KEEP CALM AND LOVE BOOKS: faery

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: 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...

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 :)