I'm never trusting SJM again. Ever. 

I really enjoyed that it was cut up into smaller stories with subplots with so many different characters. I’m really excited to see how they play into the series later. 

I knew Sam died because I read Throne of Glass first, but the death was still so sad it had me sobbing. I didn’t expect her to get betrayed like that with him being the bait. It ruined me. I’m interested to see her relationship with Arobynn later because of it.

 

I picked this up as my last book in my initial reading of the "Throne of Glass" series.
"The Assassin's Blade" is a collection of five novellas that take place before "Throne of Glass" begins. This collection allows the reader to get a better understanding of Celaena's character and see where she came from and why she is fighting so hard to make the world better.
Upon finishing this book, I wish I could go back and read this one before I started the entire series. I knew this was a collection of novellas from the Throne of Glass world, but I was not expecting this book to have such important backstories for several of the plotlines in the "Throne of Glass" series. Though this is not essential to read, I do think this was one of my favorite books in the series.
My favorite short story was the last one: "The Assassin and the Empire". This story was so devastatingly beautiful and heartbreaking, I did not want it to ever end. Celaena is such a fierce main character, and I loved seeing how she ended up in the mines as a slave.
I HIGHLY recommend this book, and I HIGHLY recommend you read this before you start the entire series. 

The Assassin’s Blade was both exactly what I expected and not at all what I expected. 

I have read the other books in the series before, so I knew going in that there would be stories about specific people, and I had a general idea of how they would end. What I wasn’t expecting was to be so annoyed by Celaena.

She is such a bad friend and romantic partner, and I realize that part of the issue is that she’s 17 years old but part of the issue is that she hates so strongly that it’s hard to see another side to her. She’s mean, and heartless, and I really didn’t believe her relationship with Sam was as deep as she makes it out to be in Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight. I don’t believe that he could love her so strongly when she’s so terrible to him.

Beside that, this book makes Celaena’s lack of female friendships really obvious. It’s one of the things I don’t love about SJM’s writing - where are the friends?? 

Anyway, now onto the things I did enjoy. I really liked who Celaena was in the second and third stories. I think they offered growth for her that the other stories didn’t. I also liked seeing more of Rifthold and the training process. Even with knowing how the book had to end, the tension was built quite well and kept me reading the last 20-30 pages when I had previously been tempted to skim.

Is this book necessary? No. Would I recommend it? If you really enjoy TOG and COM then this is very similar in content and writing style. But if you didn’t enjoy those books, I would personally skip this one. 3 stars.

This book was so emotional for me. Reading the Throne of Glass series in the 'romantic order' was definitely the right choice for me. I feel as though Assassin's Blade fits perfectly between Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows, where it has the most emotional impact for the reader. 

I am thoroughly hurt by this book and if it wasn’t for that it would have been rated much higher- it was well written, interesting and kept me hooked