This was certainly a very thrilling and eventful read. There were parts that I really enjoyed. I loved Nehemia and even Celaena had certain characteristics that I liked. I liked that she’s so feminine and she fully embraces that femininity. All too often in fantasy and most YA fiction, the female characters who shun their femininity are the ones who are proclaimed as badass, whereas the ones who are feminine are presented in a negative light and often viewed as weak. In that sense, Celaena is refreshing. She is very feminine, she likes pretty dresses and she likes looking nice. None of this detracts from her skill with a blade or with the darkness inside her.
I was also very pleasantly surprised about how important Nehemia was, both to Celaena and the plot. She was an amazing character and easily one of my favourites. I loved their friendship and they could be themselves with each other.
I even liked Dorian for the most part and it pretty apparent that he was never going to be the love interest, he wasn’t broody enough. (I don’t get this fascination for brooding guys who are nothing but glorified assholes) Anyway, Mr. Broody Extraordinaire aka Chaol was positively insufferable. He made a number of bad calls that even cost someone’s life. He was wilfully blind and dumb and followed his king’s orders even when he was troubled by them. He constantly judged Celaena and yet he was far worse because Celaena had no illusions about herself and her world but Chaol thought he was better and honourable, all the while serving a king who was cold and cruel and one who took pleasure in that cruelty. I had no patience for him and his whining. Seriously, yuck! I am hoping that he isn’t the main love interest, I simply cannot tolerate him. He’s an absolute idiot…
Well, now I’m off to read the next book.
Ravings of a Manic Reader 