KEEP CALM AND LOVE BOOKS: Blood

Pages: 322

Publication Date: April 16th 2013 (first published April 14th 2013)

Publisher: CreateSpace

ISBN: 1484125460 (ISBN13: 9781484125465)

*This is a New Adult Book, blood, violence, cursing, sexual references, and drug use. Not recommended for those under 17.*

When I won the annual Eagle Elite College Scholarship lottery, I was thrilled. After all, my grandma had just died and I wanted to take care of my aging grandpa -- he couldn't be a farmer in Wyoming forever. And graduating from Eagle Elite meant opportunity.

But I wasn't counting on meeting Nixon.

Nor was I counting on the rules of the Elect.

1. Do not touch The Elect.
2. Do not look at The Elect.
3. Do not speak to The Elect.

And worst of all? Don't discover the secret they hide, because in the end, you may just realize... it's about you.

Now, What I thought:

The concept of this book is pretty dull. I mean, it's typical high school drama with an added twist. To put it into perspective, this resembles a lot of the books you'd find on Wattpad. The drama was good though and it was a very quick read (1 day to be exact). It was a fun and easy distraction from the heavy reads I've recently picked up so besides the stereo-typicalness of it all, it was ok.

Our protagonist, Trace, is really infuriating. I wanted to punch, maim and kill her several times in the book. She was whiny, sad, always crying and had no confidence. Besides that, her story moves pretty quickly, which I thanked God for. We went from 0-100 real quick in this and it suited the story. There is swearing, violence (yuck), and sexual references in this book so just beware of that; Dyken does not hold back when it comes to what these guys and girls think in their heads.

Nixon is the typical too hot for school type jackass. I didn't like Nixon one bit in the beginning, and I still don't now. He's an asshole, as simple as that. Dyken tries to change him and make him a 'good' guy like some authors do, but I just really did not like him either way. I mean, the 3 rules??????? Do not touch, look or speak at the Elect (Nixon and his little gang) COME ON. That really infuriated me and how Trace would just go crying about them being so mean and how she would just take the abuse. Hello, you're all in college, grow a pair or just grow up and don't take stupid shit from these people.

While I'm saying a lot of negative things about the novel, I will admit it was entertaining. It was definitely something I just read on a whim and because it had that 'look' of just absolute funny ridiculousness. And I was right by the way. It was exactly that, ridiculous and way out of context drama. We do get some surprises in this book. I did see some stuff coming but I think Dyken wrote it so we could?? I hope. The plot does thicken a tiny bit toward the end when we get the truth but definitely don't count on this book to be a deep read.

I'm going to end this review on some dialogue from this book just to prove how ridiculous this was to read, yet extremely entertaining and funny:

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” I closed my eyes. This had to be a dream. This couldn’t be real! “I’m going to die a virgin!” I blurted and then began to truly hyperventilate.

“What?” Nixon shouted.

“A virgin,” I repeated as I greedily tried to suck more air into my lungs. “I’m going to die a virgin! I’m going to die without ever going overseas! I’ve never even been nak*d in front of a man before! Oh my gosh! I’m never going to have kids! What if I want kids? What if—”

“Trace…” Nixon tried to interrupt me, but it was like I was watching my body freak out and couldn’t stop talking.

“Nixon, you have to promise me that if we live through this — and that’s a giant if, considering we’re literally trapped between two death machines — you have to take my virginity. Take it!”

“Trace, I don’t think this is the time to—”

“Promise!”

bad boy - 10:45:00 PM

Elite (Eagle Elite #1) by Rachel Van Dyken | Review

Pages: 322 Publication Date: April 16th 2013 (first published April 14th 2013) Publisher: CreateSpace ISBN: 1484125460 (ISBN1...

Pages: 428 pages

Publication Date: August 18th 2015

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 0373211724 (ISBN13: 9780373211722)

Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to a newcomer…

Katerina must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But she doesn’t account for her first love…

Jacob will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means having to compete for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince.

And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet betrothed, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the shocking details of real history, New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known, Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

Now, What I Thought:

This book follows Alexander the Great, yes the same one we learn about in high school, in his teenage years to becoming the king of Macedonia . It takes place in 360 BC, which is just crazy to read about in Herman's amazing descriptive text. This did take me a while to read and get into but that's only because of the amount of characters with crazy long ancient names. I needed time to remember the roles some of these people played in our protagonist's storylines. With that in mind, there were A LOT of different character arcs. I actually really liked Herman's writing and the distinguishing between the characters, it was really fun and different to read about this mysterious, unknown time period from a historian's (Eleanor Herman) mind.

