Celaena is one of the most notorious assassins in the kingdom, but she made a mistake. She got caught and sent to the Salt Mines where the guards paid special attention to punish her. Most people only survive a month in the Mines, she lasted for a year. When she is dragged out before the prince, she expects that she is to be put to death for her crimes. Instead, the prince offers her freedom. If she competes to become a royal assassin,
Celaena is a character that I have interesting thoughts on. On one hand, she is meant to be a bloodthirsty assassin. She killed enough people to be well-known throughout the kingdom, but no one knew who she was. The rumors about her identity were completely inaccurate as many assumed she was a young man. The only way she was caught was because someone betrayed her, but she doesn’t go into that full story in this book. She had a strict upbringing to become the person she is, but at her core, she is still only an 18-year-old girl. An 18-year-old spent the last year of her life being tortured in the prisoner salt mines. Her youth really comes through in some parts of the story, such as her happiness during the holidays. It made me feel horrible for what her character must have gone through, but then I still remember that she is an assassin. She still has the ability to kill anyone near her without much effort, which I can definitely respect.
I don’t like love triangles. I have never liked love triangles. And I know that this series is going to be one giant love triangle, if not love square. And it will be a nasty one too, as the two characters who like the main character are both supposed to be good and are both friends. Let me put in my guess, I’ve never read this series past this book before. I guess that one of these boys is either going to turn out to be evil or is going to die. The girls in these books rarely end up making a real choice between the two boys, the choice is usually made for them. Or maybe both will die! But this love triangle is doomed for failure.
If I had to pick anyone in the triangle right now, I would not pick EITHER. I don’t feel like Chaol and Celaena have a lot of chemistry. They did have some moments, and he did help her train for the assassin competition. But this does not mean that Celaena has to instantly fall in love with him. I feel like they would make better partners/friends than romantic partners. I don’t like Celaena with Prince Dorian either. Dorian represents everything that Celaena has been fighting against for most of her life, so I don’t see why Celaena should be with him. 2 people are not really in the triangle, and I would love it so much if Celaena would end up with one of them.
Nox isn’t in the triangle, but I feel like he is in the square for sure. He’s a fellow assassin and another member of the competition. He seems to have far more in common with Celaena, and I feel like the two of them would make an adorable assassin couple. Not sure what is happening to him after this book, but I’m sure he will show up in the series again. The last person that isn’t even in the picture romance-wise is Nehemia. She is a princess of a kingdom that is being abused by the empire. She’s smart and can hold her own even when surrounded by people that would rather see her dead. She is close to Celaena for a good portion of the book, and they hold a lot of the same values. Celaena was surrounded by Nehemia’s people when she was in the salt mines of Endovier, and she can understand their pain. They would be a power couple, but I doubt that is the route this series is going to take.
Aside from the romance, the competition in this book is okay. I feel like I’ve read several books about some sort of royal competition. They were probably written after this book was released, but it makes me feel as if I am rereading something I’ve already read when I got to the competition sections of this novel. I enjoyed the action-packed scenes, and my favorite competition was definitely the climbing one. Overall though, it was nothing super special to me, and I didn’t dwell on them for long enough.
I hope that the next books in this series continue the positive momentum that this one started (and I hope that the love triangle doesn’t ruin it for me!). I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a NA fantasy series to enjoy.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 books.
