Throne of Glass Reading Vlog | Part One

Hello, hello everyone. My name is Laura. This is my channel, Laura's Little Library, and welcome to today's video, which is part one of my Throne of Glass reading vlog. Now, there are a couple of things that I do have to talk about before we get into me actually reading the first half of the series and my thoughts and everything like that. First being I actually read Throne of Glass way back in middle school. Just the first book, just Throne of Glass. I read it in I think I was in sixth grade, so I was probably about 11 years old. And my impression of the book was actually not a very good one. I did not enjoy the book very much when I read it. And I I didn't realize it was part of a series cuz it was the only book that was out at the time and the librarian had given it to me to read to help her figure out where to put it in the library and things like that. And so I did not have a very good impression of the book. I did not like it at all when I was younger. And since then I have not touched the series or anything else by Sarah J. Mass. So, it's been well well over well, it's been about 15 years and obviously my reading tastes have grown and changed and Throne of Glass became this huge series and Sarah J. Mass has become this huge writer and all these different series and things like that and there's all this hype around it and I always just had this little stick on my butt and I was not going to read Throne of Glass and I couldn't read anything until I had read Throne of Glass and it just it wasn't my thing. But I finally decided that I was going to read Throne of Glass, and that I was actually going to do like a little marathon reading all of Sarah J's mass works, starting with Throne of Glass, then doing Acatar, and then going to her current series, The House of Blood and whatever. So, I decided that I was going to do this. I was going to do a Throne of Glass reading vlog, and then I was going to do Acatar, and I was going to, now that I'm older, and now that it's been a lot of time, go ahead and read Throne of Glass. And I honestly don't know any spoilers. I don't know anything really that happens in the series because I didn't I didn't remember anything from middle school. I didn't know the characters that were introduced and I so anytime there was a spoiler, I didn't understand it. It went right over my head and I didn't remember it. I don't remember it. So, I was able to go into Throne of Glass almost with with zero spoilers, with nothing in my head about it except for what was back in middle school. So, that's the first thing to note. The second thing to note is that I actually started this reading vlog and reading this series about four or five years ago. So, I have been on book for a long time. I've been a small creator here for many, many years. And so about four years ago, I was creating book videos. I was living in Minnesota. And life was different back then. Okay. I have every day, almost every day, thought about keep going with the series, keep going with the vlog and everything like that. But life got in the way. The books were no longer on audio, which was my primary way of reading books at the time, and still is my primary way even now. But I am trying harder to read books physically, even without the audio book, because I don't want that to hold me back from reading books that I want to or that I might enjoy. all the clips in this specific video. The reason this is a reading vlog of the first half of the Throne of Glass series as opposed to the entire Throne of Glass series, which was the original idea, is because I only got through Air of Fire before many years passing and no progress being made. And so I've been holding on to these clips with my raw reactions of what happened right after I was reading or halfway through the book. What I thought my what my predictions were, what I thought of the characters. I've been holding on to these clips for over four years. And I said, you know what? I just want to get this video out there. I still want to continue with the series, but I can't just keep waiting for me to pick up Queen of Shadows and keep waiting for me to pick up the rest of the series in order to make it one video. Plus, that would probably make it a really long video because it is a very big series and the books are starting to get chunkier and so I'm going to have more thoughts. So, I decided that I'm going to take all of these really old clips and I was going to edit them and put them in a video and post them. So that is what I have for you today. They are the books starting with the Assassin's Blade. So starting with the prequel, I am reading Assassin's Blade all the way through Air of Fire. And that is the first half of this vlog. Like I said, I do still really want to continue with Queen of Shadows with the rest of the series. But don't hold your breath for when that vlog comes. However, it is still something I very much want to do. I hope you enjoy. Um, I will also say that I am reading them in order within the series as