Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - spoiler free review.

Hi booklovers

Last year during the summer I participated in the Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon and I was supposed to read Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas, but it had been so long since I had read Heir of Fire that I couldn't remember enough of the story, so I stopped reading it and never picked it up again. The theme for February for the #OWBookclub was 'Badass females' and I thought Celaena Sardothien was pretty badass from what I could remember of the first three books. Also, I want to be all caught up with the series by the time the last book in the series comes out. But like everyone else I found out that the book about Chaol will be published in September and the final book in the series has been pushed back to 2018. At least now I don't have to rush to get through the other books and get myself into a reading slump. Binge-reading books in a series and I usually don't get along, unless they are very good books that aren't too long (i.e. less than 400 pages). Anyway, long intro, let's get into the actual review.

Title: Throne of Glass

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Genre: YA, fantasy

Format:paperback

*Story:
After spending a year in the salt mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien is given a chance to win back her freedom by becoming the king of Adarlan's champion. To become the champion, however, she has to defeat a number of other assassins and thieves. Throughout the story she regains her strength, both mentally and physically and she grows into her role as future champion.

*Characters:
-Celaena: oh my,  I had totally forgotten how arrogant and shallow she is at the beginning of the book. At times she cares more about how she looks than anything else. True, she’s a good assassin and she regains her strength throughout the book, but she was still so unbelievably shallow at times.
 

-Dorian: he is the Crown Prince of Adarlan. He has chosen Celaena to be his father’s champion. He’s at a marriageable age and his mother keeps pressuring him to choose a bride. Dorian, on the other hand doesn’t want to think about that just yet. Of course, he is immediately intrigued by Celaena and of course, he falls in love with her. Some might think this is a spoiler, but you can actually see that plotline developping a mile off. I did enjoy the way Dorian and Celaena interacted and bantered.

-Chaol: captain Westfall is to be Calaena’s personal trainer to help her get ready for the competition. At first he only sees her as an assassin, but as time goes by he starts to see her as a young and vulnerable girl. Of course, it doesn’t take him long either to develop feelings for her. Again, no spoiler, it’s an obvious plot development. With these two, I also liked how they interacted and bantered. Chaol is the complete opposite of Dorian, always serious and taking his duties very much to heart.

-Nehemia: she is a foreign princess who has come to the Adarlan court. She quickly befriends Celaena since Celaena both speaks and understands Eyllwe. Nehemia is a very strong person who is not always who she appears to be, but she proves herself to be a true friend.

-Elena: The spirit of the long dead queen of Adarlan. She gives Celaena the task of vanquishing the evil roaming the castle’s hallways.
 

*Plot/worldbuilding/overall rating:
There were some things I really liked about this book: it was fast-paced and action-packed at times. I really liked the characters of Nehemia and Elena. The story was good, however, it does have its flaws. There was too much emphasis on Celaena’s beauty. After reading about it five times, we get it already, you don’t have to repeat it a gazillion more times. Like I said, I found Celaena to be very arrogant and shallow. Granted, her name still bestows fear in the hearts of a lot of people, but, she did get caught and she did end up in Endovier. I also disliked the obvious YA trope of the love triangle. Like I said before, this is no spoiler, it is blatantly obvious the story is going to develop like that. I found the world building to be a bit lacking since we get to see little of the country.

*Audiobook experience:
While I was looking for a book to use my audible credit on, I stumbled upon this one and I decided to listen to a sample of it. I immediately recognized the voice-actress as the one who also read the part of Nina in Six of Crows. I really enjoyed her voice-acting and since I wanted to do a reread of the series, I thought I’d give it a go. It was a really good experience, although I do have to admit that I sometimes found it hard to know when the story switched POV’s.

Have you read this book / series? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Series I want to finish/continue in the upcoming months.

Hi booklovers

I have only two weeks of the schoolyear left, so I almost have a lot more time to read on my hand. I've been going over my TBR books and I decided there are a couple of series I would like to continue/finish in the upcoming months.

Note: these aren't the only unfinished series on my shelves, but these are the ones that I want to get to soon.

1) Snow Like Ashes - Sara Raasch

*Snow Like Ashes (reread)

*Ice Like Fire (reread)

*Frost Like Night

2) Falling Kingdoms - Morgan Rhodes

*Falling Kingdoms (reread)

*Rebel Spring (reread)

*Gathering Darkness (reread)

*Frozen Tides

*Crystal Storm (I don't have this yet)

*Immortal Reign (this hasn't been released yet)

3) The Queen of the Tearling - Erika Johansen

*The Queen of the Tearling (reread)

*The Invasion of the Tearling

*The Fate of the Tearling

4) Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas

*Throne of Glass (I've reread this a couple of months ago)
*Crown of Midnight (reread)

*Heir of Fire (reread)

*Queen of Shadows

*Empire of Storms

5) Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson

*The Well of Ascension

*The Hero of Ages
The next three I don't own yet. I think they are spin-off books
*The Alloy of Law
*Shadows of Self 
*The Bands of Mourning

Have you read any of these series? Which ones should I get to first? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies 

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas - (mostly) non-spoiler review.

Hi booklovers

In my previous post I said that I reread ACOTAR so I could dive straight into A Court of Mist and Fury.

Beware, this will contain spoilers for ACOTAR.

Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: NA, fantasy
Format: paperback

*Story:
The story picks up three months after the events that happened 'Under the Mountain'. We find Feyre and Tamlin trying to cope with everything they went through, but they're not doing a great job. They haven't heard from Rhysand yet, upholding his end of the bargain he made with Feyre. At some point, however, Rhys does come to the Spring Court and takes Feyre to the Night Court.

*Characters:
-Feyre: She is a complete mess after everything she did 'Under the Mountain'. I like her character a lot better than I did in ACOTAR. She really grows and comes into her own in this book. I like how she deals with her trauma's, not always head-on, but she tries to do something about them.
SPOILER:

I also like how she stands up to Tamlin and how she leaves him to go to Rhys. I think it's very cool how she discovers that she has powers from all of the seven High Lords who 'Made' her and how she gradually learns how to use them.

-Tamlin: I did not like Tamlin at all in this book. He was such a controlling, dominating, almost abusive basterd. I get that he's scared of losing Feyre again, but that doesn't give him the right to treat her like he does, locking her up and stuff. I also don't like his possessive nature in this book.
SPOILER:

I think it's unforgivable what he did when he went to the King of Hybren to form an alliance.

-Lucien: We don't get to see that much of Lucien is this book, which is a petty. He sometimes tries to reason with Tamlin to try and help Feyre, but usually he's not successful. It seemed to me like he had no backbone in this story.
SPOILER:

I never thought Lucien would find his mate after losing his lover in such a horrible way. I hope this will be explored more in the next book, since this only happens at the end of the book.

-Rhysand: Oh, Rhysand, how I love that character. In ACOTAR he's portrayed as a real villain, but he is so much more, such a complex character. I think he has one of the better character developments in this book.
SPOILER:

It turns out that his 'stumbling' at the end of ACOTAR was indeed the mating bond with Feyre snapping in place. I love the relationship development between Rhys and Feyre: how they go from Feyre not being able to stand him through his shameless flirting and finally their full-on relationship and mating bond. I do have to admit that I rolled my eyes when Rhysand said he was going to roar so loudly when climaxing while having sex with Feyre he was going to make the mountains shake. Modest much?

-Mor: I really liked her, I liked how badass she is, but also how loyal she is to her High Lord. I'm very intrigued by her relationship with both Cassian and Azriel.

-Cassian: Another very likeable, loyal, badass character. I love how he is the total oppossite of Azriel. I can't wait to find out how his story will develop.
SPOILER:

I am curious to see whether there will be a mating bond or just a relationship between him and Nesta.

-Azriel: I found Azriel to be as captivating as Rhysand. He is such a dark, brooding, but most of all fascinating character. I instantly loved him. I'm very curious to see where his story will go.
SPOILER:

When will he ever admit his love for Mor?

-Amren: I wonder what kind of creature she really is. At first I didn't much care for her, but she definitely grew on me. In her own peculiar way she is a very loyal character.

-Nesta: Even though she still hates everything fae-related, she comes across as a strong-willed person willing to stand up for her sister Elain. I loved her interaction with Cassian.

-Elain: She is such a gullible character. I hope her character will develop further in the next book.
SPOILER:

I'm counting on some further character-development because of the mating bond with Lucien.

-The King of Hybren: Such a despicable character, although he could have done with some more character-development as well.

-The Mortal Queens: Oh how I hate these witches!

*Plot:
This was the first Hades & Persephone-type of retelling I have ever read. I know the going back and forth between the Spring and Night Court doesn't happen that often, but I still found it interesting.
The worldbuilding in this book is so much better than in ACOTAR. The details with which certain places in the Night Court are described are so good. You really feel like you're a part of the world. Also, for most of the characters, the character-development is a lot better in this book.

*Overall rating:
I'm still debating between 4.5 and the full 5 star-rating. There were still some things in the story that were accepted a bit too quickly, but overall I was enthralled by it. It was an emotional rollercoaster. What I hadn't expected was the detailed way in which the sex scenes were described. They are definitely not suited for younger readers. Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind the steaminess, I just found it surprising they were so 'explicit'.

I'm very curious so see how the story will unfold and which 'fairytale' retelling we will get next. I also sincerely hope the story won't be dragged out too long with all the books that Maas has planned for this series.

Have you read ACOMAF? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - non-spoiler review.

Hi booklovers

Today I'll be reviewing A Court of Thorns and Roses. I read this book for the first time when it came out last year and I reread it in July before moving on to A Court of Mist and Fury.

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Genre: YA/NA, fantasy

Format: paperback

*Story:
Feyre is a mortal huntress who - like almost every other mortal - fears everything faye and fairy-related. One day, while she is out hunting to feed her starving sisters and father, she encounters a wolf. She doesn't hesitate to kill it, but she'll pay a high price for it. As punishment she is taken to the Spring Court, one of the 7 kingdoms of Prythian to live with her captor Tamlin and his emissary Lucien.

*Characters:
-Feyre: I both liked and loathed Feyre. On the one hand she is a determined character that goes to great lengths to help her family although they don't really appreciate it. She goes through a bit of character growth, which is good, but it's not a major growth. One thing I did like was that she wasn't a virgin. Sometimes the heroin in a story becomes more human because of that. I don't really know how to explain it, but I thought that was one of the strongpoints of Cleo in Falling Kingdoms too. Maybe in ACOTAR it was because it shows that even though Feyre usually only thinks about taking care of others, she sometimes lets her own needs and wants be more important. Another thing I liked a lot was her bantering with Lucien.
On the other hand she made some really, really stupid decisions. How many times can you put yourself in harm's way by doing things or going places you're not supposed to? A great many times, apparently!
SPOILER:

The summum of her stupid decisions was when she leaves Tamlin, even though she has been warned not to. There was only one occasion where you can applaud her for risking her own life and that's when she goes 'Under the Mountain' to save Tamlin.

-Tamlin: Talk about a fickle guy! One minute he comes barging in Feyre's hut to take her to the Spring Court and the next he's trying to make Feyre like him by giving her compliments.
SPOILER:

I get why he's trying to be friendly to her and wants her to love him, although I don't like that we find that out very late into the story. (More about that later.)

I have to admit I was rather intrigued by him and his permanently attached mask and the curse that was put on him and his entire court.

-Lucien: I liked Lucien from the start. He is such a feisty character and like I said, I really enjoyed his bantering with Feyre. I also liked how his sympathy towards Feyre goes from absolutely loathing her to actually caring for her and being her friend. I would, however, have liked to get more of his backstory.
SPOILER:

We find out that he left his scheming father and brothers behind in the Autumn court after they killed his lover. We also only find out how he lost his eye until very late in the story.

-Rhysand: At first I thought he was a true villain because he is portrayed that way. He sometimes is an absolute prick, but you soon realise there's so much more to him.
SPOILER:

Why did he 'stumble' when he left Feyre behind at the end after Amaranthe was defeated?

-Amaranthe: Even though I hated this character with a passion, she was also very interesting character. I kept wondering why she was so evil. Unfortunately, we don't really find that out.

*Plot:
I find the idea of a world divided into a mortal and immortal realm fascinating. I also really enjoyed the different courts. However, I would have liked to see more of the courts, and it that regard I found the worldbuilding to be lacking and that's a pity. Even the Spring Court isn't shown completely.

It took me about 100 pages to get into the story the first time I read it because I found it to be a bit slow at first.

SPOILER:

The last part of the story, when we are 'Under the Mountain' was very captivating, however. This was an emotional rollercoaster with Feyre being beaten up, almost dying, striking the bargain with Rhysand, having to kill those faeries. My heart almost broke at that point.

*Overall rating:
When I read this when it first came out last year I rated it 4.5 stars, but now I'm giving it 3.5 stars, because this time around Feyre got even more on my nerves at times. I also felt like some things didn't add up: Feyre is illiterate - she only knows her letters - but Maas sometimes uses words that I think Feyre would never use or think of.

I have to admit I wasn't expecting the steamy scenes. I didn't mind them, I just found them unexpected and rather explicit for a YA book. I only recently found out that ACOTAR is sometimes categorised as NA, so beware of that.

Have you read ACOTAR? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon Wrap-up.

Hi booklovers

I just wanted to give you a quick wrap-up for the Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon.

I epically failed at reading Queen of Shadows. I needed to put it down after reading only 27 pages, because I could feel a slump coming on. I had just finished reading two very fast-paced books, so QoS moved along really slow for me. Even though I'd read the summaries for the other books in the series, it still took me too long to get into the story. I think I might need to reread all the books so I can get into the atmosphere of the story a bit easier.

I decided to pick up ACOTAR instead because I really enjoyed reading it last year. I've also seen a lot of raving reviews for ACOMAF and I really want to read that one, but I needed a reminder of ACOTAR. In the end I read 116 pages.

I'm not sure if I'm cut out to do read-a-thons - although I did enjoy the Anti-Bully-ReadAThon and the Author-A-Thon.

Did you participate in the Fantasy Favourite Read-A-Thon? I hope you did better than me.

Bye for now

Annelies

Fantasy Favourites Readathon: Which Throne of Glass Character Are You?

Hi booklovers

The second challenge for Throne of Glass series in the Fantasy Favourites Readathon is a quiz to determine which ToG character you are. You can find the original post here. (You can also find the link to the quiz in that post!)

I took the quiz and apparently I'm Chaol Westfall :-)

I'm not sure if everything in this description is true, but I do find it interesting :-)

As for the readathon itself: Unfortunately, I've only managed to read 27 pages of Queen of Shadows. I don't know why, but I feel like it's a slow read and I really need time to get back into the story. I think I might give it another 50 pages and if I'm not feeling it by then, I will move on to my reread of ACOTAR, because I'm afraid I might put myself in a reading slump otherwise.

Let me know in the comments which ToG character you are.

Bye for now

Annelies

Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon: Throne of Glass Playlist Shuffle Quiz.

Hi booklovers

As I said in one of my previous posts, I'm going to be participating in the Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon, hosted by Inge and Aly and Olivia. 

I'm starting this read-a-thon with Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas. The first challenge for this book series is called the 'Throne of Glass playlist shuffle quiz'. (Click on the name to go to the original post by Ali). Basically, you set your phone/ipod/computer on shuffle and hit ‘next’ for every question. The song that pops up is that question’s answer!

I should warn you that I'm a huge metal fan, so maybe these won't be familiar songs. Even though some titles might actually be suitable for the question I assure you, I didn't cheat and I did press shuffle :-)
Okay, here goes.

1. This song describes the Throne of Glass series: Cast Away - Visions of Atlantis
 

2. This song what Chaol Westfall is caught singing at drunk karaoke: Cliffs of Gallipoli - Sabaton
 

3. This song describes a battle scene: Abyss Of Twilight - Altaria
 

4. This song is playing whilst Calaena stalks across the rooftops like a badass: The Dragon Lies Bleeding - Hammerfall

5. This song describes the ToG plot: Alpenglow - Nightwish
 

6: During a battle, Calaena, Dorian and Chaol are fighting to this song: Redemption - Hammerfall

7. Battles! Magic! Possible murder! This song is playing when the plot thickens: Agnus McFife - Gloryhammer

8. This song will most likely play at the worst possible moment: Angels Calling - Sabaton

9. This song describes your Chaol Westfall: Aces High - Iron Maiden

10. This song is the finale: The Outlaw - Hammerfall

I have to admit this turned out pretty good :-s

What do you think of the outcome? Are you participating in the read-a-thon?

Let me know in the comments.
 

Bye for now
 

Annelies

Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon

Hi booklovers

A while ago Olivia (click on her name to go to her blog) and Inge invited me through Goodreads (Click on the link if you want to follow me there) to join the Fantasy Favourites Read-a-Thon. This looked like fun, so I decided to join them. Plus, the read-a-thon will take place in July, which is when I'm on my break.

This read-a-thon takes place from Sunday the 10th of July until Monday the 18th of July and this is my introduction post.

1. Who are you?
My name is Annelies, I'm a 35 year-old teacher who loves to dive into all kinds of stories and tales.

2. Why are you joining the read-a-thon?
When I got invited through Goodreads and I saw that it was a fantasy read-a-thon, I thought it looked like fun. Like I said before, it takes place in July which is ideal for me since I'm on my summer break and I will have more time to read. And when I saw that we could read the Throne of Glass series, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to pick up Queen of Shadows, because I still need to read that one.

3. Which books do you intend to read?
Oops, I already answered this in the previous question, but I'm planning on reading 'Queen of Shadows' by Sarah J. Maas. I pre-ordered this book last year but because it's massive I hadn't gotten around to reading it just yet. I am planning on reading the summaries for the rest of the books on Recaptains so I can dive straight into QOS.

4. How many pages do you think you’ll manage?
I'm hoping to read the entire book, which is 645 pages. I think I will be able to finish it, but I'm not planning on putting any other books on my TBR. If I do finish it, I might start rereading A Court of Thorns and Roses so I can move on to A Court of Mist and Fury. I'm not going to read any of the other suggested series since I've read the Grisha trilogy at the beginning of the year and I have no interest in picking up the Percy Jackson books.

5. What’s your favourite thing about the fantasy genre?
I love how authors are able to invent this completely new world, whith magical creatures and enchanting places for me to get lost in. I admire how authors are able to take a single idea and turn it into a complete story.
 
6. Which fantasy books do you always recommend?
Hmm, that's a tough one: I usually recommend Harry Potter, but I also think the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy by Philip Pullman is really good. I also really like 'The Wheel of Time' series by Robert Jordan, although I haven't finished it completely.

7. Which fantasy books are you dying to read?
I just ordered 'The Wrath and the Dawn' by Renee Ahdieh and 'The Raven Boys' by Maggie Stiefvater, so I'm pretty excited to read those. I'm also curious about ACOMAF.

8. If you could travel to one fantasy world, which one would it be? (I know it’s hard, but try not to say Hogwarts.)
I would really love to visit the Winter kingdom in Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch. I really love the winter season and I think it would be special to have that season all year round.

I'm really looking forward to this read-a-thon and hopefully I'll be able to complete all the challenges.

Are you taking part in this read-a-thon? Have you read Queen of Shadows? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies