because she took out an entire room of armed men to save her Chaol. Because he jumped into a demon portal to save her puppy. Because she signed everything she owns to him in her will. Celaena and Chaol forever!!

“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.”

- Chaol and Celaena, pg 187

I will say that one thing that I didn't like about them was how easily they fell apart over a misunderstanding. I mean really, she knew that he was loyal to the crown and that his position as captain and serving his country meant everything to him. It was part of what made her love him so much - that he had it in him to be so loyal. Somewhere, she must have known that if the king gave him an order, he'd follow it. Granted, he should also have known that to not tell Celaena that Nehemia was in danger was pretty stupid. He should have known that she above anyone else would keep her safe. I don't blame him for sending her away to Wendlyn. He was trying to protect her the only way he knew how. At the same time, Nehemia lied to her too - a lot actually. THat princess had a lot of secrets and Celaena didn't blow up about that. I thought the whole misunderstanding thing was just strange all together from every angle but the end still gives me hope that all will be okay with them. 

There were two things that I really didn't see coming at all. The first of which was Dorian has magic. That revelation just blew my mind. It was just not at all something that I was expecting to happen. If there was foreshadowing for it at all, I definitely missed it and I can't remember anything that would have even hinted at that being a possibility. Also, Nehemia!!! That hurt. A lot. I loved her character! And I was actually sort of hoping that she and Dorian might become a thing eventually. But... that one hurt. And Fleetfoot still waits for her which made it hurt even more. 

One thing that I really, really loved was seeing Celaena's assassin side. My favorite scenes were when she burst through the window to save Chaol and when she crashed a council meeting to deliver Grave's head to the king. When she said that dramatic entrances were her art form, she wasn't kidding. There was just so much epicness.

** I won't spell it out exactly here just in case someone isn't listening to my spoiler warning. But reread Chapter 5 in Throne of Glass. I had forgotten all about that scene. But that's some seriously random scene disguising massive foreshadowing there for you. It's just so impressive how well thought out these books are and I've only read two of them. Same thing goes for when Nehemia renamed Celaena. The way she said it, I have a feeling she knew. 

I'm pretty sure this is the longest review I've ever written and every time I think I've said everything I meant to say, there's something else. I literally think that I can sit and flail about this book for hours. But I won't because Heir of Fire is sitting on my desk demanding to be read and when a book makes such demands, one must listen. 

If you've read Crown of Midnight, do let me know what you thought of it. Did you like more than the first? Most importantly, do you think Chaol and Celaena will be okay?? Because they need to be. For the sake of my feels. 

But death was her curse and her gift, and death had been her good friend these long, long years.

 - pg 241