For everyone's storyline, we have 3 main plots: Alexander, Katerina and Zofia's. Among those we then have the minor plots with different P.O.V chapters: Jacob, Hephaestion, Cynane, and Olympia. It sounds really confusing but it wasn't! I liked how we heard from everyone's head and it gave us more perspective on the story and world we're set in. Speaking of the word, this takes place in, again, 360 BC, so the Gods and Goddesses from Greek mythology are pretty prominent in this. We always get references about how not long ago the Gods roamed the earth. I really liked the incorporation of mythology and how we frequently get references of Zeus, Ares, Oracle of Delphi, Athena etc. Again, Herman is a historian so it does not surprise me that she included history that's pretty accurate to today's knowledge.

This is a quote from the Author's Note at the end of the book:

"Though this is a work of fantasy with some fictional main characters—Katerina, Jacob, and Zofia—I wanted to make their world of 340 BC as historically accurate as possible... While Alexander’s half sister, Cynane, might feel too modern, she really did model herself on the Amazons and was known for her military prowess....His father, the king, was distant and harsh; his manipulative, ambitious mother was devoted to her snakes and widely regarded as a witch; his older half sister, Cynane, was a jealous, competitive Amazon; his younger half brother, Arrhideus, was mentally handicapped; and his tutor, Leonidas, employed educational methods that would today land him in jail for child abuse."

I loved how accurate this was and it really does make me want to read more of her work.

Now, for the actual characters and storylines, the only plot that really advanced in the beginning was Princess Zofia. Right away, her story just goes to the max with drama and she has to fight for what she wants and realize the dangers outside of her well protected and sheltered life in the palace. We left her story very open ended and I'm excited to see how her's will end in the sequel. I also just really want her to help with the war in Pella and meet everyone. We start the book off in Katerina's P.O.V and we can already tell she's not normal. She definitely has some strong magic coursing through her veins and I liked how the book ended with her owning her true self and I'm so excited to see her embrace herself fully. Heph, Alexander's best friend (even in history), was pretty dull, but I still liked hearing his thought. His one problem, which clearly states in the book, is his pride. I really found his pride annoying at times but towards the end, like everything, he was just getting better and I think he's going to be a great hero in the end.

My favourite storyline had to be between Kats and Cynane, Alexander's sister. Something about her abrasive manner and how she'll do anything to prove she doesn't want to be just a lady (GoT's Arya basically) was amazing. From the start of her P.O.V chapter, I knew I'd like her.

"As she slips through the crowd, she intentionally brushes against different men. She’s not sure why she does it—to remind herself of her power over them, perhaps? Or maybe because even through the coarse cloth of her dress, it feels kind of thrilling when they touch—as if anything could happen."

I just feel like there are so many great moments in this book that I need to quote them all for you guys. If you need convincing to read this book at all, just look at all of the glorious reviews it has. This book was amazing and I can say it is my favourite read in 2016 so far. I can't remember a book I read that just left me speechless and MAKE me want to search the web to find out more of the stuff that conspired in 360 BC. Guys, just read it. It's simply amazing and I am now going to read Eleanor Herman's other novels.

Here are some quotes to persuade you further:

Alexander's P.O.V:

"Down on the street, a man driving an empty cart is cursing bitterly, trying to back up his donkey and cart to make way for another vehicle. That’s how it is, Alex thinks. Someone always has to give in. But not for long. He has other plans, plans his father doesn’t know about. And if he succeeds, he’ll be the greatest leader this world has ever known."

Cynane's P.O.V:

"True loyalty—it’s almost unheard of. And it’s exactly what Cyn has been looking for all these years. Correction: it’s what she has been looking to destroy."

Katerina's P.O.V:

"“There was, long ago, in the time before time, a great battle between gods and monsters,” Ada begins, looking straight ahead. “The gods won but lost much of their power and became almost mortal, mating with humans.”"

Hephaestion's P.O.V:

"“Kat, you’re going to be all right,” he lies. She doesn’t answer. She’s looking in wonder at the sky, moving her pale lips. He turns to see what it is that so fascinates her. It’s the hellion, flying in wide lazy circles over the battlefield, howling as it rises higher and higher, and is gone."

I am so excited to read Herman's sequel to the Blood of Gods and Royals series, Empire of Dust.

