Okay. Full disclosure: as I write this, I am halfway through Heir of Fire (Book 3) and I've finished the novellas. I'm going to do my best to critique ONLY book 2.

This was definitely a tonal shift from Throne of Glass for me. I get the feeling Maas is trying to soft retcon some things in the story and doing her best to do so without losing what's already been published. I felt like with a few minor tweaks, this could have been book 1, actually.

Her writing definitely matured a bit in this one. Crown of Midnight feels like she is actually finding her own voice and not worrying so much about writing like she thinks she should instead of how she actually does. There's more depth to her characters and bit more polish to the prose that really makes that unnameable glimmer in her first book start to come to life.

That said, I do find Celaena just as unfathomably annoying as I did in book 1. I know now it's a part of the story and I feel like not enough people mentioned that to me at first so consider me mentioning this to you, dear reader. You aren't supposed to like Celaena at first. She is insufferable and undeservedly arrogant, but I think when Maas wrote her at 16 she just wrote her like she wasn't because in her teenaged mind that was true.

I'm sorry, I struggled with the constant reminders of her age and how she's great at being an assassin while continuing to kill approximately zero people. She remains led by volatility and her emotions in a way that's not conductive to the role at all. When you choose to use the word assassin, it brings with it certain expectations. Celaena... does not meet those. Ever. She remains unstealthy, easily snuck up on, and the same host of other things.

Mort the talking doorknob was unexpected and... kind of out of place to me. I dislike the use of Elena's spirit for convenient progression in a plot that otherwise felt plodding to me. It definitely meandered a LOT in the first two thirds, but I think that was Maas trying to sweep up some things she wanted to soft retcon and tee up the last third. THAT was where it took off for me.

The plot twist was not exactly a twist to me, I called in back in book 1, but also I'm over the age of 30 and this is a YA book. If it got past me, I'd be worried it wasn't written truly for young adults and I'd be irritated on behalf of YA folks who deserve literature written about them by them for them. Period full stop.

Something I want to be clear about again is this: I am having a delightful time. Because my expectations were CLEAR, I get to just lean in and be an observer and be a little silly and goofy with it! I'm not reading this expecting lifechanging prose and deep, tangible character work. I'm reading this because these books are fun and have a massive claw in so many people. I get to lean back and have fun in criticizing and rolling my eyes and enjoying the experience! I read these first three like I watch bad movies - with biting commentary, copious frustrated groans, and great affection. It's a combo you either understand or don't. It's the same reason people see The Room all the time in local theaters and throw spoons at the screen!

Chaol continues to be a house favorite for me. I think his plot is the most mature and adult so I find it most compelling. He has a deep sense of honor and integrity to his king and prince, but he is also a loyal partner and gets torn between the two. I dislike the miscommunication causing all of that to shatter, but again I think SJM was doing a light reset on things which explains why the Celaena/Dorian plot fizzled in under five pages and the Celaena/Chaol thing resolved in the same book. Her trajectory for the character clearly changed. As it should, since she originally conceived it at 16!

"She was Adarlan's Assassin, dramatic entrances were her specialty" was a line that did almost give me a stroke though. Girl, that's the opposite of an assassin? Also we're just dropping in and merc-ing people left and right because we're emotional about our boyfriend being kidnapped? This is... arguably the worst plan you've ever had. Still drives me up a wall, but in a fun way I love to grief about if that makes sense.

One thing I feel is important to address, though, is Nehemia. There's so much criticism of how SJM killed off the only character of color to further the journey of the white protagonist. I think that criticism is fully valid, the cast isn't exactly diverse (how many shades of blond hair and blue eyes are there left to describe) and I always find a lack of diversity hurts a story rather than helps. I do also feel like context matters a lot. I don't think SJM consciously or maliciously offed a character of color thinking of the ramifications beyond "I am changing the way this story will be experienced and this character no longer fits into that story". I will say in Heir of Fire she really does try to leverage that loss for Celaena in a meaningful way so it truly feels impactful and important. She was clearly trying to honor this character despite having changed the direction for her.

I can only speak from my perspective as a white woman, but I absolutely would be devastated if I were a woman of color and my only representation in this extremely popular story got iced out. That would hurt me and my sense of belonging in these books. It might not have been malicious or intentional, but it would still hurt. Maas was young and just shaping herself as a writer, she probably didn't even think about that kind of impact and likely didn't have or consider that her success would ever be so big it could have that kind of impact. It's a very privileged perspective to have for a white woman, I do agree. I hope folks can try and meet her with a grain of grace and in the best spirit it can be, but I don't have any place to tell readers of color how to feel about this choice.

Since this book, the conversation around characters of color has evolved tremendously - for the significantly better, in my opinion - and when Crown of Midnight and Throne of Glass came out, the landscape around fantasy and racism looked very different. Readers of color deserve to be represented in magical fairy realms. They deserve to be benevolent queens, magical lost princesses, Fae sorcerers, and everything in between. I wish SJM had handled that character differently or considered diversity more in her later books to at least make up for that change and acknowledge her readers of color. All that I can do is point out the context and validate that I understand why people feel the way they do about that decision.

At the end of this book, I definitely get the feeling SJM is pushing us into a new direction for her story while trying to honor her original plans and frankly... I'm here for it. The ending 1/3 was a lot stronger and opened the window to a wider world and bigger story. It did leave me excited to see what comes next!

But first, we slog through Assassin's Blade.