The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas
Publish date: March 4, 2014
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance
Content warnings: Physical abuse/violence, emotional manipulation, death/grief, murder, slavery, trafficking, betrayal, sexual harassment (implied), war themes, suicide ideation (implied)
Short description: Before she became the infamous Celaena Sardothien, she was the King’s Assassin. But this book shows the girl behind the legend. In five novellas, we follow Celaena through betrayals, heartbreak, brutal missions, and the moments that shaped her most. She’s arrogant, clever, messy, and a little too brave for her own good. But under all that is a girl trying to figure out who she is in a world that keeps trying to break her. The Assassin’s Blade isn’t just backstory and it’s where everything begins. And it hurts in all the ways you don’t expect.
It’s political, full of shifting alliances, and big on betrayal. I love that it leans more onto the plot but the sprinkle of romance was so good it reminded me of true love. Lels. Even knowing where it was headed, it still hit me like a punch. Some stories break you because you don’t see it coming, but this one breaks you because you do. 😩
The Assassin’s Blade got me bad. I thought I was just here for the backstory, but every novella pulled me in deeper. I don’t think I’m ready yet for book 1. 🤧
Reading The Assassin’s Blade felt like going back to the start of something big. I’d heard people say you could skip it, but now I know why that’s bad advice. Some said you could start with book one and read the series by date of publication, which honestly I have no idea if better. But I listened to people who thought starting off with these novellas will fuel your interest with the series even more. And I agree. This book isn’t just a set of short stories, it’s the heart of who Celaena is.
What stood out to me first is how political it all is. Guilds, territories, shifting alliances, and the constant push-and-pull of power. Celaena’s decisions aren’t just personal, but they also ripple into things she can’t control. That’s where I really started to see her as more than a flashy, skilled fighter. I knew she’s a player in a much bigger game, whether she wants to be or not.
Then there’s Sam. I already knew what would happen but that didn’t take away the impact. That’s the cruel part, I guess. You can see it coming and it still hits just as hard.
Every choice Celaena makes here feeds into who she becomes later, and it’s easier to understand her walls, her anger, and her drive when you’ve seen the ground she’s standing on in this book.
I gave it 4.5 stars, but in a way, it feels bigger than just a rating. The Assassin’s Blade isn’t just a prequel, it’s the weight Celaena carries through the rest of the series. And if you skip it, you miss the part of her that makes everything else matter.
View my vlog when I read The Assassin's Blade!
First time reading The Assassin’s Blade and… wow. I get it now. I finally understand why Throne of Glass has such a strong pull on readers, and why people still talk about it years later. This vlog follows my emotional rollercoaster—from meeting Celaena and Sam, to seeing the politics, betrayals, and heartbreaking moments that shape her before the main series even begins. Along the way, I’m also picking up a few other books from my TBR (because self-control is clearly not my thing). Expect lots of reading updates, raw reactions, and me trying not to scream at the pages.
Here are other reads if you liked or interested with The Assassin's Blade:
Click the book covers to go to Goodreads.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.
Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.
Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.
Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…
A convict with a thirst for revenge
A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager
A runaway with a privileged past
A spy known as the Wraith
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.
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