Novella Review - The Assassin and the Empire (Throne of Glass, 0.4) by Sarah J. Maas (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 298 KB
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: July 20, 2012
ASIN: B008HRMAPG
Stand Alone or Series: 0.4 novella in the Throne of Glass series
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This is the fourth novella that takes place before the first Thorne of Glass novel. I really enjoyed it alot. It gives excellent insight as to how Celaena finally found her way to the Salt pits.

Celaena and Sam are finally free and living on their own. They want to escape the city they grew up in once and for all and set up their trade as assassins in a different city. In order to finance this they decided to take on one last Assassination job. This is the job to finally get them their freedom and of course it goes all wrong.

Celaena has developed from a very vain character to one that actually cares for others. Here we see both aspects of her personality, the one that loves fine things and the one that cares about her friends. It was interesting to compare who she was at the start of these novells to who she is now, and then compare that to who she becomes in the Throne of Glass. She is a strong and yet flawed character, that is easy to engage with and love.

We see a lot more of Sam in this book as well. His devotion to Celaena is solid and wonderful, yet he has his own flaws. He is also stubborn and proud.

This novella follows Sam and Celaena as they plot their final job together. So there is lots of strategy and some action. There are a couple excellent fight scenes too.

As you can imagine from where things start in the Throne of Glass series, thing go horribly wrong and Celaena ends up in the salt mines.

This was an excellent continuation of these novellas that tell us about Celaena's life before when went to the salt mines. It was well written, engaging, and easy to read.

Overall I enjoyed this novella a lot. I love these characters, especially Celaena who is courageous and loyal, yet flawed. I love the setting and the writing as well; these books/novellas are so wonderfully written and easy to read. This whole series is strongly recommended to those who love fantasy novels, they are really well done.

Early Review - The Pirate’s Wish (The Assassin's Curse, Book 2) by Cassandra Rose Clarke (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 320 pages
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-1908844286
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Assassin’s Curse Duology
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

This is the second book in the Assassin’s Curse duology. I absolutely adored The Assassin’s Curse and also really loved Clarke’s adult novel, The Mad Scientist’s Daughter. This book was just as wonderful as the first book in this series. It’s full of magic and adventure with some romance. You definitely need to read Assassin’s Curse first (originally this was going to be one book, but was then broken into two books because of length). Clarke is planning on writing two more books that take place in this world but feature different characters.

Ananna and Naji are trapped in a mysterious island of the North. When the resident wizard dies, they meet a strange an unlikely ally. Eventually Marjani comes to their rescue and they are able to continue their quest to break the curse on Naji. Along the way they will have to fight pirates and even journey below the ocean waves.

This was a spectacular read. The world-building is wonderfully done, it’s such a magical world and well detailed. It’s the type of world I would love to go and visit. The plot is well done too. It’s got this whole questing feel to it because of the three things Ananna and Naji have to do to break his curse; it ends up being more complicated than just that. Still I loved the classic fantasy questing feel the story had to it.

Ananna is an incredibly prickly and highly strung heroine; she’s like a firework always on the edge of exploding. She is a ferocious fighter but is incredibly sensitive about pretty much everything. I kept wanting to shake her and tell her to just calm down and let Naji talk. She is still highly entertaining just a bit flawed as well.

Naji isn’t the most expressive male lead, but I still thought his patience with Ananna was admirable considering how touchy she is. He is a strong male lead and a very interesting and mysterious character. We get to learn a lot more about him and his past in this story.

Marjani also plays a huge role in this story; we learn a ton about her past and the reason she has taken up pirating. She was probably the most mature character of the novel and I enjoyed how her level-headedness balanced out Naji and Ananna.

There are wonderful and spectacular things that happen in this story. There are pirate battles, magical creatures, evil wizards, beautiful kingdoms, and underwater worlds that are explored. It is a breathtaking and wondrous adventure. There is some humor throughout as well, which keeps things fun.

The pacing is very good and keeps the reader engaged from the beginning to the end. The story wraps things up in a way that is realistic and very well done.

