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A review by thereadingnomad13
The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The Assassin & The Pirate Lord: 4 out of 5 ✨
The Assassin & The Healer: 4 out of 5 ✨
The Assassin & The Desert: 3.5 out of 5 ✨
The Assassin & The Underworld: 2 out of 5 ✨
The Assassin & The Empire: 4 out of 5 ✨
Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5 ✨
Tropes:Rivals to Lovers, Slow Burn
Spice Level: 🔥 (Glimpses & Kisses)
Did I Cry? Negative, Ghost Rider.
Why is this so much better than the main series?
So... I really, really want to like this series, but I just don't get the hype. This might be close to a 5-star read if it wasn't for the main character.
Celaena doesn't come across as a believable character to me. It's hard to buy into the idea of her being the "best-and-oh-so-feared assassin" in the land. Her entire character can be summed up as: likes books, likes fancy things, and thinks she is better than everyone else. Notice I didn't say she is better than anyone else. If that's her flaw, then okay, but there has got to be a better way to get that across because her POV just becomes unbearably annoying.
Don't get me started on how she doesn't think or act like some hardened assassin 97% of the time. I just don't believe her, and I find it hard to believe that any other character in the book does either (except for like the one or two times when she actually acts like an assassin).
All this being said, I actually liked this better than the first four books of the main series, and Celaena aggravates me slightly (ever so slightly) less than before because this at least gives context to some of her responses later in the series.
Okay, rant over. Here's the actual review.
You might like this book if you like stories with:
- scrappy female leads
- assassin guilds and subterfuge
- a kind-of-sort-of slow burn in which you know the characters will get together, but it takes forever(I do love Sam!)
- long series (because there's like 7 more books after this)
- great side characters
- interesting antagonists
For anyone else struggling or skeptical with this series, I highly recommend the audiobooks! The narration is solid and has kept me listening at times when I would've put the physical book down.
The Assassin & The Healer: 4 out of 5 ✨
The Assassin & The Desert: 3.5 out of 5 ✨
The Assassin & The Underworld: 2 out of 5 ✨
The Assassin & The Empire: 4 out of 5 ✨
Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5 ✨
Tropes:
Spice Level: 🔥 (Glimpses & Kisses)
Did I Cry? Negative, Ghost Rider.
Why is this so much better than the main series?
So... I really, really want to like this series, but I just don't get the hype. This might be close to a 5-star read if it wasn't for the main character.
Celaena doesn't come across as a believable character to me. It's hard to buy into the idea of her being the "best-and-oh-so-feared assassin" in the land. Her entire character can be summed up as: likes books, likes fancy things, and thinks she is better than everyone else. Notice I didn't say she is better than anyone else. If that's her flaw, then okay, but there has got to be a better way to get that across because her POV just becomes unbearably annoying.
Don't get me started on how she doesn't think or act like some hardened assassin 97% of the time. I just don't believe her, and I find it hard to believe that any other character in the book does either (except for like the one or two times when she actually acts like an assassin).
All this being said, I actually liked this better than the first four books of the main series, and Celaena aggravates me slightly (ever so slightly) less than before because this at least gives context to some of her responses later in the series.
Okay, rant over. Here's the actual review.
You might like this book if you like stories with:
- scrappy female leads
- assassin guilds and subterfuge
- a kind-of-sort-of slow burn in which you know the characters will get together, but it takes forever
- long series (because there's like 7 more books after this)
- great side characters
- interesting antagonists
For anyone else struggling or skeptical with this series, I highly recommend the audiobooks! The narration is solid and has kept me listening at times when I would've put the physical book down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Vomit