It took me reading The Assassin's Blade to really like this book. Many readers and SJM herself suggested reading this prequel in between the second and third books, so that’s what I did. But I have to say that I disagree with their recommendation. The first book was a miss for me originally because I didn’t have an emotional buy in with any of the characters. But after reading this in between Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire, it makes me want to re read Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight again. There’s mention of Sam and Arobynn’s betrayal but you have no idea who they are without reading The Assassin’s Blade so it didn’t hit the first time. I feel like I know Celaena now and I am so invested in what happened to her after the death of Sam. And I’m on the edge of my seat for her to get her revenge. I was about to quit reading the series initally, because there were so many names I didn’t know and there was zero emotional stake for me until I read the prequel. THEN I was completely hooked and everything made sense to me. And I’m so glad I stuck around and read it because this is now one of my top 3 favorite series of all time.

Upon re-reading this book after finishing the whole series, I now really like it and it went from a 2 star rating to a 4 star.

This book is a lot of fun. It’s definitely more YA and the series transitions slowly into new adult by Empire of Storms. I loved the intrudction of Wyrdmarks and Elena’s spirit and the intrigue with Nehemia. I also love Nehemia and Celaena’s friendship! This book set up a lot of moving parts for the rest of the series- Chaol, Dorian and Celaena’s friendships and love triangle, Chaol and Dorian feeling conflicted about representing Adarlan, Nehemia and the rebellion, and Celaena’s desire for freedom. I’m glad we get more depth to Kaltain later on, because she is the worst in this.

I also honestly thought Dorian and Celaena would’ve made a super cute couple!! Ultimately, I’m so happy she ended up with Rowan and I LOVE Dorian and Manon but I thought she made more sense with Dorian instead of Chaol. Dorian has a similar swagger and Chaol is kind of a womp womp.