Overall an absolutely fantastic read. I enjoyed the world, the plot, and the characters a lot. The story is very engaging and the world is absolutely magical. This is an excellent fantasy read. Highly recommended to fans of The Assassin’s Curse and fans of quest based fantasy. I love this book and can’t wait to read Clarke’s future novels.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Review - Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin, Book 2) by Robin LaFevers (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Size: 400 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Date: April 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-0547628387
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the His Fair Assassin series
Source: ARC through Amazon Vine
Rating: 5/5 stars

I got a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program to review. This is the second book in the His Fair Assassin trilogy. The third book will be titled, Mortal Heart, and is scheduled to release sometime in 2014. I liked this book even more than the first book in the series. I felt like there was more action, and enjoyed Sybella as a heroine a lot.

In the first book of this series we saw Sybella arrive at the convent of St. Mortain nearly insane with grief and rage. Then the convent asked the unspeakable of her, for her to return home as an agent of Death. Now she is forced to confront both her incredibly violent father and her brother, who loves her a bit too much. In such a wrong and miserable atmosphere she questions everything. Is she really doing Death’s work and helping protect the kingdom? Or does the convent of Mortain have an agenda of their own?

This was another great historical fantasy by LaFevers. The pace was excellent. The book has lots of intrigue, mystery, action, and some romance too. There isn’t as much romance as in the first book. This book is also much darker in tone. As far as time frame goes, this book starts right at the end of Grave Mercy and continues on in time from that point.

Sybella is a much different character from Ismae. In this book we found out why she was insane with grief and rage when she arrived at convent of St. Mortain. She is a dark character with a sharp sense of humor. She has endured a number of unspeakable things. There are parts of this book that are very violent as Sybella’s father is an incredibly cruel and violent person.

The Beast of Warwoch also features in this book. Sybella rescues him from imprisonment and the two find refuge in each other’s company. Little does Sybella know that her past is entwined with his. The Beast is a wonderful character; he is just as stubborn as Sybella and is tough enough to fight by her side and not flinch at her viciousness.

There are some uncomfortable topics broached in this novel; rape, torture, incest, infantcide....it’s all in here. It is all included in a way that is appropriate and is never overdone or glorified. Just a look out to readers who are uncomfortable reading about those topics. Sybella has had an incredibly tough life, and we are exposed to all of it.

There are some absolutely fantastic fighting scenes. My favorites were the ones where Sybella and the Beast fought side by side.

The plot is also well done full of mysteries and twists and turns that are very engaging. The main focus of the book is still to save Brittany from French rule.

The book is very well written, I liked it even better than Grave Mercy. I felt like it was a tighter and better paced story than Grave Mercy. The main storyline with Sybella is tied up nicely, but there is more to come to save Brittany from French rule.

Overall an absolutely excellent historical fantasy. I liked this book even better than Grave Mercy and I loved Grave Mercy. Sybella and the Beast are incredibly engaging characters. The plot is fast-paced and full of wonderful action scenes, excellent mystery, and heart-warming romance. This whole series is highly recommended to fans of historical fantasy.


This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Review - Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, Book 1) by Robin LaFevers (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 560 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Release Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-0547628349
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the His Fair Assassin series
Source: Gift
Rating: 5/5 stars

Prior to reading this book I had read LaFevers Theodosia series and Nathaniel Fludd series (middle grade and children’s books). I was so excited to hear that LaFevers was coming out with a young adult book because I really enjoy her writing. The second book in this series, Dark Triumph, released in April 2013. There is also supposed to be a third novel in this series, Mortal Heart, which is scheduled to be released in 2014 some time. This was an incredibly well written and engaging young adult historical fantasy.

Ismae escapes from a brutal and violent arranged marriage to the convent of St. Mortain. There she finds that the god of death has blessed her with strange and wonderful abilities. If she chooses to stay at St. Mortain she will be trained in the deadly art of assassination. As part of her training Ismae is sent out to deal with a traitor in the high court of Brittany. While there she learns to question everything and everyone around her, even the convent she was raised in. When matters of the heart and politics interfere with her loyalty to St. Mortain, Ismae is torn about which path is the right one.

