Name: Isabella De Francesca's review of The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas
Item: The Assassin's Blade
Rating: 4
Author: Isabella De Francesca

Sarah J. Maas

Find out where the Throne of Glass journey began in this irresistible bind-up of all five of #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas's Assassin novellas Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassins' 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 prequel 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 . . . Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine and find out how the legend begins in the five page-turning prequel novellas to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series.

The Throne of Glass Novellas

The Assassin's Blade

The action-packed introduction to the legendary Throne of Glass series - an irresistible bind-up of all five of #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas's Assassin novellas Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassins' 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 prequel 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 . . . Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine and find out how the legend begins in the five page-turning prequel novellas to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series.

Karen

“He sent you to the Red Desert,” Sam went on, his words soft and low. “But my punishment was having to watch him beat you that night.”

Trying so hard not to get attached to sam cortland and failing. #pain

The twist of a knife. The birth of a legend.Step into the world of the #1 bestselling Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas with this collection of prequel novellas.Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom's most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful Assassin's Guild and its scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, she yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. But when Arobynn dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, Celaena finds herself acting independently of his wishes and questioning her own allegiance. If she hopes to escape Arobynn's clutches, Celaena will have to put her faith in her wits and her blade ... knowing that if she fails, she'll lose not just a chance at freedom but her life.A prequel to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas explores the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling -- and deadly -- world.Included in this volume: The Assassin and the Pirate LordThe Assassin and the HealerThe Assassin and the DesertThe Assassin and the UnderworldThe Assassin and the Empire

maría 🪻

She would tuck Sam into her heart, a bright light for her to take out whenever things were darkest. And then she would remember how it had felt to be loved, when the world had held nothing but possibility. No matter what they did to her, they could never take that away. 

Syrina

Where she was, it was quiet, and damp, and cold, and reeked of mildew and refuse.

La espada de la asesina

Inés García Piñeiro

 Cuando estoy demasiado asustado, empiezo a decirme a mí mismo: Me llamo Sam Cortland... y no tendré miedo. Llevo años haciéndolo.

The twist of a knife. The birth of a legend. Step into the world of the #1 bestselling Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas with this collection of prequel novellas. Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom's most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful Assassin's Guild and its scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, she yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. But when Arobynn dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, Celaena finds herself acting independently of his wishes and questioning her own allegiance. If she hopes to escape Arobynn's clutches, Celaena will have to put her faith in her wits and her blade . . . knowing that if she fails, she'll lose not just a chance at freedom but her life. A prequel to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas explores the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling-and deadly-world. Included in this volume: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord The Assassin and the Healer The Assassin and the Desert The Assassin and the Underworld The Assassin and the Empire

Cassie French

"If you can learn to endure pain, you can survive anything. Some people learn to embrace it -to love it. Some endure it through drowning it in sorrow, or by making themselves forget. Others turn it into anger.”

-¿Pero por qué? ¿Por qué no puedes superarlo? 

Él la tomó por los hombros y la sacudió. 

-Te amo-repitió él y volvió a sacudirla- Te he amado desde hace años. Y él te lastimó y me obligó a ver mientras lo hacía porque siempre lo ha sabido. Pero si te pidiera que eligieras, elegirías a Arobynn, y... Yo. No. Podría. Soportarlo.

Miranda Watson

If you can learn to endure pain you can survive anything. Some people learn to embrace it-to love it. Some endure it through drowning it in sorrow, or by making themselves forget. Others turn it into anger. But Ansel let her pain become hate, and let it consume her until she became something else entirely - a person don't think she ever wished to be

Prayed Yrene Towers seized her life with both hands and set out for the pale-stoned owers city of Antica. Prayed that somehow, years from now, Yrene Towers would return to this continent, and maybe, just maybe, heal their shattered world a little bit.

Leni McLeod

nara davies

"I do the things that I do because I'm afraid . . . And because I don't know how to express what I feel"

She preferred the silence. In the silence she couldn't hear the worst question of all: had she brought this upon herself?

"I love you," he breathed against her mouth. "And from today onward, I never want to be separated from you. Wherever you go, I go. Even if that means going to hell itself, wherever you are, that's where I what to me. Forever."

In the silence of her bedroom, she swore an oath to the moonlight that if Sam were hurt, no force in the world would hold her back from slaughtering everyone possible. 

"I love you,” he repeated, shaking her again. “I have for years. But if I asked you to pick, you’d choose Arobynn, and I. Can’t. Take. It.”

“You’re a damned idiot,” she breathed grabbing the front of his tunic. “You’re a moron and an ass and a damned idiot." He looked like she had hit him. But she went on, and grasped both sides of his face. “Because I’d pick you."

"Well, I care what you think of me. I care enough that I stayed at this disgusting party just for you. And I care enough that I'd attend a thousand more like it so I can spend a few hours with you when you aren't looking at me like I'm not worth the dirt beneath your shoes"

“My name is Celaena Sardothien,” she whispered, “and I will not be afraid.

The music broke her apart and put her back together, only to rend her asunder again and again.

Quiet as mice, quiet as the wind, quiet as the grave.

