Hello, Germs. I’m sure by this point we are all aware and have learned to embrace my undying affinity for strong, kickass female characters. I’ll give you three guesses what today’s book review will possess… Anyone?

In Sara J. Maas’ book Throne of Glass, Calaena Sardothien is world-famous assassin (literal dream job) who is imprisoned in the salt mines of Endovier. Until!!! A handsome prince comes to her rescue. No, really.

I use the term “rescue” loosely here. See, Prince Dorian has specifically chosen Calaena to compete in a competition hosted by his father, the king, to become his Champion. The winner will spend five years doing the king’s dirty work and be rewarded with riches beyond their wildest dreams and blah blah blah. Sounds like a good deal for a girl who had previously spent a year being whipped and having the salt that she mined literally rubbed in her wounds, right? Dorian offers her freedom in four years. How could the assassin resist such a sweet deal?

Calaena is pitted against twenty four other competitors who range from ruthless soldiers to poison experts to thieves, each with their own equally-talented trainer. As per the Prince’s request, Calaena is being trained by the captain of the king’s guard. Say no more. I’m sold. But in case you aren’t, his name is Chaol and he’s big, strong, brooding, and the freaking CAPTAIN OF THE KING’S GUARD!!

Anyway. The two of them work together to get Calaena back into proper assassin shape. Despite the fact that she is little more than skin and bones, Calaena’s sharp tongue keeps Chaol on his toes while Calaena struggles to keep up with him as they train. The competition starts off as planned until the King leaves and the first champion is murdered, then the next, and the next. There is a particularly twisted type of evil lurking in the halls of the glass castle, ripping the champions to shreds, effectively killing them off one by one. Creepy, right?

Not as creepy as an ancient queen with Fae blood finding you lurking through the abandoned tunnels of the castle and then telling you that the fate of the future rests on your shoulders, and she tells you that you absolutely must win the competition or the evil that is currently roaming the halls of the castle will be unleashed into the entire world. So, like, no pressure?

I will be the first to admit that I fancy myself royalty. No, really. I make my fiancée call me the Queen (‘cause I totally am, duh). It’s super fun to get to join Calaena as she dresses up in her fine dresses and crashes balls, befriends foreign princesses, and raids the palace library. Keep in mind, these are all things that she never thought she’d be able to do again. If you are a prisoner in Endovier, your only way out is death.

If I could nit-pick on one thing, it’s that there wasn’t quite enough action in this for me. I expected a lot more badass assassin-ing than there was. But I will tell you that the second I finished this, I went straight to the Kindle store and bought the second book. Throne of Glass kept me thoroughly entertained and on the edge of my seat. I love Calaena, Dorian is adorable, and we all know that I am all for Chaol.

Now your turn! Did you read it, and what did you think?! Were you rooting for Dorian or Chaol or Nehemia (there is totally something there and you know it!)? I’ll be back soon with a review for Crown of Midnight,you better believe it! Until next time, Germs!!