The king’s new assassin plays both sides of a deadly court while a buried magic stirs under the glass castle.
- Score
- 82.8
- Spice
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Mild
- POV
- third
- Ending
- HEA / HFN
Tropes
Content warnings
Curated signals, not an exhaustive guarantee.
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What readers think
Crown of Midnight is widely regarded as the moment the Throne of Glass series finds its footing — readers consistently praise the leap in stakes, world-building depth, and Celaena's credibility as a genuinely dangerous, morally complex protagonist. The gut-punch mid-book tragedy and the jaw-dropping identity reveal at the climax are near-universally cited as highlights that make the series commitment feel worth it. The most common criticism is pacing: the first half reads slowly as setup, with some reviewers describing it as a prolonged bridge between the first book and where the story truly wants to go. The love triangle — Chaol versus Dorian — divides readers, with many finding Celaena's romantic indecision frustrating ('flip-floppy'), while others feel it deepens character. Goodreads and reread reviews cluster around 4.1–4.5 stars, with many readers upgrading their rating on a second read once the full arc is known.
Read it if
- · Readers who found Throne of Glass too light and want the series to get darker, higher-stakes, and more emotionally complex
- · Fans of assassin heroines with secret royal heritage navigating impossible loyalties in a corrupt court
- · Those who love slow-burn romance with genuine emotional payoff and a devastating twist that recontextualises everything
Skip it if
- · You want fast pacing from page one — the first half is deliberate setup that tests patience
- · You strongly dislike love triangles or heroines whose romantic choices feel inconsistent
- · You are not planning to continue the series — the book's payoff is front-loaded for readers invested in the full arc
If you liked this
- · For fans of Throne of Glass who want to see Sarah J. Maas find her voice and raise the emotional stakes dramatically
- · For fans of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir — morally grey empire, dual loyalties, slow-burn romance under threat of death
- · For fans of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo who enjoy a ruthless, witty assassin navigating political webs and carrying devastating secrets
- · For fans of Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard — hidden identity, corrupt monarchy, romance that complicates allegiance
In this series
Part of Throne of Glass — read in order:
- ·The Assassin's Blade
- 1Throne of Glass
- 2Crown of Midnightyou’re here
- 3Heir of Fire
- 4Queen of Shadows
- 5Empire of Storms
- 6Tower of Dawn
- 7Kingdom of Ash
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