The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Title: The Assassin's Blade
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: #.1-.5 in the Throne of Glass series
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (March 4th 2014)
Source: Purchased/ Kindle Freebie
Rating: ☕☕☕☕


Synopsis: Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.


My Thoughts: First off this is a collection of novellas designed to fill in gaps within the first book. I am usually not a fan of Novellas or short stories but Maas did such a great job with these.

The Good: Sarah J. Maas' writing is engaging. She gave just enough world building to ensure I wasn't lost in the world she created and gave an equal amount of character building if you look at the 5 novellas as a whole. It is the background of Celaena that is completely compelling and makes me want to continue with the series. The last novella posed the question on if another character could forgive her roots. Why would that be a relationship deal breaker? I want to know.

The Bad: Celaena. Well, at least at first. She is a brat and she is arrogant. I wanted to throat punch the twit on multiple occasions during the first novella.  I'm happy to say she and my opinion of her improved as the book progressed. By the last novella I was hooked.

In a Nutshell: I'm glad I read these novella's before starting the series. I was told by a friend that I'd hate Celaena in the first book and now that I have some inkling on her I'm prepared and I'm full on excited to start the first book in the series now. Plus I'm hoping Arobyn will meet with an unfortunate accident.