Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Fantasy

Source:Library

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Synopsis: “Lost and broken, Celaena Sardothien’s only thought is to avenge the savage death of her dearest friend: as the King of Adarlan’s Assassin, she is bound to serve this tyrant, but he will pay for what he did. Any hope Celaena has of destroying the king lies in answers to be found in Wendlyn. Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King’s Guard, has sent Celaena there to protect her, but her darkest demons lay in that same place. If she can overcome them, she will be Adarlan’s biggest threat – and his own toughest enemy.
While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love?”

Review: Gosh. This. Book. Was. So. Amazing.

Heir of Fire has solidified Maas as one of my favorite authors. Honestly, I loved it from start to finish.

***BEWARE SPOILERS AHEAD***

I know that a lot of people had the complaint that the middle was boring, but to me the relationship building between Rowan and Celaena made up for it. Plus, the whole middle built suspense for the FANTASTIC ending. I was in tears. I screeched. I furiously texted Aneeqah and begged her to hurry up and read the second one and this one so I could talk to her about my feels. The end was one giant plot twist. Every time I thought I had recovered (who am I kidding, I will never recover) from one twist, I was hit with another! My feelings were all over the place. Thank goodness I was home alone when I read this because I’m sure my family would’ve been really concerned about my mental state. The plot alone guaranteed at least a 4 Star rating.

You know what got the 5th and final star? The bad*** characters. I LOVED Celaena’s development. I LOVED Rowan. I LOVED Chaol (okay… more on Chaol later). I LOVED Dorian. I absolutely adore Celaena and she and Tris Prior are tied as my favorite characters of all time. Her development was phenomenal. She finally stepped up to the plate and I might have shed a tear (or ten). Rowan was hilarious. He tried to act like he didn’t care, but I saw through his little facade and enjoyed every second of Celaena’s and his dialogue. It was pure gold. I want to applaud Dorian for moving on. He deserved better than the Celaena in book two. I can’t wait to see the truly magnificent things that Dorian accomplishes (although I don’t know how he’s going to deal with the ending because man).

Chaol. Oh Chaol. I feel such pity for you. I don’t feel like you aren’t good enough for Celaena, but you have such an imaginary image of Celaena. Do you love her or do you love the image of her that you’ve created in your mind?

The relationships in this book were so profound and so good. Also, I felt EXACTLY what the characters were feeling. There are no words except to say that while I was reading Heir of Fire, I was fully immersed in the book. I was there.

Now that I’ve fangirled about the marvelous characters, let’s talk business. I know I’ve said this in the first two books’ reviews, but I need to reiterate it. Maas is a fantastic story teller and world builder. I LOVE the fantasy and how it developed in this book now that we’ve met actual faeries.

The love I have for this book is astronomical. The ending blew me away and I cannot wait for the rest of the series.

How many times did I type the word ‘love’? 9

All the Truth That’s in Me by Julie Berry

All the Truth That’s in Me by Julie Berry

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Source: Library

Rating: 2/5 Stars

Synopsis: “Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those who were once her friends and family. Unable to speak, Judith lives like a ghost in her own home, silently pouring out her thoughts to the boy who’s owned her heart as long as she can remember—even if he doesn’t know it—her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked, long-buried secrets come to light, and Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence, or recover her voice, even if it means changing her world, and the lives around her, forever.”

Review: I’m so incensed by this book. For me, All the Truth That’s in Me was a victim of over-hype. I expected an experience extremely different than the one that I experienced.

For starters, I didn’t understand the time period. Was it historical, like Puritan society? Was it some other universe? I could not figure it out the ENTIRE book. I ended up settling with a Puritan-like time period because that society was so crazy.

Also, I really really disliked most of the characters. Judith has this weirdly stalkerish crush on Lucas. Before reading, I thought that this would be cute, but when I read it I was highly disturbed. I found her obsessive infatuation with Lucas to be really creepy. Also, I felt like Lucas had no personality, like he was the good guy trope. At points I would think Oh there’s a real human emotion! But the majority of the time I thought Could this character be any more dull? The only character I tolerated was Maria because she was just really nice and cheery in that awful oppressive society.

The plot was highly confusing for me. The experiment in telling the story in Judith’s voice when she couldn’t talk to others to find out what was really going on failed. A lot. I was confused a lot during the book. I didn’t even particularly like Judith’s voice.

