Just finished reading the above, by Sarah Maas. It's been lurking around on various sites I visit for Fantasy/Sci Fi type recommendations but the library didnt have it in and I am skint. Luckily my friend has lent me her Kindle with a plethora of books on it to keep me entertained. Much to my delight, this was on it and so I dived in with anticipation. I was not disappointed. This is a highly entertaining and well written tale of a young female assassin, rescued from prison camp in order to compete to be the Kings Champion. Somewhat of a Hobsons choice as it turns out - freedom after 4 years but only by working for the very King who sent her to the prison camps and whom she hates. Or she can return to the Endovier mines immediately. She chooses the competition but all is not what is seems with the other contestants......
The characters are well crafted and you get little insights along the way into each that makes them more and more likeable and credible. There are enough original ideas within the book to keep even the most die-hard fantasy reader happy and the style/pace of the writing is spot-on.
All in all, I'd probably give this an 8 out of 10 and will definitely be on the look out for Book #2
