Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

the basics

Title: Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #2
- Throne of Glass (August 2012)
- Crown of Midnight (September 2013)
- Heir of Fire (August 2014)
- Untitled (2015)
- Untitled (2016)
- Untitled (2017)
Add it: Goodreads

goodreads summary

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

In short

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME AND THEN EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE AND THEN EVERYTHING IS AWESOME MY HEARTTTTTT. Oh. You're here for the actual recap. Okay then. Celaena is now the King's Assassin and is supposed to stop a secret rebel movement against him. Her target is Archer Finn, a courtesan she used to know. Mysterious things are going on: Celaena finds out about an evil creature in the castle, and the fact that there's Wyrdkeys to open the Wyrd (all the realms), and Dorian finds out he has magic. Celaena and Chaol hit it off and finally make out, but then Nehemia gets murdered and C blames Chaol. She opens a portal and unleases a monster (accidentally) and we find out she is actually Fae. Archer is a betraying bastard who killed Nehemia, and C kills him. Chaol sends her to Wendlyn (land of the Fae) to keep her safe, but then finds out she is actually the long lost Queen of Terrasen.

What went down

• As you may remember, Celaena won the battle in Throne of Glass and is now the King's Assassin. Which basically means she has to kill everyone he wants her to kill. Except... she doesn't actually kill them. No, she just gets a random body somewhere and pretends to kill them. Uh oh. Let's hope the King doesn't find out.
• Celaena and Nehemia discuss the rebellion and they are the loveliest of friends. The King tells Celaena to kill Archer Finn, who she used to know from her time with Arobynn Hamel, because the King thinks there's a secret movement against him (spoiler alert: he's right).
• Chaol and Celaena go on a run. You might think this is a useless update, but hahaha, it's Chaol and Celaena, so it's NEVER a useless update. Also, there are girls swooning over Chaol and C is totally jealous.
• Dorian's annoying cousin Roland comes to visit. We don't like him. He's in some kind of counsil. Chaol also doesn't like him.
• CELAENA IS HANGING OUT IN CHAOL'S ROOM. IN. HIS. ROOM. Oh, and they're talking about important stuff, like how the crime lord who killed C's former love Sam is murdered by Arobynn Hamel's men. Then C wonders if Arobynn might have been the one to betray her and land her in Endovier (the salt mines), since it was the night Sam was murdered that Celaena was captured. OH, THE MYSTERY. Then Celaena tells Chaol about Sam and Chaol tells Celaena about his first love and oh, the tears.
• In the middle of the night when C is casually wandering the castle she sees a mysterious cloaked creature outside the library and the Eye of Elena starts to glow (you know, the necklace she has to tell her when evil things are happening?). Uh oh.
• C goes off to find Elena in her tomb (if she's there) but the door knocker starts to talk to her. Which is not supposed to happen, since "magic is gone". Oh, and his name is Mort. He tells Celaena that she is now in a position of power and the fate of the world is bound to her. No pressure.
• Celaena decides to conveniently run into Archer Finn, and Chaol comes with her because he's protective and jealous. Archer is a courtesan, btw. They plan to have dinner.
• Celaena learns that Lady Kaltain, the one who poisoned her during her final battle in Throne of Glass, is imprisoned and she goes for a visit. Kaltain says that something is coming, but she's also crazy.
• Celaena has dinner with Archer and tells him she's supposed to kill her. He begs her to spare him in exchange for information about a rebel group who wants to put Aelin Galathynius, the heir of Terrasen, back on the throne. C decides to give him to the end of the month to flee the city, and meanwhile, give her all the information.
• Celaena and Archer go to a ball to get some information, but as soon as Celaena breaks into some guy's office (and finds a riddle: "It is only with the eye that one can see rightly.") but the guy (Davis) comes in and poisons her. C kills him and then goes back to the castle before she passes out from the poison. SHE GOES STRAIGHT TO CHAOL.
• Then C goes to the library to search for the creepy thing, because why not. She finds a hidden door in a hidden stairwell and it's all very creepy.
• Singer Rena Goldsmith performs at the castle, but she sings a song about treacherous things and gets killed by the guards.
• Celaena tells Nehemia she hasn't actually killed anyone. She also tells her about the riddle and shows her Elena's chamber. They try to figure out the riddle but they can't.
• Celaena has to stand guard during the Royal Ball and SHE DANCES WITH CHAOL IN THE GARDEN OH MY HEART. ("Dance with me, Celaena.") Meanwhile, Nehemia and Dorian watch and Nehemia tells him that there's something within him (spoiler: magicccc).
• Also, Dorian finds out that there are many slaves in the mines, and he basically starts thinking about how he could make the kingdom better if he were king. AND THEN THIS MAGIC SHOWS UP. It's awesome.
• Chaol gets Celaena chocolate cake. This is an important detail. Also, there's a threat to Nehemia's life and the king is a little threatened by her as well.
• There's a carnival coming to the castle grounds for Dorian's spoiled brat of a brother, and it turns out there's a Ironteeth Witch among them.
• Celaena figures out that the riddle has to do with the Eye of Elena (which she wears around her neck) and on Elena's tomb the words "Ah, Time's Rift!" are engraved. Hmmm.
• On Chaol's birthday, Celaena arranges a private dinner for him. She tells him about not killing anyone and he is so angry because he's scared she's going to get hurt, but all is well, because THEY KISS and then they go home and have sex and oh my god, all is right in the world.
• Dorian goes to the witch and asks her about magic.
• Celaena and Nehemia fight because Nehemia wants to free Eyllwe and Celaena thinks it's madness to go against the king. Nehemia implies that the king has magic, because how else could he have ruled.
• Then Chaol is kidnapped by the rebel movement Archer is a part of, and Celaena goes off to rescue him, which of course she does. Archer says he'd been working with Nehemia but that Nehemia is currently in danger. AND THEN CELAENA GOES BACK TO THE CASTLE AND FINDS THAT NEHEMIA HAS BEEN KILLED AND EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE MY HEART HURTS SO MUCH.
• Celaena tries to kill Chaol for not protecting Nehemia and Dorian stops her with magiccc. Celaena is imprisoned in the dungeon. When she is released, she is going to avenge Nehemia's death and murder her assassin (apparently this assassin called Grave, who was also in the contest to be the King's Assassin with her).
• She kills him and brings his head to the King of Adarlan, and gives it to Minister Mullison - Grave was his champion. Mullison is imprisoned.
• Celaena cleans out Nehemia's room and finds out more about the riddle. In the tomb is another eye and another riddle, talking about three things. Also, Nehemia knew about the tomb even before Celaena brought her there.
• When Chaol hears Celaena sing an ancient song at Nehemia's grave, he starts looking into her past, because he hasn't heard that song before. He searches for songs of Terrasen.
• Celaena and Dorian hang out and it's lovely.
• Celaena goes to visit the evil witch to talk about the riddle. It turns out the three things are three Wyrdkeys to open the Wyrdgate (to other realms). All realms have a foundation in the Wyrd. Kings in the past had destroyed part of the Gate to create three keys, which meant they could control the evil within. The Fae found out, and they hid the keys. According to the witch, the King of Adarlan has at least one key. The witch then ruins everything by trying to kill Celaena, but C manages to burn the witch's head.
• Chaol visits Celaena's rooms and finds her will, which states that she'll leave everything to him. AND THEN HE STARTS TO SOB. Excuse me, I can't see through my tears.
• Celaena goes to visit the creepy place in the library looking for answers, and opens all the doors with the Wyrdmarks Nehemia taught her. It turns out there's catacombs leading to the clock tower. Dorian follows her. And then the monster shows up and holy hell. C and Dorian run away trying to fight it and then Dorian uses his magiccc to lock the creature up again.
• Lady Kaltain and Roland have both been having terrible headaches, which probably has something to do with the evil magic.
• Celaena realizes that "Ah, Time's Rift!" is an anagram and also Mort confirms the King has two of the keys, which used to be in Elena's tomb. And also, the King has magic just like Dorian. C wants to talk to Nehemia and plans to open a port to another world. BAD IDEA, GIRL.
• Dorian dreams of Gavin, the first King of Adarlan and also Elena's husband, warning him for what Celaena is about to do and he runs after her.