The only good thing I experienced in All the Truth That’s in Me was the mystery. The mystery of what really happened intrigued me. I wanted to learn the real truth.

Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have finished All the Truth That’s in Me if I didn’t have to read it for Battle of the Books. The plot was utterly confusing, the characters were dreary and the town and setting were truly terrible.

North Texas Teen Book Festival!!

This past Saturday, I  was so lucky to be able to go to the First Annual North Texas Teen Book Festival. I had an AMAZING time!! I went with my friend Jackie and we got so lost on the way that there that we ended up in DFW Airport at one point! Once we got there, we met up with our friends Emma and Shannon and rushed to get armbands for speed dating.

Speed dating rocked! I got The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston for…FREE! Getting a free book was just the beginning of the awesomeness that soon commenced.

After Speed Dating, we went to the bookshop and while everyone else bought two books, I bought four.

The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle,

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han,

The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr,

and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins.

 

 

 

Then, we headed over to some panels. Honestly, these panels were the BEST part of NTTBF. The ones I saw were so funny!!!

Then, we got in line for author signings and I somehow managed to get ALL of my books signed! The authors were really awesome. Overall, I had a GRAND and FANTASTIC time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. I’ve already read two of the books I got and I’m PUMPED to read the rest!

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Fantasy

Source: Barnes and Noble

Rating 5/5 Stars

Synopsis: "From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.”

Review: Goodness gracious, I loved loved loved the end of this book. I love the fantasy. I love the characters. I love the complexity. I love everything.

Maas’s writing style is so great. I’m so absorbed into the world she creates. Celaena’s voice shines through and it’s just so clear and so Celaena.

Maas’s world is fantastic. I love the deception, the courts, the danger. I especially am enamored with the fantasy. It’s so well-written and beautiful. It’s weird saying that fantasy is beautiful, but Maas’s is. There is a back story that actually makes sense (Hallelujah!). Plus, the magic has evolved to fit the terms of the modern world, in comparison to the way that the old magic was used. A lot of what made this book for me was the amazing fantasy.

Another thing that was absolutely enthralling was the plot and characters. They were so great. I cried when Calaena cried. I laughed when she laughed. I felt the confusion and angst. I was totally able to empathizes with the characters and it was fantastic. The plot was a whole other beast. I kept getting shocked and surprised with the twists and turns it took! Poor Aneeqah got many texts from me saying that I wish I could tell her a thing about the book, but I couldn’t because she hadn’t read it yet.

The romance was better than the first book and detracted a little bit in some of its suddenness.

Overall, I loved almost everything about Crown of Midnight.

How many times did I type the word ‘love’? 9

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Genre: Historical Contemporary Fiction

Source: Library

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Synopsis: "Two misfits. One extraordinary love.
Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.
Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try."

Review: Eleanor and Park was such a bittersweet book. Eleanor’s situation was so terrible and very sad. Rowell’s writing is so descriptive that I felt as if I was Eleanor and then that I was Park. I felt so much sympathy for each of the characters. I read this book a week ago and now that I’m sitting here writing this, I’m getting a nostalgic feeling like I would get if I think back to some of my old friends and old memories.

The characters, particularly Eleanor and Park, resound so much to me. Eleanor’s family home is so so sad and poignant. I just wanted to steal her, take her to my house, and give her a massive bear hug. The amount of sympathy I feel for Eleanor is very much like the sympathy I would feel for a friend; that’s how real Rowell is able to make her characters. For Park, I feel like although his family life is the stereotypical family, he has to live up to a lot of expectations which is something I can relate to. Rowell creates really real characters and I loved that about Eleanor and Park.

As for the plot, not so much. A lot of the book was just the same struggles, time just passed. Once Park and Eleanor fell in love, the book kind of fell into a rut and stayed there until around 30 pages until the end. After a major event, the book just stayed in the same aftereffects of the event for such a long time that it got quite redundant and boring.

Even though I disliked the plot, the romance was so sweet and similar to love in real life ( in some cases). Both were keeping secrets, but both were content in each other’s presence and the other person made them happy. Eleanor and Park didn’t have much in common, but I thought that this so realistic (at least in a multitude of high school relationships). They’re defining traits were contradictory, but in the end they just balanced each other out.

I’m very satisfied with Eleanor and Park and loved everything except for the somewhat repetitive plot.

