Crown of Midnight

Cover image and summary from Goodreads:

"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 black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from 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 closest 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.

This is the sequel to Throne of Glass, which I read last year and loved, so if you haven’t read that yet, be aware that this review may contain spoilers!

The story beings not long after the events of ToG, with Celaena the King’s Champion (assassin), Chaol still the Captain of the Guard and fighting his feelings for Celaena, and Prince Dorian trying to figure out what he feels for her.

This book had everything I loved about ToG but to the extreme. Action? Check. Mystery? Check. Awesome fight scenes? Check. Celaena’s sass? Check. Chaol swoons? Check!

Honestly, this book was so much fun to read! I love Celaena’s bad-assness, and I love the way the story ties in to the events of ToG and where it looks like it might be heading in the third book (Heir of Fire, out in September, which I’ve already pre-ordered!). Celaena finds her loyalties tested in this book, and there are lots of problems with trust and people keeping secrets, which leads to tragedy, which in turn leads to some intense fighting. I can’t even get into the plot because this review will just break down into a fangirling mess (more than it already has).

I loved everything about this book and I can’t believe that Sarah J. Maas has written a sequel that is even better than the first book in the series! No second-book syndrome here. I am so so so excited for the next book, and if you like kick butt heroines, romance, action, and fantasy, you’ve got to read this series!