Tuesday 28 April 2015

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Published: Bloomsbury, August 7th, 2012
Pages: 416
Source: Hardcover, purchased
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5

Thoughts: Woah. I finally understand why everyone is so obsessed with this series, it's amazing! I flew through this book and couldn't put it down! Normally it takes a while for me to get into fantasy novels but I dove head first into this one and enjoyed and understood everything!

The premise of this book is that the king of Adarlan (a region in this country) is looking for a personal assassin and he decides to hold a contest and the best assassin and the winner with become the King's Champion. The king's son Dorian goes to look for Celeana because she's the best assassin in all the land. She is then taken to Adarlan to complete a few tests and win the final duel so she can become the Champion and in a few years gain her freedom.

Celaena was definitely my favourite character! She was so strong, smart and independent and I loved reading from her perspective, she's one of the best female protagonists I've read about in a while! The fact that she's the country's most notorious assassin is really interesting and unique! I'd love to learn more about her and her past in the books to come!

Sarah J. Maas has such lovely and brilliant writing! Every scene she wrote had me enthralled in the story! I loved how she wrote action sequences, they were very easy to follow and visualize.

I also loved reading about Chaol and Dorian, they remind me so much of Jem and Will from the Infernal Devices! I don't really know which team I'm on right now but I think I'm leaning more toward Chaol, there's just so much mystery surrounding him and I think his toughness is very good for Celeana. But then again Dorian loves to read and has those adorable moments too.

On the mention of Dorian and reading I loved how the fact that both him and Celaena's love of reading were incorporated in the novels, it just made them both so much more enjoyable to read about (and increased their similarities to Tessa and Will which I found rather enjoyable). 

I really can't wait to learn a lot more about the history of Erilea. I also can't wait to learnmore about the Fae because I have my suspicions... I also am excited to eventually see more of Nehemia and I hope we can see Eyllwe in future installments.

Overall this book was fantastic! I can't wait to buy Crown of Midnight and DEVOUR it!! I definitely recommend this one!

Favourite Quotes:
    • “Libraries were full of ideas–perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.”
    • “No. I can survive well enough on my own— if given the proper reading material.”
    • “We all bear scars,... Mine just happen to be more visible than most.”  
    • “How long was I asleep?" she whispered. He didn't respond.
      "How long was I asleep?" she asked again, and noticed a hint of red in his cheeks.
      "You were asleep, too?"
      "Until you began drooling on my shoulder.”  
    • “Sometimes, the wicked will tell us things just to confuse us–to haunt o-ur thoughts long after we've faced them.”
    • “I like music," she said slowly, "because when I hear it, I...I lose myself within myself, if that makes any sense. I become empty and full all at once, and I can feel the whole earth roiling around me. When I play. I'm not... for once, I'm not destroying, I'm creating.”

    Thanks for reading!
    ~Birdie
     
    ***Quotes taken from Goodreads.com and Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas***
    *Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*

    Sunday 26 April 2015

    Tumble and Fall by Alexandra Coutts

    Tumble and Fall by Alexandra Coutts
    Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 17th, 2013
    Pages: 372
    Source: Hardcover, purchased
    Genre: Contemporary
    Rating: 2/5

    How I Felt: To be honest I'm not too impressed with this book. I was really interested in the story because it had a really cool concept: an asteroid is going to hit the Earth in a week so what do you do for the last few days of your life? Apparently in this book, go to the beach because no one wants to die pale.

    This book is told from three points of view and written in third person. Not a good combination in my opinion. I don't like third person perspective in the first place, so having to read like this about three different characters just made everything extremely difficult and dull. I couldn't connect with the characters at all not just because of the P.O.V but also because I found them all incredibly boring and constantly making dumb decisions. They were the most dramatic and whiny characters I've read about in a long time.

    In terms of characters I didn't really like any of them. I liked (tolerated) Ryan, Sienna's younger brother, because he was adorable and a ray of sunshine in this book. And I also liked Sienna's dad mainly because I felt sorry for him.

    The whole book was said to be about this asteroid that was supposed to crash into the Earth and this concept was pushed to the back burner in the grand scheme of the plot in this book (ironically). The characters never really thought about any of this, a line about it was forced in there every few chapters or so to remind the reader that it's actually happening. The main reason I picked up this book was because I found the whole asteroid thing very interesting and unique and so I was very disappointed and let down when it wasn't a major part of the book.

    I only really liked two things about this book. I liked how the families were portrayed in this book. Well, more towards the end at least. I feel like by the end the author really communicated the importance of family and the need of everyone to be together. The other thing I liked was the very, very end. I liked the way the last few minutes on Earth and the coming of the asteroid was written. It was very beautiful and I could really picture that scene in my head.

    Overall there was nothing spectacular about this book. I don't really recommend it. It's not a good contemporary and it certainly isn't a good book about asteroids. Read it if you really think it interests you and you're open-minded.


    Thanks for reading!
    ~Birdie

    *Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*

    Monday 6 April 2015

    Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins

    Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins
    Published: Putnam Juvenile, April 7th, 2015
    Pages: 288
    Source: Hardcover, purchased
    Genre: Fantasy, paranormal
    Rating: 5/5

    How I Felt:  All I have to say is that Rachel Hawkins is such a talented writer. This book was hilarious yet still managed to be serious when it needed to. I can't believe this is the last book. That's not possible. I need more Harper and David A.S.A.P!

    This book was full of action just like the first book, and had me laughing just as hard as well! Harper was such a great protagonist, her southern sass has to be the best! I loved the Aunts in this, they don't always appear in the books but when they do I always feel 10x happier!

    I will admit the ending moved me to tears. It was a waterfall of emotions because the ending was not okay at all.

    I really didn't like Ryan in this, I didn't like him in the first book either but in this one I always wanted to slap him. I also didn't like Bee either, she just felt a lot different and even though Harper was okay with her, I wasn't.

    The whole magic thing took a really interesting turn in this book, we got to learn more about it but I still don't think it was enough. I really would've liked to learn more about the history and origination of Oracles and Mages and Paladins. It would've been great to learn more about Saylor and Christopher as well.

    Another thing I wish we got to learn more about is Harper's late sister, Leigh-Ann. She was mentioned a bunch of times but we never really got to learn anything about her except from Harper's sudden and sporadic memories of her.

    I also feel like the ending was really rushed, it kinda came out of nowhere. Everything was happy and then BAM! Tragedy and THE END.

    My favourite character in these books is most definitely Harper. Despite her being an awesome ninja-assassin she was funny, stubborn, and smart. Of course I loved David too, especially the way he interacted with Harper.

    The southern flair thrown into this book was much appreciated, it just helped to lighten the mood and atmosphere.


    Overall Miss Mayhem was a fantastic sequel! I can't wait to read more books by Rachel Hawkins and if you haven't already picked up Rebel Belle I highly suggest you do so!

    Favourite Quotes:
    • "Is that your Oracle self talking, or just your concerned boyfie self?"
    •  "I do not know what 'totes' means in this context, but I assure you, no one is 'going on their merry way,' Miss Price."
    Thanks for reading!
    ~Birdie

    ***Quotes taken from Goodreads.com and Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins***
    *Info on book taken from Goodreads.com*

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