opposed to publication. I have not really decided if I'm going to do the tandem read or not just because at the moment this is the only book I have not in storage of the series because it is the next book, but I'm still considering doing the tandem read just because it might be nice. It might be fun. It might keep me more engaged in the stories as someone coming backing coming back into physically reading with some chunky books. So that is that is the update of now. I hope you enjoy the rest of the video and that it isn't too cringy of me from four years ago just starting to read Throne of Glass. So I hope you enjoy it and if you like bookish content or if you want the next half of the video, make sure you subscribe. So without further ado, here we go. >> Okay, so first reading update. So I started reading and I hit page six, page six. And I went, "Oh, I get it now. I get the hype about Sarah J. Mass and the writing. I get it now. How pathetic of me. How pathetic of me. It took me six pages. So many regrets of not reading this earlier. Like there was just a line at the top of the page and I was just like yeah. Okay. Yeah. I like that. I like that a lot. It feels right for this author and aesthetic and everything. Um, also I do want to say that this vlog will probably contain spoilers just because I feel like you wouldn't be watching this vlog if you hadn't already read them because if you haven't then you probably aren't interested and therefore aren't watching this vlog. Yeah. Okay, page six. I'm going to keep reading. Hello. Um finished this. I love how each novella is its own story, but that they do happen in a specific order, and you do kind of need to read one after the other to know what's going on. They're not just companion stories. Like I thought this was just going to be a collection of just random adventures, but no, this was actually like you see where Selena started and how she kind of got there to a certain degree and then you see the chain of events that led to her being where she is at the beginning of Throne of Glass. This covers so much ground and I loved it. I thought the writing was great. I don't know, this just made me happy. It was just so easy to read. So hopefully, you know, the rest of the series will be that easy to read. I have started this. I definitely am remembering some reasons why I didn't like this when I was younger. And I think the first like major red flag for me, and okay, remember I was like 10, 11, okay, was the fact that it mentioned that this world at one point had magic but did not have magic anymore and then there was just no magic at all. Like I I had such high hopes that there was going to be like magic elements in this because it mentioned that and then there wasn't and I was so annoyed as a young child. I was like, "Oh my word, why even mention it?" Blah blah blah. And I think back then too, I didn't really know that it was a series slash the next book hadn't come out and I didn't like it for other reasons. So it just never really happened for me. I've made very quick progress so far of like reading this and getting a decent way into this in like two days. So, the thing is is that I don't have the next book, Crown of Midnight, on audio. Uh whereas I've had both of these on audio, which is probably why I've been able to finish them. Well, okay, I got over halfway through this without the audio and so I was reading this very quickly and then I got the audio and so I just continued. uh versus this I have with the audio and it's going by very quickly because of that. I don't know. This still kind of feels like for how hyped it is, it still kind of is a little disappointing, but I'm also just going to go ahead and assume that a lot of the hype for the series is in the later books, like once you're really attached to the characters and other things like happen. So, I don't know how well this one will go, but again, also like it was kind of one of the first female assassin books that I had read as a kid. So, it still has like a special place of it was unique in its time, but yeah, I'm kind of hoping that the series gets better as we go. This was wonderful. This was fantastic. So yeah, I don't know if when I finish Throne of Glass if I'll be able to move on immediately to Ground of Midnight or if I'm going to wait for the audiobook. I'm fairly high up on the the wait, so it could come kind of at any time. So we'll see. It's also not too long. I think I'll probably start it when I finish Throne of Glass. Anyway, now I'm just babbling on. Uh yeah, that is my reading update and see you later. Hi. I finished I finished Throne of Glass already. I read it really quickly and honestly three stars. I know. I feel like this could have been so good. And I'm having a hard time figuring out if it was because like oh it just could have been better or if it was like oh yeah I I vaguely remember this or I vaguely remember that just because like the competition was fine and the characters were fine. I I think when I was younger I hated how arrogant Selena was, but now that I'm