I'm starting to feel like my blog is becoming more and more of a book/TV/movie review machine. Not that I'm necessarily writing reviews for other people to read. I can count on one hand the people I know who are likely even following this blog. I guess for me, this is more about keeping track of what materials I've been perusing through and analyzing what I like and don't like about these stories.
Before you dive into this post, I recommend reading this article on Paper versus Pixel regarding how we choose to read: http://nautil.us/issue/4/the-unlikely/paper-versus-pixel
And now, without further ado:
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Last summer, I wrote a post about the relationship I have with the Throne of Glass series. S. J. Maas was a Fictionpress legend back during my middle school/early high school years when I stayed up all night reading these stories. I didn't actually read the original "Queen of Glass", but the fact that a FP legend was breaking into publishing was significant for me. If S. J. Maas could do it, then maybe it would be possible for the rest of us to make that dream a reality.
I eagerly bought Throne of Glass on its release day last year. Though my book report seems actually pretty positive when I read it in retrospect, truthfully I felt kind of disappointed. I couldn't shake off the lingering thought that so many elements of the story reminded me of other fantasy stories that had managed to pull it off more effectively. I think the biggest issue was, I had hyped it up so much in my head that in the end, neither the characters or plot truly made me think WOW HOW DID SHE THINK OF THAT.
Well, I wasn't ready to give up on Celaena just yet. So I continued to follow the release of the second book, Crown of Midnight, but with less intensity than before. I noticed that Crown of Midnight was garnering a lot of good reviews, including a starred review from Kirkus. The general consensus was that this book was much better than its predecessor. Intrigued by this, I purchased the e-book yesterday and finished it in one evening.
The reviews do not lie: this book was much better than the first. From the very first chapter, Celaena was a lot more dynamic and active, which I had sorely hoped for in the first book. There was much more at stake in the storyline this time around, which kept me on my toes.
But what's baffling me right now is... as much as I wanted to love it, I still felt ambivalent about the book.
//SPOILERS AHEAD//
Alright, I'm gonna sort out my thoughts, so feel free to disregard everything I write below.
I've been thinking about this since I finished the book last night, and I've come to the conclusion that I still don't have a good grasp in Celaena's motivations. In the first novella, she frees slaves on moral principle, which triggers a series of misfortunes that land her in a labor camp. Yet throughout most of the first book, she flaunts her status as the kingdom's greatest assassin and seems to have no qualms about her murderous past. Then, she becomes generally reluctant to murder through most of the second book--but why? Did I miss something important? And about the slave thing--how can you be against slavery but have no problem with killing? Is the issue about freedom to choose how you live? I can't figure it out.
The love triangle took an interesting turn in this book. To my surprise, I started liking Dorian more than Chaol in this book. Seems like I just have to root for whoever doesn't get the girl. Chaol's storyline is a lot more intense this time around. He finally gets the girl, but I was very puzzled by my immediate reaction, which was along the lines of: Eh? Why do we have this development so soon? I'd suspected after reading the first book that Celaena and Chaol were probably endgame/OTP, but given that this Throne of Glass series is supposed to be six books long, I had assumed S.J. Maas would spend more time heating things up with a slow burn. Well, this throws a wrench into my predictions.
Chaol betrays Celaena in a way that I think is very in character with his personality--so kudos to S. J. Maas for crafting this part well. But that's the writerly side of me speaking. The readerly side of me was expecting to be all devastated and NOOOOO, but this didn't happen. Instead, I couldn't help but draw comparisons between Chaol and Akiva from Daughter of Smoke and Bone, who both make a decision that winds up leaving one of their lover's closest friends/family dead. Akiva's betrayal punched me in the gut far more than Chaol's. Akiva actively killed Brimstone, Karou's father figure, whereas Chaol became indirectly responsible for Nehemia's death by not sharing crucial information. I know it's not fair to compare these two books, but I can't help that I just finished both recently.
I guess this is the crux of what I'm trying to say: Laini Taylor took a greater risk with Akiva than S. J. Maas did with Chaol. For me, it paid off. How on earth are is Karou going to forgive Akiva for what he's done? Hell, how are the readers ever going to forgive Akiva? From a writer's perspective, to a certain degree you want your readers to fall for the love interest as well. If he's too perfect, than people will accuse him of being Edward Cullen, but adding imperfections also runs the risk of creating a character people don't like or care about. To tell you the truth, I didn't like Akiva that much. But his betrayal left with so many questions that I was dying to know what was going to happen in the next book. With Chaol.. I actually liked him. But I didn't feel my gut flip inside-out when Nehemia died and Celaena went berserk on Chaol. (Actually, I was ambivalent about Nehemia as well, so maybe that's part of the problem.)
Despite all this, I do wonder where S. J. Maas is taking this story and how she's planning to develop it over the next four books. Part of the fun of being a reader who also likes creating her own stories is that I often try to predict what will happen. I've been thinking about Chaol and Celaena's parting, and I came to the conclusion that if I had been the one molding this story, I probably would have taken a Basara route and forced the two onto extreme, irreconcilable, opposite sides before they ever slept together. Tear them apart by having Chaol choose his loyalty to the king (whom he owes a lot to) over his love for her. She becomes the princess of the rebellion; he becomes the king's second-in-command and is ordered to crush her. Have them meet on the battlefield and see what happens... mwahaha. (This is assuming they're endgame, which they could very well not be... who knows at this point?)
Anyways... in summary, I just felt very apathetic the whole time I was reading this book, and I can't figure out why. Was it the book's problem? But with so many stellar reviews, maybe the problem was just me and my personal tastes. Or was I just in a strange mood yesterday? Does it make a difference that I read a physical hardcover copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, whereas I was reading Crown of Midnight on my phone via Amazon Kindle app? Does reading from a digital format make you feel less engaged with the story?
I wish I had someone I could discuss all this with, but just like I have no music friends, I don't have book friends either. :[
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