Alexander the Great - 7:07:00 PM

Legacy of Kings (Blood of Gods and Royals #1) by Eleanor Herman | Review

Pages: 428 pages Publication Date: August 18th 2015 Publisher: Harlequin Teen ISBN: 0373211724 (ISBN13: 9780373211722) Im...

Pages: 393 pages

Publication Date: September 6th 2005

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

ISBN: 0451216954 (ISBN13: 9780451216953)

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

Now, What I Thought:

This whole series is amazing. Honestly, it was so different and very interesting to read Ward's words because they're not like the normal vampire books. The book opens up with some of the brotherhood in a club, and we're basically just seeing their P.O.V and mind set. Pretty much that's when I realized this wasn't going to be a fluffy twilight type of vampire story. There has explicit scenes, swearing and gore. This is not a book for children that is for sure. Each book in the series is following the story of a different brother's P.O.V and plot. So being the first book, it follows the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Wrath. After his most trusted friend and follower dies, he grants the one wish he had, find his half-breed daughter and protect her. This is when Beth comes in. A seemingly normal 25 year old women who works a middle class job. She automatically gets called, being the friend and reporter for the police, to the crime scene where her unknown father was murdered. This is when Wrath first sees Beth, and from there it's just hectic.

I did not realize how much sex was going to be in this novel. Lets just say Wrath is a .... hell of a dude... Anyways, Beth and Wrath have an immediate connection and slowly she becomes apart of her father's world and starts falling for the big intimidating leader. The way the vampires work in this story is that they can eat food just like normal people, but need blood to survive and stay strong, and that blood has to be from a vampire. There are a lot of character introductions in this book and it's a bit hectic trying to remember them, I will admit. But Ward's writing style was so easy to read and follow that it definitely helped with the remembering of the names.

If you're into vampire-erotica type of novels with lots of action, fighting and character development then this is the book and series for you! I did thoroughly enjoy this book but I wouldn't say it's my favourite in the series. Just to keep that in mind, if you do read this and want to read on there are better books in the series. J.R. Ward's book, Dark Lover, was a great introduction to the Black Dagger Brotherhood series anyways, no matter which book was better.

Adult Fiction - 9:19:00 PM

Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1) by J.R. Ward | Review

Pages: 393 pages Publication Date: September 6th 2005 Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) ISBN: 0451216954 (ISBN13: 9780451216953 ...

Pages: 648 pages

Publication Date: September 1st 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

ISBN: 1619636042 (ISBN13: 9781619636040)

The queen has returned.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

Now, What I Thought:

This book felt so long! It was action packed and I couldn't even describe how amazing it was! SO much crap went down in this novel and it was incredible!!! Celaena is now Aelin and I love it!!! We finally get to meet Arobynn and he was very different from what I imagined. I couldn't quite tell if he loved Aelin as a brother, father or lover? I honestly couldn't say for sure because of all the mixed signals and hinted words. BASICALLY that scene was just very uncomfortable for Aelin and me included. Yikes. I can 100% say that Maas has turned us all around on the whole Aelin and Chaol ship and it has officially sunk! He has someone else and she may have someone else, it just wasn't bound to happen so SORRY Team Chaol people out there. But now we can talk about Rowan! He finally appears in the book later on -too late for my liking- and the instant connection is everything!!!! You could feel it yourself as a reader that the time spent apart between the two had changed them. You could literally feel the sexual attention and how much they missed each other and it even surprised them that they could feel this strongly when they didn't before!

Just as I suspected, Manon and Aelin did have a face off and it. was. epic. Definitely one of the most memorable scenes in the whole series. We get a lot of reunions that are way over due, Aelin and Chaol for example... Damn, and especially reading it from Chaol's P.O.V was tough because they used to be so close but now the threat that Aelin has is she's going to have to kill Dorian, who is Chaol's best friend still. It is no secret that Chaol will die trying to stop that. Who knows if he does or doesn't, but there was definitely a shocker AGAIN that Maas threw at us. I could probably rant on and on about how petty Chaol was being towards Aelin about Rowan, her 'fae prince' as he put it. I honestly thought Aelin was either going to maim or kill him. Both would've been fine HAHA.

Dorian is now grown up a lot and is under some trance at court with the king :( It was seriously sad that the usually strong Dorian was actually weak in this book and he didn't really get to contribute till the ending, which really made up for it because it was the battle of the century!

