Updated based on re-read: I enjoyed this so much more the 2nd time. It took forever for me to get through the 1st time.

****

Why does Sarah J. Maas keep ruining me for other authors?! I read The Assassin's Blade as slow as possible to drag it out until Kingdom of Ash. Which worked fine until the last novella when I found myself unable to put it down.

I also see a lot of people asking if they should read this before or after the rest of the series and after reading it, I'm inclined to say before is better BUT I don't think readers will like it as much if they haven't read the rest of the series. It gives insight into the depths of love and despair Celaena experiences that isn't in the other books but you don't have 7 books of history to make the stories meaningful. I read it after Empire of Storms and think that's a little too late. The best time to read it is after the 3rd book but before the 5th.