How did it end?

Celaena opens the portal and Nehemia appears, telling her that opening portals is dangerous (duh) and that Celaena was one of her bright lights (sobs), and then disappearing again. Then effing Archer Finn shows up, and Celaena remembers something that means Nehemia told her she shouldn't trust Archer. He wants to tell everyone about the Wyrdkeys, also telling her that Nehemia left the movement before she died. Archer made Grave kill Nehemia. He opens the portal again.

Chaol and Dorian come to the rescue. A huge monster is attacking Celaena and she is hurt. Dorian is getting her out of there while Chaol battles the monster. The monster then grabs Fleetfoot, Celaena's dog, and leaves through the portal. Chaol goes after them and then Celaena as well and WE FIND OUT CELAENA IS FAE. They eventually manage to close the portal and Celaena goes after effing Archer Finn, killing him.

Afterwards, Celaena tells Chaol that her great-grandmother was Fae. She couldn't shift anymore when magic stopped, but somehow in the other realm she could. Chaol then decides with his father that Celaena needs to be sent to Wendlyn to kill the royal family, but actually to keep her safe because that's where the Fae are. In return, he will return home and rule Anielle, like he was supposed to but never wanted to. All for Celaena.

Celaena promises Nehemia she will free Eyllwe of the King. She says goodbye to Dorian, and then tells Chaol about the Wyrdkeys, about the King's bigger plan, possibly concerning Kaltain and Roland. She also gives him the Eye of Elena to protect him. And then, after she leaves, Chaol finds out that Celaena is the great-granddaughter of one of the three Fae Sister-Queens. Celaena is Aelin Galathynius, the long lost Queen of Terrasen.

anything else

Wyrdmarks: magical marks that do magical things