Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas 

Throne of Glass is the first book in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas which follows our main protagonist Celaena Sardothian, a well-known assassin serving labour in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes. Prince Dorian offers her freedom only if she agrees to fight and win as his champion to be the royal assassin. During the competition, one by one, competitors are brutally killed and Celaena must find out who the killer is before she, herself is accused of the murders.

I. Am. Obsessed. 

I had previously "read" most of the series through listening to them on Audible and I didn't feel as in love or connected as I did with Sarah J Maas' other series A Court of Thorns and Roses. But physically re-reading this seriously made me obsessed with the characters and the world; the book itself is my absolute favourite. 

I guess starting off with the visualization of the world Maas has created was a lot harder for me whilst listening to the books rather than reading them. As I was reading this book, I realized it was easier to picture what Maas wanted the world to look like and I have such a beautiful idea of it in my head now from physically reading it. 

Another thing I noticed I love a lot more are the characters. I guess while listening to the audiobook I didn't feel much love or relation to either of the characters which drew me away from the series as characters are one of my favourite aspects of novels. 

Celaena has always been one of my favourite characters -- ever since I listened to the audiobook. I really love how Maas incorporated a badass, independent female protagonist. Her mindset was always "I can't believe these 'men' think they're better than me when I can brutally kill them in two swift moves." 

Celaena also shows a lot of character development within the book which I love as well. She starts off very arrogant, cocky etc. but once she gets to know Chaol, Nehemia and even Dorian, a lot of her vulnerable side starts to show and she becomes less cold-hearted and more friendly and caring, I'd say. There's even a part near the middle of the book where Celaena forgets the first place spot in one of her tests to save another competitor which I think is a lot of growth from the beginning of the book -- and as a spoiler, starts to show a lot in the next book.

I found myself to love Chaol and Dorian a lot more whilst reading opposed to listening to the audibook which is awesome as well. 

I really found myself to LOVE Dorian this re-reading and would honestly put him at the top of my "Book Boyfriends List" with Rhysand, a character from Maas' other series ACOTAR. And if you know me well, you'd know I love Rhysand so much! Dorian I found to have quite a character development like Celaena throughout the book. I found Dorian to start off a little carless at the beginning of the book but once you really hear his backstory and his relationships with others *cough* start to unfold, you start to seriously fall in love with him. I mean, hey. He gave Celaena a PUPPY as a gift! Goals.

And the last character I'll discuss because my opinion of him changed a lot is Chaol. If you know me well, or even follow me on bookstagram, you know I HATED Chaol. Hated him. And those opinions really stemmed from when I listened to the books on audiobook. Now that I've finally physically read the books.. I LOVE Chaol. Not as much as Dorian, I'd say but he's such an adorable character. I even had to admit I finally love Chaol when I was in the early stages of re-reading this book which never typically happens. I've began to love Chaol so much that a love triangle really consumes me and the early stages of this series (because I know who they end up with further in the series) makes it difficult who I "ship" with Celaena.

But enough of the characters, the writing in this is phenomenal. I love Sarah J Maas' writing; I feel like I say it all the time but I truly do. I love how intricate her worlds are and how undoubtedly different each character is, especially with their personalities. I've been in such a fantasy kick lately and it's all Maas' fault. Her writing is so beautiful that I can't get enough of her work. 

Plot-wise, if you love Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire series) and you love reading Young Adult novels, I'm sure you'll love this series as well. It has such a great mix of love, drama, brutal killings, suspense, character development, comedy etc. and it's addicting.