August 30, 2015 – Book Snacks

I’ve been seeing this tag around and I’ve been meaning to do it, but never really got around to it until I found that I got tagged by Zezee @ Zezee with Books. Thank you so much!! August is basically over, so this technically isn’t ‘mid-year’ anymore, but better late than never, no? XD Let’s get to it! (Just a note: all book covers lead to its respective Goodreads page!)

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2015.

Ahhh, you’ve got to be kidding! I’m absolutely terrible at choosing a favorite… so here are 3! (I’m sure you saw that coming. XD) There are of course so many more I can mention, but these are just a few off the top of my head!

[review] [review] [review]

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2015.

Ahhh these sequels are so amazing!! I love them both so much. I found Crown of Midnight to be the strongest book in the Throne of Glass series so far, and it’s simply magnificent!! (And since I cannot go without mentioning it: COME TO ME, QUEEN OF SHADOWS!)
The Winner’s Crime is another book I absolutely loved, and I can’t wait for The Winner’s Kiss!! ❤

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.

There are a lot of books to name for this one! Basically all the books I haven’t read yet in my June, July, and August releases posts, to be honest. But one that I will name is:

I know Amy @ Book Enthral loved this one, and it seems like an awesome book, so I really can’t wait to read this one! I even own a copy of it, so I’m having my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to get around to it soon. Also, I’ve read and enjoyed this author’s Tiger’s Curse series, so my hopes are pretty high. 🙂

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Yeah, definitely no surprise here, I’m sure! But since this book is being released just the day after tomorrow, I’m going to also go with:

I want this book so badly!! Ughh.

5. Biggest disappointment.

[review]

I was also thinking of putting Matched by Ally Condie, but since I’ve used that one for quite a lot of other book tags, I’m going with Bossypants, because it was a pretty big disappointment for me as well. I was expecting more from it, but then again, it’s most probably because I’m not that into non-fiction or the topics she covers.

6. Biggest surprise.

This was a pretty big surprise in that I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did! It was absolutely amazing, and I loved it.

7. Favorite new author (debut or new to you).

I’m going to go with two answers for this one:

I’ve only read one novel from both othese authors (The Wrath and the Dawn,& Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, respectively) and I loved them! Their writing styles are wonderful, and I really enjoyed all their works.

8. Newest Fictional crush.

Ahh… This one’s hard! You all know how much I love my fictional crushes. But newest one? I guess that would be Max from The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord. He’s such a cutie pie! ❤

9. Newest favorite character.

Ooh, another hard one! Ahh, I honestly don’t know. My recent reads have chosen to completely go blank on my right now. I suppose I’ll go with Shahrzad from The Wrath and the Dawn (Lol, I think I used this book 3 times already or something). She’s very smart, and I love her personality. You can check out my review for more details about her.

10. Book that made you cry.

Now, I’m not really a full-out crying girl, but the last book that brought out a tear from we was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. It was a very touching story, especially near the end and I really liked it! And any book that manages to get me to shed a tear is pretty special for me.

11. Book that made you happy.

There are a lot of books I could choose for this, but I’m going to go with:

[review]

This book is super cute and fun, albeit being pretty cliché. I had lots of fun reading this, and it definitely shined a smile on my face!

12. Favorite book to film adaptation you saw this year.

I’m going to say Love, Rosie for this one, a movie based on the book by Cecelia Ahern. I really loved this movie! It didn’t exactly follow the book precisely, but it got the themes across and it was a super cute movie! Plus Lily Collins and Sam Claflin had awesome chemistry together.

13. Favorite review you’ve written this year.

This one is another hard one, considering how I’m a harsh critic of my own work, but I think I will answer for this one, my review of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh, or Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I loved all three of these books very much and I think that showed through my review of each. (I hope, at least.)

14. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received).

Aghhh this tag is full of questions that are incredibly hard to answer!! I’ve bought so many beautiful books this year, it’s honestly impossible to answer this question accurately. But since it would be terribly hard to name all the beautiful books I’ve gotten so far this year, I’m just going to bring it down to one book (shocking, I know!):

I’m actually currently reading this one, and I suppose I’m liking it, so far. But anyway, it has a beautiful cover and although it may not be the most beautiful book, it’s the one that was easiest to come up with. 😉 Otherwise I’d probably be listing books until I’m 80.

15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

ALL OF THE 970 BOOKS THAT ARE ON MY GOODREADS TBR. (And my TBR is actually even bigger than that because I have more books I have yet to add to my Goodreads shelf…) Okay, obviously I’m not going to be able to get through that many, so I guess mostly the books I have hauled in the past months, as well as the books I have hauled in previous years that have been piled since forever on my TBR. There are honestly so many I can’t just think of a few. Not to mention I have no idea which direction I will take for my TBR, soo… I guess this question will be left blank! XD

I tag…

I’m not going to be tagging anyone this time around, but if you think this looks like a fun tag, I tag YOU! Let me know in the comments what you think of this tag, or if you want to do it, because then I shall add your name to this post to make it official. 😉 If you do it, link back to me so I can check it out! ❤

Happy tagging and end-of August, bookworms!

(Throne of Glass #1)

Published: August 2nd 2012

Synopsis:

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?

Throne of Glass_bookcover — Add to Goodreads

My Rating: 4.5/5 (Amazing)

Book Information

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre(s): Fantasy, Young-Adult

Page Count: 404

Format: Paperback

Hello! Today I have for you a review on Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, the first book in the epic fantasy series of the same name. Since Queen of Shadows (SO EXCITED), the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series, is being released very soon (September 1st, to be precise) and I plan to read it as soon as I receive it (I pre-ordered it), me being me, I decided I had to review the previous three books. So here I am, with a review on the first book, from where the adventure all started!

I’m usually terrible at reviewing a book in a series when I’ve already read its accompanying sequels (and it was a while back too) but I’ll be giving it my best shot! To write a more accurate review, I’m going to be [attempting] writing the review from the viewpoint of when I first read it, without the knowledge of the events in the second and third book. Let’s get on with it!

Plot

I love this story so much! Everything about it had me addicted. However, one thing that might irk some readers is the fact that it isn’t constantly in action. There is action, though, if you’re patient enough to stick with the story. From the very first page we’re thrown right into the story, and from there the plot and storyline builds up everything rather slowly (but artfully) to its end point where all hell breaks loose. I found myself enraptured with the whole story, even if we were at some point where it wasn’t exactly an active scene. (And there was magic included! Magic! I absolutely love when there is magic involved in a story, there are so many open gates for the author, and the reader, to explore which allows for quite the enticing story.) There was just enough going on (despite the lack of constant action) in the book, what with the incredible world-building, the romance, the mystery, the magic, and it all flowed together seamlessly. It was truly magical!

Characters

“My name is Celaena Sardothien. But it makes no difference if my name’s Celaena or Lillian or Bitch, because I’d still beat you, no matter what you call me.”

I loved Celaena. She is everything I love in a strong female protagonist and more! She is by no means perfect, but her personality (a mix of fierce, arrogant and feminine) is perfect for her occupation and is quite endearing, if I’m to be honest. Her wit and sarcastic nature led to amusing interactions with other characters, which I truly enjoyed quite a bit! But what I love about her the most is the fact that she’s an amazing representation of a strong, female lead. How? Well. I know lots of readers think negatively of the fact that Celaena comments positively on her own looks, and think that makes her arrogant and selfish. But while Celaena may be arrogant (she says so herself if I’m not mistaken), is being confident in her looks a bad thing? There are so many female leads out there who are insecure about how they look, and I loved how Celaena wasn’t like that.

In short, Celaena Sardothien was blessed with a handful of attractive features that compensated for the majority of average ones; and, by early adolescence, she’d discovered that with the help of cosmetics, these average features could easily match the extraordinary assets.

Also, did I mention she loved books? Yep, along with being one of Erilea’s most feared assassins, she’s an avid reader.

“Libraries were full of ideas–perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.”

Despite being who she was (a self-confident and kick-butt assassin) she was so relatable and girly, even. Which is, of course, another thing that puts her apart from other characters. She proves that you can be feminine and still be a badass, and be a badass and still be feminine. Amazing, really, when you think about how few books there are with characters like that.

Next we have Prince Dorian Havilliard, who wasn’t completely what I expected. He was a typical character in that his princely roles, obligations and duties were familiar (needed to marry, obey his father, etc. etc.) but I did not expect to like him as much as I did. He wasn’t a stuck-up and arrogant snob (well, not too arrogant, at least) like some royals I can name (*Cough* Eadlyn *cough*), but instead a caring and thoughtful person. He is quite charming and his and Celaena’s interactions were quite cute and fun to read. However there is a teensy little problem…

…Which comes in the name and form of Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Guard. He is amazing. I loved him, really. He’s all scowling and gloomy, but really, he has a heart of gold. So why wouldn’t I love him? (I’m almost not even joking, he’s simply to die for.) His interactions with Celaena are more different than the ones she had with Dorian, but no less entertaining and cute to read about. Their relationship is more subtle, and really, more stronger in my opinion! Though do not let my judgement influence you. 😉 Overall, Chaol is still a total cutie pie!

Writing Style

“Sometimes, the wicked will tell us things just to confuse us–to haunt our thoughts long after we’ve faced them.”

I refuse to believe this is the debut of Sarah J. Maas. Nope. The writing in this novel was absolutely fantastic. First off, I loved how the world was written; we aren’t given, like, heaps and mounts of information on this world we’re in, but we’re able (or at least *I* was able) to imagine the world we’re in, understand its history and what it’s like. And I loved that, because often in books of the fantasy genre, it’s hard to fully get a grip on the world we’re in, but for Throne of Glass, it was like second skin. Another thing I loved about the writing was that it was seemed so poetic and flowed so nicely with the tone and mood of the book. It was effortless, reading this book, and I enjoyed reading it so much because it was written so nicely!

Book Trailer

Overall…

This is a book you should not, under any circumstances, pass on, because it is truly wonderful. The plot is crafted so well that although it isn’t jam-packed with action (trust me, there’s plenty of that in the next book) it’s compelling and incredibly hard to resist. For me, anyway. It might take some time to get into it for some, but it’s definitely worth your time! I absolutely loved the characters, especially Celaena and the love interests, because they were created marvelously! Celaena is a fantastic representation of feminine badass assassin, and we definitely need more female leads who are confident and not insecure of who they are. She may be seen as arrogant, but that so-called arrogance gives her the ability to acknowledge her strenghts, something that countless other characters undermine. This was simply so refreshing! There is a love triangle, but it is more subtle and doesn’t take over the whole plot, and instead provides some excitement and emotional attachment from the reader. The writing is poetic and perfectly fits the story. Really, must I go on? I say not, because bottom line is: this book is fantastic. And I must say, if you do not at least give a chance to this book/series, I shall be quite offended and will unfriend you. 😛 Just kidding. But still. I command you to read it!!

Have you read this book? If you have, I shall be quite sad if you don’t join in on my fangirling!! (Especially with Queen of Shadows being released very soon!) And even if you haven’t, I will be equally sad if you don’t leave a taste of your thoughts on whether you will read the book or not. 😉 Bottom line: talk to me! I’d love to hear from you. ❤

Now, I’m off to bed! I think I’m kind of sleep-deprived right now… Enjoy your day/night, bookworms! Just remember, this book must be gobbled up asap. 😀