3.5 stars. This book was so-so but I liked it overall. 
 There have been tons of reviews written about this so I don't want to regurgitate information here so I'll keep it short. 
 ToG started out OKAY and improved further into the book with me generally liking the plot and characters by the end. 
 Celaena was an arrogant, vain character but likable. She was definitely not as badass as I hoped but ultimately she's 18 years old and despite the fact that I don't believe the author crafted her in this way, I like to chalk Celaena's characterization to a deliberate consideration into what her flaws would really be. I would credit these choices to the following factors: 
 She would be vain, she's at an age where people are full of themselves, or not. She also has been locked up into slavery for a year and is now being donned in beautiful gowns and actually having showers. 
 She should be arrogant, she's been told and demonstrated being a great assassin (as we are consistently told). 
 She should be petty and somewhat flirty with boys, she is a teenager who has been locked up and trained for most of her life so hasn't been able to act out romantically that much. 
 Yet. 
 I strongly believe she was not crafted this way on purpose. The original creation of Celaena's character was based on an idealized, fantasy version of the author herself. The reason she continually tells us she is pretty is because this is her fantasy world and the extension of herself in this story is obviously the protagonist, Celaena. 
 We are told she is amazing, because the author wants her character to be the best and most skilled. I cannot fault her for wanting that. 
 But ultimately what was this book's downfall was the author's ego in the story. She did not let her characters develop separate from herself, she was too worried about conveying an idea she dreams of for herself. 
 Celaena's actions and relationships are extensions of the author's own fantasies and she made it too apparent. That is the ultimate flaw in this book. 
 Who wouldn't want to be a beautiful, magical, fantasy badass with throngs of love interests? Who wouldn't want to have a mystical romance with a prince? It's lovely. 
 Altogether this book had a lot of internal action (not enough assassin stuff in my opinion), a lot of telling of the plot instead of showing, budding teenage romance, convenient plot devices, somewhat lazy storytelling, but somehow managed to be overall enjoyable. 
 I will be reading the next one because I consistently hear it is much better.