I am definitely not a new-year, new me kind of person. But when it comes to being a reader, I guess I kind of am because I started one of my 2018 reading goals ON THE FOURTH DAY OF THE YEAR. On the first snow day of the year, I craved a fantasy read and I knew that it was time to reread Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Until now, I hadn’t picked up Throne of Glass since 2015, and with the final book coming out in October(not to mention the fact that I still haven’t read Tower of Dawn) , I want to give myself plenty of time to reread the series before then.

Because I still need to reread Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, and Empire of Storms, today I am only going to be discussing Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight. I’ve decided not to reread The Assassin’s Blade at the moment because I actually have a pretty decent memory of the short stories in that book. However, if you are currently or planning on reading the Throne of Glass series, I recommend reading The Assassin’s Blade before Queen of Shadows because this is where the characters from the short stories really come into play.

I’m not going to be going into serious spoilers for Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight until closer to the end. Call me lazy, but I’m also not going to be giving a synopsis for the Throne of Glass series because after reading the first 6 books, Throne of Glass’s (the book) blurb barely covers the world and fantastical elements that make up the series. Also know that I am a huge fan of Sarah J. Maas’s books; I don’t want to use the term that “I am trash” for them because I think Sarah’s books are insanely good and have really gotten me into the fantasy genre overall; it’s not like I’m reading them because they’re easy to fly through (granted it was my first semester of college, but it took me two weeks to read Empire of Storms in 2016) or that I enjoy just one character  (but please, give me all of the Chaol). And as much as I love the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, I admit that I enjoy ToG more than ACOTAR. For me, it comes down to the main protagonist; Celaena over Feyre, please. Honestly, I just love Celaena’s brutalness and sass in her world.

I decided to commit to taking notes for my reread by using the “Rattle the stars” notebook I received from the preorder promotion for Empire of Storms. I actually haven’t written in it before (I might have lost my temper a bit when I found my sister ripped out a page; IT’S A BOOKSHELF DECORATION,OKAY?) so I’m glad it has more of a purpose now. My notes vary anywhere from some of my favorite quotes to my reactions and finally taking down details or page numbers about the main plot.

Speaking of plot, my main reason for rereading this series is because it’s one of my all-time favorite series and I wanted to be reacquainted with some of my characters (hi Chaol)…. Sounds typical, right?

 I sort’ve wish this was my main reason, but in all reality, I’ve forgotten most of the basic plot details of the series, especially when it comes to magic and the Fae. Even when I read Empire of Storms, I found myself having to flip back to Queen of Shadows for reminders. Granted, there isn’t too much about Fae in these first two books, but there’s a lot about the magic system in Erilea, including WYRDMARKS (aka, something that I almost entirely forgot about). I also caught a lot of hints about what is to come for Celaena in the other books with the Fae and Terrasen.

I really enjoyed this section of my reread because I got to revisit what I currently believe is my favorite book in the series, Crown of Midnight (as you can see below, I was able to have Sarah sign my copy at Book Con in 2017!). I 100% admit that this mostly because of how much Chaol we get in this book (which I know is a hot topic that I’ll get into more in the spoilery section), but I also enjoyed seeing Celaena’s role in Adarlan and watching her explore magic.

With this go-around, I found myself less invested in the Team Dorian vs. Team Chaol debate– I think this taken a lot more seriously in the ToG fandom until Queen of Shadows. Without considering anything else in the later books, I think either would be a great partner for Celaena– and if Celaena doesn’t take Chaol, I will!

I loved being back in Dorian, Chaol and Celaena’s dynamic. Yes, Chaol is my book boyfriend, but I also love Dorian for his caring nature and how different he is from the king. And I absolutely love the sass, sarcasm, and humor between the three. I feel like we miss this in Queen of Shadows and Empire of Storms, although they are dealing with more serious issues. And without mentioning a spoilery name, I remember missing Celaena so much in the later two books. She just don’t feel like an act or disguise to me…

As you may tell, I am on the verge of spilling a thing or two so IT’S SPOILER TIME: IF YOU HAVE NOT YET CROWN OF MIDNIGHT, THIS IS WHERE YOU SHOULD LEAVE

The only spoiler I really want to discuss right now is Chaol and Celaena’s split, and I think this is where we see a divide in the Throne of Glass fandom over Chaol. Before rereading, I had forgotten what had happened surrounding Nehemia’s death, other than Celaena putting a lot of blame on Chaol. There is some sort of resolution between the two, as Celaena realizes that they were both set up, but she repeatedly says that she cannot trust him again. While I think Chaol does have some responsibility in the matter, I think he is not deserving of Celaena’s wrath. What it really comes down between the two is one factor: loyalty.

If Celaena’s been reminded of anything, it’s that 1. fortunately or unfortunately, Chaol is true to his word and must abide by his position as Captain of the Guard and 2. He’s the enemy. Even without factoring the Aelin stuff, Celaena represents Terrasen, while Chaol represents Adarlan, the kingdom that destroyed Celaena’s family and home. It makes me sad for the both of them, just because they care so much for one another and if there weren’t the whole following her destiny/Queen of Terrasen thing, I’d sure they’d be together (and we’d have less books).

So that does it for this recap of my Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight reread! Have you read the Throne of Glass series? If so, what’s your favorite book?

AND HAVE YOU SEEN THE COVER FOR A COURT OF FROST AND STARLIGHT??Share  in the comments!