Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)

by Sarah J. Maas

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her… but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead… quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

YOOOOO!! Holy crap, guys, THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas is one of my most anticipated books of the year! I’ve been waiting for the cover to come out to that I could fangirl it here with you guys. Because it’s based loosely on the Cinderella tale, but takes a sharp left into high-fantasy ASS-KICKER assassin girl-town. YES YES YES! I’ve been reading the novellas in this series (starting with THE ASSASSIN AND THE PIRATE LORD, then THE ASSASSIN AND THE DESERT, and then THE ASSASSIN AND THE UNDERWORLD, with THE ASSASSIN AND THE EMPIRE still to come) and they’ve all been awesome. I can’t wait to read THRONE OF GLASS and get to know Celaena better and meet this gruff captain! And also the prince. And also get the 411 on the “greater destiny” business. All of that, too. 

THRONE OF GLASS (THRONE OF GLASS #1) is coming out August 7, 2012 from Bloomsbury Children’s.