KEEP CALM AND LOVE BOOKS: faeries

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: 416 pages

Publication Date: May 5th 2015 by Bloomsbury Children's

ISBN: 1619634449 (ISBN13: 9781619634442)

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Now, What I Thought:

This was a mix between Throne of Glass and Game of Thrones. This book was a huge hit! I couldn't not read it, it was a really cool concept on this whole fae fantasy genre. So in this world, the humans and fae share the land, but there's a magical wall dividing them. The humans are aware of the existence of the faeries, but they're dangerous and murderous if given the chance. It was said that a long time ago, they would take humans as slaves but now there are laws against that, except for those few fae that go through the wall for any reason. Well, Feyre was out hunting, pretty close to the wall and did end up killing a fae, which is illegal and punishable by death.

It's crazy to think of the dynamic in Feyre's home life. Feyre is the youngest sister out of 2, and they live with their crippled father. The 2 sisters were ridiculous! They were the eldest yet it was Feyre that had to do all the hunting, find the food or else they'd all starve. Also, not to mention that the dad just sits around and does nothing about the unnecessary responsibility put on Feyre. And they even have the balls to complain to Feyre about food, and living conditions... excuse me? Im going to kill these girls. So, Feyre being pretty freaked out about killing a fae, brings it home and as they're eating, which everyone isn't even that grateful for that Feyre busted her ass for it, a very angry, and seemingly powerful fae barges in. This doesn't happen. Fae do and can go outside the walls but are never seen in public. Immediately Feyre knew he was looking for her. SO... what do the sisters and father do? GIVE UP FEYRE TO SAVE THEIR OWN ASSES. Oh my god, I can not tell you guys how much hatred and anger I felt towards that whole family.

SO finally, Tamlin, the big fae, takes Feyre away from her family, thank the Lord. Anything is better than that family. This is when Beauty and the Beast comes into play. The beast takes the beauty away to live with him and in his world. Exactly said, that is what happens. Feyre now has to adjust to court in fae land, while being the only human. Not very safe for poor, yet strong Feyre. Now, there is the romance part of the novel. Tamlin and Feyre have a pretty good relationship considering she killed one of his trusted followers. Tamlin then, as expected, starts to court her pretty formally. Excepppptt for the fact that Feyre keeps shutting him down. LOL that is where the humour comes in, she was not having any of it, she had more important things on her mind, like her safety and family. Now, onto the the other 'ship', Rhysand. There is a lot of controversy about Rhysand and Feyre. He does save Feyre and he's pretty charming but that changes quickly considering he is a fae true to the heart and he does remind me a little of Rumplestilskin. He does do nice things and he does take care of her while she's in court buuut there are circumstances that makes him nor good nor evil. I don't know who I ship Feyre more with because if she can change Rhysand's ways then that'd be a great arc for that character, yet Tamlin is just strong and dreamy and the original 'beast'. Who knows...

This was an interesting read and I can't wait for the next book to see where Maas goes with this storyline!!

beauty and the beast - 3:36:00 PM

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J. Maas | Review

Pages: 416 pages Publication Date: May 5th 2015 by Bloomsbury Children's ISBN: 1619634449 (ISBN13: 9781619634442 ) When ...

Pages: 336 pages

Publication Date: January 13th 2015 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 0316213071 (ISBN13: 9780316213073)

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

Now, What I Thought:

This book is so... intriguing? I want to describe it as weird too because I mean, you guys read the synopsis right?? I know, as soon as I did, I had to read it! What an interesting book, definitely different than what I usually read. Now, I did only look into this book because I happened to love The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, so much that I needed to read other novels by Holly Black. Having said that, I was not disappointed as this novel was fantastic!

