Crown of Midnight: Sarah J. Maas: 2 (Throne of Glass)

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As you may remember, Celaena won the battle in Throne of Glass and is now the King’s Champion, which basically means she has to kill everyone he wants her to kill. Except… she doesn’t actually kill any of them. No, she has started faking their deaths, because unlike what she thinks of herself, she’s not a monster. Meanwhile, Celaena’s relationship with Chaol Westfall continues to blossom; their friendship and attraction is growing. Chaol feels like his loyalty to the king and to Dorian Havilliard might be jeopardised if this relationship goes further. But all the walls between them come down when Celaena surprises him with a romantic birthday dinner. They solidify their relationship that night, and they are very happy for a short amount of time. Then Chaol is kidnapped, and his captors send a ransom note to Celaena. The assignment turns out to be more difficult and dangerous than Celaena could have imagined. There is a lot of action in this book and a lot of mysteries to unravel.

She straightened as the guards gave hesitant smiles. "If I recall correctly, you complain about every time I wipe the floor with you when we spar."Celaena realizes Lady Kaltain and Roland have both been having terrible headaches, which probably has something to do with the evil magic. From a book, she learns that Kaltain’s bloodline had magic, just like Cain’s used to have. She thinks that the king is using them as pawns in his game. Duh. Celaena decides to conveniently run into Archer Finn, and Chaol comes with her because he’s protective and jealous. Archer and Celaena decide to have dinner the next night, and he’s not suspicious at all. Fool. Her search for answers ensnares those closest to her, and no one is safe from suspicion - not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a princess with a rebel heart.Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and what she is willing to fight for. When Celaena arrives to rescue Chaol, she discovers Archer is behind the capture. Archer says they kidnapped Chaol because they thought he was set to question Nehemia Ytger about her involvement in the rebel movement. He says he has been working with Nehemia to assemble a rebel force to challenge the king. Archer says they now realize that it’s the king who will question Nehemia very soon, and he thinks they will torture and maybe even kill her. He says Chaol knew this might happen and could have prevented it. Celaena believes this even though it is only partially true.

Celaena hides a secret from everyone, and she is actually a princess from the Land of the Lilies, a country that is being destroyed by the King of Adarlan. If Celaena wins the competition, she will be able to save her people and restore her kingdom. Celaena cleans out Nehemia’s room (poor baby) and finds out more about the riddle. Mainly, she realizes that “It is only with the eye that one can see rightly” applies not to the Eye of Elena, but to Damaris, the sword that belonged to Gavin, the first King of Adarlan and Elena’s husband. She uses the sword to look through the other eye, and finds another riddle. This riddle talks about three things hidden in different places (one in a starry cell, one in a volcano, and one hidden completely). Yay more riddles. Also, Nehemia knew about the tomb even before Celaena brought her there. Mort tells her that it was Nehemia getting rid of the ridderak’s body all those months ago. She crept to the edge of the bed. It wasn’t her place to ask questions. Her job was to obey. Her freedom depended on it. With each step toward Lord Nirall, she ran through the plan again. Chaol and Celaena get closer and closer. Thinks are a bit awkward with Dorian, but Dorian later decides to let Celaena go. They would never work out for spoilery reasons (see the end of this recap) but also it’s pretty damn obvious Celaena and Chaol are in love with each other.Afterwards, Celaena tells Chaol that her great-grandmother was Fae. She has lost her ability to shift to her Fae form when magic disappeared, but somehow in the other realm she could still shift. Chaol realizes that as Fae, the glass castle is the most dangerous place to be for Celaena, and he forms a plan with his father (who is visiting from Anielle, that Chaol left to be Captain of the Guard) which says that Celaena needs to be sent to Wendlyn to kill the royal family, but actually to keep her safe because that’s where the Fae are. In return, Chaol will return home and rule Anielle, like he was supposed to but never wanted to. Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie ... and what she is willing to fight for. Celaena has to stand guard during the Royal Ball and she starts dancing on her own because she’s so damn bored, but then Chaol comes outside and they dance together and it’s adorable. Meanwhile, Nehemia and Dorian watch and Dorian decides to let Celaena go, and then Nehemia tells him that there’s something within him waiting to get out (spoiler: HE’S GOT THE MAGIC). After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

She listened for the approach of any other servants, but the house remained hushed as the storm raged around them. Chaol searches Celaena’s rooms and finds her will, which states that she’ll leave everything to him when she dies. Celaena shows up and tells him she’s not going to change the will. Chaol cries.

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Dorian dreams of Gavin, the first King of Adarlan and also Elena’s husband, warning him for what Celaena is about to do and he runs after her. Dorian goes to the witch and asks her about magic. Bad idea, Dorian. Yellowlegs claims that some kinds of magic have disappeared, but others haven’t.

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME AND THEN EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE AND THEN EVERYTHING IS AWESOME MY HEARTTTTTT. Oh. You’re here for the actual recap. Okay then. Celaena is now the King’s Champion and is supposed to stop a secret rebel movement against him. Her target is Archer Finn, a courtesan she used to know, but because she isn’t actually killing her targets, she tells him to give her information in exchange for faking his death. Mysterious things are going on: Celaena finds out about an evil creature living in the castle library, and a riddle in Elena’s tomb teaches her about the fact that there are Wyrdkeys to open the Wyrdgate (which basically opens all the realms aka they’re pretty much doomed if the king finds all three keys), and Dorian finds out he has magic. Celaena and Chaol hit it off and get together, but then Nehemia gets murdered (CRYING FOREVER) and Celaena blames Chaol for not telling her there had been threats against her. Celaena snaps. She opens a portal and unleases a monster (accidentally) and we find out she is actually Fae. Archer is a betraying bastard who killed Nehemia, and Celaena kills him. Then Chaol sends her to Wendlyn (land of the Fae) to keep her safe, but then finds out she is actually the long lost Queen of Terrasen. DUN DUN DUN. What happened in Crown of Midnight?

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Silent and smooth as a wraith, she moved down the hall. Lord Nirall’s bedroom door swung open with a slight groan. She waited until the next rumble of thunder before easing the door shut behind her. Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie . . . and what she is willing to fight for. This is the second book ofthe “Throne of Glass Series”released in August 2012. About Author Sarah J. Maas (Author) When Celaena is released, she is completely numb. Her only plan is avenging Nehemia’s death and murder her assassin. From the way Nehemia was butchered, she figures out she was killed by Grave, the asshole assassin she beat in the finale of the Champion competition. She goes to find Grave and slaughters him, but not before learning that Minister Mullison, whose Champion he was, paid him to kill Nehemia, because she was against his idea of making more room for more slaves in the salt mines of Calculla. Celaena brings Grave’s head to Minister Mullison, and he is imprisoned by the King. Read a full summary of Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas below. If you can’t remember what happened in Crown of Midnight and you need a refresher, then you’re in the right place. in short