CROWN OF MIDNIGHT by Sarah J Maas

An assassins loyalties are always in doubt but her heart never wavers.

Assasin Calaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become the King's Champion. But she is far from loyal to the crown. Though she hides her secret vigilantly, her deadly charade becomes difficult when she realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. No one is above questioning her allegiance-not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Calaena's world shatters, she will be forced to decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is wiling to fight for.

First and foremost I am going to state that I finished this book before I even read Anna and The French Kiss, but I completely forgot to review it! So here I am doing so!!

Now, to start off with, I am somewhat really pissed off at this book, BUT I LOVE IT AT THE SAME TIME.

I already stated how much I love Calaena as a character, and I love her little rebel heart and her girly attitude. But, I think in this book, you get to see more of her personality now that she has her freedoms. Particularly her rebel nature. She is sent out to kill people, that's her job as Kings Champion, but you see her doing it her way, and that means the way she plans it and how she executes that plan. It gives you as a reader a better sense of her thought process and knowledge of the assassin lifestyle and how she really is part of that group. 

I also love how her relationships with everyone develop further. Particularly with Chaol. I love Chaol. And I also love how Dorian friggen stands up for himself rather than wallow in his self pity (though he still does that a wee bit throughout the book). But if there's one relationship that irked me in the slightest it would be with Nehemia...because to be honest, a lot of the shit that happens in this book wouldn't be so damn insane if that girl would just open her mouth and say what she needs and wants to say. 

Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was how it developed the world more, particularly with the magic and what exactly that means to this place. You know magic was stopped when the King took the throne, but you never really knew how far magic extended to or what kind of magic it really was that was being stopped. In this second book, you find out a lot more about the magic itself and why the King is so connected to it.

For the things that I didn't really care for in this book...HOW ABOUT HOW DENSE EVERYONE IS!? I mean....that BIG REVEAL that comes at the end...I already knew of from the first book! It's not that hard at all to put the pieces together and see the truth that is RIGHT THERE. Literally...no one seems to notice all these coincidences that surround Calaena that point directly to this crazy detail...and it seriously bothered me that once the end came...I was told what I already knew, and that it took a stupid hint drop from Calaena herself for people to figure it all out. If you've read the book....then you know what I'm talking about...

Otherwise I really don't have much else to say about it....I loved it...as I should have...but it would have been nice for the ending to be more intense so that the reader would be left with more than what the characters were given.

So! I would say a solid 4 out of 5 from me =] Be sure to check the series out if you!