The Skinny: 
 A book about an assassin has surprisingly little killing. 
 The Fat: 
 Tumblr won't shut up about Throne of Glass (TOG). I swear I can't go a day without seeing at least one TOG related post. So I finally gave into peer pressure and checked out TOG from my local library. 
 Maas definitely had all the right things to make TOG popular: two attractive men, great chemistry between characters, a (sort of) love triangle, a strong female lead, good banter, a mystery, there's magic, an evil king, a troubled past, etc. Although I liked the book for many of the reasons I just listed, I couldn't help but find the story terribly predictable. I knew who was evil from the beginning and felt like screaming at Celaena to listen to me. It was like watching a horror film and I was yelling at the lead to not run up the stairs. 
 Another thing I found unbelievable was that the fucking Captain of the Guard had gotten his position and never killed anyone before. Yes, this is fantasy, but come on people, you don't rise in military ranks but solely being friends with the prince and looking pretty. 
 Celaena is a fellow book lover (who somehow manages to run on, like, three hours of sleep a night and still is able to be fully functional the next day) and a powerful assassin. I imagined her to be rustier after a year of starvation while mining salt, but she is very good at what she does (or at least supposedly she is since readers are only ever told not shown her abilities). I'm interested in learning more about her past. One of my favorite quotes form the book comes from pages 55-56: 
 "'Guards are of no use in a library.' Oh, how wrong he was! Libraries were full of ideas--perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons." 
 You tell 'em Celaena! I also love how she reads smut and fictional nonfiction and fiction. She is very diverse in her book choices. 
 Another one of my favorite quotes: 
 "We all bear scars, Dorian. Mine just happen to be more visible than most." (page 305) Celeane was strong and had built up walls to try and keep her from cracking. Readers learn a bit about her past at the end of the book, but I am eager to learn more. 
 Sometimes I felt like Maas changed POV's too quickly. The book was written in third person, but there were times when the POV would change three times in less than a page and a half. It gave me whiplash. There were a few times when the POV change was unnecessary and gave no added insight to the characters, but rather was simply to address them by name. It was annoying. Also, the middle of the book was slightly boring. I had wanted more killing. For a book about an assassin competition, there was very little death. I'm not sure why none of the challenges were designed with actual death in mind, only accidents. I wanted more action and more tests and less romance (which at times felt forced). And by forced, I mean Dorian felt forced. 
 I've seen this trope in many YA where a prince falls in love with some girl solely because she isn't like the nobility he has grown accustomed to (*yawn*). Usually that trope feels forced, and this was no acceptation. I felt more of a connection with Choal and Nox than Dorian. 
 Now, I read Maas' book A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) and I'm glad that I read that book before TOG. ACOTAR and TOG had some similarities, but I found myself enjoying TOG more than ACOTAR. Both books have good foundations for the series, but the middle of each book fell flat and both were guilty of cliches. But despite its flaws, I am interested in continuing the TOG series, mostly because people tell me that although the first book sucks that the series will get better, but also because I want to learn more about her past. TOG it was predictable, at times cliche, but I feel like the series will get better as it goes on. I'm (sort of) excited to read the next book.. 
 ***TRIGGER WARNINGS: slavery, murder, death, mentions of R, mentions of mind control, starvation