The short: 3.5 ✦. A vast improvement on the previous book, now that there’s fully developed characters, an action-driven plot, and shocking world-building.

The long: 

Okay, now things are gettin’ good.

Which makes me wonder what the heck Throne of Glass‘s problem was. I mean, to be fair, there’s annoying love stuff in Crown of Midnight, too, which I’m still not a fan of.

But Celeana is much better. Thankfully.

There’s more action, too – we actually get to see outside the castle and meet new people. The world grows bigger and the characters develop. And yes, there’s a twist.

There’s actually quite a lot of sudden plot turns and surprises in this book, which is enormously gratifying given how one-dimensional and predictable Throne of Glass was.

I’d like to keep this review spoiler-free (though it seems I’m one of the last few people to be reading this series!), hence why it’s so short. Suffice to say, this second novel is much better than the first, and I am actually now looking forward to reading the next book!

Header image: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, published August 27th 2013 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens.