Reviews with content warning for Slavery - The Assassin's Blade

"If you can learn to endure pain, you can survive anything. Some people learn to embrace it–to love it. Some endure it through drowning it in sorrow, or by making themselves forget. Others turn it into anger."

This book is divided into five short stories centering on Celaena. Each story is a new adventure or life lesson for her. She meets so many new characters, each of whom she influences in her own unique way. I hope to see some of these interesting characters return in later books. One notably memorable character is the Mute Master, leader of the Silent Assassins. He was a refreshing character in the sense that he’s in stark contrast to Arobynn. Whilst Arobynn rules through punishment and ruthlessness, the Mute Master leads with unity and compassion. When the first story begins, Celaena is still very young and somewhat naive. Her strong sense of morality and justice pushes her to liberate slaves–a choice that sets off a cascade of events leading to her downfall.

The five stories are linked by an overarching plot that tells the love story of Celaena and Sam. If you’re reading this book after Crown of Midnight like me, you already know how this story will end.

Everything inevitably leads to Sam’s death and Celaena’s imprisonment in Endovier. I couldn’t get this thought out of my head as I read, making the moments when Sam and Celaena speak of their hopes and future together especially heartbreaking. They believed they would have all the time in the world, but we readers know better.

I do feel I understand Celaena better after reading this book. No wonder this girl is no walking sunshine.

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vereadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The book offers five novellas that navigate key moments in Celeana’s life before the events in Throne of Glass and show us how she ended in Endovier.

This book is the perfect introduction to Celeana as a character because we see her in her fullness as an assassin, unlike Throne of Glass, where we meet a heroine broken by the past. Celeana is the most arrogant and spoiled person in the world. But her heart is righteous, and that makes her a lovable character.

The book shows the complexity of her relationship with Arobynn, who seems like a father figure and, at times, seems like her executioner. Sometimes, their relationship becomes strange because it is hinted that Arobynn has romantic feelings for Celeana.

We also meet Celeana’s first love, Sam. Sam is her rival in the Guild, and at first, it seems that they both hate each other, but as the pages go by, we realize that Sam is crazy about her.

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord show how Sam and Celeana’s relationship evolves. Sam and Celeana discover that Arobynn has been lying to them, and they decide to work together to free the slaves. During the mission, they bond, and for the first time, Celeana starts to see Sam differently.

In the second novella, The Assassins and the Healer, Arobynn beats her up and sends her to train with the Silent Assassins of the Red Desert. Before she gets to the Red Desert, she gets stuck in a small town and meets a healer. The story seems irrelevant. I assume the character introduced will become important later. In my opinion, this story is the weakest.

The Assassin and the Desert bring to the table the toxic and abusive relationship that Celeana has with Arobynn. During her stay in the red desert, Celeana reflects on how different the mute master is from Arobynn. In this place, Celeana finds a friend she can trust. However, she is also being betrayed by someone she trusts.

After that, Celeana returns to Rifthold. In Assassins and the Underworld, Celeana tries to leave Arobynn. But he manipulates and deceives her.

The Assassin and the Empire show us the events that end with Celeana in Endovier. I’m still processing what happened with Sam. I believe that what occurred didn’t happen and that it was all a hoax. He’s somewhere out there, eagerly waiting to make his big appearance. I refuse to accept the other ending as reality.

Excellent prequel! Heir of Fire, here I go.

P.S.: I’m still not sure if I read this book in the right order.

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carriehaley89's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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sarahgordon327's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

A great prequel - really tied a lot of the threads together from books one and two that were left hanging. And man, does Mass know how to write a despicable villain!

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fedorkable's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

sam.. i miss you, sam...

i really liked this book(s?) + it lowkey makes me want to go back and look for the little hints in tog that align with these stories, like nehemia calling her coward when that's her DEEPEST SECRET? like ok nehemia really was workin some magic trying to get celaena pissed as hell. ugh and how she constantly repeated "i will not be afraid" in the 1st book...... i'm gonna die

also excited to see the characters that were introduced in these novellas again!! and FUCK arobynn hamel

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annadelreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

3.5

“You want to hear something ridiculous? Whenever I’m scared out of my wits, I tell myself: My name is Sam Cortland … and I will not be afraid. I’ve been doing it for years.”

First comment when I finished the book: I miss Sam (Oct. 5, 2024)

Okay, on to the actual review:

I researched hard before I started the series and what I found out is that people are choosing to advise people to read this book first before starting the series - so as a gullible person, that's exactly what I did. This book is a collection of short stories that focuses on the backstory of Calaena, the one and only Adarlan's assassin. Apparently this is the story of what happened before Throne of Glass so if I would like to read the series in a chronological way, this is the best book to start it with.

It started out so slow as what new reads usually are and there are from what I can remember, 5 short stories included. As for story-building, it's not that heavily discussed and I had to assume what had happened although it was implied. Celaena as a the main character of the story is so intense. Her whole personality is her being so bad ass so I'm a little amazed. It's not a first for me to have a killer main character but it's a first for me to see someone who really did not want to be THE main character - someone who's "selfish and don't want to save everyone" type of person. It's also in a third person perspective so it's something new for me but something I got used to fast.

The only reason why it's an okay book for me is because it's really just a prologue of what's about to happen. It's really the last story that really pulled me in and actually made me feel and think like this is going to be a good series. So yes, I loved it by the end but the first few stories are really just a prologue and "backstory". Nonetheless, it made me excited for what's to come!

When I finished Throne of Glass, the book, I was so glad I actually did because it the SJM kept mentioning specific parts explained in ASB that was mentioned in TOG. So if I had read TOG first without knowing anything about TAB, I would have been clueless or simply filling in the blanks and assuming what had happened based on the context given.

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