Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J.Mass

From Goodread's:
After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. 

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. 

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. 

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined

Author: Sarah J.Mass
Published: 2012
Pages: 404
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
My Rating: 3.5/5

Assassin + Girl + Crown Prince + Ballrooms + Competitions + Blackmail + Sneaky Past + Corrupt King = One Kick Ass Story

The first half of the story was way more awesome than I expected. I am all for action and I love when the main heroin is strong and has a distinct personality of her own. And when she also happens to be the most famous and feared Assassin of Adarlan i.e. the ruling kingdom, what more could you ask for. I fell in love with her character, her strength and most of all her wit. The way she was able to laugh despite enduring what people couldn't have imagined. Celaena is one beloved heroin. She can kill a man in the time it takes you to drink your juice, loves pretty dresses and favourite hobby happens to be reading books.

I loved the two main guys as well. Prince Dorian is the son of the ruling corrupt king and you would think that he would be his exact replica, that is what he assumes as well. But he turns out to be someone else. Someone who cares about his people. The other guy, Captain of the Guard, Chaol (weird name), has left his rightful position for a better task. The two guys are friends yet the contrast between them is so startling. Chaol being the wise one and Dorian being the fool prince. One thing that really got me confused was the love triangle or lack there off of one. I mean, if you want to put a love triangle in a book. Just do it. One second it is there, the next its not.

When my expectations reached the sky, I literally, fell out of the sky. Because magic and some weird nonsense named Wyrdmarks came between me and my love for the story. Magic and things that just do not make sense to me are such a huge turn off for me. I felt so bad like someone had performed open heart surgery on me. All of that creature leashing from the other side, blah, blah, blah, and the Wyrdmarks protecting her was utter nonsense.

I don't know if I will read finish the series. I wish that the story did not include all that magic nonsense. It would have been such a die hard book. This is one book that I feel sorry for.

...SAP...