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ktwinkiebell's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Great prequel and start to the series, though I knew something terribl was going to happen. I could just feel it coming and dread.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Vomit, and Murder
jls6283's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I read the prequel third, and honestly I think it would’ve had more emotional impact if I had read it first. I probably would’ve rated it higher, but I knew what was coming. I assumed people said to read it 3rd because it gave away the surprise ending to book 2, but it absolutely does not at all.
Reading it 3rd also just breaks up all the momentum that was built with the characters in 1 and 2.
Reading it 3rd also just breaks up all the momentum that was built with the characters in 1 and 2.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Slavery, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Vomit and Injury/Injury detail
autumnrh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It hurt. Reading this third was definitely a painful move. I liked the breakdown of the different novellas. Even though they were all still technically one story it still felt like I was reading a couple of different books. But uh yeah it’s sad, very sad, my eyes burn. Absolutely loved the ending, loved how you can see how Celeana changes and overcomes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
spazzcats's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse and Torture
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
kristanjenkins's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
corinnez's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Assassins blade was very slow at first, it took me a while to get into it. once you get past the first two “parts” it’s a lot better and you start to develop a connection with the main character and fall in love with her.
Content Warnings
Minor: Pedophilia, Slavery, Grief, and Murder
cheythepepper's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I read this first before starting Throne of Glass. I’m already glad I did because I’m so invested in Celaena and her story. It was definitely because I’m already committed to continuing the series that I pushed through the beginning. Though I did enjoy that it’s short stories of Celaena’s adventures. I absolutely knew Sam would never last but it still broke me so much. I’m hopeful that he’ll be a fond memory and a part of the next books. Sarah is so great at gripping us right at the very end full of action and developing the plot to make us dive straight into the next book. Can’t wait for this heart wrenching adventure 😀
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery
booksemmahasread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
You know I started this book series years and years ago when I was a kid and never finished (probably read like the first four). This was wayyyyy before there was a booktok and that the rudimentary stage of booktube. So, I honestly didn't know this was such a hyped and beloved series until about a year and a half ago. Now when a series is as hyped as this one, especially this author, I'm always skeptical so I never touched but my favorite YouTubers love this series so I finally decided to finally give it a shot.
Now I obviously started with this one because that's how I remember starting it when I was a child. Had no idea there was such confusion on the reading order (more on that later). Honestly if this was the actual first book in the series I would've stopped here and wouldn't have picked this next book up. I wasn't really vibing with Sarah J. Maas's writing here. I've just read better (but I hear she wrote this when she was 16 so I hope the writing improves as the series goes along).
I think it was nostalgia from when I read this book when I was a child, but I remember it being much better than it was. I read all the novella straight across in two days. I wasn't really vibing with the first one. I thought it was a little boring. The second one was slightly better. It was not until the 3rd one that I felt like I was really getting into the story. I'm assuming the people introduced in these novellas will be important for later books. Now one of my main grievances with this book is the lack of world building, but considering this isn't the intended first book, I'm gonna let that go, however, I really hope there is more adequate world-building in "Throne of Glass" because there were so many places and names and things being thrown around I was struggling to figure out what time period they were and where are the places were as well as what the politics and the conflict meant.
Also, as a child, I remember sobbing to this book whenSam died. I was devasted. I visually remember 11-year-old me sobbing her eyes out when he died. And for some reason I remember him dying on page not off page how it is in the book. In addition to that, I felt like her "relationship" with Sam was so lackluster. He's only in this book about 55%-ish of the time and half of the time it's literally spent with them arguing and Celaena contemplating if she even has feelings for him or not. I definitely think their "romance" happened extremely quickly and there was honestly no merit as to why they were together. Even as I was reading the book, I was wondering why Sam even liked her to begin with considering she's been nothing but rude to him up until recently. I also think this book is a product of its time because the whole "I've loved you the entire time" trope was most definitely overused, overdone, and in my opinion a sign of lazy writing. If you have to ascribe to this trope to make your love story convincing then that's a problem.
Now I know it seems like I'm harping on this book, but I honestly didn't hate it. I even teared up a bit and a certain part and enjoyed my time reading the last three novellas. Overall, this book was fine, however, because this book series is so hyped I was expecting much more considering how much people praise Sarah J. Maas for how much of a "mastermind" she is. I'm hoping for better for the future books. As for the reading order, although I just restarted this series after almost a decade, I'd say the reading order is put at the reader's discretion. If you want to read it in the chronological order of events then I say read this first as it gives insight as to why Celaena is the way that she is in "Throne of Glass". And if you don't want to be taken out of the story you suggest reading this first, but overall it depends on you.
Now I obviously started with this one because that's how I remember starting it when I was a child. Had no idea there was such confusion on the reading order (more on that later). Honestly if this was the actual first book in the series I would've stopped here and wouldn't have picked this next book up. I wasn't really vibing with Sarah J. Maas's writing here. I've just read better (but I hear she wrote this when she was 16 so I hope the writing improves as the series goes along).
I think it was nostalgia from when I read this book when I was a child, but I remember it being much better than it was. I read all the novella straight across in two days. I wasn't really vibing with the first one. I thought it was a little boring. The second one was slightly better. It was not until the 3rd one that I felt like I was really getting into the story. I'm assuming the people introduced in these novellas will be important for later books. Now one of my main grievances with this book is the lack of world building, but considering this isn't the intended first book, I'm gonna let that go, however, I really hope there is more adequate world-building in "Throne of Glass" because there were so many places and names and things being thrown around I was struggling to figure out what time period they were and where are the places were as well as what the politics and the conflict meant.
Also, as a child, I remember sobbing to this book when
Now I know it seems like I'm harping on this book, but I honestly didn't hate it. I even teared up a bit and a certain part and enjoyed my time reading the last three novellas. Overall, this book was fine, however, because this book series is so hyped I was expecting much more considering how much people praise Sarah J. Maas for how much of a "mastermind" she is. I'm hoping for better for the future books. As for the reading order, although I just restarted this series after almost a decade, I'd say the reading order is put at the reader's discretion. If you want to read it in the chronological order of events then I say read this first as it gives insight as to why Celaena is the way that she is in "Throne of Glass". And if you don't want to be taken out of the story you suggest reading this first, but overall it depends on you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol and Injury/Injury detail
tspice24's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail