Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Book Review | Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4)
Queen of Shadows
(Throne of  Glass #4)


Author: Sarah J. Maas
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Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Page Number: 648
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: September 1, 2015
Synopsis from Goodreads:
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.

The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series contrinues Celaena's epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

My Review:

“Let’s go rattle the stars.”


This review will have a spoiler section, and a non-spoilery section. Please DO NOT read the spoilery section if you haven’t read QoS, I REALLY want you do find out what happens by yourself. Thanks :D


Queen of Shadows was a hella of a ride, and no way did Sarah J. Maas hold back on anything. You’d think it’d take a long time to read a what, 648 book, but HECK NO. I probably read it in two or three settings. I COULD NOT put the book down. Literally. Both physically and mentally.


The thing I probably loved the most was the wide and diverse set of characters. QoS introduced many new characters, and I loved ALL OF THEM. Seriously. All of these characters developed so well, especially Aelin. Also, the number of badass ladies in this series is amazing, and I’m lovin’ it. (McDonald’s puns when I’m not supposed to be eating it...whoops...)


Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen, Heir of Fire and Ash (or was it ash and fire?), demands you read this book… (only if you want to… but PLEASE)


please only read on if you have read qos, please don’t spoil yourself. thanks! -beatrice xx

everything is amazing.


The book starts off with Dorian, and it’s just so sad. Dorian is so broken, and it’s just ARUGH please don’t die and just sadness.


Then of course, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, Heir of Fire and Ash, Mighty Queen of Terrasen, or other shit like that breaks in. Don’t get me wrong, I love Aelin and everything, but we get it. You’re powerful and stuff. Yeah, let’s move on. Their plan is to kill Arobynn (yay) and steal back the final Wyrdkey, but then they make a bargain with her former instructor order to save her cousin, Aedion. Teaming up with Lysandra turns out to be a great idea, and Aelin learns all that Arobynn did, and thus, the plans to slaughter the man happen.


WAIT. But before that, Rowan comes back, which was so nice, because we were about 100 pages in until he came back. I was almost worried he wasn’t going to come. He tells the crew about Lorcan (that idiot) and Maeve (double idiot), and Aelin tricks him and yeah. Lysandra kills Arobynn. YAY LYSANDRA. Although I did wish that we got to see Arobynn’s last words, but this works too.


Lysandra gets taken by the witches, and in order to save her, Aelin and Manon has that epic fight of theirs, but Dorian… I cried SO hard.


Magic is back, and Lysandra is an epic shapeshifter (i forgot when that actually was announced...stupid me, so i'm going to randomly put it here. :D) Magic is weak and things go wrong and shit goes down at the castle because the King of Adarlan knows Aelin’s real identity. But that doesn’t matter, because Aelin uses her epic fire powers and somehow burns the demon inside of Dorian so hooray!? And then they hold and hands and bind powers and defeat the king and then Dorian shatters the glass castle, killing his father in the process. I’m so glad he did. That dude was getting on my nerves.


Everything is wrapped up so well but ArgH I WANT MORE.

lysandra is my new fave.


Because the badass ladies in this series are SERIOUSLY kicking it. Honestly, all the characters in this series just develop so much in QoS. Although the transition between Aelin and Celaena wasn’t as smooth as it could have been, I really admired Aelin, whereas with Celaena, I was just yelling at her, “YOU GO, GIRL!”, I respected Aelin. Aelin really starts to understand herself in this installment, especially with Rowan.


The part where Manon and Aelin meet is probably one of my favorites. They are so similar, yet feel so different. Aelin fought for her friends, Aedion, and her COUNTRY. And the lovingness that both Aedion and Rowan give her is just amazing. In the first few books, Aelin was just this almost not human assassin, just listening to orders, and now, she has people to love, people who care for her. AND WHEN SHE BARGAINS WITH AROBYNN TO SAVE AEDION. That’s called badass. She’s always been badass, but now she just takes badass to another level.


