Eh. A below average book, not what I had expected.

The only 18-year old super assassin Celaena Sardothien is freed from the salt mines by the gorgeous Crown Prince to be his contestant in some kind of odd contest where the evil king is picking a champion from amongst a number of assassins and other criminals. During the contest, contestants die mysteriously, and Celaena finds out that she is speshul because of magic. Or something.

Surprising exactly no one, she has a thing for the Crown Prince, while at the same time the handsome but gruff Captain of the Guard wins her heart.

Yeah, it's exactly as Mary Sue as this whole bit reads. You don't get a lot of backstory for Celaena that would actually explain why she is the super assassin she apparently is. The only reason I will likely keep reading is that apparently the series really picks up in the later books. We'll see about that.