** spoiler alert ** 
 Rating: 3.5 Stars 
 I liked this book, and I am definitely a fan of Sarah J. Maas's writing. She has a way of balancing lush and simple descriptions in order to paint a clear image for readers. I also appreciate the range of characters she portrays in this book, and I look forward to following them further. However, I think my expectations were a bit askew. This book is not high fantasy, like I thought it was. It also isn't a cold, chilling story of an assassin. It's much more tame than I thought it would be, and that's ok. I think if my expectations had been more realistic, I may have enjoyed this more. 
 The World: For me, Aderlan is mildly interesting. It follows a lot of successful fantasy tropes which I appreciate (fairies, witches, white fang mountains). It's nothing truly out of the ordinary, though. At first I thought it would be much more epic fantasy than it actually turns out to be. I like that Maas paints such a clear picture of the horrors of Endovier, and I thought the work camp served as a great way to help us root for Calaena and understand the brutality of Aderlan's king. The glass castle and throne are also interesting concepts which I enjoyed, and Maas does a great job of painting an image of the place through Calaena's eyes. I found most other settings in the book to be forgettable. 
 The Characters: I think Calaena Sardothien is smart, funny, and capable, and I found myself rooting for her from the very first chapter. Though her back story is revealed slowly, for me, that made her even more intriguing. Her voice in the book is strong and interesting, and I found myself feeling disappointed when the narration moved from her thoughts to others. I would have loved reading the entire book through her eyes, however, Maas does a great job of revealing bits of the story through multiple characters. I definitely appreciate that kind of talent! As for Dorian and Chaol, I definitely prefer Chaol. He's just more likeable and authentic, I think. His interactions with Calaena made me laugh out loud. If Calaena HAS to end up with one of them due to the love triangle, Chaol is my pick. This is nit-picky, but I also thought it was weird that killing a man bothered him so much when he was, after all, captain of the guard. If Aderlan's king is truly as brutal as he's portrayed, wouldn't Chaol have seen or done much worse? I don't know. Like I said, that's nit-picky. As for Dorian... Meh, I think for me, he was too predictable. I saw him falling for Calaena in the first chapter, and though I enjoyed Calaena's friendship with him, I was glad when she decided to set the relationship aside for her eventual freedom. The assertion of Calaena's independence gave me even more respect for her character, and frankly, for Maas. Aside from Calaena, my favorite characters were Nox and Nehemia. I appreciated the friendships they forged and their clever, capable personalities. 
 My Favorite Element: I really loved following the friendship between Calaena and Nehemia. It felt authentic and natural. Two strong, independent female characters joining together to kick even more ass? Yes, please! 
 Overall: This book was enjoyable, even though I had trouble getting through it. I wish there could be more diversity in the characters. Also, though I really liked Calaena, at times I had difficulty believing that she truly was the most feared assassin in Aderlan. Some of her internal struggles conflict with the occupation that supposedly made her famous. Though this book was just ok in my opinion, I'm looking forward to reading more of this series.