older I love it and I admire it a lot more. So that's definitely like a step in the more positive direction. I definitely am coming out of reading this more positive than last time obviously, but I don't know. I just felt like for all the hype that the series got, I still thought the first book would have been better. There is a lot of potential for growth and world development and everything like that. So, I'm excited. I am honestly really excited to continue with this series. I can't wait to keep reading. I have the next book on hold and I should get it soon. So hopefully I will get it soon otherwise I'll just start reading it physically. Like I I admire our main character and I I like Dorian. The captain I think here's the thing. I like the captain but for me and for Selena I like Dorian. Yep. That makes sense. Yeah. Like I'm not the biggest fan of love triangles. I really don't like them. But I didn't hate it in this book. There are definitely moments where I was like, but not near as bad as books that are like intentionally focused on being a romance and being a love triangle. So, you know, I didn't hate it. And I think that there too, love triangles confused me as a child. So, anyway, yeah. So, like a solid three, three.5 stars. Like, it was good. It was average. I definitely understand. and I'm excited to continue on with the series. Okay, so now that that update is not out of the way, but done. It's almost 7. I'm probably going to go to bed because I get up at 4 in the morning to go to work at 5. So that means my bedtime is like 7, maybe 8 if I feeling risque and don't care about getting enough sleep. But yeah, so I am going to go to bed. I won't start the next book at least probably until the weekend, which is like a day away. So yeah, I will. Okay. Hopefully, I will actually do more updates as I'm reading the books. I just kind of wanted to get the first couple done quickly and just kind of catch up to where I was, which I now am, and then we can move forward with all the completely new material. I'm intrigued cuz I'm like, okay, now she's got these four years of service to the king. So, how much of the series is going to be that? How much is going to be afterwards? I'm just so intrigued. So, let's go. Okay, so I am reading Crown of Midnight. Um, and before I really get started on that, I am going to remind you that this is a spoiler spoilery vlog. I'm actually about halfway through. I've been going through this pretty slowly just cuz I feel like I don't know. It's not that it is slow. Like I do want to keep reading it. I it is something I keep wanting to be like, "Oh, I want to pick this up and keep reading it, but I feel like there was so little happening until just now, right before I started filming this." So, like, you know, Selena is the king's champion, and I don't know if I really like that she's not killing people for the king. Like, I I get that she's doing the right thing and the thing that she believes in and everything like that, but she's also a badass assassin. I want her to kill people badassly. So, I'm kind of missing that a little bit, but I understand why she's not killing people. Like, they're innocent. It's fine. Um, and then my other thoughts that I have is so obvious. Okay, I love Kale, but I kind of am just waiting for him to die and then let her have a book or two to recover and then her go to Dorian. I don't know any spoilers for this series. Like I don't know how I've been able to both not expose myself to the spoilers but also not retain them because you know I see videos and they're like oh cast the characters and I didn't understand it all cuz I hadn't read the books. But now I'm reading the books and I'm like I I don't have any spoilers. I have no idea what is coming. I just know that by the end of it, by like what? Kingdom of Ash, everybody's just balling their eyes out. That's all I know. And so I'm like, okay, like I said, I like Kale. He is the badass cinnamon roll that I truly want. Like someone who seems really tough, but reality is is that they're just like slightly confused but just in love, but they can't reveal it. And like I like that, but I still think it's going to end up with Dorian. I still think that Selena and Dorian are going to have a thing, but I don't want Sel Selena and Kale to fall out. That's why I think Kale needs to die and then she can and then she can be with Dorian. That's kind of what I'm going with so far. Oh, it's going to be real interesting when I get further along in the series with this like prediction and how I feel about it. I wonder I wonder how you guys are all feeling about what I just said compared to where I'm at. Like I said, just barely over halfway through Ground of Midnight. But yeah, like she's just not doing much. She's going out and not killing people and just I don't really know what she's doing. I mean, KL just got captured, so something is starting to happen. But I'm also like, it's halfway through the book, and all that's really happened is that she's not killing people specifically. So, I'm just kind of