Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas

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

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Mystery

Rating: 5 GAZILLION STARS

Publication: August 7, 2012, by Bloomsbury USA Children

Format: Hardcover Edition (Borrowed)






Goodreads Summary: 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 three 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.

Review:

   Coming from my thoughts of this book, no words can explain my love for this book. It's unreal and unbelievable at the same time. Throne of Glass is my favourite book. There, I said it. (Well, it's one of them.)

    

      High-fantasy? Naw, not usually my type. Okay, it's never my type of genre to read from. But I think after reading this book, the genre and concept of high-fantasy is going to get a lot more purchases from this girl. *points to self* High-fantasy and heart pounding romance? Just my type.

      For as long as I've been reading YA fiction, the Throne of Glass series has been raved about over and over again. I never stood to give it a chance because of my bad reputation with reading fantasy novels. I usually could only stand a touch of fantasy, but even those books never end up getting a 5 star rating from me. I'm a tough judge, and fantasy used to be one of my biggest pet peeves. After reading this book, everything has changed completely.

       I just have this feeling in my heart right now that just wants me to gush and gush everything out. Like I don't know how to sort my thoughts out into words, but I will try my best starting now.

        Like I mentioned above, I was very afraid to read this book. I didn't want to be the black sheep again (as I usually now am). This book was intimidating me for a long time, especially because of the number of pages that it has. I knew it that I'd get bored easily and get shot down by the amount of info-dumping, but I was straight on wrong. I would like to send a personal thank you message to all of the people who proved me wrong. Haha, I'm now just like you Throners. :) (My personal fandom name for us.)

       If you haven't read this book already, then lemme give you a tiny recap. Celaena Sardothien has been working in the salt mines in Endovier to pay for her crimes. Yes, she's a slave, and yes, she gets whipped. Just to mention a few things: she's an assassin, and she's 18. So don't imagine a wimpy teenager. This girl can fight and she's known for her reputation. When she's dragged to a whole different city and found by the Crown Prince, she's wondering why was she chosen to come and bow down in front of Her Majesty. Prince Dorian offers her freedom. Freedom was all that she's ever wanted after everything's she been through, and that includes freedom from the memories of waking up on a frozen river next to her dead parents. Celaena must compete in a competition to become the King's next Champion, his next royal assassin. The competitors are feisty as ever, and they're all sponsored and represented by different members of the royal council. Celaena is sponsored by Dorian, the Prince, and feelings that are more than friendship begin to sprout up between them. If she beats her opponents and wins the duel match in the end, she is granted as becoming the King's Champion, and stays in the castle for four years, and then gets her name washed away and becomes free. But it's also the Captain of the Guard, Chaol Westfall, who understands Celaena the best because he's been through similar situations all of his life. Adding to that mystery, Celaena's fellow opponents begin to turn up dead, and it's all behind the master plan of one killer, and it's basically up to Celaena to find out who this is. But the most important thing: she needs to win.

        From beginning this book to the end, I was having an insta-love relationship with the characters and plot. From page one, I was in love with the whole reality. Everything about this book was perfect, and I wouldn't stand to miss a second of Sarah J. Maas's beautiful words that just haunt the reader until it's all over. Having the whole assassin idea taking place was beautiful. I normally hate assassins, but Celaena was just the most badass out of them all. I still can't believe that Sarah wrote this (at least the first draft) when she was sixteen! Gosh, she's talented.

      All throughout, Sarah had a great idea going on. The main idea that TOG decided to portray was that:

      It's not fair and it's never going to be. You can be beautiful and wise, but that doesn't mean that you're going to end up being royal, as in Celaena's case. Seeing an author write a whole other story in between the lines of this book was just fascinating, and only some will see that.

      The setting was just spectacular. I guess we don't really know if this is a dystopia setting or something historical, but either way, it's stunning beyond words. I love the world that these characters live in, despite the unfairness going on. In many ways, it's similar to ours, and that's even better because us readers can relate to things that are going on. The world developed to a great standing very quickly, and it felt so natural to just dream and live with the characters. During those 404 pages, I was in Celaena's world.

      Now, I saved the characters for last, because well...

        Put my thoughts together about them. They're just so perfect. *sheds tears*

        Celaena: Everyone's been giving mixed thoughts about this chick. Some good, some horrible thoughts. I loved Celaena, so dearly much. I don't care if she was "girly," or "too in love to not give a shit about anything else." Just because she's a freakin' badass assassin doesn't mean that she has to be all tough. SHE'S UNIQUE AND HER OWN AWESOME CHARACTER. I feel that people are being too judgemental about her. She's special in her own way. Adding to that, she's the best fighter, bro. Like everything to her comes naturally. *plays Selena Gomez* All of her moves and fights, they're so gorgeous to read about and watch. The visualizations that play in my head are like a movie. Speaking of which, this should really be a movie or TV show. *gushes*

         Dorian:

         My BAE is another character who gets hated on. He's gorgeous, he's beautiful, he's wanted, HE'S MINE. I don't understand why people hate him so much, but he's all perfect. I find that I usually fall for the royal ones. Teehee. 

         "Well, who wants to be hated? Though I'd rather be hated than invisible. But it makes no difference." 

         Well, I don't know how else to explain my love for Dorian, but there you have it before I go full on blabbing about his beauty to me. *plays All of Me*

                

          Chaol:

                 

         I simply can't and am not able to choose between Chaol and Dorian, and I probably won't ever be able to. Please, just look at this lovely quote:

         "Celaena." He stopped a few feet from the guards. His eyes were rich, molten brown. "Yes?" He heartbeat steadied. "You look rather pretty today," was all he said before the doors opened and they walked forward."

         When I read this quote, my heart skipped a beat, literally. I seriously don't know how Celaena can remain so calm and easy-going around these two beautiful men. I'd just fawn over instantly. 

         And then we had the awesome side characters as well. My favourite would have to be Nehemia. If you've read this, you'll understand why. *grins* She's Celaena's guardian angel, basically, and their friendship is so brilliant. 

         By the end, I just couldn't believe how much I adored this book. It was so addicting, so petrifying, cryptic, and so inspiring and life-changing at the same time. And I'm officially having a book-hangover. I just can't stop thinking about the characters and story and I can't get over the world.

          Local library, I'm running over to you to get Crown of Midnight!

  Some Other Beautiful Quotes:

"When she awoke every morning, she repeated the same words: I will not be afraid. For a year, those words had meant the difference between breaking and bending; they had kept her from shattering in the darkness of the mines. Not that she'd let the captain know any of that." (p. 2)

"You don't care for salmon?" "I hate fish. I'd rather die than eat it." "That's surprising," he said, taking a bite. "Why?" "Because you smell like one." (p. 92)

"I like music," she said slowly, "because when I hear it, I ... I lose myself within myself, if that makes sense. I become empty and full all at once, and I can feel the whole earth roiling around me. When I play, I'm not... for once, I'm not destroying. I'm creating." (p. 230)

"No matter what happens," she said quietly, "I want to thank you." Chaol tilted his head to the side. "For what?" Her eyes stung, but she blamed it on the fierce wind and blinked away the dampness. "For making my freedom mean something." (p. 350)

"But she barely heard him. Huddled on the ground, hot tears slid down Celaena's face. She'd won. Through the pain, Celaena began laughing."(p. 369)

"He was done with politics and intrigue. He loved her, and no empire, no king, and no earthly fear would keep him from her. No, if they tried to take her from him, he'd rip the world apart with bare hands. And for some reason, that didn't terrify him." (p. 371)

Black City, by Elizabeth Richards

Black City (Black City #1), by Elizabeth Richards

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Romance, Dystopian, Vampires, Paranormal/Supernatural, Fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Publication: November 13, 2012, by G.P. Putnam's Son BYR

Format: Hardcover Edition (Borrowed)


Goodreads Summary: A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-old Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

Review:

  "I love you," he says. "I love the way you bite your bottom lip when you're nervous. I love the annoying way you rattle mints against your teeth when you eat them. I love how brave you are. Those are the reasons I love you, Natalie, not because you have a Darkling heart." 

    I'm certainly not a big fan of fantasy novels. And when I do catch one that sounds very interesting, I become very picky when getting them. They have to meet my requirements to be good. For a book with these genres, I need to make sure that reviewers have stated that this book has been written greatly. And this book has received a 3.78 rating on Goodreads, so I was in from the start. Plus, it's been raved about for a while now since its release in late 2012.

