“I like music because when I hear it, I… I lose myself within myself, if that makes sense. I become empty and full all at once, and I can feel the whole earth roiling around me. When I play, I’m not… for once, I’m not destroying. I’m creating”.
Okay, I have been in an emotional dilemma for two days now and I can’t seem to get out of it. This book has been way better than I expected it to be. Not only is it my first read for Sarah J. Maas, but it definitely raised the bar SO HIGH for any other fantasy read to follow. I’m bummed, you guys!
Enough blabbering, let’s get to the good stuff, shall we?
The story goes about Adarlan’s most notorious assassin; Celaena Sardothien, who is taken out of slavery in Endovier by the Crown Prince, on one condition; for her to be his winning champion in a contest hosted by the King. Not only is she expected to win it to prove that the Prince has sponsored the right champion, but also because winning the competition might just be the key to her eternal freedom.
As Celaena accepts the offer presented to her, and as she arrives to the city of Rifthold to start her training, strange things begin to occur and insecurities start to rise up. Will she give in to the patterns? Will she trust the people crossing her path? And most importantly, will she win this competition and be free?
Things I loved about the book:
– The amount of research and passion devoted to developing the arc of each character in the book is just mindblowing! Chaol Westfall is my absolute favorite! How she perfectly drew each character to be unique on its own yet still very relatable is beyond me!
– The fact that she narrates an entire event from the three main characters’ POV without us losing track, is a talent to be highly praised! Hats off!
– The transitioning of events is sequenced, easy to follow, and perfectly compliments the context where each event takes place.
– The descriptions given to places, abstracts, or characters are so mesmerizing! It is the perfect balance of drawing a vivid and colorful picture, yet without excessive boring details.
– Maas mixes up different narrative elements throughout the book to give you a sense of how each character is feeling without having to bluntly blurt it out.
– The chapters are short and precise, making it harder for the reader to simply drop the book after reading a single chapter. Also, each end and start of a chapter is perfectly aligned and tailored accordingly.
– Her choice of words is simple, yet significant and easy to portray at the same time.
– The map placed at the beginning of the book is extremely helpful!
– I just loved how she throws minor hints mid chapters and then describes it thoroughly later.
Things I didn’t like about the book:
To be honest, I was slightly irritated by how the main characters were rather younger than I would have expected, but the evolution in each character’s arc has made up for it big time. So yeah, there’s nothing that I don’t like about this book.
I would definitely recommend this book to everyone! Regardless of age or whatever. And let me just say this, to all The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones fans out there, THIS IS NOT A BOOK THAT YOU’D WANT TO MISS OUT ON! PERIOD.