Flashback Friday: Throne of Glass

Meet Celaena Sardothien.
Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?  Quoted from Goodreads

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First, I think this cover is so much better than the last one.  Call me shallow, but the last cover totally put me off the book.  I didn't like the girl on the front.  She didn't seem hard core like an assassin, but she did look really stuck up.  Not a great combination or selling point.  This cover is infinitely better.

As for the book, I think it pretty much lives and dies by Celaena.  She's an interesting character.  I adore how strong and confident she is.  She knows she's awesome, and she's not afraid to tell anyone.  If she weren't so proud, she'd almost be a Mary Sue, but that pride thing definitely keeps her out of that category.  At times, I'll admit, I found her kind of annoying because she is so proud. She hates to loose, and it makes her a little stupid at times.  Still, her confidence is refreshing.

My one real complaint about her character is that it takes us about half the book before we really ever see her do anything cool.  She's constantly bragging that she's the best be we rarely get to see that.  I know there are four novellas that delve into her history and awesomeness, but you don't get that for a long time in the book, and they're useless if you haven't read them. You're just constantly told she's amazing in the beginning, never shown.  I realize the book's pretty long, but I, as a reader, needed to see how amazing she is from the get go.

Strangely enough, I enjoyed the love triangle between her, Captain Choal, and Prince Dorian.  Yes, I have my favorite, but at this point it could go either way and I would be okay with that. I won't give the particulars away, but it served more as another complication instead of an angst fest that so many other triangles inspire. Plus we have six---yes, six---books to explore the relationship, so a straightforward I love you sort of thing would have probably gotten boring.

The world building was good but not great. A lot of things were introduced but not really explained.  So, there's a lot of potential to explore, and I'm hoping now the contest is over, that the author will focus a little bit more on it in subsequent books.  She definitely set up a good base for future conflict.

All in all, this is a fun adventure.  It started off a little bit slower than I wanted, especially with the whole assassin promise, but it ended up being a good adventure.  All in all it's a nice 3.5 stars for me.  I wanted it to be more, but then I think I had really high expectations going in that sort of cut down on my appreciation of the book.  Still, the next one comes out in a few weeks, and I'll have to pick it up.

Book Review: Indelible

Some things are permanent.

Indelible.

And they cannot be changed back.

Joy Malone learns this the night she sees a stranger with all-black eyes across a crowded room—right before the mystery boy tries to cut out her eye. Instead, the wound accidentally marks her as property of Indelible Ink, and this dangerous mistake thrusts Joy into an incomprehensible world—a world of monsters at the window, glowing girls on the doorstep, and a life that will never be the same.

Now, Joy must pretend to be Ink’s chosen one—his helper, his love, his something for the foreseeable future . . . and failure to be convincing means a painful death for them both. Swept into a world of monsters, illusion, immortal honor and revenge, Joy discovers that sometimes, there are no mistakes.

Somewhere between reality and myth lies . . .
THE TWIXT.   Quoted from Goodreads

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I enjoyed this book surprisingly a lot.  This is one of those I was on the fence about.  The idea sounded fantastic, the cover was beautiful, but a guy who tries to cut out a girl's eye as a love interest?  You can see why I wasn't sure.

Like I said, this actually was a really fun book.  Even the eye part.  First, the author gave a decent explanation for what he did . . . sort of.  If Ink were a normal person it would still be inexcusable, but with his character in the beginning, I understood why and what he did. Ink's character was one of the ones I enjoyed the most. First, he changes---drastically.  He's not the same person in the beginning that he becomes in the end, both emotionally and physically (you'll have to read the book to really understand that one). He's a unique romantic lead and a refreshing change from the sarcastic, bad boy who only the main character can truly see or understand.

I thought Joy was a good, albeit rather average, main character.   She was brave when she needed to be, and I really liked her attitude about being indispensable.  It helped her handle the challenge of the Twixt and Ink.  I did get a little sick of her issues with her mother. I might understand her feelings, but, for me, it sort of detracted from the rest of the book and added an unneeded level of angst that wasn't even resolved particularly well.

The world-building was excellent.  There are all sorts of mythical creatures that are new and unique and, honestly, a bit dark.  The Twixt, while it has it's good moments, is really more of a dark, strange place than some fantastical fairy world.  It took a while to see where this book was really going, but I loved the climax in the end and the way everything resolved.  I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a series, but it could be one book, and I really liked that.

The supporting characters were fun.  I especially liked the beings from the Twixt as opposed to Joy's human friends and family, mostly because they were far more interesting.  I should probably say something about Inq here.  She's actually rather the stereotypical love interest's "sister," and I wasn't a fan of the Q at the end of her name, but I did enjoy the contrast between her and Ink.  She's mysterious enough that I want to find out more about her in later books, and I loved her devoted group of guys.

All in all this is a fun, albeit slightly dark, read.  It's a strong 3.5 stars for me.  Some things happened a little too fast and there were a few transitions that confused me a bit, but overall I liked it.  It's a new, unique world, and I look forward to future books.

Book Review/Trailer Tuesday: The School for Good and Evil

“The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.”

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil.

