Audio Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas
Narrator: Elizabeth Evans
Series: Throne of Glass #2
Published by Bloomsbury YA on 2013-08-27
Age Range: 14+
Length: 440 pages
Length: 12 hours and 43 minutes
Listening Speed: 2x
Reviewing Audiobook, Hardcover from My Book Shelf
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2025 Audiobook Challenge, 2025 Beat the Backlist

Never trust an assassin.

Celaena's story continues in this second book in the #1 bestselling Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become the King's Champion. But she is far from loyal to the crown. Though she goes to great lengths to hide her secret, her deadly charade becomes more difficult when she realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. Her search for answers ensnares those closest to her, and no one is safe from suspicion-not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a princess with a rebel heart.

Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie . . . and what she is willing to fight for.

The second book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series returns readers to a land destroyed by liars, where one woman's truth is the only thing that can save them all.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas is the second book in the Throne of Glass which follows an assassin, a soldier, and a prince. Each book in this series builds on the last one, making the series better as it goes which when I read it the first time I didn’t think was possible. I’ve read this one more times than I can count, and it never gets old. It will remain one of my all-time favorites. You can see my original, gushing, fangirl review here.

If you haven’t read Throne of Glass, there are minor spoilers to the first book in this review. Read at your own risk. Picking up a few months after the end of book one, Celaena Sardothien won the king’s competition and is now working as the King’s Assassin. Something she doesn’t take lightly. She knows that serving out her five years for the king means her freedom, but she’s sold herself to the very man who put her and thousands others in the salt mines of Endovier to die. With a rebellion against the king growing, he sends Celaena to kill the leaders, but when the name of someone from her past makes it on the list, Celaena must decide where her true loyalities lie.

Celaena is the girl I fell in love with during Throne of Glass. She’s snarky, independent, does whatever she wants and ignores the consequences. She’s ruthless, yet loyal to a fault. However, Celaena’s been hurt by those closest to her in the past so she doesn’t trust east, yet she’s learning she trusts Chaol, the captain of the guard and the person she should trust the least as his loyalty lies with the king.

Did his parents have any idea that in the entire castle, in the entire kingdom, there was no one more noble and loyal than him? That the boy they’d thrown out of their lives had become the sort of man that kings and queens could only dream of having serve in their courts?

Chaol is, quite simply, amazing. During the first book, it was painfully obvious he had feelings for Celaena, but he didn’t act on them. That changes in this book. He’s protective, pushes her to her limits, and, unfortunately for him, her exact opposite. His duty to the crown gets in the way, and despite his loyalty to Celaena, he can’t be loyal to them both. He will have to choose, something Celaena knows, and he’s in denial about.

So Dorian closed his eyes, and took another long breath. And when he opened his eyes, he let her go.

Then, there’s the prince. Dorian is struggling a bit in this book. He was flat out rejected, probably for the first time ever, by the girl who occupies his every thought. His confidence is shot, he’s on edge, he doesn’t know who, or what, to trust. Everything Dorian thought he knew, he’s now questioning.

There is so much happening in this book. Mostly the plot revolves around Celaena and her new job as the King’s Assassin, but there is so much more. The rebellion, Nehemia, the Wyrd keys, and forbidden magic are just a few of the things this book touches on. Overall, I love Crown of Midnight just as much if not more than Throne of Glass. The action, the incredibly complex world Celaena lives in, and the relationships she forges along the way make Crown of Midnight a must read for fans of fantasy.

Audiobook Note: I opted to listen for this series re-read. Elizabeth Evans narrates, and as always, she is amazing. I love her subtle inflections and tone changes. It makes it easy for the listener to know which character is narrating. Highly recommend for audio lovers.

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