This book had a lot of hype, and people introducing the book mentioned "female assassin", so nothing was going to stop the strong female protagonist lover in me from reading it, and I went in without so much as glancing over the synopsis. When I read the synopsis right before posting this, I snorted a little because it sounded way cooler than how the actual story was like. I did not have a hard time finishing the book though, and it must have brewed suspense well somewhere. Unfortunately, it was lacking in terms of characters, especially the most important character of the book: Celaena. I really find it hard to believe her competency as a great assassin due to various instances in the book, and it was a huge problem for me. 
 My full review here: Blog 
 A side note: Does anyone notice how confusing the names were to read? How do you pronounce any of them? English isn't completely my native language so I had such a hard time trying to say them out loud, and when I did, it was comical. Just couldn't take any of them seriously okayyyy.