The girl who'd taken on a Pirate Lord and his entire island, the girl who'd stolen Asterion horses and raced along the beach in the Red Desert, the girl who'd sat on her own rooftop, watching the sun rise over Avery, the girl who'd felt alive with possibility...that girl was gone.

“You want to hear something ridiculous? Whenever I’m scared out of my wits, I tell myself: My name is Sam Cortland … and I will not be afraid. I’ve been doing it for years.”

This girl wasn’t like wildfire—she was wildfire. Deadly and uncontrollable. And slightly out of her wits.

"Life isn't easy, no matter where you are. You'll make choices you think are right, and then suffer for them."

Mallory W

A wonderful prologue to the story of Celeana Sardothian. A romantic and gut wrenching love story.

Isabella De Francesca

Chase Leitner

I read this book as an assignment for my AP English class and I didn’t expect it to be as phenomenal as it was. I’m a slow reader and often struggle to start books but this book was much different, I’m absolutely in love with it.

Emmie Ervin

Loved all the back story and lore, so glad I decided to read third as I felt it impacted me more emotionally 

Kira Louise Morris

Read 3rd so in publishing order. Very glad that I did. I couldn’t wait to read it after finishing Crown of Midnight. I loved being able to tie the stories together and get a better understanding of why she is the way she is/does the things she does. Can’t wait to get back into the current storyline now! 

Leah Diaz 

Read this after ToG and CoM and I liked how you saw a lot of parallels into what Celaena did in those books. It definitely hindered the emotional impact of Sam’s death as I knew the whole time that he was dead from books 1 and 2, but it was still nice to see their little love story. Can’t wait to see how all of the characters that were introduced play out in the series. 

Paige Paul

I like this book because it gives us a glimpse of what Celaenas life looked like before Endovier. Reading about how hopeful she was for her future makes it a lot more heartbreaking that she was sent to a death camp where for all she knew her life was crushed. 

At the same time I have my my qualms with this book. It felt rushed and lacked depth in my opinion. Particularly, the romance between her and Sam was underdeveloped. The simple fact that they grew up together and cared for each other does add up to his death being monumentally painful but I wish their emotional bond was explored more. The beginning of their romance itself felt misplaced and a bit hard to believe. Sam’s admission to loving her his whole life also felt forced and unexpected. At the very beginning when their characters are introduced, nothing leads us to believe that the two of them have any sort of relationship apart from being acquaintances, albeit Sam is supposed to be hiding his true feelings for her, at the beginning of the book it hardly seemed like two were even friends. In fact, Celaena’s indifference to him makes it so hard to believe that she had ever given him a second thought. I don’t know, overall it felt rushed, poorly developed, I didn’t like how surface level the emotional connection between Sam and Caelena felt. Even the aftermath of his death felt lacking. This book would’ve been a lot more impactful if we jumped right into them being childhood friends/recent lover and if it picked up from there. 

Even her past and her journey as an assassin is barely glanced through. In the end I only like this book for the simple fact that it gives us glimpses of the girl she used to be. A lot more carefree with a heart of a child still and with less weight of the responsibilities that she couldn’t have anticipated. In the end I care for Sam more for the love he gives and the fact that we know, despite the lack of depth, that he cared about her and she cared about him. I do think the book doesn’t do Sam justice and I wish it did. 

khwaiish 

I like this book because it gives us a glimpse of what Celaenas life looked like before Endovier. Reading about how hopeful she was for her future makes it a lot more heartbreaking that she was sent to a death camp where for all she knew her life was crushed. 

At the same time I have my my qualms with this book. It felt rushed and lacked depth in my opinion. Particularly, the romance between her and Sam was underdeveloped. The simple fact that they grew up together and cared for each other does add up to his death being monumentally painful but I wish their emotional bond was explored more. The beginning of their romance itself felt misplaced and a bit hard to believe. Sam’s admission to loving her his whole life also felt forced and unexpected. At the very beginning when their characters are introduced, nothing leads us to believe that the two of them have any sort of relationship apart from being acquaintances, albeit Sam is supposed to be hiding his true feelings for her, at the beginning of the book it hardly seemed like two were even friends. In fact, Celaena’s indifference to him makes it so hard to believe that she had ever given him a second thought. I don’t know, overall it felt rushed, poorly developed, I didn’t like how surface level the emotional connection between Sam and Caelena felt. Even the aftermath of his death felt lacking. This book would’ve been a lot more impactful if we jumped right into them being childhood friends/recent lover and if it picked up from there. 

Even her past and her journey as an assassin is barely glanced through. In the end I only like this book for the simple fact that it gives us glimpses of the girl she used to be. A lot more carefree with a heart of a child still and with less weight of the responsibilities that she couldn’t have anticipated. In the end I care for Sam more for the love he gives and the fact that we know, despite the lack of depth, that he cared about her and she cared about him. I do think the book doesn’t do Sam justice and I wish it did. 

rereading the series and cried at every other sentence. so much foreshadowing. so many connections. love it! 

neele

Loved! The third novella absolutely broke my heart. As did the fifth one. Such amazing character and world building. So glad I read it first.