There are so many things to talk about with what happened concerning Rowan, Aelin, Aedion, Arobynn especially but all I'm dying to do is rant about the big final battle! IT WAS AMAZING! I find myself even now just re-reading the end because it was so descriptive and detailed I missed a lot of stuff the first time reading just out of excitement. Lots of things happen and lots of changes are going to happen for Terrasen and the whole kingdom. A huge change happens to one of the characters and a huge sacrifice is made but I think in the next book we'll have to be on the journey to fix 'it'. I honestly can't spoil anything and therefore I can't really talk about the epicness in the final battle. EXCEPT I will say, just to read this amazing freaking book! It was amazing and you should take the time to enjoy and spend the time to actually read it and understand what is happening. When I first read it I literally couldn't put it down and I read it so fast that I then had to RE-read it just to comprehend what was happening.

READ IT, IT WAS AMAZING AND SO WORTH IT!!!

assassin - 5:22:00 PM

Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4) by Sarah J. Maas | Review

Pages: 648 pages Publication Date: September 1st 2015 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens ISBN: 1619636042 (ISBN13: 978161...

Pages: 562 pages

Publication Date: September 2nd 2014

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

ISBN: 1619630656 (ISBN13: 9781619630659)

She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.

Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth...a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever.

Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed.

The king's assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the New York Timesbestselling Crown of Midnight.

Now, What I Thought:

This book was crazy wicked!!! Magic is finally used and Chaol now knows that Celaena is not only a fae and has active magic BUT NOW is the rightful Queen Aelin, of the fae! We get introduced to so many characters!! We also get different P.O.V chapters!! We get Manon, Dorian, Chaol and of course, Celaena! If you thought that you guys knew Celaena before, well you're wrong! She did a total 180 on us, and it seems like when she finally took her rightful name, Aelin, she really showed her true ruthless ways, even more so than before...Which is saying something.

It's clear that the other big bad-ass female in this novel is Manon. She is definitely going to meet Celaena at one point in this series and it is going to be awesome! I hope they fight it out and I hope Celaena wins just so she can grow Manon's respect because she's starting to actually grow on me now! Also, dragons are evident in this novel... um EXCUSE ME MAAS!! You brought dragons into this! This book couldn't get any better!

Now, lets talk about Rowan. I've always said that I have no ship or team for Celaena's romance. Well that changed. I adore Rowan! I think he is amazing and yes he is a huge jackass and just makes Aelin look and feel so weak but that soon changes don't you guys worry ;). We get the two best friends of Celaena and Rowan by the end of the book and there is a huge face-off between Celaena and Rowan against Queen Maeve. It was pretty epic and some shit does go down!

I felt like this whole book was just all the male characters getting over Celaena and finding their own path instead of following hers. Dorian comes through some huge changes now that his magic is manifesting on it's own! Chaol has to deal with his rotten father and try to get over the fact that Celaena is the Queen of fae and could potentially kill them all. Aedion Ashryver, Celaena's cousin and childhood best friend, seemed to be a huge asshole at first with all of these smirks and deadly smiles but soon we find out that's not all he really is. He plays a huge role in helping Celaena win back her crown and take over! We get a lot of flashbacks and memories and they are all so sad, I really felt bad for Celaena and what she went through with her dead parents and Arobynn taking her.

The end was amazing! The huge battle in Celaena's chapters were huge!!!! Rowan really showed his intimacy and caring for Celaena when they are together fighting side by side with even Rowan's friends who are like 1000 years old. It was intense and it made a great segway into the next book. This book in general was probably my favourite out of all of them that are out! It was fantastic and amazing well-written!

assassin - 3:02:00 PM

Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Maas | Review

Pages: 562 pages Publication Date: September 2nd 2014 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens ISBN: 1619630656 (ISBN13: 97816196...

Pages: 418 pages

Publication Date: August 27th 2013

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

ISBN: 1619630621 (ISBN13: 9781619630628)

"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.
It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."

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.

Now, What I Thought:

These covers just keep getting better and better! I love how Maas uses a sketch and drawing of this beautiful fierce girl instead of the standard dystopia YA novel models, you know? I like that when we look at this cover, we know Celaena is going to kick some ass!! Anyways, Celaena is now the royal assassin for the king. But she's been doing some naughty things on her missions that can get her very much dead. We knew from the beginning since Endovier that Celaena remembered the king from her trial when she took revenge and got caught for Sam's murder, we know that Celaena hates the king, like really really really wishes him dead. Don't quite blame her. There was a huge heartbreaking and emotional moment when I did cry. Let's just say Celaena is going to get her revenge.

