Review Time #73

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas 

Consumed by guilt and rage, Celaena can't bring herself to spill blood for the King of Adarlan. She must fight back...

The Immortal Queen will help her destroy the king - for a price. But as Celaena battles with her darkest memories and her heart breaks for a love that could never last, can she fulfil the bargain and head the almighty court of Terrasen? And who will stand with her?

Do not read this review if you haven't read Crown of Midnight because of spoilers for this book will appear!

I have FINALLY gotten around to reviewing the latest Throne of Glass book. I read this in May and it is now the end of November, I'm sorry I've been horrible at blogging this year. Now this will not be a normal review it will be split up into four parts because there is four separate story lines in Heir of Fire. I'll save the best for last:

Manon and the witches:
We meet a lot of new characters in Heir of Fire and Manon and the rest of the witches are just some of them. Manon is the granddaughter of the High Witch of the Blackbeak clan, she and the witches haven't flown in the sky since magic ceased in Adarlan. The King it seems is up to his old tricks by giving the witches "bulls" which have the ability to fly. 

There wasn't too much about this story in Heir of Fire but you can tell that the King is up to no good with this, hopefully we should see why the witches are important in book 4.

Dorian and Sorscha:
As we learnt in the previous book Crown of Midnight that Dorian has some magic in him. Chaol and Dorian have a bit of a falling out which causes Dorian to turn to Sorscha a healer at the castle to help him. I am saying no more without causing spoilers (sorry!).

Chaol and Aedion:
Aedion Ashryver, yep that is right he is Aelin's cousin. This friendship/alliance/we-won't-kill-each-other-pack-thing these two had going on did a lot to progression of the storyline. Chaol I hate your father and you need to make up your god damn mind on whose side you are on already! Aedion, I grew to like you because of how much you care about Aelin and want the best for her.

The ending of the Dorian, Sorscha, Chaol and Aedion story in this book was, I cannot even explain how crazy it was and I need book 4 because of it!

And lastly Aelin and Rowan
This was the main story of course and I loved how much Celaena/Aelin grew in this book. Celaena went to Wendlyn to find out from the Immortal Queen Maeve of the Fae about the Wardkeys and what they are. But of course Maeve being a Fae and all, she wants to know exactly what Celaena can do with her magic before letting her into Doranelle and telling her.

Rowan is in charge of training Celaena to help her get her magic back after being trapped for 10 years. I really loved the journey that Celaena took during Heir of Fire and Rowan really helped with that and unlocking Aelin from the mask the she created as Celaena. To see her become Aelin was fantastic and written beautifully. I want to say so much more about this topic but I really do not want to spoil the book for everyone :(

After Heir of Fire I am no longer Team Chaolena because of events during the book and understanding a bit more about everything. I guess I am Team Fire and Ice kinda because of stuff that happened that I want to talk about but I can't here :( I need book 4 because of the cliff-hangers (yep more than one). 

So if you have managed to make it through my not making any sense review, congratulations! Heir of Fire was a brilliant and you literally couldn't put the book down, Maas just has a way of words that drag you into the book and don't let you out until you have finished!

Thanks Bloomsbury for the eARC and ARC!

Rating: 5/5

Keely xx

Review Time #57

Hey everyone, sorry about the MIA lately it is because uni decided that I would have all my assignments due on the day that I had to travel home, so I had to get all my assignments done before I could leave! Then I also just watched a lot of TV shows and read a lot of books over break...

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Contains all five novellas.

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.

Now if you have seen previously my reviews for books 1 and 2 in this series you would know how much I love the series! Thanks to the fantastic people at Bloomsbury I received a review copy of The Assassin's Blade which is all five prequel novellas which admittedly I hadn't read before I started the series because I won an ARC of Throne of Glass. 

The novellas were fantastic as we could see how Celaena ended up Endovier and who Sam exactly was. I loved Sam and he was a greater partner/lover for Celaena as he challenged her and seeing him in the novellas and knowing how she reacted in Throne of Glass when asked questions about Sam was great to see this partnership.

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
In this first novella we got to meet Sam and Arobynn (who I might add I hated and don't have some very internet/blog friendly words to say about him but you get the drift) and see the very hate and sometimes love relationship between all three of them. Now since I had read books 1 & 2 before this and had already seen some of Celaena's human side and not the I am going to kill you side, but in this novella we got inside her mind as to why she did what she did when Arobynn orders weren't something she liked. Sam while wanting to follow orders stayed beside Celaena's side *sigh*.

The Assassin and  the Healer
This was a short novella we saw more into Celaena's mind and how she reacted when someone she doesn't know got into danger and then help her out by giving her some self defence tips. Only Celaena in this novella so no Sam to love.

The Assassin and the Desert
After defying Arobynn's orders in the first novella Celaena is sent to the silent assassin's in the red desert and boy was this the best out of the lot. We got Celaena the assassin like in CoM and the silent assassin's were brilliant, especially for Celaena. 

The Assassin and the Underworld
I hated Arobynn so much more in this novella than the previous three because he just doesn't care about anything but what he has created. We got Sam and Celaena together at last and now after what Arboynn has done they want out. But of course as we have come to know with Celaena nothing is ever that simple.

The Assassin and the Empire
This novella will destroy you and if you haven't already read ToG and CoM you won't know what happens. For those of you that have we knew it was coming but we didn't know how horrible you were going to feel about it. 

"My name is Celaena Sardothien. I will not be afraid." 

That quote was the death of me after all these novellas, so I went and re-read ToG and CoM.

Overall rating: 5/5
Thanks again Bloomsbury for the review copy!

Keely xx

Review Time #43

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Mass

Eighteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien is bold, daring and beautiful – the perfect seductress and the greatest assassin her world has ever known. But though she won the King’s contest and became his champion, Celaena has been granted neither her liberty nor the freedom to follow her heart. The slavery of the suffocating salt mines of Endovier that scarred her past is nothing compared to a life bound to her darkest enemy, a king whose rule is so dark and evil it is near impossible to defy. Celaena faces a choice that is tearing her heart to pieces: kill in cold blood for a man she hates, or risk sentencing those she loves to death. Celaena must decide what she will fight for: survival, love or the future of a kingdom. Because an assassin cannot have it all . . . And trying to may just destroy her.

Love or loathe Celaena, she will slice open your heart with her dagger and leave you bleeding long after the last page of the highly anticipated sequel in what is undeniably THE hottest new fantasy series.

Wow. This book was just simply amazing, so many twists and turns, deaths and new magical secrets arise. It was the perfect squeal to Throne of Glass which I also loved. 

Celaena Sardothien is the King of Adarlan's Champion, pretty much meaning that she is the Kings assassin. We pick up around four months after the end of Throne of Glass and Celaena already has a secret, she isn't assassinating those who the King wants dead, but faking their deaths. We see a lot of her past in this book, why she "snapped" at Endovier, her family and Sam. 

There is a lot of secrets this time around, people are not who they seem. But really what is to be expected, they are at war and no-one knows who side everyone is on. We meet some new characters and we are reunited with some favourites, Nehemia, Chaol and Dorian are back and we meet Roland, Mort and Archer. Each of the characters plays a role in their own right and everyone is keeping secrets.

As we found out in Throne of Glass we know that a few of characters have something magical in them or at least understand what is happening around them. Celaena learns more about the Wyrdmarks from Nehemia who seems to be hiding something from her. Dorian is starting to stand up to his father, who has more power than ever and with Celaena being his assassin his threat is greater than ever. 

Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Guard, what can I say? We get to see more of him with Celaena *squeallll* and his complicated relationship with his father, yes the father who pretty much disowned when he decided to the Captain of the Guard instead of being a Lord. We also get an insight into his relationship with Dorian which is great because we didn't get to see much of this in Throne of Glass. Dorian Havilliard the Crowned Prince is finally sticking up for himself and looking past what his father is making the world become. Even after everything that happened in Throne of Glass Dorian and Celaena are still able to maintain a great friendship, the secrets that they uncover about themselves and each other. Nehemia is helping Dorian out with everything happening between their countries and his father.

Crown of Midnight was the perfect sequel to Throne of Glass the mystery, secrets and hidden pasts of characters. The ending will leave you in suspense wishing you had the next book in your hands right there and then.

Rating: 5/5

Keely xx 

Review Time! #18

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Thanks to Bloomsbury for holding the competition on twitter! I was lucky enough to win an ARC of 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?

This novel had me at assassin. Think of it like Maria V. Snyder's Study series with a female Valek. Celaena is taken from the death camp in the salt mines of Endovier to become Prince Dorian's "champion" a.k.a assassin for a competition to see who will be the King's champion. Celaena's identity is hidden from the other competors to give her the 'underdog' advantage in the final showdown.

But like any novel there of course is a twist. A magical creature is murdering the other contestents and other competitors are getting stronger. At first I didn't realise that it had a strong magical side to it which made it much more interesting. Prince Maxon and Chaol spend alot of time with Celanena as she prepares for each 'task' and of course romance spikes, but who falls for her I shall not reveal but it is quite unsual how they end up with each other.

The characterisation of the three main characters Celaena, Maxon and Chaol is different for each other them as they each have different upbringings. Celaena an orphan from a young age then trained into an assassin, both Maxon and Chaol grew up at court and became friends however Chaol abdicated being a lord to become Captain of the guard and we know that Maxon is a Prince. And then we have Nehemia, the Eyllwe princess who becomes friends with Celaena but doesn't know who she really is, it is intriuging as to how they let a trained killer be with a princess.

The supernatural twist that this story has makes it must more interesting and makes you want to read about Celaena and her life. The assassin aspect still holds a great part of the story which I liked because I have a thing for spies, thieves, assassins and murderous teens, don't ask me why.

All in all this a great start to a promising series which I cannot wait to read more of! I must admit I am yet to read the novellas which I will start to read shortly!

Rating: 5/5

Keely xx

IMM #3

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. I'm only going to do this when I get a chance, exams coming up and year 12 is terrible! So this is from the last few weeks!

 

Hey guys, this is my haul since the last IMM!

WON:

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, Thankyou to Bloomsbury for the comp on twitter! I cannot wait to read it!

BOUGHT:

Second Chance Summer by Morgans Matson, After hearing nothing but great things about this book I had to go buy it! Loved all of it and it was a book that set you into tears.

The Last Echo by Kimberly Derting, I love the body finder series and this one was no expection! However it doesn't match my other covers! The others are so pretty and this one is dark, but then again it is a dark book

The Selection by Kiera Cass, This book was amazing, after seeing it in the shop I couldn't not buy it!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, I finally have an actual copy of this book! Instead of ebook reading it, I can now finally read it in book form.

Borrowed:

The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald, my best friend insited I read this before the movie comes out, so lets see how it goes!

And that is it for this week! What did you recieve in your mailbox this week?

Keely xx