Crown of Midnight | Sarah J. Maas

"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached. 
It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far more loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closet relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances- not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign 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 give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for. 

Slowly I'm being entangled into this web of intense plots and realistic to-die-for characters as the plot gradually transitions from the simplicity I thought it was going to be to the complicated mess it will become.

There's honestly no way for me to discuss any part of this book without spoiling some aspect of it, and every part of this book should be experienced firsthand. So if you haven't already done so, definitely give this book (and series) a try, you will not regret it.

Spoiler-Filled Discussion

There's so much to say but I have no idea where to start. 

First, let's get the little things out of the way. I am still Team Dorian. After constantly hearing praise after praise on Chaol and how wonderful he is, I still prefer Dorian. I have accepted that Celaorian is most likely not going to become canon, but as a character I'm beginning to appreciate and love Dorian so much more. As for Chaol

The amount of indifference I feel towards him is stifling. He reminds me too much of Four from the Divergent Series and while I loved movie Four (AKA Theo James), book Four was a bit too bland for my taste.

But Dorian just has begun to show so much potential in this series. He's no longer the pretty prince trophy I thought he was going to be. First of all, he has magic, which in itself is amazing. The simple idea of having magic is so symbolistic of his rebellion against his father, and I absolutely cannot wait until he finally makes his stand as king. 

I will admit however, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed Throne of Glass. Not only was the beginning a bit slower, but there wasn't enough Dorian for my taste, and there was a constant back and forth, as Celaena tried to unveil who was truthful and who wasn't. Especially regarding Archer. Every time she saw him, she would essentially procrastinate killing him. 

"You have one month to wrap up everything or else I'll kill you." 

"You have six days to get me this information or I promise I won't be so nice next time." 

"Run away otherwise the next time I see you, I will gut you." 

Also his whole "scheme" to get Celaena on their side was incredibly, incredibly dumb. 

'Hey guys, maybe we could take the Captain, tie him up and leave a ransom note for her in her room. That will definitely be on our side!' 

I honestly don't understand the logic behind that. 

While I wasn't totally surprised by Nehemia's death, I wasn't really expecting it either. It wasn't surprising that her roots lay with the rebels, but what was surprising was how much she kept secret from Celaena. Maybe this is just me, but I don't think Nehemia had to die in order to spur Celaena into action, I don't deny that it did something, but I think there were other means of achieving the same goal.

While so many people were upset that she blamed Chaol for her death, I don't think she was completely misguided there. Even though the death was self-induced, a warning could have saved her friend and prevented her from shattering the precariously put-together pieces of herself. I kind of loved when she beat up Chaol and threatened to kill him. 

I honestly have no idea where this book is going to go. Since they're going to be separated are we going to follow just Celaena, or will we get some castle time too? Because I need to know what's happening everywhere. I also wonder how much of the series will be dedicated solely to finding the Wyrdkeys, I feel like it'll be a whole book, maybe the next one or the one after? I don't doubt that Celaena and Chaol will be together and Dorian is just going to be left alone, fighting the king. I really wanted Celaena to take her crown and become the queen of Terrasen and just save the world. 

Needless to say, I am VERY excited about the next book. 

I kinda wanted to be persuaded to the Chaol side because if he's gonna be with my Celaena, I need to love him. So Chaol lovers, in the comments below leave me a reason for why Chaol is better Dorian.