Wonderful young adult historical fantasy about a girl who becomes an assassin and gets embroiled in complex politics between Brittany and France. Of course along the way she meets a dashing nobleman and is forced to choose between his love and the God of Death, the patron God of the convent she was trained in.

Ismae is a complex and intriguing character. Despite the brutality that ruled her early years, she still knows how to care and love. She is tough heroine and very capable, except in matters of the heart. I loved watching her grow throughout the story and watching how she began to think and make decisions for herself.

One of Ismae’s main goal is to ascertain the loyalty of Gavriel Duval, who is a cousin to the duchess. Gavriel is one of those almost too good to be true type of men. He is a fighter and strong, incredibly loyal and tender towards those he loves. He was a complex male lead and I enjoyed him a lot.

There are some awesome action scenes in this book, but by far the emphasis of this novel is court intrigue. The court intrigue is complex and there are multiple layers of deceit that Ismae has to work through. I enjoyed the complexity and never felt lost or confused.

The writing is beautiful and there is a lot of excellent imagery throughout. The book is pretty serious, but Ismae does have a sharp sense of humor at times. There is a lot of talk of weapons and poison-use; so that adds some interesting side-topics into the story.

I really enjoyed how the story wrapped up, it was just perfect and matched the tone of the book well. I am really looking forward to reading Sybella’s story in Dark Triumph.

Overall this book was incredibly well written and just a wonderful read. I really really enjoyed this novel. I would recommend this to those who love intrigue driven historical fantasies. This is just a wonderfully done YA historical fantasy with complex and engaging characters, a wonderful plot, and a well thought out world. There is a thread of romance throughout the story as well. Definitely a recommended read. I can’t wait to read the remaining books in this series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge
- Young Adult Reading Challenge

Early Review - Deadly Sting (Elemental Assassin, Book 8) by Jennifer Estep (3.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 384 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: March 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1451688993
Stand Alone or Series: 8th book in the Elemental Assassins series
Source: ARC through Edelweiss
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This is the 8th book in the Elemental Assassin series. It was a decent book in this series, but again was a contained mystery of sorts rather than the start to a new story arc. It was a good enough read, but at times felt more like a novella than a book. The ninth book in the series is scheduled for a September 2013 release and will be titled Heart of Venom. Last I read Estep is contracted for 10 books in this series.

Gin is still on the outs with Owen following the events of the last book. Gin and Finn go to attend an auction of Mab’s treasures, when they arrive Gin finds out that a giant by the name of Clementine is trying to steal the whole lot. Somehow all of this ties back to Mab. Gin has to stop Clementine if she is going to save her friends and the city.

I was surprised that the whole plot revolved around the art/jewels being stolen at this auction of Mab’s. The story was so concise and straightforward it seemed almost more suitable to a novella. Initially I was thinking that this would be an introduction to a larger story and I was surprised when it wasn’t.

Gin has grown a lot as a character. She is learning to accept having people in her life that she cares about and who care about her. She doesn’t really gain any new powers in this book, but it focused on learning to exercise her current powers with more intricacy and finesse.

I enjoyed reading about all of the other characters as well. I continue to be annoyed at Owen for his childishness; he has really taken a step back as a character for me. Finn and Bria continue to be wonderful characters in this series.

There really isn’t anything new in this book that we haven’t seen in previous Elemental Assassin books. While it is a decent read I was surprised that there wasn’t a bit more to the story.

So while I enjoyed reading this book, there wasn’t a lot here that really excited me. It was very similar to previous books...except with less story. Additionally Estep continues to do a bit too much recapping in this book, this is something that she has done in previous Elemental Assassin books as well.

Overall this was a decent read, but in my opinion the weakest book in this series so far. There isn’t much to this story and it is more of a contained mystery than the start of something new and wonderful. I was left feeling like maybe this series is running out of steam. Gin is a great character and I enjoyed reading about her, but Owen remains pretty obnoxious. I guess I would recommend to fans of the series, but just don’t expect too much from this book. This series as a whole is highly recommended to fans of action packed urban fantasy.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Reading Challenge
- Paranormal Reading Challenge

Early Review - The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 320 pages
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Release Date: October 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1908844019
Stand Alone or Series: 1st in a series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

I got an eGalley of this book to review through NetGalley(dot)com. It ended up being a wonderful fantasy about a girl who flees an arranged marriage only to stumble into an assassin’s curse. The book was full of adventure, magic, and wonderful characters.

Ananna is part of a pirating family and flees her family’s ship to escape an arranged marriage. Shortly after her flight she finds that her intended has hired an assassin to take her out. When Ananna accidentally saves the life of the very assassin, Naji, who was hunting her she activates a curse which ties the assassin’s life to hers and forces him to protect her. Now Ananna and Naji must find a way to break this horrible curse.

I absolutely loved the characters and setting for this story. Ananna is a super plucky and fun heroine who, due to her pirate upbringing, can definitely take care of herself. Naji is also a very capable warrior and very mysterious. Both have rather sarcastic senses of humor. Both characters are very easy to engage with and like.

The setting was a creative one. Most of the book is set in the desert or in desert cities; there aren’t a ton of fantasy books with this type of setting. It gives the story a bit of an Arabian flavor and makes the story exotic.

I love quest based fantasy and these characters go on a magical quest through strange lands to try and break the curse. There is a lot of interesting magic of different types explored too. At points Ananna and Naji struggle to survive, so there is a survival aspect to the adventure as well. There is a little bit of romance, but not much. Mostly adventure, action, magic, and survival.

As much as I thoroughly enjoyed this story, it is just the beginning of a larger story. This book basically sets up the story for future impossible quests that the characters must go on to finally break the curse. So there isn’t a lot of resolution here...mainly a lot of set up. That being said I thoroughly enjoyed the set up and can’t wait to read more.

Overall an absolutely fantastic adventure fantasy read. I loved the exotic desert setting, the adventure and magic, and the wonderful characters that were unique and easy to engage with. There is also a wonderful quest-based plot and lots of excellent action scenes. The book is very well written and was a pleasure to read. Highly recommended to fantasy fans everywhere. Appropriate for middle grade and older.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Review - Widow’s Web (Elemental Assassin, Book 7) by Jennifer Estep (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 400 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: August 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-1451651775
Stand Alone or Series: 7th book in the Elemental Assassin series
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars

This is the 7th book in the Elemental Assassin series; the 8th book (Deadly Sting) is scheduled for an April 2013 release. This was an excellent continuation of the series and starts up a new story thread featuring a wonderful new elemental baddie.

Owen’s old flame, Salina, shows up in town to cause problems and people in the underworld are mysteriously turning up missing. Could the two be linked? Gin has to find out because her own life is at risk. But will taking on Owen’s old girlfriend and forcing him to confront her cruelty tear Gin and Owen apart?

Excellent addition to this series. Gin has matured so much as a character. She deals with things in a much more emotionally mature way than in earlier books in the series and you can see she’s really grown a lot as a character. Gin is getting to the point where her and Bria are coming to an understanding as well and it is so great to see Gin getting some stability in her life.

Owen does some things in this book that are frustrating, but at the same time I can understand how tough the situation is for him as well. There are points in this book where you will want to smack Owen for his stubbornness. Gin handles things nicely and it’s great to see that she has so much support from her sister Bria as well. We do get to learn a lot more about Owen’s past and that was excellent.

Salina makes for a wonderfully evil baddie. She is a bit too close to being a copy of Mab for me, but she differs in enough ways that it kept the story interesting. I loved that she used Elemental water magic; it is something different than we’ve seen in previous books.

The action scenes were spectacular, like normal. The book had just the right amount of recapping (previous books have been too heavy on recapping) and also had great pacing. The book was a fun read and the writing style was easy to read.

The storyline for this book was pretty contained. There are hints of a bigger storyline coming in future books. I am curious to see if Estep starts another big over-arcing story (like the Mab one) or sticks with more contained mysteries like this one.

