Friday, January 20, 2017

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!

18 comments:

  1. I personally am never touching a Maas book again! I've read four of her books and I don't know why I tortured myself like that. The romance was off-putting enough but you should see the mess in ACOTAR - ew, nope, and definitely not. I remember coming up with positive things to say about each Maas book I read but ultimately... I hate her books. It's cool that they're so popular but they are not books for me.

    In this particular series... I kept waiting and waiting for Celeana to appear to be the badass that she was pitched as... it hasn't happened yet (and I've read 3/6). I also hated the romance (but this should surprise exactly no one). The romance gets worse and more triangley/squarey/ridiculous. -_-

    Hopefully you enjoy the rest of the series though! Let me know how that works out for you. =)

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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    1. Us readers are all masochists; I can see why you kept trying to give Maas a chance. I actually read ACOTAR and liked it when I first read it! But the more I think about, the more disturbed I get. But I'm still going to be continuing on with the series because it is my (very) guilty pleasure. :D Sometimes it's hard to dislike an author so popular, but I love how upfront you are about it!

      I hear Celeana gets a bit better in the second book, but I'm just not necessarily looking forward to it. I had so much fun writing this discussion anyways, so the bad experienced was balanced out! :) Oh gosh I can handle love triangles, but love squares are stuff of nightmares sometimes!

      Thanks Alyssa! Will do. :D

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  2. That's too bad, Genni. I liked Throne of Glass pretty well back when I read it a couple of years ago - I'm rereading it for an upcoming challenge, so we'll see what I think of it the second time around.

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    1. I hope you like your reread! Throne of Glass just wasn't for me, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the sequel!

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  3. In the second book - major action. And I picked up on that in my review. IN the first book we hear so much about this crazy assassin - where was she? In the second book - boom! She's like Beatrice Kiddo, killer crazy. I love the series, and each book gets better and better. The most recent book, it mirrors LOTR in many ways and has become increasingly complex and wonderful. The first book is the worst in the series, IMO. SO I say to keep going!
    Rebecca @ The Portsmouth Review
    Follow me on Bloglovin'

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    1. That's so great to here! I'm definitley ready for some major action in the sequels. Hopefully I'll agree with you that the series gets better! I still want to keep my expectations low just so I'm not disappointed that much. :) Thanks for stopping by!

      Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

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  4. I could never get into the Thrown of Glass series. I tried but they are just not for me. I do enjoy Maas's ACOTAR's series thought. Great review, Genni. :)

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    1. Thank you! I definitely like ACOTAR more than Throne of Glass. I haven't read the sequel though to either (yet)! Thanks for stopping by Jess. :)

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  5. The books are definitely predicatable. Ultimately I stopped reading the series because of the characters. There was no development with them, and some of them seemed to do a complete 180 in the opposite direction that made no sense.

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    1. The drastic character change is what I'm really worried about. Hopefully I'll be able to go with the flow, but I have a feeling I'll have issues with it. Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. I'm so sorry you didn't like them but to each their own! Personally, I liked the series and am keeping up with it as SJM publishes more books. While I was also disappointed with the phasing out of Chaol and Dorian's importance to Aelin, I also appreciated it because it reminded me of my own life and when you move to a different place and discover a different part of yourself (or rediscover in Aelin's case), you can't come back and have the same sort of relationship with the people from your past. It just feels like life to me, as sad as it is. That's just my opinion though! I do agree with you, however, that there weren't many action scenes in the first book but it does pick up quite a bit in the sequential books as well as the prequel short story college (The Assassin's Blade).

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

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    1. That's a great way to look at it! If the phasing out is gradual, I don't think I would mind it as much. You brought up some really great points. Hopefully I'll feel the same way. :D Thanks for stopping by Laura!

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  7. Thank you! Seriously, THANK YOU! I have long felt like the lone reader staring forlornly at my copy of ToG while everyone else raved and drooled and swooned and basically proclaimed it the Best Book Ever. Um, did I miss something? I didn't dislike it. It's just that I didn't *love* it. It was okay. I wasn't a huge fan of Celeana. Again, she was... okay, but I never felt anything for her. I was anticipating an action=packed read but instead thought it was pretty slow. I didn't understand the magic that was randomly referred to (wyrd marks?) and it was just generally underwhelming. I have friends who hound me to continue the series, swearing that it gets better and better, but I just don't know. I LOVED ACOTAR and ACOMAF but maybe the ToG series just isn't for me. Great post, Genni!!

    Tanya @ Girl Plus Books

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    1. You're welcome!! :) I completely understand where you are coming from! The book is so well loved and I felt like an outsider because I didn't love it. Celeana didn't stand out to me either; she was an okay protagonist. The magic was all over the place! I definitely wished they explain all of that better! I did like ACOTAR a lot better, but I haven't read the sequel yet. I do think I'll love it though! :D Thanks for stopping by Tanya! :)

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  8. Just like your friend, I had huge issues with Queen of Shadows and really disliked it. That's part of the reason for why I've been putting off Empire of Storms. However since you are going to continue with the series, I highly recommend reading the prequel, The Assassin's Blade, next! It provides a lot of depth and insight into Celeana's character, and it's still my favorite book of the entire series. Great post!

    Brittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles

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    1. That is part of the reason I'm hesitantly continuing on. I've heard a lot of mixed things about Queen of Shadows. I'm planning on reading everything by publication date, but I'm really looking forward to The Assassin's Blade! Even people who don't like ToG told me that they like the prequel. Thanks for stopping by Brittany!

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  9. I hope you will enjoy the next books a lot more... I did. I was also pretty impressed that SJM actually penned Throne of Glass when she was 16... That's pretty impressive, right? It is definitely the worst in the series... But then I'm a die hard SJM fan now so... I'm glad I kept reading!

    Again, sorry this one wasn't for you!!!

    Di @ Book Reviews by Di

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    1. Thanks Di! And it is very impressive. I know I couldn't write a full length novel at 16. That's good to know! I did like ACOTAR, so I'm bit giving up on Mass yet!

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