A lot of people are either Team Dorian or Team Chaol, I can proudly say I am neither. I don't want Celaena with anyone because she's too bad-ass and also she has way too much drama with her own life, let alone a relationship with someone else. We get a surprise with 2 of the main characters that now open a lot of doors for them, obviously I won't tell you guys who, but it's a huge shock and very unexpected. The book ended with yet another shock, seriously Maas stop!! It was so sad and Celaena finally shows that she may not be all that normal. Dorian seems to have a new plot that I'm pretty excited to see in the next couple of books and Chaol.... well, he's in trouble and he better run!!! Magic does appear in this novel and it was so well described it really felt like I was there and I'm so excited to see what we can do with this new found element in the series.

This book was pretty good, I wouldn't go as far as saying that this was better than the first, Throne of Glass, but it was pretty much equal! I loved the surprises in this because they really were unexpected! Ahh, I love Celaena and we finally get to see her in pro-assassin mode and it was freaking awesome!

assassin - 2:36:00 PM

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas | Review

Pages: 418 pages Publication Date: August 27th 2013 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens ISBN: 1619630621 (ISBN13: 978161963...

Pages: 404 pages

Publication Date: August 7th 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's

ISBN: 1599906953 (ISBN13: 9781599906959)

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 king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four 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.

Now, What I Thought:

This is such a great series, I cannot stress enough! Celaena isn't just bad-ass, she's a 18 year old assassin and kills whomever she wants. I like her. After being set up, the series-long mystery, by a mystery person, she gets caught trying to take revenge on the man who killed her love, Sam. Safe to say the government put her in jail, or in Maas's world, Endovier. After a year of being treated like a slave, Celaena gets an offer of compete in a royal competition to become the King's personal assassin. Obviously, with her background and reputation from being trained by the most deadliest assassin there is known, the King's son, Dorian, thinks Celaena is the perfect winner. He's not wrong, she'd probably be my first pick as well. At first, when I started reading this book, I automatically thought this was going to be a love-sick triangle and romance book. I mean, it is a love triangle, but romance book? Not even close. Maas pulls out all of her cards in this one and delivers an amazing story about how love, desperation and death can all coincide with each other and it was bloody fantastic!

As cringey as love triangles are, this was done in moderation thank god. I felt like it would be an insult towards Celaena if this series turned into a 'romantic fight for love' type of book. I can fully say that it is not, having read all 4 books that are out currently. Celaena is true to her description and is indeed an assassin at heart, obviously out of practice from her year at Endovier, the captain of the guard, Chaol, helps her out and makes a connection with her. Even though she's already spending time with the infamous Prince Dorian, Chaol's bestfriend, Celaena finds herself in a pickle that doesn't concern life or death for once. She even makes a friend that was totally unexpected, Nehemia, the Eyllwe princess. They actually get on great and she even helps Celaena open up a bit about her past, which helps us as readers to connect with our main protagonist.

Lots of teasing happens in this book where multiple times I'd wish I was Celaena. Yet other times, so much gruesome stuff happens to her and you really feel for her because yes, she may be a killer but when we find out what happens in her past.... She really doesn't deserve half the bad crap that's done to her. The ending had a huge shock, 2 actually. The first was heartbreaking and I could feel the tears coming to my eyes just reading it and the second, the final battle. No need to say that there was an epic scene and so brilliantly described, it was a pleasure to read it.

In conclusion, the first novel in the Throne of Glass series was amazing and the perfect intro to the rest of what happens to Celaena, Chaol, Dorian and other new characters we meet on the way!

assassin - 2:17:00 PM

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas | Review

Pages: 404 pages Publication Date: August 7th 2012 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's ISBN: 1599906953 (ISBN13: 978159...

Pages: 418 pages

Publication Date: June 12th 2012 by Penguin Group

ISBN: 1595143181 (ISBN13: 9781595143181)

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. Alchemists protect vampire secrets - and human lives.

Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she's been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California - tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formorly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.

But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age-old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and her sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi - the fiercest vampires, the ones who don't die. But it's her fear of being just that - special, magical, powerful - that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Braydon, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else - someone forbidden to her.

When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney's loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she's supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she's been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.

Should she trust the Alchemists - or her heart?