Overall a really great addition to this series. I love where Gin is going as a character and how much she has matured. The action scenes are spectacular and the pacing is great; the story is incredibly engaging. There are times where I wanted to smack Owen for being so dense, but it was wonderful to get to learn more about his past. This whole series is highly recommended to those who love action-packed urban fantasy.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Novella Review - The Assassin and the Desert (Throne of Glass, 0.2) by Sarah J. Maas (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 1785 KB
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: March 30, 2012
ASIN: B007O61DVI
Stand Alone or Series: Novella 0.2 in the Throne of Glass series
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars

This was the second novella in the Throne of Glassseries; there are four novellas that take place before the Throne of Glass novel and this is the second of those. I really enjoyed this novella even more than the first one; it gives the reader a good look into how Celaena became who she ends up being in the Throne of Glass novel.

Celaena is in trouble following the events of the The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, where she lost her master a ton of money because of all of the slaves that she freed. As part of her punishment she is sent to a well known assassin school in the desert. She is supposed to get a certificate of training from the head master there; instead she gets pulled into politics between the assassin school and the local nobility.

This was a very well done novella. Watching as Celaena learns and trains with the assassins is interesting and intriguing. The whole time you are trying to unravel the mystery behind the headmaster. The tension as to whether or not Celaena will get what she needs from him really propels the story forward.

The plot is well done and has some excellent twists and turns. This is the first story where we get to see a good picture of Celanae’s loyalty to those around her and also get a sense of her determination to succeed. I felt like this story gave us a better glimpse as to who Celanae will become in future stories (and in the Throne of Glass novel).

There is a tiny bit of romance, but it is definitely not the focus of the story. There are some truly awesome action scenes and getting to watch Celanae in action is fabulous. I also really enjoyed the scenes where she trained with the Headmaster.

Overall I really enjoyed this novella. It takes us further along Celaena’s path to how she got to where she was in Throne of Glass, both as a person and as a journey. There is some great action, some wonderful characters, and a wonderful world. Highly recommended to fantasy fans, as is the first novel in this series Throne of Glass.

Novella Review - The Assassin and the Pirate Lord (Throne of Glass, Novella 0.1) by Sarah Maas (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 69 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: January 13, 2012
ASIN: B006ZVW3T4
Stand Alone or Series: 0.1 Novella in the Throne of Glass series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the first of four novellas all featuring Celaena that are leading up to (and take place before) The Throne of Glass. It’s a well done fantasy story that was engaging and easy to read. It gives the reader a good glimpse into Celaena’s past.

Celaena Sardothien and Sam have been sent to the pirate lord’s island seeking retribution for their master. The Pirate Lord killed a number of Celaena’s master’s assassins and she thinks that the retribution will be paid in gold. She is shocked and appalled to find out that her master is requesting slaves and is determined to foil the deal.

I did this a bit backward; I actually read Thorne of Glass already to review it and then came back to read these stories. The difference between Celaena in this story and Celaena post salt-mines is shocking. The Celaena in this story is arrogant, obnoxious, and not all that likable. Yes, she has guts and bravery and she is darn good at what she does, But the Celaena here is sooooo irritating.

It was wonderful to read about the “old” Celaena and one of her adventures as an assassin for her guild. This story was filled with intrigue, action, and some witty quips as well. Celaena is darn good at what she does and watching her in motion was fantastic.

The writing is well done and easy to read. The story engaging and the plot moves quickly. All in all an excellent introduction to Celaena. It was fun to go back and read this after reading Throne of Glass. If you think Celaena is a bit of an ass in this story, don’t give up on Throne of Glass because of that...she changes.

Overall definitely recommended. This is a good introduction to the world and to who Celaena used to be before she was punished in the salt mines. It also gives a lot of great background about how Celaena got in enough trouble to get sent to the salt mines in the first place. This is a solid and well written fantasy read. I definitely recommend this whole series to fantasy fans YA and older.

Early Review - Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, Book 1) by Sarah J. Maas (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 416 pages
Publisher:Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: August 7, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1599906959
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Throne of Glass series
Source: eGalley through NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley(dot)com. This is the debut novel by Maas and the first book in a planned trilogy; although it is preceded by four novellas (all of which I have purchased but have not yet read). The story itself is very loosely based on Cinderella.

