42.7k reviews for:

The Assassin's Blade

Sarah J. Maas

4.1 AVERAGE


holy fuck ngl this book was an emotional roller coaster. from wholesome to beyond devastating, from life to death, from hope to despair. it was amazing to see her backstory and to understand why she is the way she is. why her grief for sam runs so deep and her hate for arobynn so strong.

i grieve with her because wtaf was that with sam, my heart = shattered, broken into little tiny microscopic fragments. you’ll forever be held close to my heart sam. thank you for showing my girl boss some real genuine love.

overall i loved the adventure of this book, a solid 4 star read for me.

Where it all started and ended.

I do wish I had read this before reading the TOG series as a whole or at the very least before book3 and book 5.

This book showcases the arrogance of Celaena. She is reckless and honestly a little stupid but when she puts her mind to something she does a very good job of seeing it through. The first book is when she arrives at Skulls Bay and frees slaves with the help of her long term enemy turned friend. The plan is well thought out and done so perfectly. When there is ahitch, her Friend Sam is able to solve it. She also manages to corner the King of the Pirates into doing her bidding and I was so proud of her.

The second book starts of with her having several drinks and a healer in hiding serving her. Irene is or has been looking forward to going to the Southern Continent to learn to heal. She saves her life and teaches her a few things about self-defense. When Irene is in danger she manages to free herself thanks to Celeana and later Irene manages to leave for her studies all thanks to the coins that Celeana spares her. She never looks back.

The third book forces Celeana to be humble. With her earning the favour of The Silent Assassin as her punishment from Arobynn. She really hates that her name is now known and she hates how she has to carry buckets of water running around in the Red Dessert. She manages the impossible task and unfortunately she is betrayed by a friend. She spares her life under certain conditions and Ansel
runs away with Celaena sparing her life. The Silent Assassin gives Celeana gold to repay her debt and she leaves for Rifthold.

The fourth book is a little harder to swallow. We get to see Arobynn in his true manipulative colours and boy is he good. Of all the stories this was least interesting. Celeana meets Sam and they do not start off on the right foot but slowly things get better for them but Celeana is betrayed.

The last book is the most heartbreaking. They have so much life and it was all brought down in days. I had to read the first part of Book4 just to remind myself that Arobynn gets what he deserves.

This book perfectly shows the arrogance of youth and the downfall that ensues later. While she is good with coming up with plans she has a lot of trouble sorting through puzzles in her life. I also saw that in book 1-5. One thing Sarah is good with is consistency with her characters in this series.

I have already started the first book and lets' see how it goes.
adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This ending killed me
adventurous 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

4.5 only because I’m not used to world building and I need to get over that because this book is proof that if you push through, you’ll likely be rewarded with a great story. Heartbreaking and emotional and infuriating? In the best ways.

“I am Sam Cortland, and I will not be afraid.”
“I am Celaena Sardothien, and I will not be afraid.”

I haven't read the main books, yet. These novellas were my first introduction into the series.

I had a difficult time liking the main character, mostly because I thought she acted too entitled, she seemed a little too flawless, even with her backstory, of a difficult beginning.

I know so many people who love the series, so I'm hoping that I have better luck with the main books.

Crying. Throwing up. WHYYYYY

heart breaking

I did not want to hear this ending!!!! Not again!!