     This book was so amazing. After reading it, I feel like I was sprinkled with a bucket of pixie dust because it has given me everything I want in a fantasy/paranormal read. Ahh, the awesome feels that these books give you. *dreams away*

         One of the reasons that I picked up this beauty was because of that gorgeous cover. And after reading, I feel like that cover suited the book so much because of its imperfections. It doesn't just show a rose sitting there-- it's a rose breaking up into pieces, just like how Ash was slowly breaking up into someone new by the end of this book. Yes, I have made a guess here. :)

         It actually is very difficult to guess what the main concept and idea of this book was. Elizabeth Richards focused a lot on the romance and relationship between Ash and Natalie, and I am here to admit that the relationship that these two had was so alluring and prepossessing that I care to classify them as one of the best couples in YA literature. From the moment the two set eyes on each other in the end of the first chapter, I knew that Richards would take a YA paranormal romance into a whole other dimension, and she did it. The romance was such a big part of this book and it was amazing. The sacrifices taken, the choices made, the length of time that the two were without each other... It was just so amazing to see and visualize.

         Elizabeth Richards's characters were invincible comparing to others. They felt so real, and creating POVs from Ash and Natalie's minds was just an astonishing idea, coming from the way they spoke to us in their real voices. These two characters were so unconquerable and went above and beyond my expectations for a good YA couple. When reading their POVs, you feel like you're getting sucked into the world that they live in, and what's better than experiencing the whole YA novel journey the way we all wish it to be?

         

       The idea of this book was like no other. I usually loathe the concept and mention of vampires because it has taken such a craze in YA books that it's totally classified as "above-mainstream" now, but Elizabeth Richards knew that, and she took vampires in a whole other direction. (She takes everything in her books to a whole 'nother level, bro.) Instead of vampires, these were darklings, abnormal creatures living in a dystopian world where they're not treated as equals. 

        You see? Even the world-building was great. This was a dystopia novel that had a world that was for once diverse, unequal and beautiful at the same time, although Ash got in trouble a lot with the government, haha. (REBELS RULE, THOUGH.)

       When starting this book, I was addicted. I made it to page 150 with no regrets and it stayed at a 4 star rating. From page 150-250, I was a little bored because there wasn't much going on. The romance between Ash and Natalie still didn't really intensify yet (which was good because I don't want insta-love), but there weren't many events happening. It was slow-paced at the time, but I kept going because I loved everything else. Then from there, I went from eh to absolutely fangirling every second. But the plot was wonderfully established, and Richards's writing was very strong and detailed, just the way we all like it.

       The ending really had me going mad. I seriously thought that Ash... Well never mind. You'll just have to read it and see. But I was fearing for my life, but then everything ended up okay with him and then another problem occurred. War is on again, and things are about to get even crazier. We're kind of left at a major cliffhanger and I really want to see what's going happen with everyone. 

           I have Phoenix, the sequel, already, but I have so many TBR reads in my pile so that's going to have to hold off for a few weeks. But I'm aching, seriously aching for it! This book was life-changing and astronomically amazing. Pick it up to see for yourselves. :)

These Broken Stars, by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

These Broken Stars (Starbound #1), by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Dystopia, Science-Fiction, Romance

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Publication: December 10, 2013, by Disney-Hyperion

Format: Hardcover Edition





Goodreads Summary: It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. 

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. 

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

Review: 

"Tarver is so certain I'm me, I'm his girl--but how can he know? I want to believe him. Sometimes I almost do. I want to believe I'm more than imaginary smoke drifting from an imaginary chimney. But for the scrape of fabric against my bare, raw skin as I dress, I would think myself no more than a memory."

  

  There are rare times when you can possibly classify a book as "beautiful." But, this book was, inside and out. This was an addicting, gorgeous book that went through a whole different stage than most sci-fi dystopia books do. This was literature brilliance.

   I'm so glad that I requested an ARC of the sequel from the publisher. I NEED IT ASAP.