waiting for it to pick up. But I admire that it's not a long book. And I and I'm looking at the rest of the books and I'm like, those are longer, but hopefully that means that stuff happens. So, yeah. All right. I'm going to keep reading, but that's my update for now. Not two pages after I ended that last clip, the wrong person just died. Nhemia died. Fine, whatever. I wasn't super attached. Bummer. But the wrong person died. Come on now. I just finished Crown at Midnight. I finished it. Wow, Kale. Wow. Okay, somebody's starting to figure it out, huh? Yeah, I'm intrigued. I think the cliffhanger at the end of this book is much better. I'm still kind of disappointed in certain elements. I'm not going to lie. Um, I would say this is a 3.5 out of five stars because the first half of it was just so slow and then the second half of it was just like so big but also so secret. Like nobody stumbled upon any of that. But that ending though, that ending though. But seriously, Selena just went right back to Kale. Like I get it. He didn't know it's not his fault, but like it's just not my ship, I guess. Unfortunate. But yeah, so that's what I thought of Crown of Midnight so far. I want to start Air of Fire. Is that what it's called? Yeah, I want to start Air of Fire soon, but it might be a little bit before the audio book comes in. It's also Air of Fire is the last audio book in the library. None of the rest of the books have audio books and I'm kind of bummed, but we'll see. But yeah, no, I don't know. I'm just I think the series is getting bigger better because it's getting bigger. You know, it's setting up for the long series that it is. So, I do think it is getting better, but I think the first two books was just kind of like I think the Assassin's Blade set me up poorly because while it did give epic background on Selena and made me love the character, I think the writing threw me off because the writing in Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight was not as good. And I think that's because Blade uh the Assassin's Blade was released after. So I think I'm like I got a taste of the really good stuff and now I'm like building back up to when her writing got better. So that's kind of what I'm struggling with. But it's all right. We're going to keep going. I'm excited. I am enjoying this. I Yeah, I am enjoying this. So it is time for me to pick up Air of Fire. starting to get a little sick here. But I've heard that this is a lot of people's like favorite book or it makes them really emotional. So I'm like, am I am I ready to read this? I'll find out. I mean, I am excited to read it. I'm intrigued to read it. I am kind of hoping, you know, that like I don't know that we meet some more characters. And I I don't know. I just I hear so many other people talk about this book in the series specifically. So, I'm wondering if this book is going to be like a turning point or something, but time to start this. Um, okay. Air of Fire. Uh, I'm like halfway through this. Maybe not quite halfway through this. Rowan. Okay, I get it. I get it now. I I understand. And we've met Manan as well, which I like Manan. I think her creature design is really cool. I think she's a wonderful just badass character. However, I really hope that there isn't really much of like a copout where Manon and Selena team up just to defeat the king of Otterland. Like, I hope it isn't one of those like we're going to take down the king of Otterland. we need a bigger army. Oh, hey, there are these iron witches. Let's go try and recruit them. And then she has to like meet Manan and things like that. I don't want that to be how it is. I want it to be a little more like crazy random happen stance how how they connect. But um you know, I don't know. I'm not even sure it's going to happen in this book though, just because there are so many flipping books in I mean the the getting the king of Otterland. I feel like I don't know. There's just so much left of the series, but that seems to be like gotta take him down. They gotta take him down already. I I like this so far. I'm actually zooming through it pretty good. I might honestly finish it today, which would have me finish it within 24 hours. So, I'm all for it. But, however, this is also the last book that has the audio book on my library. So, Well, that it'll be fine. The other books will be fine. They're huge, but they'll be fine. I will also say I don't want Selena and or Aen and Roman to have a romance. Uh, his backstory. His backtory. Oh my gosh, I love Rowan. Cinnamon roll that could kill you. Oh my gosh, his his backstory is just heartbreaking. Like I wanted to cry. Oh, Sarah J. Mass does a really great job of tugging at the heartstrings of like, oh, this is why the whip is like, oh no, no, no, no, no. And like why certain characters react to certain things because of their backstory. I Oh, she brings that up so well. She brings up that trauma so well and I flipping love it. Like no one else really does that. I don't know of a lot of people who use trauma in that way. But I mean, you