This week Whitney and McKinsey discuss the beginning of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Chapters 1-20). We chat about the pronunciation guide that we will continue to butcher, Celaena’s time at Endovier, Duke Perrington being an ass from day one, our first glimpse of the Crown Prince (Dorian), Celaena’s attempt of escape, Chaol forever and always taking his job so seriously, Celaena learns about the competition to become the King’s Champion, Celaena taunting Chaol about how he must be noble, the history of Oakwald Forest and magic, the Glass Castle and Celaena’s memory of seeing it for the first time, societal treatment of criminals, how odd it is that memories of Sam aren’t present at the sight of Rifthold, ACOTAR vibes, a lovely description of the scents in Rifthold, Celaena pampered and introduced to Phillipa, Phillipa tells Celaena not to tell anyone else her real name, tension between Dorian and the king, the king warning Dorian about “creating illegitimate heirs,” Georgina spoiling Hollin-who is a monster for sure, brief glimpse of the castle library, Celaena gets dolled up to be petty and unexpectedly gets dragged by Chaol to meet the king and her competitors, Chaol slowly softening to Celaena, first impressions of the champions and competition outline from the king, our love of holiday and traditions SJM creates, Celaena becomes Lillian, Lady Kaltain Rompier, Chaol and Celaena training, Brullo and each champion’s background, Celaena’s arrogance could be her weakness, Princess Nehemiah and our instant love of her, the beginning of the mysterious murders inside the castle, Nox and Celaena friendship beginning, we find out Chaol’s history, comparisons of how Chaol and Celaena were trained, our hate for Arobynn and our hope that he gets what he deserves, Dorian finds Celaena and Nehemia fighting with swords, how irritated we are with Celaena’s desire to kiss Dorian, finally a mention of Sam, Celaena tells Chaol how irritated she is with her situation, how annoyed Kaltain is with Perrington, Dorian comes to visit Celaena’s room unexpectedly, Celaena tells Dorian she won’t be some idea of adventure for him, and Celaena speaks briefly about Sam to Dorian.