The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass, Books 0.1-0.5)

by Sarah J. Maas

[girlinthepages]

Back in April when the title of the final Throne of Glass book was released (hey there, Kingdom of Ash!) I decided I better kick myself into gear and finally get around to reading the books in the series I had been avoiding- The Assassin's Blade (because I'm not a huge novellas person) and Tower of Dawn (because I am definitely not a Chaol person). I thought I'd be bored reading the novellas because I had already read through Empire of Storms, but I found myself pleasantly surprised, as I really enjoyed reading more about Celaena's life before the series officially starts, and now have WAY more context about who some of the folks in the series are. I enjoyed revisiting the TOG universe so much that I'm aiming to reread the entire series before Kingdom of Ash is released so everything is fresh in my mind. Since everyone and their mother has probably already read these novellas but me, I'm just going to do a quick, casual round up of my thoughts on each story.

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord

This is arguably the most important novella in my opinion because it plays so much into Empire of Storms when they return to Skull's Bay, and we also see the formative beginnings of Celaena's deep, deep hatred for slavery. While Rolffe was hilarious (I admit to having a bit of a soft spot for him), I didn't LOVE this story because I think I got so bored with Empire of Storms that I easily tired of the Skull's Bay setting.

The Assassin and the Healer

I feel like not much really happened in this story?? It really just felt like filler for Celaena to help out another female, and I can't really even remember if the healer character makes an appearance later on in the series. Also, Innish sounds disgusting. ***Just came back from checking the TOG wiki and it turns out the healer from the story turns up in Tower of Dawn, so just another reason why I finally need to put aside my Chaol hatred and read it.

The Assassin and the Dessert

I think this was my favorite novella in the entire collection! I loved seeing how there was another group of assassins outside of Arobynn's rule and that Celaena saw that there were other ways to train that weren't cruel and manipulative, and that the Silent Assassins truly felt like a family. Also, Ansel's character was pretty tragic, and I appreciate that Sarah made me simultaneously hate and feel pity for her.

The Assassin and the Underworld

I have warring thoughts on this one. On the one hand, it's the first novella that actually takes place in Rifthold and readers truly get to see the manipulative ways of Arobynn. It's actually super fascinating how he straddles the line between cruel and caring, and it reminded me a lot of how someone with an abusive partner would feel- just enough cruelty and violence to inspire fear, but the lure of safety and secruity and kindness at just the right times keeps Celaena bound to him. I was also super unimpressed with Sam??? Maybe I just wasn't emotionally invested because I knew he was going to die, but I just felt like the romance felt rushed and that they wouldn't fall for each other after so many years of animosity.

The Assassin and the Empire

Again, no real feels about Sam here other than feeling sad for Celaena's grief, but it was super interesting to see her apartment which plays a big role in Queen of Shadows. I also got major feels when she gets sent to Endovier (even though TOG picks up just a year after and I obviously know what happens) but her whispering "I am Celaena Sardothien, and I will not be afraid" just broke me. Ugh I may love the ACOTAR series more as a whole but I do believe I prefer Celaena as a protagonist to Feyre.

Overall: These novellas helped to paint a much more comprehensive picture for Celaena's character and I'm currently rereading Throne of Glass as I read this and am finding that I'm enjoying it a LOT more than the first time I read it, which I think has a lot to do with having read The Assassin's Blade first. Also, I'm sort of surprised that there were a LOT of hints dropped in the novella's about Celaena's true heritage (more so than in TOG I'm finding so far). I'm hoping that my unexpectedly positive experience with The Assassin's Blade means I'll enjoy Tower of Dawn a lot more than I think I will too!This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages