Sept 2016 Update:
I no longer support or recommend this series. Book 5 has taken a very unfortunate turn towards graphic sexual content that is not appropriate for the young readers this author and publisher are targeting. Reader beware!

4/5 stars

The Assassin and the Underworld (Throne of Glass, #0.4) by Sarah J. Maas

8/14/2014
Picking up on a lot more foreshadowing this time through. A great story!

8/9/2012
The plot thickens . . .

I acutally saw this one coming, but it remains a fun story. I enjoy the way these novellas are able to tell a story in under 100 pages. I love big, think epic novels, but I’m really enjoying this format a lot more than I thought I would.

One more novella before the big one.

There was a tiny bit of unexpected and unnecessary language in this one that was not in the previous two of the series. I think the author was trying to express strong passion and emotion, but to me it felt a bit amaturish in how the colorful explitives were used. It reminded me of a writer who was trying to be powerful but fell short because of a lack of creativity.

Plus Calaena acutally kills two people in this book, where previously her role as an assassin was only in assumption. There is also some mild sexual innuendo that would make me hesitate to allow my pre-teen read the series.

However, the story is still strong and the characters are meaningful and layered. I continue to recommend the Throne of Glass novella’s to all adults and older teens.