Celaena Sardothie has served a year in Endovier for her crimes as an assassin when suddenly she is called on by the Crown Prince. She is offered an opportunity she can’t resist. She is to be the Prince’s entry into a contest to see who will be the King’s champion. If she accepts she will compete in a number of challenges, if she wins she will have two years of service to the king and then blessed freedom will be hers. Of course, nothing is as straightforward as that.

This was an absolutely excellent novel. It is supposed to be loosely based on Cinderella, but really reads more like an epic fantasy than a fairy tale retelling. Celaena is a fabulous character; she’s tough and has survived some horrible things...but despite all of that she can still laugh and still care about people. It was wonderful to see her go from the starved wretch that was drug out of the mines to something so much more.

All of the supporting characters are incredibly well done; they all have histories, complex personalities, and are so easy to engage with. Prince Dorian is charming and seems to be a bit of a ladies man, but at times he is incredibly sincere. Captain Westfall, who trains Celaena, is gruff and stiff but seems to understand Celaena like no one else does. There is a foreign princess who befriends Celaena who is a warrior in her own right and an endearing character.

Really every character in this book is just so well done. Even Celaena’s competitors are well filled out and interesting.

The world is wonderfully done. Complex and epic, but never too hard to follow. Magic is forbidden in this world by order of the king. But when Celaena stumbles upon Wyrdstones throughout the palace she finds that Magic is still present in secret ways. Watching Celaena try to unravel the mystery behind this magic was fascinating; magic is present in a fairly subtle way but has a huge impact on what happens in the story.

The plot is complex and well done as well. It is not as complex as say Sanderson or other epic fantasy authors, but it is more complex than you typically find in YA fantasy. I really enjoyed it, I loved the world developed here and had so much trouble putting down this book! This book wrapped up very nicely, no horrible cliffhangers or anything like that.

Overall this was just a fantastic YA fantasy read. I highly recommend to fans of fantasy, especially epic fantasy. While this story is a bit lighter than most adult epic fantasy, it still has many of the elements that make epic fantasy so wonderful. There is a complex plot and world, wonderful magic and mystery woven throughout, there is intrigue, mayhem, and murder. This is one of those rare books where even side characters are incredibly well developed and have wonderful depth. I loved this book. I immediately went out and bought the four preceding novellas and am on pins and needles to see what happens in future novels in this series. Highly recommended!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge
- Debut Author Reading Challenge

Short Story Review - Thread of Death (Elemental Assassins, Book 5.5) by Jennifer Estep (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 714 KB
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: January 31, 2012
ASIN: B006L9B6PC
Stand Alone or Series: 5.5 in the Elemental Assassins series
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is a novella that takes place after the events of Book 5, Spider's Revenge, and before Book 6, By a Thread. It was a good novella that further ties up events from Spider's Revenge, and starts out a new story thread for book 6, By a Thread.

Gin has somewhat recovered from the debilitating battle with Mab in book 5. She has been outed as the assassin the Spider and has decided to attend Mab's funeral to make a point and judge the lay of the land now that Mab is gone. The story is told from multiple viewpoints; Gin's, Mab's lawyer Jonah, and Kincaid's. Things kind of go to hell when the funeral attendees are attacked by an unknown attacker.

This was a good transition novella and leads up to Book 6, By a Thread. Gin is trying to get some closure around Mab's death and figure out what is next for her. The city's power structure is struggling with the abscence of Mab and everyone is scrambling to see who fills her spot. Some mysteries around Owen are brought up and these hint at the storyline we might see in Book 6.

This was a fun read and it was great to read about Gin, Owen, Finn and other again. Definitely recommended for fans of the Elemental Assassins series; probably not the best place for people new to the series to start.

After the novella there was an excerpt from By a Thread (which I didn't read because I want to wait until the book comes out).

Overall a fun addition to the series. Recommended for fans of the series; not the best place to start if you are new to this series. Can't wait to see what By a Thread brings!