Celaena (and people think my characters have names that are hard to pronounce... I never could figure out how one would go about saying this one out loud) is a prisoner in the world's most secure, and most horrible, prison: Endovier. The descriptions of the place are reminiscent of a concentration camp crossed with the spice mines of Kessel (from the Star Wars universe). She was sent there because she was an assassin, possibly the best assassin in the world. 
 However, the king who sentenced her to life in Endovier is having a competition. Whoever wins will be his personal bodyguard. Each contestant is "sponsored" by someone in the King's retinue. As an act of rebellion, his son, Prince Dorian, chooses to sponsor Celaena - who accepts the offer on the promise of future freedom after serving the king for a set number of years. 
 However, things soon begin to go awry as the contestants start turning up brutally murdered. Can Celaena win her freedom and figure out who is doing the killing, or will she end up back in the salt mines of Endovier? And amidst all this, how will she sort out the feelings she is developing for both Prince Dorian and Chaol, the guard charged with keeping an eye on her? 
 My thoughts: 
 This is an engaging read and I can understand why people like it. The characters are interesting and the story flows well. The suspense is built quite nicely and things start to happen (like Celaena being visited by the ghost of the first queen of Adarlan) that keep your interest piqued. 
 My favorite character in the story is Princess Nehemia of Eyllwe - I might read the rest of the series solely to find out more about her. 
 However, ultimately, the story just fell a little flat for me. Written in first-person by a female character that two strong, likeable men fall in love with FOR NO APPARENT REASON is just a plot-device that is getting a little tiresome for me. I didn't understand it in Twilight, I did NOT understand it in The Hunger Games, and I don't understand it here. Caelena is an assassin, with a short temper and a smart-alecky mouth, who has been starving for a year or so in a prison mine. Nothing about her should be attractive. She's supposed to be dangerous, cold, and unfeeling, and yet we keep seeing her do anything but be any of those things. It is easy for the reader to like Celaena, because she is ultimately very likeable... but unfortunately that means she is also totally unbelievable as the cold-blooded assassin we are supposed to see her as. 
 Secondly, even though the king is a tyrannical despot who is determined to subdue the entire world... I just could not suspend my disbelief for the part of the story where ALL the contestants in this tournament to become his personal bodyguards are CRIMINALS. Extremely Dangerous Criminals, no less. Some of them are being kept chained up between challenges because they are so untrustworthy. Um... what? I get that the only way for Celaena to be in this tournament is for me to be able to believe this might actually happen, but... I'm sorry, I just can't. 
 In the end, I can only give it 3/5 stars for being an enjoyable read. But the more I think about it, the less the plot makes any sense.