Ok. I get it. I was very critical and harsh on my previous reviews. Luckily for y'all, The Assassin's Blade was the book that helped me understand the hype of this series. I was NOT prepared for how awesome and painful this book was. I will try to make it as spoiler-free as possible (if you have read it and want to discuss it further, my DM is always open).
“My name is Celaena Sardothien," she whispered, "and I will not be afraid.”
–Sarah J. Maas
What Is It About?
Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas – together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free?
My Opinion
This series seriously gave me a headache with its multiple forms of reading. There are way too many orders to read the books. And I was confused as to which one I should follow. Thankfully, my book club friends suggested to me which books I should read first.
I followed their suggestion: I read Assassin's Blade between Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire. And it was the best decision ever. TAB is a novella set before Throne of Glass. When Celaena was still a free assassin. It took me by surprise that it was divided into 5 small stories. Each one depicts an important moment for Celaena.
I finally met the famous Sam Cortland! I fell in love (and hard) with him since page one. It's amazing how SJM writes her male characters. They are impossible to dislike (except Tampon). I loved how he was there for Celaena. Even when they "hated each other" he helped her and followed her through her crazy adventures.
So, because he is mentioned in Crown of Midnight, we already knew of him and his fate. But I was oblivious as to how deep I was going to love him and how much it hurt when he died. I don't know if something is wrong with me, but I was more troubled and hurt by how Celaena reacted than when he died. Maybe it's because of how raw and powerful her emotions are when she's going through emotional pain?
But so far, his death has been the most devastating of the whole series. He taught her to not be afraid and to do things even when we are not sure of the development. Those words made an impact on me. "She would tuck Sam into her heart. A bright light for her to take out whenever things were darkest.
Celaena seriously is one of the characters who has suffered the most. Again and again, she has to endure one thing or the other. Since she was a child, she went through traumatic experiences that most of us can't begin to imagine. These experiences have made her a resilient and strong person.
The whole book is divided into 5 chronological stories. And my love for the book/series grew with each one. The novellas blended nicely, and it seemed they were just one. Also, they humanized Celaena and made me understand why in the previous books, she was arrogant. She had to disguise her inner pain so she wouldn't be hurt so easily again.
Even though Celaena is the most feared assassin in Arobynn's keep, she still cares a lot for the people who suffer around her. We can see several examples of this throughout the book. First, she freed the slaves from the Rolf, which caused her to have a terrible beating from Arobynn. After being beaten and scolded, she was sent to the Red Desert to work with the Silent Assassins. In her journey, we see how she helps Yrene, a girl who works at an inn, teaching her how to defend herself against others.
My favorite story was The Assassin and the Desert. Since I believe this is where Celaena grew the most and learned to be a better person. After working with the even-tempered kindness of the Mute Master, she realized how abusive and manipulative Arobynn was to her. How it was not normal to be reprimanded the way she was. More importantly, she understood that being an assassin didn't mean one should not have kindness in their heart and be human. During this part, Celaena truly knows what a friend is as Ansel becomes her first true friend. This made me realize how important friendship is. And how thankful I am for the friends I have and the ones I made in this beautiful community.
A character I truly hated was Arobynn Hamel. He is the definition of the worst kind of man ever. He is abusive, manipulative, selfish, and he thinks he can own people. As if they were objects. The amount of disgust I have for him is next level.
How dare he beat Celaena in front of Sam as "punishment"?! That is a twisted and sick way of scolding and punishment.
I hated the way he treated Celaena. He acted at his convenience. Sometimes as a friend, a teacher, or even as her older brother. But there was a HUGE gray area where sometimes he seemed like a dad or even a lover. Their relationship was super complex, and I admire the way SJM wrote it, as we truly come to despise him.
At the end of the novel, we know that Celaena was betrayed, and we know, for sure, by whom. Though Celaena is not prepared to come to terms with that reality until Arobynn tells her "he doesn't like sharing his belongings". I mean WTF?! He is like the creepy old man you see at the gym who stares are you constantly; or the perfect example of a red flag relationship. He is a disgusting human being, and my hatred only grows each time I remember what he did.
Even though we had a really sad and bitter ending (it hurt so much how Celaena waited and waited for Sam, but never came). It broke me how they didn't have enough time. How all their plans and dreams never became true.
However, in the last pages, we have a tiny bit of perseverance from Celaena. Despite being through hell and back, she knows she will survive because she will not be afraid of what's to come.
Comments