Book: The Assassins Blade by Sarah J Mass (A Throne of Glass Novella) 

Genre: Fantasy Fiction 

"You're a damned idiot," she breathed grabbing the front of his tunic. "You're a moron and an ass and a damned idiot." He looked like she had hit him. But she went on, and grasped both sides of his face. "Because I'd pick you."

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary (Including Spoilers) 

The Assassins Blade is a Throne of Glass novella that takes place before the events in Throne of Glass. It is broken up into five different short stories in which we are able to delve deeper and gain a better understanding into Celaena's past, Sam Cortland and how she ended up in Endovier. 

The first short story is called The Pirate Lord, in which we are immediately thrown into a mission that Celaena (16) and Sam Cortland (17) are ordered on by Arobynn - their boss and also the King of Assassins. Sam Cortland and Celaena grew up together in the Assassins Guild and they have a love hate relationship because Celaena is Arobynn's favorite and Sam has to always live in her shadow. Arobynn orders them to go to the Pirate Lord (Rolfe) to demand money, because his pirates are  accused of killing Ben - another one of the assassins at the Assassins Guild and was like an older brother to Celaena. However, they're both surprised to find out that they're actually sent there on a business deal to bring Arobynn 100 slaves. Both Sam and Celaena are disgusted at this and they come together and plan to free those 100 slaves, along with the Pirates 100 and they succeed. Once they free the slaves, Celaena forces Rolfe to sign a contract that states that he will not sell/trade anymore slaves and that his Island will become a safe haven for slaves on the run.

 The Assassin and the Healer.  Celaena is punished by Arobynn for what happened with the Rolfe by beating her to a pulp while making Sam watch and sends her to the dessert to train with the mute master. On her way to her destination, Celaena stops by the White Pigs inn, in which she has to wait for two days in order to catch a ship.

Meanwhile, we're introduced to Yrene, a 19 year old bartender at the White Pigs inn who has been working there for a year. We find out that her mother was gifted with healer magic but it suddenly vanished when magic left the kingdom. This, however, didn't stop the Adarlan soldiers from burning down her house because of that. Yrene was 11 when it happened and ended up staying with her aunt at their farm but left when she was 18, planning to go to Artica to study medicine and become a healer. But she ran out of money and that's how she ended up at the inn. 

The night before Celeana leaves, Yrene is attacked by 4 mercenaries and Celeana saves her. As a result Yrene bandages up Celaena's arm and then Celeana teaches her some self defense moves. Just before dawn, they're attacked by more mercenaries and Yrene is held captive by one of them and is forced to put her newly learned lessons to use, under the watchful eye of Celaena. Celaena leaves the next morning but before she goes, she leaves  Yrene a pouch full of gold coins, her ruby and a note basically telling her to go to Artica and with that Yrene leaves the crusty inn and follows her dream.

In the next part, Celaena is hiking through the desert towards the Silent Masters oasis. Here, we meet a girl named Ansel, that becomes Celaena's first female friend. Ansel is 18 and has been at the oasis since she was 13 and has never been trained with the silent master. We're also introduced to Lord Benrick - an annoying and entitled man from Xandria - that wants to kill the Silent master and take down the fortress to prove himself to the king of Adarlan. 

Ansel tells us her story about how Lord Loch stormed her city and killed everyone, including her sister and father while she hit away. She vows to become strong enough to avenge her family and take back her city. The pair also bond over stealing Benrick's Asterion horses and its a cute and fun scene. 

The silent master eventually begins to train Celaena and as a result Ansel becomes jealous and then pretends to apologize to her but instead, poison's her. On her way back home, Celaena spots Benrick and his army storming towards the fortress, she obviously goes back to try and help them when she finds Ansel standing over the Silent Master, about to kill him. Ansel reveals that the only reason she betrayed him is because Lord Benrick promised to take his army to take back her home town with her. Celaena and Ansel fight and Celaena sends her back home with the promise of shooting her with an arrow if she is not gone in the next few minutes. After all the betrayal, the Silent Master sends Celaena back home with a letter of approval as well as a carriage full of gold as a gift to pay back Arobynn of her debt. He also makes a comment about how unlike Arobynn - he doesn't abuse his students. 

