Alice Janell

A bit of a slow start, but it picks up the pace. To be honest, I got bored with some of the trials in the middle of the book and was more interested in the mystery of the evil in the castle.

I pegged the right bad guy from the start, but I found myself wishing it had been a certain someone who makes an escape near the end. Would have been an interesting twist if it was him, that's for sure.

Still, I really enjoyed this book. I loved that as much as Celaena is known for behind this bad ass assassin, she's still essentially a young woman and a little bit girlish. However, I would have liked her to be a little bit more of a bad ass. We're told that she's the best assassin ever, but we don't see a lot of that skill. Maybe in future books?

Fans of young adult/new adult and high fantasy novels should enjoy this.