Author: Sarah J. Maaas
Started: April 20, 2019
Finished: May 1, 2019
Pages: 406
Genre: Young Adult
First Sentence: After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Calaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword-point.
Summary: [From BN] In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.
Thoughts: This book is sort of sold as being like The Hunger Games. Aside from the competition factor, I don't think it is. What I do think is that this first book is merely the set-up for a great YA series. So many story-lines and characters are introduced in such perfunctory ways that I know it's all coming back over the next six books.
While I have been binging books by Maas, this book was different enough from The Court of... series that it felt entirely different. Maas's writing style is unchanged, but the world is new and the characters are different. This does not feel like it is connected in any way to the other series.
I get the sense that Celaena's story is just getting started. Her backstory is limited to tidbits and her bookish and introverted personality seems to go against her career as an assassin. She also seems incredibly softhearted for someone who is supposed to kill. It's an interesting mix and I am very excited to see how it plays out.
The only thing I really didn't like in this book was the attempt to force a love triangle. Celaena entices two suitors but her character doesn't seem to be the type to get wrapped up in romance. She has bigger things to deal with. Instead, the men just read like whimpering puppies who hope that she'll notice them. I know that this is going to come back in the next books - I just wish it was handled in a way that made more sense to the heroine's character.
Rating: 7/10 [Very Good]
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