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Jul 07, 2018PimaLib_ChristineR rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I had a hard time rating this one. When I first finished it, it was five stars, then later it was three, then I thought about it again and settled on four. Why I wanted to give it five stars: terrific storytelling. Maas makes me feel invested in the characters and builds them beyond one-dimensional cutouts. She writes terrific action sequences when she feels like it. Why I wanted to give it three stars: Maas sets Celaena up as a ruthless baddie. The only one to survive the salt mines longer than six months. She has been raised to be the most feared assassin in the kingdom and has fought her way to be the King's Assassin. As much as she dislikes and fears the king, there's no prior indication that Celaena, as a private assassin, only took the jobs of people she thought of as "bad guys." She's a PAID ASSASSIN and she won't kill the people the king sends her to kill. I don't care who she is (and if you haven't figured it out by about chapter three of the first book, you're not paying attention), she chose this life, specifically the life of an assassin, and only by luck, the King's Assassin... and now suddenly, because Maas needs her to be a heroine, she grows a conscience that she never had before. I have no doubt that Maas could have gotten her to this place, but she literally just throws a switch between books one and two, and Celaena is a different person. It's infuriating. Why I settled in the middle. The plot-line is so fun and absorbing that I have to let it go and move on. This is still worth the read. And just because Celaena is suddenly selective doesn't mean she's safe. I loved the storyline with the prince and Chaol as well.