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jusgalery's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
An enjoyable read, however not as gripping as other SJM books I have read. I found myself enjoying the plot, but not as attached to the characters (though I still like them).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Addiction
Minor: Slavery
koistyfishy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3 Word Mark Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 0/5 (Kissing is not spicy!)
TL;DR
WHAT IN THE EVERLOVING YA DELUSION did I just listen too????
Loved the plot... Hated the characters
DOWNGRADE TO 3 STARS...
Long Review...If I can get through this...
I have never had a book make me feel old before... I have also said for a while that I have been put off reading Young Adult and ended up trudging through this book which was the literal epitome of why I feel my reading taste and YA DO NOT mix any more. And it all comes down to the entitled, underdeveloped, childish, annoying, FRUSTRATING character Celaena Lillian Elentiya Aelin, whatever her name is!
What, you're telling me she's the best fucking assassin in the world? But she's 18 and all she fucking cares about is sweets and pretty dresses. And for being such a good assassin, she's not very good at, you know, aspects that an assassin would need. Yes. There are a couple of fighting scenes and a couple of training montages that happen, but it felt so much like we are just going to "TELL" you she is good and never show you!
Overall this was all just like high school drama llama. "Oh does he like me" "Oh but he kissed me" "I still have feelings for Sam" and any time she mentioned her time in Endovier it just felt brushed off or petulant monaing and not dealing with the trauma. I really battled to connect with her, especially with her "woe is me" attitude because I couldn't see how she was impacted "apparently" by her year as a captive. She just felt like a brat!
Given what she had gone through and experienced, the amount of time she moaned about not being pampered or not allowed to go to the court functions, or her clothing was all wrong, was EXHAUSTING!!!! I. just. could. not. with. her.
Everyone has said to wait till the end of book three to like the story... I NEED TO BE HOOKED BY BOOK 1, not read like 7000 pages before I start liking a "main character". I really cannot find anything to like about this. Celaena-Lillian-Elentiya is entirely conceited and awful. Her obsession with money and trivial objects for somebody who has seen people suffering and dying is not existent, but she's upset because she wasn't invited to a BALL!!!!
AND DO NOT GET ME STARTED on the whole love triangle in this book... all the unnecessary angst and drama llama (which is why I can't) - the push and pull of a love triangle feel like a cop-out and such a cliche plot device in a book to make the girl feel more special than she is since not one, BUT TWO men want her golden vagina... BECAUSE obviously, she is not like the other girls...
I just don't see it. I don't see the appeal. I don't see the amazingness of this book.
Will I read the rest of the series? Yes.
Because I have somehow committed to putting myself through torture and I have purchased all the audiobooks and I have nothing else to listen to...(at least until I get more credits)
----------------------
So past me apparently read this in 2018 and I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I SHE IT 4 STARS...
So since this won my Audiobook POLL sorry ZA and FBAA I guess I will find out why this had 4 stars and why book 2 was a DNF....
Also if you have a recommendation on reading order.... lemmie know... I have heard best experience is NOT publication order...
Spicy Level: 0/5 (Kissing is not spicy!)
TL;DR
WHAT IN THE EVERLOVING YA DELUSION did I just listen too????
Loved the plot... Hated the characters
DOWNGRADE TO 3 STARS...
Long Review...If I can get through this...
I have never had a book make me feel old before... I have also said for a while that I have been put off reading Young Adult and ended up trudging through this book which was the literal epitome of why I feel my reading taste and YA DO NOT mix any more. And it all comes down to the entitled, underdeveloped, childish, annoying, FRUSTRATING character Celaena Lillian Elentiya Aelin, whatever her name is!
What, you're telling me she's the best fucking assassin in the world? But she's 18 and all she fucking cares about is sweets and pretty dresses. And for being such a good assassin, she's not very good at, you know, aspects that an assassin would need. Yes. There are a couple of fighting scenes and a couple of training montages that happen, but it felt so much like we are just going to "TELL" you she is good and never show you!
Overall this was all just like high school drama llama. "Oh does he like me" "Oh but he kissed me" "I still have feelings for Sam" and any time she mentioned her time in Endovier it just felt brushed off or petulant monaing and not dealing with the trauma. I really battled to connect with her, especially with her "woe is me" attitude because I couldn't see how she was impacted "apparently" by her year as a captive. She just felt like a brat!
Given what she had gone through and experienced, the amount of time she moaned about not being pampered or not allowed to go to the court functions, or her clothing was all wrong, was EXHAUSTING!!!! I. just. could. not. with. her.
Everyone has said to wait till the end of book three to like the story... I NEED TO BE HOOKED BY BOOK 1, not read like 7000 pages before I start liking a "main character". I really cannot find anything to like about this. Celaena-Lillian-Elentiya is entirely conceited and awful. Her obsession with money and trivial objects for somebody who has seen people suffering and dying is not existent, but she's upset because she wasn't invited to a BALL!!!!
AND DO NOT GET ME STARTED on the whole love triangle in this book... all the unnecessary angst and drama llama (which is why I can't) - the push and pull of a love triangle feel like a cop-out and such a cliche plot device in a book to make the girl feel more special than she is since not one, BUT TWO men want her golden vagina... BECAUSE obviously, she is not like the other girls...
I just don't see it. I don't see the appeal. I don't see the amazingness of this book.
Will I read the rest of the series? Yes.
