The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

This book is actually a collection of novellas that are prequels to the Throne of Glass Series. Each one contains some event that shaped Celaena into the assassin we see in the series. These novellas were amazing and I really enjoyed all the background we got.

Each novella showed a lot of the choices Celaena makes that contradict the stereotypical assassin persona. These novellas helped show that what Celaena does in Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire is not completely out of character and she has done similar things in the past. Personally I wish I had read this book before reading Heir of Fire because it would have augmented a few of the things Celaena goes through with Rowan if I had already read the Assassin’s blade.

From the other books in the series, I did not think I would like Sam, but reading this book really made me understand why Sam and Celaena were good for each other. They dealt with the struggles of being an Assassin together and supported each other through that. Along with this came the heartbreak of just how devastated Celaena must be at the beginning of the Throne of Glass with being in the camp plus Sam’s death. The slow build up of Celaena realize just how much she cares about Sam was wonderfully done.

Each of these stories were a great window into Celaena’s life prior to Endovier and how they have shaped the events that take place in the other books. Arobynn is incredibly cruel and I absolutely do not understand how Celaena survived all that time with him. The Silent Master definitely taught her a lot and was a far better Master.

That last page killed me. So sad, but she is using Sam's death and her imprisonment to motivate her to survive and get her revenge. This book also made me crave more Celaena and I also miss Chaol and Dorian. I don't like that I have to wait until Fall 2015. 

✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ stars 

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

This series just keeps getting better and better. Heir of Fire was definitely the best book so far. Celaena was broken for a lot of this book, but Rowan is there to ground her. I loved all the background we got on Celaena's childhood. Plus the training sessions with Rowan were awesome!

The character and world development in this book was extraordinary and you can tell Sarah J. Maas is setting up the rest of the series.
 
I loved the alternating perspectives between Celaena and Rowan's story, Dorian and Chaol, and Manon and the witches. It let us know what was going on beyond what Celaena was experiencing. I'm not really sure what the purpose of Manon's story was/is, but I trust that it will become apparent in the next book. And Manon's story was interesting in terms of where she stands with or against Celaena.

And the new characters in the book, especially Rowan and Sorcha. They were great companions to the established characters when they needed it.

Overall this book was everything I wanted and now I need the next one.

5/5 Stars