404 p.
Published: 8/7/12
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Source: Library
After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.
Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.My thoughts:
I had heard so much about this series that I decided I wanted to try it. I've had such good luck with YA fantasy lately. Off to the library!
The book starts out with Celaena braving unspeakable cruelty and is given a chance to serve as the king's champion in exchange for freedom after 4 years. While this starts out with lots of promise, I have to say that it flagged for me in the middle. I liked all the characters involved (except those you weren't supposed to like). My biggest problem came from Celaena's attitude at court. While it made sense to me that she could easily slip into the role of courtier (assassin... hello!) she didn't. In fact she had a lot of missteps to the point it kind of became unbelievable she was the best of the best. She also started to become very spoiled in her nature in how she started to complain about everything. It was a bit annoying. However, thankfully the whining was interspersed with some adventure and also her compassion for others. I loved that part and it made the middle much better for me. This also set us up for who Celaena really was underneath the assassin exterior at the end. That person I really liked.
My favorite part came toward the end with the tournament at it's pinnacle. The final battle was not a let down but we do not get all the answers. I figured that since this is the first book in the series so you know more learning about herself, her family and her romance will come. I will warn those that there was a love triangle brewing for most of the book but looks like it gets solved in the end... but maybe not permanently. I'm not sure about that, but I can see the possibility of an opening.
I give this book 4 stars. While there were aspects of it that I didn't care for, I'd have to say that there were also parts where I wanted to keep reading even when life told me to put the book down (darn life!). I recommend it to those that enjoy YA fantasy.
A shame this flagged for a while. Still, Celaena sounds like a wonderfully well rounded character - feisty and compassionate, just how I like my female characters to be.
ReplyDeleteTrue. I did love her compassion. :)
DeleteYay! I'm so glad you are trying this series and liking it so far! It really is a favorite of mine.
ReplyDeleteOh good. I do intend on continuing it.
DeleteYea, the cover doesn't quite fit. :) I hope to continue so I don't have too much book amnesia. :)
ReplyDeleteI still think she is such a Mary Sue
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteI was going to read it until I heard about the love triangle and then the series is so dang long!
ReplyDeleteI have Court of Thorns and Roses to try.
Karen @For What It's Worth
No real triangle... I think... I hope... :)
DeleteHave you read the prequel novellas? I loved them all so when I read this, I did feel a bit disappointed. The tone changed like it became very YA while the prequels were more like NA, adult even. It gets better though so I'm hoping you'll keep reading :)
ReplyDeleteHm... I'll have to check out those novellas! Thanks!
DeleteGlad to hear that you enjoyed despite her attitudes at court
ReplyDeleteHer compassion helped. :)
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed this one, Melissa! I'm not a fan of this series but I also prefer high fantasy to YA fantasy but I'm happy you joined the bandwagon with this one. :)
ReplyDeleteYea, this is def not high fantasy. :) I do hope for it to get better.
DeleteI want to like YA fantasy, but everytime I try, I can't get into it. Not sure this would be any better, but I'm going to keep looking for that gateway book.
ReplyDeleteHm... this may not be the one to try first as it still felt very YA...
DeleteI confess that I have this book for a long time but I still need to read it as book 2! soon! I'm trying to read more of my books
ReplyDeleteOh I need to continue this one. I'm curious as to what happens.
DeleteI really struggled with this first book too Melissa, Celaena seemed to do a lot of talking about how she was the best, but her actions never really supported that claim. It wasn't until I read the prequel books that I started to understand her a bit more, and by the 5th novella I was madly in love. I think this series gets better as it goes, so I hope that ends up being the case for you too!
ReplyDeleteI've heard that the novellas rocked. I do need to check those out.
DeleteI also finally got to read this one thanks to my teen book club. I actually read the prequel novellas first which was a smart move because it helped me understand Celaena much better. This one did start a bit slow for me at first but it picked up when the champions slowly disappeared. I plan to catch up with this series this summer.
ReplyDeleteYea, it looks like I need those prequels! I do want to continue.
DeleteFor me this series just gets better, I have the newest book sitting in my tbr pile..you have reminded me how much I need to read :)
ReplyDeleteOh sweet! Good to know.
DeleteIt's been such a long time since I read this I don't really remember a lot. I do need to catch up on the series. Now she has two series out and it's hard to keep up with it all!
ReplyDeleteI know! I was thinking the one you had was this one and I was just confuddled. :) I think I need to start that second series as well.
DeleteThese are on my list because of all the raves too :D Erg on the middle bits and attitude but yay for it pulling it off in the end :D
ReplyDeleteI think we both need those novellas. I think you'd end up liking her in the end as well.
DeleteIt's a shame I literally forced myself to finish this one and didn't continue on with the series. Glad you enjoyed it, and that you're dying for the next book!
ReplyDeleteI love this series. Glad you enjoyed it. I highly recommend reading The Assassin's Blade, which is like 4-5 novella prequels. They give great insight and background for certain things that will happen in the rest of the books.
ReplyDeleteI did hate not getting al the answers but they will come, trust me. Happy you liked it.
ReplyDeleteOh you got to this series! :D I'm afraid I'll have to high expectations going in with all the amazing I've heard about it. But it does sound like one I'd really enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you picked this series up, I think all the books have parts that just coast along, but the overall story arc is great. I'm keen for the fifth book!
ReplyDelete