Why I love the 'Throne of Glass' series by Sarah J. Maas

When someone asks me what Throne of Glass means to me, a million things pop into my head. Thousands of memories, feelings, and thoughts. I want nothing more than to properly express what these books mean to me. And yet, my thoughts always come out like a clumsy mess. I jump from one thing to another and forget to talk about a million details that are still so important to me. So here goes my umpteenth attempt to convey what this series means to me and how it has changed my life.

Let's start with Sarah J. Maas as an author.

It's no secret that Sarah J. Maas is my favorite author and that she is the reason I started writing the stories wandering around in my mind. I found her books at a time where I was lost in the world and had no idea what to do with my future. I had graduated high school, a world of opportunities lay at my feet, the world lay in the palm of my hand, and I didn't know what to do with it.

But then I picked up Throne of Glass and I quickly became obsessed with these books. I read interviews and whatnot, anything to keep me sane while I waited for the next books to be released. I read about Sarah's life, her journey of being a writer to becoming a successfully published author. Until I stumbled across these two quotes of Sarah in interviews. Both of these resonated so deeply within me that they changed my life.

"Write what you love. Plenty of people will tell you that being published is an unrealistic goal, or what you love to write isn’t “real” literature, but ignore them. Write what you love, and never apologize for it. Yes, it’s a long road to publication, but that’s a good thing. You’ll only make it if you have a story that you love with your entire heart and soul, and the only person that can ever make you stop writing is you. So write what you love, and screw the rest."

"Read as much as you can, and never stop writing, no matter what people may tell you! You only truly fail when you quit."

And I found what I'd been looking for my entire life without knowing. I found a dream, a future, a goal in life.

I found a purpose.

I love Throne of Glass because of a lot of reasons; beautiful, enthralling writing that pulls you right in from the very first sentence, a dazzling, rich world that opens before your eyes and widens and broadens with each book. But the main reason why I love it so much is because of the characters. As important as beautiful writing and detailed world development are to me, great character development is ten times more important.

Never before have I found a series with such round and dynamic characters. Up to this day, the characters of Throne of Glass still have the greatest development I've ever read. It's safe to say that the main reason for this is because we have eight books to watch these characters grow. The great thing about a series this large is that we get to spend years with these characters. Years to watch them grow, years to grow alongside them, with them. They become your closest friends, your family. They become part of you.

The Throne of Glass series is spread out over years which means that we get to see each character grow up. We get to see them grow into the person they were always meant to be. But we also get to watch them grow together. We read about friendships forming and falling, loving and losing, breaking and healing. We read about finding a home.

And it is this, watching my favorite characters start off as silly boys and girls only to grow into beautiful, strong, and intelligent men and women, that I love so much. We watched them go through so much, lose so many people, shed so many tears. We watch their hearts break so many times but they always keep going. They never give up.

They see this through until the very end. Together. As one.

So when people ask me why I love the Throne of Glass series so much it's because of this. These characters.

It's Celaena, undergoing a dark and painful journey only to grow into Aelin.

It's Sam, finding love at least once before his journey ends.

It's Dorian, loving and losing and watching the people he cares about getting hurt.

It's Chaol, going through so many struggles, feeling worthless and doubting everything he is and does. Only to find his home across mountains and seas.

It's Nehemia, helping Celaena grow into the person she's meant to be by being her friend. It's Nehemia, loving her people so much she decided her journey had to end to save her kingdom.

It's Aelin, carrying the weight of a thousand people, gaining a thousand scars and wearing them with pride. It's Aelin, never breaking no matter how many people shove her down and hurt her. No matter how much the odds are stacked against her.

It's Rowan, going from a cold, closed-off bastard who is lost in the dark to finding that single flame and letting it guide him to the light where life is waiting for him.

It's Aedion, going through life completely and utterly alone, watching the kingdom he cares about, the people he cares about, being butchered. It's Aedion, going from being Adarlan's whore to finding his family who loves and respects him.

It's Lysandra, Going from a lost girl who was mistreated more than anyone else but never gave anyone power over her, to finally finding a family, people who value and respect her.

It's Nesryn, dealing with racism and her inability to climb higher up because of the fact that she's a woman to becoming one of the most powerful women on earth.

It's Elide, getting broken and bruised for so long that there seems no hope of escaping these horrors but never giving up that hope. Never letting them break her spirit.

It's Lorcan, making mistakes along the way but trying his hardest to fight for the people he cares about.

It's Dorian, growing from the prince with the pretty smile and the bedroom eyes into a smart and responsible king who'll do anything to save his kingdom.

It's Chaol, gown into a man, having made peace with his past and focussing on his future. His family.

It's Yrene, crossing mountains and seas, never giving up no matter how much life takes from her, only to become all-powerful and stumbling right into the arms she'll call home.

It's Fenrys, enduring pain and loss but never stopping to try and be okay again. It's fenrys, so incredibly loyal that he'd kill himself to help the ones he cares about.

It's Gavriel, finding his family at last only to run out of time.

It's Manon, the cold-blooded witch who feels nothing until she befriends a broken wyvern that cracks those iron walls around her. It's the thirteen, being her family in every way that matters. It's Manon going from brutal obedience to fighting for what she thinks is right, for what she believes in. It's the thirteen, each one their own story that makes your heart stop, but they never showed weakness. They never gave up. It's the thirteen, cracking the last bit of Manon's walls and helping her achieve what they've always wanted. To go home. It's Manon accepting her destiny and staring everyone down who tries to control her. It's Manon losing more than anyone should endure. It's manon being broken to pieces and drowning in grief, feeling like she's completely alone. It's Manon, fighting her hardest to hold on in this new world, missing these vital pieces that have been ripped from her.

It's every single one of these characters that have endured more than anyone should in their lifetime. It's all of it, every detail, every memory, every feeling. It's the thousands of tears and the head-and heartaches. It's the screaming and the numb, grieving feeling afterward.

It's everything

A gift.