It was such a cool concept that the town is not only aware about the fae that habit the forest, but the fact that they practically live in peace because of it. It was funny that the fact that the town is such a hot spot for tourism is because of the infamous boy in the glass coffin. I mean, come on. If there was a town in today's day and age that had a fae-looking boy asleep in a coffin, we would not visit and gawk at it. Im pretty sure we'd break into it or atleast have it whisked away to the CIA or NASA haha. But anyways, I also strangely liked the fact that Hazel, the main character, had a gay, open brother. I LOVED THAT DETAIL. Not only that, but having Ben fall in love with the fae boy. Hazel was so quirky and cool with her real life relatable problems. The intro was a bit slow with getting to know the characters and getting used to our surroundings but then it picked up speed and we got to the fun, fae parts. I love fae books, so this book was a big plus for me just from the beginning.

I liked the little surprise we got towards the middle where we find out who the big "bad" guy is. Also the story behind that was interesting and I loved reading it. LOL I found it really funny that the townspeople were so contempt with the fact that the fae had free pickings on the tourists and could bug them as much as they want. It was a fun, creepy, fairytale-like novel and I can now declare Holly Black as a master at standalone novels that incorporate fantasy paranormal. This wasn't AS good as The Coldest Girl in Coldtown but I did rather enjoy it a lot :)

book review - 11:25:00 PM

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black | Review

Pages: 336 pages Publication Date: January 13th 2015 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers ISBN: 0316213071 (ISBN13: 9780316213...

acrobatics - 4:11:00 PM

Fire Study (Study #3) by Maria V. Snyder | Review

Paperback , 441 pages Published March 1st 2008 by Mira The apprenticeship is over—now the real test has begun. When word that Ye...

acrobatics - 4:07:00 PM

Magic Study (The Chronicles of Ixia #2) by Maria V. Snyder | Review

Hardcover , 392 pages Published October 1st 2006 by Luna YOU KNOW YOUR LIFE IS BAD WHEN YOU MISS YOUR DAYS AS A POISON TASTER......

Paperback

325 pages

Published October 8th 2008 by Flux

Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky—and equally dangerous—dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have a deadly assignment from the Faerie Queen. Namely, kill Deirdre before her music captures the attention of the Fae and threatens the Queen's sovereignty. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . .

Lament is a dark faerie fantasy that features authentic Celtic faerie lore, plus cover art and interior illustrations by acclaimed faerie artist Julia Jeffrey.

Now, What I Thought:

This book starts off with a 16 year old girl named Deirdre Monaghan. It's actually a bit of a mouthful, and thats why people call her Dee. Being a musician, she is extremely talented in both the harp and vocals. You'll find out why in the book.
As she's in the girls bathroom she meets a boy (referred to looking as old as a senior) named Luke Dillon, but she already knew who he was from her cryptic dreams she'd been having. At first this was all weird for me to read because of the circumstances: a girl meets an older boy in the girls bathroom, holding her hair as she vomits... Then instantly knows him because he had occurred in her dreams?????? Pretty weird .. at least to me.. But once you get further into the book, it starts to finally make sense.

I'v read this in a day and I cant express how much you should all read this :) If you like romantic faerie themed books, then go ahead and read this one!

For some odd reason, I'v been having a craving for Faerie-related/themed books. So I found this book on one of the threads created on Goodreads. I was immediately intrigued because of the perfect summary and not to mention the amazing book cover! I don't know why, but I love this cover!!
Then of course I saw who wrote this.. thats basically when I knew this book was going amazing! If you don't know yet, Maggie Stiefvater, is an amazing writer! Many can agree that she is most defiantly creative :)
You might know her from her amazing series, The Wolves of Mercy Falls, or even The Raven Cycle.
ANYWAYS, this book did not disappoint! At first, I was thinking, hmm maybe I have too much of a high expectation for this one, but of course, I was wrong! My ideal faerie book would be, Julie Kagawa's series, The Iron Fey. At least that was the one I was going to most compare this one with. So of course, I expected this book to be just as good. Now, while Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception was a great book, I probably won't continue the series.
Definitely worth the read, if it intrigues you of course! Not Disappointed in this one thats for sure :)