The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas is more than just a book; it is a heartfelt, romantic, action-packed, fantasy-filled story of a strong independent woman named Celaena Sardothien. Sarah J. Maas adds many different aspects to this story – the painful plot twists and relatable characters drag you into the story, leading you into heartbreak but wanting more in the end. Celaena Sardothien had a traumatic past. She lost both of her parents and ended up as an orphan. She then was left for dead in freezing waters until the King of the assassins and the head of the Assassins Guild, Arobyn Hamel, rescued her. He trained her to become an assassin at the age of 12 with brutal tasks and training. She grew up with a boy named Sam Cortland, whom Arobyn was also training. She was raised to be rivals with Sam. She was also taught from a young age to be better than others and to be the best that she could be.  

This book came to my interest when I heard two of my classmates discussing the series. It piqued my interest and I asked my classmate if I could borrow the first book. She handed me the novel, and I started reading it during my free time. I was continuously absorbed until I realized that I was on the very last page. The ending was heartbreaking, and it brought me to tears. I never thought that it would have such an ending and it left me confused with many questions. The novel is filled with short stories of the different quests that Celaena had to go on. While Melaena is on one of her missions, many unfortunate events happen. She gets betrayed by the one person that she befriended on her own and trusted after a very long time. This changed her emotionally, but has also made her into a stronger person.

I would recommend this book to all people, but especially to those who like fantasy. This book is filled with lots of drama, adventure, and romance. One of my favorite parts in the novel is when Celaena is traveling and she is in an old tavern and notices this one girl named Yrene. Celaena can tell that she is intelligent and sees potential in her. When Yrene gets surrounded by a group of men, she rescues her and teaches her how to defend herself. Celaena spends the whole night teaching Yrene all the basic moves to defend herself. While Celaena is training her, she hears more men coming back to get their revenge. They take down the men together and Celaena leaves the town, giving Yrene a departure gift of money so she can get out of the town and follow her true dream.

I like this part of the novel because it shows the power of women and the power they have of helping each other out and working together. This shows that the two women can work together and protect each other without the help of a man. These two women live their own life in independence and show how you don’t always need another person to be by your side to live your life; it’s okay to be independent.  I admire the main character Celaena because she shows the readers of the book that you can always get through the hard things in life and that just because one bad event happens, it doesn’t mean that your life is over. You can always make the best of it and heal over time.

I believe that this fascinating collage of short stories from fictional time periods and places will make your heart throb with the longing of wanting to read more and never put down the book. These short stories intertwine to immerse you into the life of Celaena Sardothien. Again, The Assassin’s Blade is more than just a novel to read and then forget. It is truly worth your time to read the whole series and understand the courage it takes to be a fearless, independent woman. “I am Celaena Sardothien and I will not be afraid.”