Summary: Celaena Sardothien, the world’s most famous assassin, was betrayed and forced to work as a slave in the salt mines of Endovier. Now, the King of Adarlan has offered her a chance at freedom: fight in his competition against twenty-three other assassins, mercenaries, and soldiers, and be the last one left. But in the middle of the competition, when her competitors start dropping one-by-one with mysterious symbols written across their bodies, she learns there is something dark happening behind the scenes.
Opinion: One of the most cringe-worthy books I’ve read in a long while. The main character, and just about every other supporting character (other than her simply adorable puppy Fleetfoot),were annoying enough to make me want to tear out the pages. Let’s start with Celaena. Celaena, who’s supposed to be a hardened, vicious assassin that’s been through hell and back, is actually like this:
' A few minutes later, Celaena frowned at herself as she hurried after the captain into the foyer. "I look ridiculous! These pants are absurd, and this shirt is awful."'
She’s constantly complaining, doing the stupidest and most dangerous thing possible, and then complaining about how things turned out, as if she hadn’t known what exactly what happen. The other characters, including the Crown Prince Dorian and the Captain of the Guard aren’t any better. Dorian is way too naive and Chaol is straight-up rude and misogynistic at times. The plot, surprisingly, was pretty good, for how awful the character development was. Although not much happened in the four-hundred six pages of fluff sprinkled with the occasional plot twist, what did happen was decent. I was legitimately surprised when I found out what had been happening with the mysterious marks across the palace. And when Celaena started finding secrets in her room, I was fairly enthralled. Regardless, the occasionally passable plot doesn’t make up for the floaty writing style and characters, so I give this book two stars. I would recommend it to readers who need an introduction to fantasy, and also to huge fans of The Hunger Games. I actually have read the rest of the series, though, and it does get better after the first few books