But when the two girls are swept into the Endless Woods, they find their fortunes reversed—Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School For Good, thrust amongst handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.. But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are…?The School for Good & Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.   Quoted from Goodreads

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Okay, and if that fabulous synopsis wasn't enough to convince you, you have to check out this trailer.  It is probably the best book trailer I've seen to date and got me excited for the book all over again.

Wasn't that just about perfect.  Seriously, if that didn't make you want to rush out and get the book right this second, well, this book probably isn't for you at all then, because I loved it.  I'm almost glad I didn't see it before I read the book because my expectations might have been too high.  Still, I'm including it because I loved it.

As for the book, it was also delightful.  It's a middle grade, but it's a long middle grade.  Almost too long, really, but it keeps you turning pages, making it impossible to put down.  Plus, it's an excellent spin on your classic fairytale set up.  It actually reminded me a little bit of Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, where some things get turned on their head, but there were other things that played straight  out of a Grimm's fairytale.

Both Sophie and Agatha are delightful characters, and I really liked the way the author explored not only what makes a person good or evil, but the relationship between the two girls. While there is a handsome prince in the picture, it's the friendship between the two girls that is the backbone of the story.

I love Sophie's earnestness and drive to get what she wants. She views the world a very certain way, and even after obstacle after obstacle is thrown in her path, she keeps plunging forward towards what she wants.  Agatha, while a bit more practical and less self-assured, is just as dedicated, but her goals are different.  Sophie wants to be a princess, to marry a prince and live beautifully ever after.  Agatha wants to go home and protect her friend.  Both of them are willing to do whatever they need to to get what they want, but it leads them to becoming very different people, and I loved watching their journey.

Plus this book is funny.  I was totally cracking up at certain points, which made me glad I wasn't reading it in public (just a warning).  The role reversal was a perfect setting for some laughs, and the author absolutely explores that. 

Plus the supporting characters are excellent. Yes, some begin as your stereotypical cutouts, but most of them move past that as the characters relationship with them changes. And they're funny, interesting, disturbing, and creative.

Then we have twists and more twists.  Some of them I totally expected, but there were a  bunch I never saw coming, and I loved that.  The ending is an excellent mesh up of completed story and cliff-hanger, and I absolutely can't wait for the next book.  I'm really interested to see what happens to some of the characters now and how the author is going to keep playing with the themes of good and evil.  Plus, there's a bit of a mystery surrounding the Story Master himself, who he is, what he is, and the war that created him.

All in all, this is a strong 4 stars for me, with a good chance at being bumped higher.  It's an excellent adventure with an intriguing premise and good follow-through.  Really, the only problem is I have to wait until next April for A World Without Princes to come out.  Oh, it's also been optioned for a movie with Universal (I think the author is currently co-writing the screenplay), and I'm excited.  This could be excellent.

Meme Monday

http://themetapicture.com/born-with-a-reading-list/

Book Review: Earthbound

Tavia Michaels is the sole survivor of the plane crash that killed her parents. When she starts to see strange visions of a boy she’s never spoken with in real life, she begins to suspect that there’s much about her past that she isn’t being told. 

Tavia immediately searches for answers, desperate to determine why she feels so drawn to a boy she hardly knows. But when Tavia discovers that the aunt and uncle who took her in after her parents' death may have actually been responsible for the plane crash that killed them--and that she may have been the true intended victim--she flees for the safety of Camden, Maine, where the boy she sees in her visions instructs her to go.

Now, Tavia is on the run with no one to trust. No one, that is, except for her best friend and longtime crush, Benson.
Tavia feels torn between the boy who mysteriously comes to her at night and the boy who has been by her side every step of the way. But what Tavia doesn't know is that the world is literally falling apart and that to save it she will have to unite with the boy in her visions. Only problem? To do so would mean rejecting Benson's love. And that's the one thing Tavia Michaels swore she'd never do.   Quoted from Goodreads

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This has been quite the summer for Aprilynne Pike.  First we got Life After Theft, now Earthbound.  

I quite liked this book.  While certain elements reminded me of other works, the plot as a whole was in a totally different format from those books, and I enjoyed the way it meshed together. Actually I think it combined a few prominent themes from a few years ago (not vampires, so no worries) with some plot structures/antagonists that are popular now, which is a nice twist.  Okay, I know that was vague, but I don't want to give too much away by mentioning specifics.  

Probably what I loved and disliked most about the book was the romance. First, I wasn't a huge fan of the love triangle angle, but it ended up being a pretty important part of the book.  That being said, I'm hoping it's mostly over in the second one. Actually, the way they left things, I'm really excited for the second book.  The thing is, I like the idea of both Benson and mystery boy, Quinn.  They're both play an important role in the story and are good characters in their own right. I just wish there was a little bit less kissing. 

Shocking, I know!  

Still, the characters make out a lot in this book, and every kiss is sooo intense, that after a while they stop meaning all that much.  I wish we would have gotten our first kiss maybe around the half way point instead of the first third.  It would have meant more at that point, since while Tavia knew Benson for a while, we as readers didn't, and I needed more time to fall in love with him as a character before she started making out with him.  As for Quinn, I liked the way that relationship progressed.  It wasn't exactly normal, but it worked.

