From The Ashes, She Rises

Oh my gosh!! So after getting a copy of Crown of Midnight at BEA I knew fully well I would be re-reading Throne of Glass...I wanted to read all the novellas beforehand as well but I was just TOO excited to read Crown of Midnight to take the time. HOWEVER, my good friend Alexa told me I HAD to read these before I read Crown of Midnight. Well...I didn't HAVE to but she said I would enjoy it so much more...and I totally did. So I totally devoured all these novellas and loved them all!! So here a quartet of mini-reviews to gush about my love for Calaena and all the adventures she has had...

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord

"When she was ten, she'd fed his horse a bag of candy and he'd thrown a dagger at her head for it. She'd caught the dagger, of course, and ever since, Gregori had borne the scar on his cheek from her return throw."--Sarah J. Maas, The Assassin and the Pirate Lord

My experience with novellas has been the ultimate hit or miss game. Of course, when you have Sarah J. Maas writing Calaena Sardothien I expected nothing less than a hit of Calaena proportions…and I was right. From the very first page we get a look into Calaena that we have never seen before. The confident, arrogant, well-dressed assassin who, at 16, is a force to be reckoned with. It was all about the details for me that made me love this. I loved hearing her talk about how expensive clothing, the place she lived, who she was surrounded by, because this gave me an idea of who she was before we meet and fall in love with her in Throne of Glass. I absolutely adored this. We see her as a young woman with the world at her feet who can do almost anything she pleases. It made me fall in love with her character all over again.

And if it wasn’t for that, the story of the Pirate Lord made me love her even more. I won’t give away details but what happens in this story makes you see how much good she has inside her. We also get to meet Sam…FINALLY. Not what I expected as a first impression but I can definitely sense the tension that we know leads into something romantic. I cannot WAIT to see how this unfolds…

The Assassin and the Desert

"If you can learn to endure pain, you can survive anything."--Sarah J. Maas, The Assassin and the Desert

Ooooh Aroybnn was NOT happy that Calaena freed those slaves…thus bringing us to The Assassin and the Desert. Calaena is sent to train under the Master of the Silent Assassins who live in the Desert. Her journey is not easy but she does find a friend in Ansel. Seeing Calaena adapt to the ways of the Silent Assassin is interesting. Due to reading Throne of Glass, I was able to predict some plot points, however if I hadn’t read Throne of Glass I never would have known.

I also really liked seeing a whole other dimension of Erilea. While Adarlan tries to conquer all, when looking back at the map we can see that there is so much to the world Sarah has created beyond what we hear about in Throne of Glass. I thought we got a fantastic glimpse into what other conflicts are going on. And while I thoroughly enjoyed continuing to see Calaena in her assassin role and seeing even more depth to her character, my romantic little heart’s favorite part was her realization of some *ahem* feelings she didn’t know she had. THIS is what I was waiting for and THIS is why I am immediately starting The Assassin and the Underworld right…now…

The Assassin and the Underworld

"I lied! And you know I lied, you stupid bastard."--Sarah J. Maas, The Assassin and the Underworld

EEEEP!!! I love love LOVED this novella!! Calaena not only continues to showcase how ultimately badass she is but we get so much more Sam! AND holy hell, we even get a little glimpse into some very popular characters that are in Throne of Glass…who are they?…I’ll never tell…

But for serious, I LOVED this third novella about everyone’s favorite assassin. I loved seeing Calaena work through her own very complex emotions regarding her life, her choices, and her destiny. She does things she never imagined she would but knows that it is the best thing for her. Oh it broke my heart with some of the revelations she had and the cruelty she endured. While some things are hinted at in Throne of Glass, I never imagined her life as an assassin quite like this. This definitely paints the honest and accurate picture of life as an assassin. Like Dorian and Chaol note in ToG, they are amazed how she is still able to smile and laugh after what she has endured and now I truly realize what they meant. I cannot wait to read The Assassin and the Empire…so I won’t…going to read and finish it…………NOW…

The Assassin and the Empire

"My name is Calaena Sardothien, and I will not be afraid."--Sarah J. Maas, The Assassin and the Empire

Wow…I’m speechless…I know the end games of things because of Throne of Glass but it still didn’t take away the sting of reading about the details firsthand. This novella was SO incredibly emotional. I was legit crying at certain points and it totally had ALL the feels! It was almost worse to know how things were going to end in a way because I knew that there was no avoiding the inevitable. *phew*

What I loved most about this was definitely the emotional pull we feel for Calaena and Sam. I felt their desperation and their hope and their desire to be better than what fate initially threw at them. I absolutely love these two together and when what happens actually happens, I couldn’t help but just let my little heart cry. It broke my heart. And the ENDING?!?! I had a slight feeling about it but like Calaena I never wanted to really think about. I pity the fool who crosses Calaena…I really…really do.

These novellas without a shadow of a doubt add so much to our story of Calaena. Like I’ve said before I loved seeing her in her role as the infamous Adarlan’s Assassin but like all stories, not everything is as it seems. The origin of her mantra was a personal favorite tidbit of mine and I can’t lie, I am again tearing up a bit thinking about it. I love how these books bring out the emotions in me and Sarah J. Maas is a genius with words. She has a Masters in knowing how to bring out ALL THE FEELS.

Thanks to Alexa, I am SO glad I read these!! I needed the push only because I was SO antsy to start Crown of Midnight…which I’m going to do…right…now…

Should You Read This? YES! They give you such a better understanding of Calaena and where she comes from and what her life was like before Throne of Glass. You also get a clear picture of what caused Adarlan's Assassin to be capture and thrown into the mines of Endovier...thus bringing her to the throne of glass...