The Assassin's Blade: Prequel

Celaena is an assassin under Arobynn Hamel, the King of the Assassins and head of the Assassin's Guild. She is the most notorious assassin in all of Adarlan and Adrobynn’s apprentice. Celaena is arrogant, but she cares about those around her. Where will she go? Who will Arobynn have her kill?

THE NEXT FEW PARAGRAPHS HAVE SPOILERS!!! IF YOU WANT BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS, GO TO THE LAST PARAGRAPH!

Here are my thoughts on The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. I love Celaena’s relationship growing with Sam. He seems like such a capable guy. I do not want any harm to come to him. Ralphe is such a great enemy for Celaena. I almost wish that he was more capable of destroying her plans so that I could see what else she could conjure up to destroy him.

Here are my thoughts on The Assassin and the Healer. Celaena was so kind to Yrene. Though Celaena’s outlook on life in general is that she's above everything, she does care about those less fortunate than her. Yrene was so sweet and I do hope she becomes a healer one day.

Here are my thoughts on The Assassin and the Desert. I love the Master so much! He's so sweet and wise. The training scenes were really cool, too. Ansel’s betrayal was so surprising and heart wrenching. She seemed like such a sweet girl who only wanted to avenge her family. I wish that she could have found better help.

Here are my thoughts on The Assassin and the Underworld. I cannot believe that Doneval was not actually for the slave trade. His wife being the one who wanted it and Arobynn actively helping her should not have been as big of a surprise as it was. I hate Arobynn so much. Celaena and Sam are so cute together and I am so glad that they are both free from Arobynn.

Here are my thoughts on The Assassin and the Empire. I knew that Sam was going to die and the Arobynn was the reason that Celaena would go to Endovier, but it still hurt so bad reading exactly how it happened. Sam was so sweet and such a well developed character. I loved their relationship and how much he respected Celaena. There were great references to the other short stories in this book.

Overall, this book was not by any means bad, but it was not my favorite. Since this book was a series of short stories that were interconnected, it felt stilted and slow-paced until the very last few chapters. I really wanted to love this book, but it just did not stand up to some of my other favorite books.

If you enjoyed this book, the first book in the series is Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Other books like this one are: Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan because both of the main characters have to fight to survive and are orphans, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas because both are willing to do whatever it takes to keep those close to them safe, and The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken because both main characters have lost everyone who was close to them.