The Laughing Listener
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Elizabeth Evans
Length: 12 hours & 47 minutes

Story Rating: 3.5 Stars
Performance Rating: 5 Stars
Overall Rating: 4 Stars

After recently finishing ACOTAR and ACOMAF, I preordered the paperback of [b:A Court of Wings and Ruin|23766634|A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1485528243s/23766634.jpg|25126752] and [b:A Court of Frost and Starlight|31076583|A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.1)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1517328945s/31076583.jpg|54810660]. During the one week I had to wait for their delivery, I was a complete nutter. I was going out of my mind wondering what was going to happen to my favorite characters and I needed a distraction. And what better distraction than ANOTHER [a:Sarah J. Maas|3433047|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1269281353p2/3433047.jpg] masterpiece???



As it turns out, this was a horrible idea because I went into it already comparing the two series. Despite being by the same author, I soon realized you just can’t do that with these books. They’re completely different. And although I didn't enjoy this as much as ACOTAR, I still found this a lot of fun to read.

THE GOOD

Actually the more of this audiobook I listened to, the more I began comparing it to [b:Red Queen|22328546|Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)|Victoria Aveyard|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449778912s/22328546.jpg|25037051]??? Am I the only one who thought these books were practically the same?? Strong female protagonist living among the royals of an oppressed nation and forced to train with two hunky dudes lusting after her. I mean, COME ON! Honestly, I didn't care for Red Queen that much. It was fun in a CW-teen-drama kind of way, but completely predictable (imo). But by the time I finished this book, I realized this is what I WISH Red Queen had been.

First of all, I really LOOOOOOOOVED the sass machine that was Celaena Sardothien. I can definitely see how some people would find her annoying because she DID spend and ungodly amount of time whining. But it surprisingly didn't bother me because I could tell it was wall she uses to protect herself, and that is just completely relatable to me. Plus, it was awesome watching her kick butt!! I love me a girl who can talk fashion and then beat the hell out of a guy. QUEEN.



And her friendship with Princess Nehemia was great!! I love both of them so much! #GirlPower

I'm also really intrigued by all the magical elements in this. Obviously that's going to be a big part of the series later on and I'm super curious to see how. Really hoping that means these books will get better the deeper I go into the series. *Crosses fingers*

THE UGLY

Some of the tropes in this made eye roll so hard. Like the whole competition thing? I mean, I get it. She had to prove herself to become the King's champion, they don't just hand that title out to ANY criminal. But it's just so overdone these days.

And the love triangle??? Uggggggggh. Most boring love triangle EVER. I loved Celaena so much, but could not get into Dorian the low-key douchebag or Chaol the uptight debbie downer. And watching them all dance around each other (sometimes literally) was so tedious after a while. I've waited so long to read this book that I already know she doesn't end up with either of them (THANK GOD), which is honestly a big reason why I'm going to continue the series. Because I can't with these guys. If anything I'm #TeamChaol but he better liven up in the next one.

FINAL WORD

This book was fun to read and I have the feeling it's going to get better in the series from here. *Knocks on every wooden surface in a 50 foot radius* Celaena is AWESOME and I can't wait to see what happens next!

#0.5 ↦ [b:The Assassin's Blade|18243700|The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass, #0.1-0.5)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1384362444s/18243700.jpg|25691778] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✧
#1 ↦ Throne of Glass ↦ ✦✦✦✧✧
#2 ↦ [b:Crown of Midnight|17167166|Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1391580481s/17167166.jpg|21581860] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✧
#3 ↦ [b:Heir of Fire|20613470|Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1460846511s/20613470.jpg|25128502] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✦
#4 ↦ [b:Queen of Shadows|18006496|Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441230104s/18006496.jpg|25272067] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✦
#5 ↦ [b:Empire of Storms|28260587|Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, #5)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463107108s/28260587.jpg|25272004] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✦
#6 ↦ [b:Tower of Dawn|31450852|Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, #6)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1497973101s/31450852.jpg|51681900] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✧
#7 ↦ [b:Kingdom of Ash|33590260|Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1531922609s/33590260.jpg|25272014] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✦