After spending a year of hard labor for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is taken before the Crown Prince. He wants Celaena to be his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. If she wins, she'll be granted her freedom after four years of service. As Celaena trains with the gruff Captain of the Guard and catches the eye of the Crown Prince, she must use all her strength to fight off her competitors and all her wits to discover who is murdering contestants.

I was completely hooked by this fantasy bestseller with its fun premise and a deliciously stereotypical love triangle. The addition of a magic element partway through was a little rough transition, but Mass set up enough hints and political intrigue to fill out a full series of books. My biggest complaint was that Celaena was crazy confident all around but was surprisingly girlish and giggly at the same time. Although Throne of Glass was a YA novel, my understanding is that as the series advances, the stories venture more into adult fantasy territory.