The Assassin's Blade
Sarah J. Maas, 2014
Fantasy Young adultContemporary fictionRomance
A teenage assassin takes on deadly contracts and learns that the people she trusts can cost her more than any mark. A tense, lyrical fantasy that moves through dread and brief warmth, with a voice sharpened by survival and romantic longing.
Feels like dread and hope. About love, freedom and identity.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy YA fantasy with a morally pressured heroine, romantic tension, and stories about loyalty under threat. Be aware that the assassin contracts and betrayals keep the mood grim, with pain and dread running through much of the book.
Why read it
It offers a sharp-eyed look at trust and endurance in a dangerous fantasy world, and the emotional pull makes the grim parts worth sitting with.
A page from the book
What people do with pain when they cannot put it down.
If you can learn to endure pain, you can survive anything. Some people learn to embrace it- to love it. Some endure it through drowning it in sorrow, or by making themselves forget. Others turn it into anger. Sarah J. Maas.Sarah J. Maas began the Throne of Glass series as a teenager, posting early chapters on FictionPress under the title 'Queen of Glass' before publication.
Books that feel like this
More by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas, 2015
A human huntress is taken into a faerie court as payment for a kill, and finds desire, danger and old bargains waiting there.
A Court of Mist and Fury
Sarah J. Maas, 2016
A woman remade by magic must decide whether the male everyone fears is her captor or her way out. Slow-burn fae romance with a survivor at its centre.
A Court of Wings and Ruin
Sarah J. Maas, 2017
A fantasy romance of war, winged courts and dangerous bargains, where love is a weapon and every alliance has teeth.
Where to get it
Some of these links earn us a small commission, at no cost to you. It keeps BookFeed free.
Questions readers ask
- Is The Assassin's Blade for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy YA fantasy with a morally pressured heroine, romantic tension, and stories about loyalty under threat. Be aware that the assassin contracts and betrayals keep the mood grim, with pain and dread running through much of the book.
- What is The Assassin's Blade like?
- A tense, lyrical fantasy that moves through dread and brief warmth, with a voice sharpened by survival and romantic longing. Feels like dread and hope. About love, freedom and identity.
- What should I read after The Assassin's Blade?
- If you liked The Assassin's Blade, try Eclipse (Stephenie Meyer), The Hero of Ages (Brandon Sanderson) and Defy Me (Tahereh Mafi).
A taste of the feed
A condemned man explains why hell is really a kindness.
I tried to imagine telling my parents that I was getting married this summer. Telling Angela and Ben. I couldn’t. I couldn’t think of the words to say. It would be easier to tell them I was becoming a vampire.
Eclipse · Stephenie Meyer
The most unsettling thing about power is when it is polite.
The sword jerked from Druffel’s hand, yanked into the air by an unseen force. The stranger snatched the weapon as it passed his head. He flipped the sword around, inspecting it. “Good steel,” he said, nodding. “I’m impressed. How many of your soldiers are this well equipped?” He flipped the weapon in his hand, handing it back toward Druffel hilt-first.
The Hero of Ages · Brandon Sanderson
The ordinary moment that makes all the fighting worth it.
I want to remember to celebrate more. I want to remember to experience more joy. I want to allow myself to be happy more frequently. I want to remember, forever, this look on Aaron’s face, as he’s bullied into blowing out his birthday candles for the very first time. This is, after all, what we’re fighting for, isn’t it? A second chance at joy.
Defy Me · Tahereh Mafi
Read pages from books like this, one at a time
Keep reading in the feed