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!