Monday, May 09, 2016

2016 book 84

Sarah Maas's Throne of Glass
I really feel like quitting the FYA book club is gonna be great for me--or at least will mean I'll be reading fewer crappy books. This is the usual cliched model of YA fantasy: a teenage girl, the BEST and MOST FAMOUS and also of course BEAUTIFUL assassin (she has "a brilliant ring of gold around her pupils" which is somewhat better than violet-eyed, I suppose), with a mysterious past, brought out of prison to work for the king and earn her freedom--IF she can defeat a bunch of warriors and win a competition to get the job. Very Hunger Games. Plus, there is a hot crown prince, not to mention a hot captain of the guard, leading to an overwrought love triangle. It's all very predictable. Even characters bonding over books and a sassy foreign princess friend couldn't make me like this. As for the writing--I will describe it as "workmanlike." So many adverbs, so much clumsy exposition!  It does get a little better as it goes on--but it's not particularly GOOD. Meh. At least no one gets raped? B-/C+.

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