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4.03 AVERAGE

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

The first time I read this book, I honestly didn't care for it and decided that I wasn't going to finish this series. This was when Heir of Fire was just hitting the shelves, and in my view I really didn't want to waste my money on the second book if I wasn't sure if I would like it.

Well, a lot of people are talking about this series, so I decided to give it another chance. I brought the second and third book and reread the first one to see if I would enjoy this series again, and I think I'll decide whether or not to continue this series once I read Crown of Midnight. A lot of reviewers claimed that the second book, Crown of Midnight, would be much better, and currently, I'm inclined to agree. I'm reading Crown of Midnight right now and I am enjoying it far more than this one.

The storyline intrigued me because I assumed it would be about a badass assassin fighting her way to become the King's Champion, with a lot of backstabbing and interesting fight scenes, but that isn't really what I got. Instead, I got a lot of telling and not a lot of showing, meaning that there were a lot of quotes about how she could easily slit a man's throat or easily escape from a dozen guards, but there wasn't a lot of showing her performing those moments. The competition itself was where most of the 'showing' scenes were, but towards the middle of the book the competition was barely there and instead Celaena was focused on a separate plot, which (without giving spoilers) I liked but wished there was more of a balance between the two.

To be honest, what I really liked and what prompted me to continue on with this series was the characters. I really enjoyed Celaena's character, and how she adapted to the world around her. I liked the fact that although she was an assassin, she felt like a very realistic eighteen-year old girl who still enjoys things like candy, dresses, and puppies. She was very independent, and I liked how she had some vulnerability instead of being a stone-cold killer. I absolutely loved Chaol, and even though I didn't care for the love triangle between Celaena, him, and Dorian, I loved their easygoing relationship and how Chaol seems to understand the guilt and darkness in Celaena. Dorian's relationship with Celaena felt a little forced, but I have hopes that as it'll smooth itself out in the second book. I liked Dorian's character, but he did fall a little flat for me because a lot of his chapters focused on Celaena instead of his own motivations. And, of course, I loved, loved, loved Nehemiah, who I hope only gets better and more kickass as the series goes on.

All in all, I would recommend this series for it's characters and the world that will hopefully be more expanded, but I would caution them that the second book is (probably) going to be better than the first.

4.5 stars rounded up
adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced