DISCUSSION | Why Throne of Glass was a huge disappointment

So this month, I finally picked up Throne of Glass. After years of being pushed to read this book, I made the decision and checked it out from my library. And maybe it's because of the years of anticipating/dreading reading the book, or maybe it's the lack of execution, but Throne of Glass was lackluster for me. 

My biggest issue lies in the characters. To give you a backstory, my best friend read Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, and Heir of Fire last summer. She dnf'd Queen of Shadows. Her main reason was that Dorian and Chaol are basically thrown away by the time Queen of Shadows rolls around. According to her, there are not a lot of chapters in their POVs and neither of them are endgame for Celeana. Knowing this, it was so hard to invest in any relationship in Throne of Glass. I was connecting with Dorian and Chaol, but I kept stopping myself. Because what is the point in rooting for Chaol and Celeana to end up together if I know that their ship sinks already? I had a hard time balancing knowing that the series goes in a completely different direction and still enjoying the book. Also, is Nehemia even in the sequels?? Because I genuinely liked her character.



One of my other biggest flaws is how predictable everything is. I knew right off the bat who Celeana is once she mentioned running away and putting a wall up for her memories. Obviously something traumatic happened, and it's not too hard to figure out (SPOILER!) that she is the heir to Terrasen. I mean, if that is Maas' way of subtle foreshadowing, then I'm in trouble considering that her true identity is revealed at the end of either book two or three. I don't necessarily want to read two books to get to a reveal that I guessed in the first half of the first book. 

Here is the map of Erilea that I never referred to!

Also, talk about some cliche villains. I was reading this book, and it was obvious that Duke Perrington, Cain, and Lady Katlain were all bad. It was so obvious in fact that I eventually assumed that Maas was throwing a red herring out there to surprise us with the who the villain actually was! For me, it was so obvious who was doing the murders and manipulating the contest that I actually started to doubt myself, solely because I didn't think Maas would point it out so clearly in the books. For god sakes, I was getting excited for the "reveal" of who the bad guy actually was just to figure out that it was the obvious choice all along. SUCH a bummer. 

Another thing that I definitely didn't appreciate was the lack of action. This book is marketed as an assassin going into a competition with people just as deadly and only one will come out. I was really excited to read all the trials! Unfortunately, the only thing we read is when the group all run together once, an archery test, a poison test, and another trial in which Celeana climbs as wall, and then the final battle. All of these action scenes were my favorite of the book, and yet there were only five. Why are there only five action scenes in a book that markets itself as action? Plus, only one of those five scenes was actually lengthy. There are tons of trials that were just mentioned in the book and were cast aside to see Celeana interact with Dorian. And while it was nice to see their interactions, I'd much rather read about Celeana kicking ass, like the book promised. 

My initial thoughts right after finishing the book

Sooo.. am I continuing on with this series?

You might be surprised...but yes. Yes, I am. I've heard amazing things about this series, and there have been several series that I didn't enjoy at first that I ended up loving. So I'm giving this one another chance. 

At the end of the day, Throne of Glass is a well loved series. I can see why it is, and hopefully I will adore the later books like the majority of the YA book community. Throne of Glass, however, was a huge disappointment for me. I'm lowering my expectations and still remain extremely hopeful. But I won't be shocked if this series isn't for me. 

Yeah, so sorry if this was a whole lot of writing and raving! :D If you love this series, good for you! I wish I did, and maybe I will eventually after reading the sequels. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!