Manon Blackbeak just kicking it like usual. When Asterin explains to Manon her situation with their grandmother, I just understand all her years of harshness and cruelty. And when she helped Dorian… I LOVE MONORIAN… or Dorion? IDK I JUST SHIP IT asd;lafkjds;flaj;sdlfkja;dlkjf


Let’s talk Chaol. Honestly, I’m just glad he found Nesryn, and that are happy together. I didn’t like him much in HoF, but I didn’t despise him like other people did. I understood his reasons for acting such, and I didn’t love him as I did in CoM, but he did improve. And Nesryn and Chaol is better than Chaolena. Wow, I can’t believe I’m saying that._.


“You and I are nothing but wild beasts wearing human skins.”


Lysandra has officially become my favorite character. Aelin needed a girlfriend REAL BAD, and Lysandra fit that deal better than no other. And shape-shifting just added another bonus point. Her childhood was similar to Aelin, and they just clicked, maybe after a few times, but #FRIENDSHIPGOALS.


And Rowan. ROWAN. ROWAN. Rowana forever. I missed him SO much in the first 100 some pages, and he arrived. HE FINALLY ARRIVED. Learning about his lover, and his adorableness (#nightgowns) and EPICNESS EVEN WITHOUT MAGIC was just over the top. And did I mention the times he saved Aelin?


Oh, Dorian…
The chapters we got of Dorian were the small snippets of the demon consuming his mind, and they were heartbreaking to read. Not even a full page. But when he came back to his full power, he was ready to become king. Strong, powerful AGH.

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄❄

Beatrice

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Book Review | Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard


Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly, #1)

Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly #1)

Author: Susan Dennard
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Publisher: Harper Teen
Page Number: 388
Genre: Paranormal
Publication Date: July 24, 2012
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Philadelphia 1876. The Dead are rising. A zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor Fitt. Whoever controls the Dead Army has her brother. She avoids her mother's choice of husband for the lab of Spirit Hunters, including the maddeningly stubborn yet handsome Daniel. The situation threatens her reputation, and the lives of everyone in the city.

My Review:

Something Strange and Deadly was indeed something strange and deadly. (I know, I’m so punny.) What did I like, and what did I hate? (not really)

  1. Characters
Eleanor, the protagonist of the novel, really annoyed me in the beginning of the novel. However, towards the end of the book, she really did mature a lot, and although she’ll never be one of my faves because she’s honestly kind of stupid and reckless, I appreciate her development throughout this story.

DANIEL IS SO ADORABLE ACKKK!!!! His arrogance, sarcasm, ARGH SHIP SHIP SHIP. I shipped them right from the start, and although it was obvious that they were going to be together, I loved seeing them fall in love - although Eleanor had sort of love at fifth sight… whatever. AND THE PARCEL. THE PARCEL. You know what I’m talking about.

Jie. Remember how I said Eleanor was kind of stupid? Well, this is one of the reasons. I’m Asian, and Jie in Chinese means Older Sister. Also, the fact that they shave their heads? Um, no. And bound their feet? Um, no. Besides that, Jie was probably my favorite character in this book. She was so badass and strong, and I was so pleased to see her relationship with Eleanor grow.

Throughout this whole book, I just wanted to punch Eleanor’s mother. She KNEW that they were low on money, but she still wasted money on stupid dresses and curtains? PLEASE. Give me a break. No wonder Eleanor can be dumb and careless.

2.    Talk About Intriguing
Maybe it’s just me, but I haven’t read many books about zombies. The plot was all sorts of interesting, but it was a bit predictable. I knew the plot twist was coming at the end; I was surprised Eleanor didn’t pick it up. The whole necromancer thing really intrigued me, especially the magic parts.

This book was more about the magic parts, rather than the gruesome and bloody parts. Which actually, I’m fine about, because I don’t particularly like vomiting on my books, yeah? (QUOTING JIE YEAH?) I went into this book thinking it would be gross, but to my pleasant surprise, it wasn’t!

3.     THE ENDING
The ending was cray. Eleanor gets injured, and the other Spirit Hunters just leave? Like, what??? Her mother is still being stupid about Eleanor getting married to a fine gentleman, although she already knows after the incident, no one’s going to want to marry her.

Honestly, I just want to pick up the second book. Seriously. BINGE READING, YEAH? (JIE JIE JIE)

Final Rating: 

❄❄

Beatrice