Lilac LaRoux is the daughter of the richest man alive. Tarver is just an ordinary soldier, a guy who knows better than what it seems. When the humungous spaceliner that they live on, the Icarus, crashes into the nearest planet after its yanked out of hyperspace, Lilac and Tarver realize that they're the only two around. They must work together to find help and rescue and survival, and at the same time, they fall in love into each other's arms, but never knew it until the end. Lilac hears whispers calling their names, and mysterious sightings of people and supplies have been shown around. They must figure out the secrets behind the reason why they were thrown onto the planet, before it's too late.

    We've all read those sci-fi dystopias where people live in ships heading towards a new safe planet after the Earth was demolished. But then of course, something comes in the way of the happiness, and action and a trilogy of romance with a love triangle begins. NO. This book is something completely different, thrilling and more beautiful. This is These Broken Stars, an unique YA novel that has never been done before. This is about a powerful, thrilling romance and survival story that will cause you to bite your fingernails until their tips. You will laugh, cry, and scream with Tarver and Lilac as they find out the truth behind everything and still struggle to survive, because hey, crashing into an unknown terraforming planet is difficult, right?

     This idea was unstoppable. The two fantastic authors have just created a masterpiece right here, and I recommend it truly to everyone out there. It has a mix of everything for everyone and isn't your typical YA novel. It's something more and bolder. The concept and idea was just amazing.

     Before beginning the novel, I was very afraid to see the outcome of this book. I knew that I've never read anything like it. The first time for everything can either end up good or bad, aren't I right? But from the start, I had an insta-love moment with this book. From the moment Tarver and Lilac set eyes on each other, I knew that this book was going to end up being one of my favourites; and look where we are now!

      As I went on with the book it got better and better. I needed some clarification with things, though. Why are they on this ship in the first place? How did Tarver get onto the ship? Why an army if they live on a spaceliner? More information on how the spaceliner looks please, and the purpose of this whole spaceliner/hyperspace thing? An answer to those questions, and I would've been good.

       There wasn't a moment in this book when I wasn't bored. It was thrilling and amazing the whole time and I couldn't set the book down. It was like a drug that you get this addiction effect from. You like awesome and thrilling plots? Go for this, and for the other reasons as well.

       Tarver and Lilac were perfection. They were such amazing characters, you can't even imagine. In my eyes, their connection was just unbeatable. You can't possibly take another set of characters and compare them to Tilac. (OTP) I'm sorry, Fourtris, but you've just got beaten by the newest couple in town.

        Their situation was like, if you're here, I'm there for you. The love and beautifying thing they had going on since the moment they met (but they just couldn't admit it until they couldn't stop kissing each other, hehe) was one of the most enjoying parts of the book, not that everything else wasn't.

         "But just now, as we wait for the engines to kick in, all of that is far away. For a moment the image before us is frozen: our world, our lives, reduced to a handful of broken stars half lost in unchartered space. Then it's gone, the view swallowed by the hyperspace winds streaming past, blue-green auroras wiping the afterimages away. Until that's all left of us."

        So.. Can I be part of that world?

   

     Hey, that looks like Lilac!

     Yes, so the world-building in this book was also perfect. I really felt like I was part of the world that Tarver and Lilac were living in, and we actually feel like we absolutely ASAP need to be in that world or else we'll suffocate ourselves. Yeah. It's that mind-crazing. 

      This book was unbelievably amazing. It's one of the best of the year, and certainly one of my all-time favourites. Sadly, the sequel isn't from the POV of Tarver and Lilac. :( Hopefully the next pair will be just as KICK-ASS.

Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Perfect Ruin (The Internment Chronicles #1), by Lauren DeStefano
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Dystopian
Rating: 3/5 stars

On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.
Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

Review:

• Lauren DeStefano is one of my most favourite authors. I loved her trilogy, Wither, and I was so excited to hear that she is beginning a new dystopian trilogy. New characters and a new beginning was exactly what I was looking for. 
• Where was the goodness here? This book didn't end up the way I expected it. I wanted a deeper story with more happening whatsoever. The characters were very boring and they didn't seem heroic at all. 
• This is classified as a dystopian book, but I don't think that it was a good idea at all. It seems like some of the lower class ones with no big idea just random things happening.
• I wanted better! More romance, more dystopian, more drama!