The adventure/conspiracy, I really enjoyed.  It's got plenty of twists and action that kept me reading just one more page.  Plus, a lot happens in a short amount of time.  The whole book takes place in something like a little over a week, so every day matters and takes it's toll on Tavia. As for Tavia, herself, she grew on me.  She started the book recovering from a traumatic experience, one that defined her whole life, and then to have all this other stuff thrust upon her really tested her, both physically and mentally.  Despite that, I think she handled things pretty realistically, all things considered.

All in all, this is a fun read, and seems to be setting up a great series.  That's kind of how I felt about Wings.  The first book was good, but the series got better as it progressed, so I have high hopes here.  Plus, the way the ending left things, the second book definitely looks to be more exciting/fun than the first. It's a lovely 3.5 stars, with bright hope for future installments.

Saturday Shorts: The King's Guard

At fifteen years old, Hector is the youngest squire in the most elite military force in the country. And his first day is disastrous. Everyone assumes the only reason he was recruited is his close personal association with King Alejandro, not because he's really earned it.

But Alejandro needs Hector for a secret mission, one that gives him the chance to prove to everyone—including himself—that he is worthy to be a Royal Guard. Hector must break into the ancient Fortress of Wind to retrieve something so important that the kingdom's future depends on it. What Hector finds in the fortress will stretch his bond of friendship with his king near to breaking. And it will prepare him to become the fearsome warrior and lord commander Elisa will never let go.
A riveting prequel to Rae Carson's epic and acclaimed Fire and Thorns series.  Quoted from Goodreads

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Perfect.  Absolutely perfect.

It's always hard to write reviews about novellas.  For the most part, I think I tend to gush a bit too much.  Any extra tidbits the author gives us makes me happy if it's a story I love, and if it's a story I'm  not thrilled and elated by, I generally don't read the extra parts. I'm simply not invested enough in that world.  I know I've gushed about both of Rae Carson's previous novellas, told from Elisa's sister and friend's POV, but this is the one I enjoyed the most. I won't lie and say it's strictly the quality of the story.  Both of her previous two were amazing, but this one has Hector!

The best part of it is, the story is so Hector.  We finally get something from his viewpoint, and I loved that, especially after that horrible/perfect ending in Crown of Embers.  Not that this has anything to do with that.  This takes place a something like 7 years before the first book, but still . . .

Now, besides Hector, this is an absolutely amazing short story for so many reasons.  I won't give them away, but first, we get learn a little something about his fellow guards.  Hector's two companions both appear in the books, but I had never really noticed them much before.  They were simply faceless guards and not really that important.  Now, looking back (okay, so I spend half an hour reading bits and pieces of Crown of Embers after I finished this because I wasn't quite ready to let the world go),  I realized how prominent their position in the castle was and their relationship with Hector.

Then there's the new information.  This is something all novellas really should have.  While you could totally read the series without ever reading this short story, it does provide some interesting information. One of my biggest pet peeves is when we get short story that just rehashes stuff we already knew from another character's POV.  New information should always be present because no other character will see the same events the same way or have the same background.  This story had an excellent plot twist that I want to gush more about but I won't.

 Plus we get adventure.  Lots of adventure, and a chance to see Hector at 15.

This is a solid 4.5 stars for me.  It's probably one of my top short stories ever.  And it is a complete story in and of itself.  If you had never read the series, you could pick this up and enjoy it for what it is.  It can serve as a gateway drug, if you like, to the rest of the series.  Basically, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it will now be setting the bar for other novellas.

Anticipating August

This August is shaping up to be a rather odd month.  The first half is, to put it mildly, pretty pathetic. There are a few books I'm looking forward to, but for the most part it's like a YA desert out there (okay, maybe it's not quite that bad, but still . . . ).

Then we hit the last tuesday, Aug. 27th, and everything changes.  There are so many books coming out that day I'm dying to read.  I wish publishers would have spread them out a bit more over the month.  Of course, The Bitter Kingdom tops my list, but after that, I have no idea what I'm going to read first. It's like the feast after famon.  It also serves as an excellent lead in to September, one of the best months for YA books.  So here's my list for August.  If I missed anything, let me know.  At least I still have plenty of books from past months to fill my time while I'm waiting for the 27th.

            6^th:  Infinityglass – Myra McEntire

        A Tale of Two Centuries– Rachel Harris

13^th: False Sight – DanKrokos

                                               The Deepest Night –Shana Abe

                                               Battle of the Ampere - Richard Paul Evans

            15^th: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 

               – April Genevieve Tucholke

            20^th: Doon – Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

                     Soulbroken – Heather Brewer
                     The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon 

            27^th: The Bitter Kingdom – Rae Carson

                     Origin – Jennifer L. Armentrout

        Deception – CJ Redwine

                                                 The Morning Star – Robin Bridges

                     Crown of Midnight– Sarah J. Mass

          TheLiberator – Victoria Scott

         Consume (The Clan#3)– Melissa Darnell

          Descendent –Leslie Livingston