I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I had read it before Throne of Glass.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
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I loved this book, it is a series of novellas and I read it 1st before starting Throne of Glass and I'm so glad I did as Throne of Glass starts from the end of Assassins Blade, I really like how you can tell Celeana is just 16 at the start as you can see the immaturity mixed with the force of having to grow up at such a young age. I loved her and Sam's tense relationship and his death was so sad, I really liked how the author didn't hold back on how brutally he was tortured as I feel like you could really get an idea in your head of how painful it was for Celeana to see him like that. I didn't really get a sense of diversity in characters I.e. different races etc. Until sort of the 3rd novella but I loved the characters within the book, even the ones we hate, I loved to hate them. The stories themselves were very quick paced, descriptive and despite only being short really gave a good description of the world so at no point did I feel lost, I could really imagine the scenes playing out. 5 star rating definitely.

2024

This was my third time reading The Assassin’s Blade and I enjoyed it just as much as the previous times! 

Sarah J. Maas has such a way with characters, and it’s so hard not to fall in love with them. Knowing that Celaena and Sam’s story was doomed from the start didn’t stop me from loving them, even knowing the outcome would be heartbreaking. 

Being that this was novellas, the one thing that really stood out to me were the side characters. From Yrene and Ansel, to Arobynn and Lysandra, whatever the purpose of the character, however long they were in the book, I found them all so interesting and loved reading about them!

2018
Reread. 

Wow! This book! 

- Characters
• Celaena is an amazing character! She’s a morally grey character who if we’re being honest isn’t necessarily a good person. She’s flawed and problematic and that really works to her characters favour in my opinion. I loved seeing her journey and way of life before being sent to Endovier! 
• I loved Sam! I have to admit, I love hate to love relationships, and Sam and Celaena’s was brilliantly done. It was interesting to see Sam’s growth during this book. Even knowing Sam’s fate doesn’t prevent the heartache when it happens! 
• Arobynn was a bit more of a difficult character to write down my thoughts about. He is a bad person, undeniably, however the way Sarah J. Maas portrayed him really made me see him for Celaena’s point of view and understand her feelings towards him. While I think anyone who reads this book will definitely hate Arobynn by the end, I think he’s a bit of a ‘love to hate’ villain. 
• Ansel is another character that is difficult to write about. She started as a different person compared to who she turned out to be. I really enjoyed her character and how she showed just how dark this world is. 

- Plot
• A lot of the time, novella collections aren’t necessarily continuous, but this one read like a full novel. I really don’t think I could choose a favourite novella as I loved aspects of each one and loved how they connected together so seamlessly. 

Overall I really enjoyed delving into Celaena’s earlier years! I can’t really think of any problems I’ve had with this book, but I just didn’t quite love it enough to give it 5 stars. Despite that this was a great book! 

Loved getting the backstory to the protagonist…and being set up with characters that will play a part in books to come. Sam! 😭😭😭😭

I read this book fourth in the series and I’m so glad I did because I caught a bunch of references and it was so emotional.

It was nice to go back and see how Celaena started after seeing how much she’s grown in the first three books. She was immature and impulsive and her actions in the first book make so much more sense. 

I did think some parts of the book were a bit slow but the emotional hit is so impactful.

I loved Sam and hated Arobynn. I constantly just felt so bad for Celaena. These novellas were great