Now, What I Thought:

So it seems like the Bloodlines series it going to go the same way as Vampire Academy, in a way. It was pretty predictable but not in a way that I disliked it. It was still super juicy and addicting as always. I LOVED reading this story and the world of Moroi, Dhampir, and Strigoi from Sydney's P.O.V. Something about her inner thoughts and the way she spoke was just such a refreshing start from Rose's in the Vampire Academy. Of course, it was a little annoying how restricted Sydney could be and that she's not that comfortable with herself, let alone others like Adrian.

I liked how they made Sydney more than just a boring Alchemist. Now that she's pretty sure she has this unexplainable magic, she starts to open up, yet she knows the danger if anyone were to find out. I really liked how they incorporated Braydon, a sort of distraction for Sydney. It was cute and sweet and also funny to see how Adrian reacted. The pacing for everything was pretty darn good- the romance, danger, self-realization etc. I was so hooked on how likeable the characters were. Obviously I know Eddie, Jill and Adrian from before but Angeline and Tray were pretty likeable, despite their faults. What made this book even better was definitely Sonya and Dimitri!! Those two are both hilarious and just a great reminder where this whole storyline and world came from.

Adrian was fantastic. Since Vampire Academy, I've been in love with Adrian. I think he has definitely grown and gone through some shit and deserves so much more, a.k.a Sydney :). Now, I don't know where Mead is going with this but it seems that Adrian finally gets to have some happiness in his life. I like that we get to see Sydney change, for the better. Her prejudices from the years and years of being brainwashed are finally breaking down and she's, again, slowly allowing herself to open up and be vulnerable in front of the Moroi and Dhampir.

All in all, this was the perfect sequel and I couldn't ask for a better book! Can't wait for the next one, The Indigo Spell!!! Yay!

alchemists - 12:46:00 AM

The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2) by Richelle Mead | Review

Pages: 418 pages Publication Date: June 12th 2012 by Penguin Group ISBN: 1595143181 (ISBN13: 9781595143181 ) Sydney Sage is ...

Pages: 320 pages

Publication Date: October 17th 2011 by Tor Teen

ISBN: 0765328658 (ISBN13: 9780765328656)

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

Yet she spares Cas's life.

Now, What I Thought:

This book was right up my ally! You guys know how much I love the evil, dark, female characters in books. Cas Lowood is basically the new and improved cool ghostbuster, in modern day. At first I mean, how serious can this book be with a ghost hunter traveling across the country with his witchy mom and weird cat? Little did I know that this was going to be a gruesome, dark twisted story about Anna, whom is literally dressed in blood; the title and cover don't lie to you! Come on, the ratings and reviews can talk for themselves, this is Kendare Blake's most reviewed and rated best-seller worthy book! So if you haven't read it yet? Read it. You won't regret it.

Cas had been killing since he was 14! 14!!! That's a crazy childhood to have and to then top it all off, his father dies. Well, Cass makes his dad proud by inheriting the hunter's mysterious and dangerous athame, and he goes to town finishing what his father had started. Until, he meets Anna. Never has he encountered nor heard of a spirit so powerful and angry. Anna was killed in 1958. While walking to prom in her beautiful white dress, her throat was slit, blood covered her body entirely, thus earning her the name, Anna Dressed in Blood. It's described in the novel as:

"Someone cut her throat, but that’s an understatement. Someone nearly cut her head clean off. They say she was wearing a white party dress, and when they found her, the whole thing was stained red. That’s why they call her Anna Dressed in Blood."

Pretty gruesome and frightening stuff. I'd be pretty angry too with what Anna had to really go through that night. This was an interesting book because we didn't only get to read and learn about Cas, being our protagonist. Instead, we also got to learn a lot about Anna; her background, past, personality, why she is the way she is. It was said in the novel that she had been tied to her house and has never been able to step a foot past her front porch. Being as this is a legend and known to the townspeople, many have tried to check it out for silly pranks, and only 27 have gone in, and have never been seen alive again. I loved her character because she wasn't black and white, she was a gruesome killer yet a victim at the same time, evil yet innocent. It really put things into perspective about morality and I loved how Cas handled the situation. Also, there is a huge twist at the end about the real reason why Anna died, and it puts a whole new meaning on cruel and thriller.

This book is actually in talks about being turned into a movie!!! And the director being the one and only.... Stephenie Meyer.... this should be interesting. Though i'm still excited!

Blood - 11:53:00 PM