Melinda's favourites book montage

The Mark of Athena
The Son of Neptune
The Lost Hero
The Last Olympian
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Titan's Curse
The Sea of Monsters
The Lightning Thief
Throne of Glass
City of Glass
The Red Pyramid
City of Ashes
City of Bones
The Golden Door
The Farseekers
Obernewtyn
The Poison Diaries
Mockingjay
Catching Fire
The Hunger Games


Melinda's favorite books »

Monday 4 February 2013

Review: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord by Sarah J. Maas

Synopsis (from Goodreads)
On a remote island in a tropical sea, Celaena Sardothien, feared assassin, has come for retribution. She’s been sent by the Assassin’s Guild to collect on a debt they are owed by the Lord of the Pirates. But when Celaena learns that the agreed payment is not in money, but in slaves, her mission suddenly changes—and she will risk everything to right the wrong she’s been sent to bring about. 
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord (Throne of Glass, #0.1)


This is the first of four Throne of Glass novellas that are set before the Throne of Glass book. Each novella covers the events that lead up to Celaena being imprisoned. I really enjoyed this book, it was great to find out part of Celaena's back story that was mentioned in Throne of Glass but not really explained.

What did I like about this book?
  • As I said, I enjoyed getting the back story of Celaena, particularly finding out about Sam. We hear in Throne of Glass that Sam was a love interest of Celaena's and that he was killed, so it was nice to actually meet Sam at the start of their relationship where Celaena hates him. It was great to see this relationship grow, and to see Celaena start to trust him more. 
  • It was also great to learn about the hierarchy at the Assassin's Keep. It was great to see Arobynn and his relationship with Celaena. It was also good to see Celaena start questioning her blind faith in Arobynn.
  • I really liked Sam. He intrigued me at the start because of what we knew about him. I was also intrigued by Celaena's original thoughts about him, seeing him only as a rival and a threat, and how biased she was against him. I also had a feeling that what she thought he felt for her was probably the complete opposite of what he did actually feel for her. I also liked that he had a moral compass, even though he was an assassin, that I felt came from his background.
  • I liked the fact that despite Celaena being an assassin she is compassionate and feels for other people. I liked that she found it difficult to kill someone who wasn't a murder/slave-trader etc. All this made her easier to connect to because if she didn't have that compassion I think it would have been impossible.
  • It was also nice that Celaena didn't have to kill everyone to complete her mission. I like the fact that she was good at knocking people unconscious or leaving them too wounded to chase after instead of just killing in cold blood. I found it really refreshing to have an assassin who didn't have to kill everyone.
  • I really enjoyed the plot. It was interesting and fairly complex, with some good twists and it caused you to aske questions about morality and the like. It probably wasn't the most original plot but it was enjoyable.
  • I also like Maas' writing style. Her sentences weren't too long, but also weren't short and choppy. I felt like everything flowed really well. 

What didn't like about this book?
  • It wasn't as descriptive as it could have been, or I would have liked it to be. I understand that it being shorter than a normal length book that the descriptions would have to be cut short but I felt that there wasn't enough for me to even form a vague mental image of some things. In saying that I really loved the description of Skull's Bay which reminded me of Tortuga from Pirates of the Caribbean. 
  • The arrogant, headstrong side of Celaena annoyed me but I did see that there were other sides to her that didn't annoy me as much.
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord was a great start for the background story of Celaena and definitely leaves you wanting to read the rest of the novellas. I gave this story 4/5 stars.

Another note relating to Throne of Glass, is that the title for the sequel was released at the end of January. The title will be Crown of Midnight, and I must say that I am even more excited for the release of this in August than I was before!

Mel.

Up next: Review: The Assassin and the Desert by Sarah J. Maas.

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