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Genre: Dystopian

Source: Library

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Synopsis: “Winning what you want may cost you everything you love
As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.
One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.
But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.
Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.”

Review: I have a lot of conflicted feelings about this book. I really liked multiple aspects of it, but I vehemently HATE the romance between Kestrel and Arin. I feel like it absolutely ruined a lot of the good things I felt about this book right after reading it.

To start off with the good things before I get into a rant about the romance, I really enjoyed Rutkoski’s writing style. It was expressive and quite beautiful at times. Rutkoski had the perfect balance of show and tell.

To say that the plot was great is simply not enough. The plot was utterly exhilarating. I read The Winner’s Curse in one sitting because I was constantly on the edge of my chair (well bed) waiting to see how everything would work out. I was surprised with a couple of twists and absolutely loved  it! One down side I had with the plot was that a big portion of the back half was pure action and for some reason I found myself either bored with redundancy or trying to rush back to what was happening with Kestrel with some parts of the near-constant action towards the end. That being said, I’m a person who likes action, but not really an in depth view of the fighting for long lengths of time.

I am completely in awe of how well-developed Kestrel was by the end. Rutkoski really blew me away by the fantastic character development. Kestrel was almost completely different by the end, in a good way. She possessed all of her previous positive qualities, but times 10. She also gained other great traits and will probably have more flaws develop as the series continues because it would be boring if she was perfect. I can’t express how much I want to meet Rutkoski, shake her hand, and tell her what a fantastic job she did with Kestrel.

I liked the friendships in the book, despite HOW TERRIBLE A FRIEND KESTREL WAS. I thought they were an accurate representation of some of the close friendships that I have.

*****SPOILERS ARE BELOW***** YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

I know y’all are all wondering how I could possibly have given 3 Stars to this book when I can’t stop raving about it. Here’s what really ruined this book for me: the romance. I can’t stand it. At all. It was horrid. Not that the romance was written terrible or anything. It was just that I can not possibly be persuaded to understand how in the heck Kestrel would still love Arin when he literally CAUSES the deaths of almost everyone she knows and the destruction of her country. It is unfathomable to me how she can even look him in the eye when he almost killed her best friend. I don’t get how she gets over her hate for him so fast and actually makes a deal to SAVE the bastard’s life. Basically, I just hate Arin and Kestrel’s love for him that I will NEVER understand.

Overall, I really loved The Winner’s Curse, but was so put off by the romance that I couldn’t like it as much as I wanted.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Genre: Contemporary

Source: Library

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Synopsis: “A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies. True love. The truth.”

Review: There’s so many things I want to say about this book, but I can’t because it would completely ruin the ending and the magic of the book, so know that I am very limited on what I can talk about.

Man, this book was great. While, I was reading it, I didn’t think that it was  that great because the plot dragged on and on (despite the book not even being that long). That was until the end. The end changes everything. It changed how I viewed the book and how I saw the plot progression.

Yes, the plot was utterly slow at points (hence the 4 Stars, not 5). I got rather bored with the plot because it felt like same similar things, some of which weren’t even exciting, kept happening. For most of the book ( I read it in one sitting), I was highly annoyed by the slow plot. Not annoyed enough to stop reading, though. I wanted to see what was with the suspense. I wanted to see why so many people were praising this book to no end. I wanted to see what the “accident” was. The plot, although slow, actually did drop hints to what happened, it just took finally knowing what happened to realize this. That is some serious writing skills you have there, Ms. Lockhart. I too want to praise this book to the heavens and back.

I absolutely ADORE the writing style. It’s romantic, flowy, descriptive, suspenseful, and enchanting. Basically, its magic.

The characters in We Were Liars are UTTERLY despicable. I HATED them with a fierce passion. And then the ending happened. I can’t say much else, but bravo Lockhart. Bravo.

To be 100% honest, by the end (because the shock is revealed about 10 or so pages from the end), I was crying so hard that it was very difficult to read. The event made me seriously reconsider the WHOLE book and EVERY LITTLE THING that ever happened in the book. I felt many emotions (I had three very distinct ones, which I cannot disclose). This book is so magical and great and fantastic. Please go read it right now so I can talk to someone about it (side-eyeing you Aneeqah)

I’m very sorry I can’t say much else in fear of spoiling the ending. I’M SORRY FOR THIS VERY BRIEF REVIEW. JUST GO READ THE BOOK AND BE AMAZED.