Celaena goes back to the assassins keep planning to leave but Arobynn apologizes and gifts her with an assignment that has to do with freeing slaves to try and make up for his actions. Basically what happens is that Arobynn lies and betrays Celaena AGAIN by giving her false information about Doneval and how he's trying to trade slaves when in actual fact he was trying to get them to safety and free them. But because Celaena didn't know this, she assassinated Doneval and only after finds out what actually happened. Celaena and Sam bond while spying on Donveal together and eventually they confess their feelings for one another. I LOVE THEM THEY'RE SO SO SO CUTE :(

Because of Arobynn's betrayal, Celaena buys herself an apartment and pays off all of her debt as well as Sam's debt to Arobynn and they leave him. But because Arobynn was the one that found all of their contacts and basically got them their money, they needed to find their own work and that's when everything goes to shit. Sam stumbles along someone who wants the biggest crime lord in Rifthold assassinated - Jayne and Farren (his second)- but no one has ever attempted their assassination because they're really dangerous people. Sam and Celaena are so desperate for money that they agree. They each plan to take out one, but Arobynn 'visits' Celaena and tells her not to do it and to go back home but she obviously ignores him. 

Celaena and Sam decide that once they kill them, they're going to run away and live their life somewhere else away from Rifthold. But that night Sam doesn't return, nor does he return the next day. Arobynn comes to Celaena with the news of his death and Celaena obviously goes after Farren but someone betrays her AGAIN and she's captured by the kings guards and is shipped off to Endovier! And obviously its Arobynn - he's also the reason for Sam's death because Arobynn was jealous that she loved Sam more that she loved him.

Thoughts:

THIS ENTIRE BOOK WAS A MASTERPIECE!!

I have never enjoyed a novella more!!! 

SO I feel like we're going to be seeing each of these characters again throughout the series. I feel like it was necessary that we got a background on all of them and then they show up again in future because in some way they all helped on another out. I REALLY HOPE YRENE MAKES AN ENTRANCE AGAIN BECAUSE I LOVED HER SHES SO PRECIOUS!!!!! And also Ansel, like regardless of her betrayal, it wasn't necessary towards Celaena and I feel like she genuinely liked her so I hope that she shows up again even if its for a little while. 

SAM FREAKING CORTLAND!!!!!! I AM IN LOVE WITH HIM ?!?!?!? HIS DEATH WAS FREAKING TERRIBLE. Also no offense to Chaol stan's but SAM WOULD BEAT CHAOL ANY FREAKING DAY. It was cool to see mention of Dorian and Chaol in this book it was like a cross over but not really. Even though I KNEW Sam was going to die I legit SOBBED when everything went down. I really loved their entire relationship it was so beautiful and my heart is so sad that we lost him just when we got him. Also when Celaena was speaking about running away with Sam it sort of felt like in Crown of Midnight when she spoke to Chaol about the same thing - she was only doing that so she could in a way feel closer to Sam. 

I CRIED WHEN SAM SAID "my name is Sam Cortland and I will not be afraid" AND THEN CELAENA SAID THE SAME THING WHEN SHE WAS IN THE CAMPS!! THIS BOOK GUYS OMG!!! 

My poor baby Celaena went through SO MUCH AND SHES SO YOUNG AND THEN LATER SHE LOOSES NEHEMIA AND ITS ALL SO SO SO SO SAD. I just want to jump into this book and give her a hug and cry with her because we all know she needs that desperately. Also if anything, this books just makes me feel stronger about how Celaena and Chaol don't give me endgame vibes but the thing is neither does Celaena and Dorian so I really don't know. What if Arobynn faked Sam's death and his okay????? GUYS PLEASE! Just reading QUOTES about them makes my heart bleed and I'm suppose to be okay with Chaol sitting and staring at Celaena from a distance. Like yeah its cute BUT SAM!!!!!!!!!!!! 

SARAH J MASS REALLY SAID SHES GOING TO MAKE US ALL SOB INTO OBLIVION 

AROBYNN IS ON SIGHT! He betrayed them like A MILLION TIMES. This is literally so manipulative and toxic and also shows how someone can pretend to love you just to control you and there's just so much to think of. I really wanna carry on with the series but I KNOW Sam won't be there and I feel so empty and sad about it. 

Quotes/Memorable lines that made my heart clench and my tears bleed:

"The girl wore her scares the same way some women wear their finest jewelry." 

"If you can learn to endure pain, you can survive anything. Some people learn to embrace it- to love it. Some endure it through drowning it in sorrow, or by making themselves forget. Others turn it into anger.

"She would tuck Sam into her heart, a bright light for her to take out whenever things were darkest."

"She was fire, she was darkness, she was dust and blood and shadow."

"I love you," he repeated, shaking her again. "I have for years. But if I asked you to pick, you'd choose Arobynn, and I. Can't. Take. It."

"I can wait," he said thickly, kissing her collarbone. "We have all the time in the world."

"She just prayed Sam wouldn't get hurt. In the silence of her bedroom, she swore an oath to the moonlight that if Sam were hurt, no force in the world would hold her back from slaughtering everyone responsible."

"My name is Sam Cortland, and I will not be afraid."

"SO WE ARE FINALLY FREE?"

Yeahhhh I will never recover from this. Thank you Sarah - she said sarcastically with tears rolling down her face.