Allison

Cameron Gleeson 

Hannah Alexander 

once i figured out how to undoom him from the narrative the wedding is BACK ON!

rain

soooo good. I definitely loved going back in time after knowing information ab the characters and stuff. Reading it 3rd was def a good call ONTO THE NEXT

Allysen

Good… but I wanted more!! Excited for sequels 

Frankie Fleming

i cared more about sam in one book than i have for anyone else halfway through the series. i knew it was coming and still wasn’t prepared for it. if i were her, i would’ve killed myself romeo and juliet style idc.

julie reads

Janice Walker

I read AB as the 4th book in the series and I'm glad I did. I've had people recommend me to read it as the first of third(which I probably would have liked as well) book in the series but I was too much into the story to read this book after CoM. 

While I thought the first couple of short stories were a bit boring sometimes, I really enjoyed learning about Celaena's past. In the three books I've read, there were multiple things hinted from her past (like stealing an Asterion mare or spending time in the Red desert) and I really liked that I already sort of knew how these things affected Celaena. 

I think that I wouldn't have enjoyed this book as much if I had read it as the first book in the series, simply because I wouldn't have had an idea of Celaena herself and her 'mysterious' backstory in Rifthold. I also think it adds to your reading experience if you already know she's originally from Terrassen, even if (SPOILER) you don't know she's Aelin yet. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, even if at some points it was a bit to slow for my liking. 

Isabelle

I read AB as the 4th book in the series and I'm glad I did. I've had people recommend me to read it as the first of third(which I probably would have liked as well) book in the series but I was too much into the story to read this book after CoM. 

While I thought the first couple of short stories were a bit boring sometimes, I really enjoyed learning about Celaena's past. In the three books I've read, there were multiple things hinted from her past (like stealing an Asterion mare or spending time in the Red desert) and I really liked that I already sort of knew how these things affected Celaena. 

I think that I wouldn't have enjoyed this book as much if I had read it as the first book in the series, simply because I wouldn't have had an idea of Celaena herself and her 'mysterious' backstory in Rifthold. I also think it adds to your reading experience if you already know she's originally from Terrassen, even if (SPOILER) you don't know she's Aelin yet. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, even if at some points it was a bit to slow for my liking. 

tbh the only novella worth it in this collective is the last one, the others were fun but also boring and distracting ? idk the final one was the only one that lent anything to the over all

Cici Pearson

Ok, the first three novellas were sooo good, I loved finally seeing all the adventure and swash-buckling bad-assery I expected when first introduced to Adarlin's Assassin in Throne of Glass. The last two novellas, however, were excruciatingly slow with all the dialogue and meandering around Riften, especially in the last novella when we already knew Sam's fate. I know it's because there needed to be a relationship fully established with Sam before the finale since we didn't see much of him until the 4th novella, but the plot underneath felt repetitive and pointless--ESPECIALLY since Arobynn's betrayal (BOTH times) was so comically obvious that I lost complete faith in Celaena's supposed intelligence. It was nice to finally know the exact events leading up to Celaena becoming a slave in Endovier, so it was definitely worth the read for the backstory; I just wish the last two novellas weren't so long or predictable.

Bethany

Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom's most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful and ruthless Assassin's Guild, Celaena yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer for hire, Sam. When Celaena's scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes-and questioning her own allegiance. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies alike, and discovers that she feels far more for Sam than just friendship. But by defying Arobynn's orders, Celaena risks unimaginable punishment, and with Sam by her side, he is in danger, too. They will have to risk it all if they hope to escape Arobynn's clutches-and if they fail, they'll lose not just a chance at freedom, but their lives . . . A prequel to Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas offers readers a deeper look into the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling-and deadly-world. Included in this volume: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord The Assassin and the Healer The Assassin and the Desert The Assassin and the Underworld The Assassin and the Empire

Jennifer Gosnell

These novellas are fantastic! I didn’t anticipate that they would be so close in the timeline to ToG and would pick up one after another. I really love that we got to really see Celaena in action, and in a myriad of different circumstances. It was delightful, heartbreaking, and twisty/turny. I’m torn on the reading order. I see the arguments for reading this book first, and the arguments for reading it 3rd or 4th. I read it 3rd, after Crown of Midnight… Overall I think that worked for me.

Maya 

3.75 ★

“I will not be afraid.”

The ending of this book shattered me. Realizing that she’s just a young girl. All the things they put her through. All the horrors she had to go through. Just for her to be used again and again. Being betrayed every step of the way. She just can’t catch a break it breaks my heart :(

Haley

At first I really enjoyed this book but towards the end it started getting slower and harder for me to get through. Overall the book was good.

This was great. I have heard that this is the worst book in the series but that is simply untrue. I loved this book and every story inside of it. 

The ending devastated me. I am a mixture of emotions rn. But this is just the prologue, so I am so excited to see where this story goes. 

Kaylin Paige

This was great. I have heard that this is the worst book in the series but that is simply untrue. I loved this book and every story inside of it. 

The ending devastated me. I am a mixture of emotions rn. But this is just the prologue, so I am so excited to see where this story goes. 

Mallory W &
The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

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