Because I have somehow committed to putting myself through torture and I have purchased all the audiobooks and I have nothing else to listen to...(at least until I get more credits)
----------------------
So past me apparently read this in 2018 and I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I SHE IT 4 STARS...
So since this won my Audiobook POLL sorry ZA and FBAA I guess I will find out why this had 4 stars and why book 2 was a DNF....
Also if you have a recommendation on reading order.... lemmie know... I have heard best experience is NOT publication order...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Slavery and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
brittany_jean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Scarier than I expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Drug use, Xenophobia, Violence, War, Murder, Racism, Slavery, Death, Gore, and Confinement
kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Cursing
tea_cup1236's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I personally preferred Assassin's blade but this is still really good. I really wanted Celaena to get with Nehemia though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery and Vomit
Minor: War
The descriptions of gore can get pretty detailed.raavi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Didn’t really feel the stakes ante up until mid way. I went into expecting an adult romantasy and got more fantasy than romance. Though slow on plot it was fun and entertaining read. Selene was giving “I’m not like other girls “ which made her extremely annoying through the first half of the book but luckily it improves. Unfortunately no one bones in this book 🙄
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny and War
Minor: Stalking
tabeahaefliger's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
3.75 Stars! - but there's still room to get better...
I love that TOG was really fast paced, tense and exciting, I feel like there wasn't a single page, where I got bored. I just couldn't put it down and read the last 120ish pages in one sitting because I just NEEDED TO KNOW what was going to happen next.
It was amazing, that there weren't any unneccessairy overdramatical "deep" contexts or erlse, that tends to annoy me in books really often.
The friendship and it's development between Celaena and Nehemia was so cute, it really gave the book freshness. Also I really loved seeing Chaol and Celaena together and the way they kept teasing each other, the shipping is real!
I loved the writing style of this book as well and I'm really impressed, that SJM started writing this when she was only 16 years old, I could never, but because of the "neutral" form of telling for me there wasn't a huge emotional connection to the characters happening, maybe because that made it so fast-paced but at the same time I coulnd't get investigated in them and the storyline either. So I hope that that will change in the following books, because I'm really interested in the character development that's going to happen and to really get lost in the situations and moments, that went by so quickly in this one.
I found it to be a little bit weird that apparently Celaena and Dorian like each other, but they've barely spent time together. Now I'm just asking myself where this "connection" and attraction to each other are coming from because they barely know each other right? Also the frist kiss in between them just kind of happened out of nowhere, there wasn't a lot of tension building up between them before that "long awaited kiss" happened.
All in all though I really enjoyed reading it and I had a wonderful and exciting time. Because I've heard many times that the following books get better and better I'm really excited to pick them up and see for myself where this is going to go. I hope that I will be able to connect to the main characters more than I've been able to do up until now and love them as much as you guys do!
I love that TOG was really fast paced, tense and exciting, I feel like there wasn't a single page, where I got bored. I just couldn't put it down and read the last 120ish pages in one sitting because I just NEEDED TO KNOW what was going to happen next.
It was amazing, that there weren't any unneccessairy overdramatical "deep" contexts or erlse, that tends to annoy me in books really often.
The friendship and it's development between Celaena and Nehemia was so cute, it really gave the book freshness. Also I really loved seeing Chaol and Celaena together and the way they kept teasing each other, the shipping is real!
I loved the writing style of this book as well and I'm really impressed, that SJM started writing this when she was only 16 years old, I could never, but because of the "neutral" form of telling for me there wasn't a huge emotional connection to the characters happening, maybe because that made it so fast-paced but at the same time I coulnd't get investigated in them and the storyline either. So I hope that that will change in the following books, because I'm really interested in the character development that's going to happen and to really get lost in the situations and moments, that went by so quickly in this one.
I found it to be a little bit weird that apparently Celaena and Dorian like each other, but they've barely spent time together. Now I'm just asking myself where this "connection" and attraction to each other are coming from because they barely know each other right? Also the frist kiss in between them just kind of happened out of nowhere, there wasn't a lot of tension building up between them before that "long awaited kiss" happened.
All in all though I really enjoyed reading it and I had a wonderful and exciting time. Because I've heard many times that the following books get better and better I'm really excited to pick them up and see for myself where this is going to go. I hope that I will be able to connect to the main characters more than I've been able to do up until now and love them as much as you guys do!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Suicide attempt
yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I devoured this book. It was easy to follow and even the slower parts were interesting. I was kept engaged and intrigued. I love Dorian and Celaena’s witty banter. The way Chaol cares for Celaena in his own way is amazing. Celaena and Nehemiah’s friendship is precious and I love how Elena defends Celaena.
I do wish there was a clearer distinction and more organized approach when switching POVs but it’s a fun switch.I also thought the reveal that Cain was summoning creatures was a little predictable. I was surprised to see that Perrington was controlling him and not just influencing him.
I’m excited to see where this series goes. This was a great opener.
I do wish there was a clearer distinction and more organized approach when switching POVs but it’s a fun switch.
I’m excited to see where this series goes. This was a great opener.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gore, Vomit, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Grief and Drug use
Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, War, Torture, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty
embee09's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
sarahaurora628's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
It was good. I think the pacing and structure of the story was good. Most believable love triangle I’ve ever read. Overall I liked it, definitely a good first book of a series. Solid
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail