Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My main problem with Throne of Glass is the deceiving blurb that promises wonderful things, yet never fully delivered. I was promised an exhilarating, intriguing plot, similar to that of Poison Study, I was promised a kick-butt heroine likened to Katsa and Katniss Everdeen. The premise claimed that Throne of Glass is Game of Thrones for the teenage set. Unfortunately, for such a big-premise novel, Throne of Glass was a massive disappointment. Like Grave Mercy, a recent 2012 read that I did not enjoy at all, Throne of Glass had the same level of superficiality and flavorless, juvenile writing. Certain sentences were formed awkwardly, and when in correspondence with uncomplicated prose, I received the overall impression that this novel was geared towards the "Y" of Young Adult. I will admit that the plot was entertaining, and for the most part filled with thrilling games and fights, animating dialogue and character interactions. However, this book lacked intricate world-building, and variegated, sophisticated writing to make this a memorable read. As it was, Throne of Glass was only substantial. It didn't help that the plot was extremely predictable and I got the whole mystery solved 30% of the way through as well. Along with passable world-building and writing, there was an overall fluffiness to this book that I found very unappealing. Action scenes, political intrigue, and you know, assassinating were grossly outweighed by the descriptions of gorgeous gowns, physical beauty, and handsome men. Again, this will attract many but I didn't bargain for a fantasy-lite, a term I've stolen from Tatiana after she's been using this exact phrase for quite a few YA fantasy novels published this year. Celaena Sardothien was a very frustrating character who often left me conflicted. On one hand, I appreciated how Ms.Maas had created such a self-reliant, ballsy protagonist with snarky comments you could sense from a mile away. She was certainly a far cry from being a pathetic, sniveling damsel in distress who needed saving. On the contrary, Celaena was a complete Mary Sue and made sure that everyone was aware of that. Not only was she breathtakingly beautiful and intelligent and witty and strong, she easily attracted two handsome men, Prince Dorian and Captain Chaol Westfall. Which obviously leads me to the most irritating component of this book-the love triangle. I suppose the author recalled at some point whence formulating her novel that this is for teens and thus requires a love-triangle. Both love interests had personalities thinner than the paper this book was written on, especially Prince Dorian. His adoration for Celaena was tiresome and redundant; his character the product of the same personality replayed over and over again in various novels. If however, you're a fan of forbidden romances with insta- love included into the mix, Throne of Glass is the perfect book for you. Mostly all the secondary characters were two dimensional and poorly constructed, hence I had difficulty investing any emotions in the characters and their relationships, with the exception of one- Nehemia. I will admit that she and Celaena had a very interesting correspondence, and that's probably because she was the only multilayered, realistic character in this entire book. There are indeed many readers who will love this and gush about it with other readers who equally adore it, but please, give me something with quality, with depth and substance. Serviceable, but I'm ready to move onto something else.