A review by meredith_williams_
The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read the Throne of Glass series last year, but ended up skipping the novella read because I was too invested to move backwards in the timeline. I decided to reread the series as a whole and started with Assassin’s Blade this go around. I actually really liked reading the prequel novellas with the full knowledge of how Celaea’s story plays out. It was fun to revisit the world and know how each prequel was laying important groundwork for Celaena’s journey in the main series. 

I did not shed one singular tear while reading the TOG series, and Sam’s death broke me! I was unprepared for how tender and soft his character was. His relationship with Celaena (while certainly influenced heavily by some trauma bonds) was an excellent portrayal of innocent first love. Both of them deserved their dreams and that made his loss all the more heartbreaking. Also, Arobynn is such a horrifying villain! You know it after Queen of Shadows, but SJM paints such a sinister and accurate image of an abuser in him that it makes my skin crawl.
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