Okay. Now THIS is the SJM I've come to know and love. If I had read this book as an actual young adult, I think I would've died.

It's as if SJM listened to all my criticism about her first book and fixed it specifically for me. I'm honored.

Although this book only takes place a few months after the end of the first, we see a lot of character growth/maturity on Celaena's part in Crown of Midnight (and thank god for that). She is the cunning, beautiful, strong assassin I expected her to be in Throne of Glass, and then some. Celaena is all raw edges and bloody knuckles here, an absolute badass.

I loved that the plot was complex, yet I as the reader was still able to pick up on some of the Easter eggs SJM was leaving throughout the novel. It made me feel like a genius when I put things together and SJM allows the reader to put together just enough without spoiling the plot or making it too obvious. This is a technique I think SJM employs in her other series as well, specifically in CC, and I'm a big fan as someone who isn't always the best at picking up on the minutia of a plot like some of these other fantasy fans.

Not a single one of these characters can be trusted, they are all hiding so many things!!

And Chaol and Dorian....

Spoiler

I desperately want things to work out with Chaol, and am wondering what Celaena meant by it will always be him, but I have a gut feeling this is not going to work out the way I want it to.

I am so intrigued by Dorian's character, and can't wait to keep reading.