know, also just the style of assassins and warriors and all that, but I mean that's still a popular trope. But anyway, I love Rowan. He makes me emotional. But I still don't want them to get together though because I think Rowan just needs like his backstory includes his mate. He does not get anyone else. I I don't want Rowan to like end up again with anyone else because of his backstory, you know? Like I I just want him to be like that was the love of my life. Done, gone. K. I'm just going to live my life, you know? That that's kind of what I want. But I get the feeling that Rowan and Selena might have a little thing. But we'll see. I don't know. I'm still not on team KL and I'm not team Rowan. I don't know if they're teams cuz I've been so out of the loop for everything thrown of glass because I don't want spoilers. Now that I actually know what is happening in the series and like now that I actually know the characters, who they are, what they do, I'm trying to avoid as much thrown of glass as possible, which is almost completely impossible on Tik Tok. I've just been like avoiding Tik Tok throughout this entire reading vlog. I'm not going on Tik Tok cuz I do not want to see a spoiler now that I'm in like the fragile like spoily potential zone. Anyway, so yeah. I mean, I don't know if I really want her to be with Oh, Dorian and Sersa, which Sora, I hate how she spells Sa cuz so much of like this style fantasy is rooted in Irish mythology. Like even the mentioning of Belain, like that's an actual Irish tradition that actually is coming up in like a week or so. Yeah, the 1st of May. Anyway, there are so many parts of this that are just strongly rooted in Irish mythology because that's where the idea of fa come from in the first place. And yes, she spells Sorca so wrong. Like that's not how the Irish spell. Anyway, that's just like a a tiny pet peeve of mine. I'm not going to like take any portion of a star off for that. But I just will say it bothers me so much that she spells Sorca in a different way to make it fantasy even though it's Anyway, I like her. I like her and Dorian. I think they're sweet. I think they're cute. But like I don't know who I want Selena to end up with. Can we meet someone else? I don't know. I don't know. Okay, I'm going to finish it now. Bye. I finished Air of Fire. I think I can see why a lot of people love it. And I mean, a important things happened. We met new characters who I like a lot and she started to learn how to use magic. I'm getting a little sick and tired of the like trains to be a badass. And the next book, oh, she's not as good a fighter as she could be cuz someone else is better. Trains to be better. Next book. Oh, she's not as cool as she could be. Trains to be like, is she is she ever going to be good enough or like can we stop with all the training montages? I don't know. It's just it feels a little repetitive in that way. This time, yes, it's different because she's learning magic and learning to fight as a fay rather than as human. I hope that does not continue in the next one. Can she please just be like good enough in the next one, please? But other than that, like not a lot happened. People like this was such a setup book for the rest of the series. People are figuring out who's on what side and who supports what and they're starting to team up and everything like that, which is great. But it was a long book to set up everything. and we still haven't seen how all the characters come together. And I mean, like, when you take a step back, what happened in this book? Anyway, all that to say, I did very much enjoy it. I did like reading it. I don't I I won't be able to know what book is my favorite until I've obviously like read the whole series, but like Okay, it's done. So yeah, not too much of it was surprising other than like the brand new editions. Like none of it was surprising. All right, friends. Thank you so much for watching this video. If you liked it, give it a thumbs up. Comment down below your reactions to my reactions. Do you have the same feelings of how I like Kale, but not as a romance interest? And the same with Rowan, how I very much like the character, but I don't want him for Selena or the main character. So, let me know down below any of your thoughts or comments. Please don't leave spoilers for the second half of the series, though. Please don't leave any illusions to what's coming up. I am still really excited to pick up Queen of Shadows and keep going with the series. So, if you like bookish content like this, if you like Throne of Glass, make sure you hit the subscribe so that when the next video comes out, finishing the series, that you get alerted and the bell. Hit the bell to be notified when it goes up so you don't miss it. Thank you all very much for watching. If you like bookish social media, I also have an Instagram down in the description below that you can follow me there and keep up with what else I'm reading outside of Sarah J. Mass. So, thank you again and until I see you in the next video, I wish you happy reading.