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neverlearnedtoread · 7 months

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A Curse So Dark and Lonely

⭐⭐⭐⭐; it is a truth solely acknowledged by me that the more cringefail a love interest is, the better the romance

Oh?? 👌😉😏

fairytale retelling! i love retellings of well-known stories. something something telling the same stories as our ancestors and our descendants binds humanity together something something

it takes a while to come to light, but the love interest is one of those 'head before heart' idiots. he's genuinely shrewd, politically savvy, and calculating, i.e. exactly the sort of person who doesnt fall in love easily. which makes him being the 'beast' in this beauty and the beast retelling so compelling! he's trying SO hard to engineer feelings and its just not working 😭

following off the above point: the love interest thinks he is inherently unlovable. nothing is juicier than someone who thinks they're too hard to love being proven wrong!

No.. ❌🤢🤮

isekai story, which as a trope teeters on the edge of losing me completely on principle; Kemmerer did manage to add enough details to keep me from totally losing my suspension of belief

just enough 'not like other girls' energy in the main character to make the first 50-100 pages hard to get through. i know its crazy, but consider: sometimes when a girl is kidnapped it's okay for her to have some level of caution / fear??

love triangle attempted(?) - wild choice from the author to make the guardsman hotter than the prince. i mean i get it, but if you're going to do that, can we not have the reason she doesn't choose him be so obviously and singularly because it wouldn't break the curse?

Summary: Harper, an 18-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, has a lot of problems - her mum has cancer, her father's a deadbeat who left them indebted to loan sharks, and her brother Jake is now working for said loan sharks to pay off those debts. Harper's always felt like a liability - too weak to help, let alone protect anyone - but when she sees a dodgy guy knock a girl unconscious in an alleyway, she has to try. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished - in the tussle, Harper finds herself magically transported to a parallel world with a whole new set of problems, including a cursed prince, an evil enchantress, and no way home.

Concept: 💭💭💭 Honestly, I didn't think too highly of this one! I had heard various criticisms about the prince being too broody and the sense of 'not like other girls' throwing others off, and it was selling itself as an unapologetic YA Beauty and the Beast retelling, so I wasn't thinking that this book would do anything crazy for me because Beauty and the Beast as a fairytale isn't my favourite.

Some spoilers under the cut!

Execution: 💥💥💥 On the whole, this book met my expectations exactly where I held them, which was a typical YA fantasy romance. I hold nothing against books that give me exactly what I expected - if I didn't think a book would suit my reading tastes, I wouldn't pick it up in the first place! I did have a hard time at the start - I'm pretty sensitive to 'not like other girls' vibes, so harper really grated on me, but once she and rhen understood each other better I was having a lot more fun. I kept pinballing between enjoying it (rhen being bad at romance) and rolling my eyes at it (harper being too Strong Women Feminist) through the middle but by the time we hit the 'i have to go home to see my family before its too late' story beat, the book was clawing its way to a solid 4 stars.

Personal Enjoyment: ❤❤❤❤ Despite being a predictable YA fantasy romance, Prince Rhen was a pleasant surprise. It is my personal (and therefore, correct) taste that male love interests are best when they are, at heart, cringefail. Rhen fits this criteria perfectly - he can wine and dine and politick with the best of them, but what he wants to do is save his people, and for that he needs someone to fall in love with him for realsies. He is wholly unable to accomplish both (on account of him being very shit at love) until Harper jostles him forcibly out of his holding pattern - he tells her he's doomed to fail, and she still convinces him to wholeheartedly try. It makes Harper not only the heroine of the story, but specifically Rhen's saviour - that's true romance, babey!! Their chemistry was the cornerstone of me rating the book 4 stars - with special shoutout to Lilith being shamelessly used as a plot device to make the romance go. We love an evil enchantress who is petty and bitchy.

Favourite Moment: The sweetest moment of the book was definitely Harper inviting Rhen into her room after learning Lilith tortures him every night. It was such a genuinely heartfelt moment that brought them together! But I love mess, so my actual favourite moment is when they kiss right before Harper leaves for DC, only for Harper to recoil from the sharp scales growing over Rhen's skin. The horror!! The drama!! The 'if you haven't fallen in love with me at this point, you certainly won't now'!!! and then Harper just going home without any resolution at all. NO ONE ELSE was having fun in that scene but me! and THAT'S BEAUTIFUL 😝

Favourite Character: Prince Vincent Aldrhen of Emberfall, cringefail king. Yes I understand he's horrible for any number of reasons, and no, I will not be retracting my statement. There's nothing more fun to me than a character who is convinced they are unlovable and has the evidence (and track record!!!) to prove it. This dude was like 'kissing this girl i like is more emotionally devastating than being magically tortured by a crazy evil enchantress every night because I will only be able to do it the once'. I can't NOT root for him to be dicked down!!

#a curse so dark and lonely #acsdal #brigid kemmerer #books #book review #booklover #bookblr #reading

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nextonmy-tbr · 3 years

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Book Review: The Dark Artifices

Author: Cassandra Clare

Genre: YA Fantasy

A story set 5 years after the events of The Mortal Instruments. Emma and the Blackthorns are no longer orphans of the war. They are stronger, wiser and all Emma wants now is to find the truth behind her parents death and get her revenge. But as things unfold there may be reasons and dangers beyond her imagination. So will she find the truth? Read the book to find out …

My thoughts: -

Honestly I think this one of the best shadowhunter book series I have read. It is definitely one of my favourites and it deserves more love and appreciation. I found the story in this series much more interesting than the other shadowhunter novels. I guess I find ‘I put my family first’ dramas much more appealing. Lets talk about this book in detail.

Plot: -

“When a decision like that is made by a government, it emboldens those who are already prejudiced to speak their deepest thoughts of hate.”

The plot is damn good. There is just so much going on, I really loved that. You will go into this book expecting to find a storyline revolving around Emma and her parents (which it does) and end up with reading about a shadowhunter style Civil War. It was interesting to see how the story ends up like that. Also, Cassie has written this book a bit differently, in her previous book series’ you will see her chapters being divided among 2-3 characters POV and some additional POVs to give us an insight into other storylines. But here in this series there were multiple storylines with multiple POV, so you keep on getting content on each plot. I guess this is one of the reasons why many don’t prefer TDA. I prefer this way as you can know what’s going on with each character in the story and they don’t feel like just a plot device.

This book series has much more involvements of the faeries which makes the story more complicated and dramatic, coz obviously fae are the same. In this book you will also see how a corrupt government and prejudice can nearly destroy a community.

Characters: -

“I came of age in Dark War. I was baptized in blood and fire.”

So if it is possible to fall in love with a character that Julian Blackthorn is that character for me. He is one good character. You can also term him as a bit morally grey and complex character. Julian has been a father to all of his siblings for all these five years and hence he is very much protective of them. He can betray and manipulate any person if that meant keeping his family together. Even the dialogues given to him are so dramatic, it just makes me love him even more. I also like his love angle with Emma, it was pretty good to me. The only point where I was disappointed is the arc that was given to him at the start of the third book (if you have read these books you know what I mean and if you haven’t you will soon) and that quickly becomes boring. Other than that he was perfect.

“Nobody calls me ‘blondie’ and keeps their kneecaps.”

Emma Carstairs is our badass and sarcastic blonde (kinda like female Jace Herondale, the only exception is that I like Emma though) bent on revenge for her parents. She is a kind yet sad soul. She is a very likable character.

“I am saying the choices that we make in captivity are not always the choices we make in freedom. And thus we question them. We cannot help it.”

I am giving Kieran Kingson a special mention coz I think my guy deserves more appreciation. Seriously, he is so underrated. Both the characters in the book and people in the fandom don’t love him as much as they should. I really like the arc that was given to him. He came off as an arrogant faerie prince in the first book and quickly became an adorable faerie by the end of the third book. At least Cassie gave him the ending that he deserves.

This book really has awesome characters. Cristina definitely is overhated and for no reason whatsoever. Mark is adorable. Kit and Ty are the best duo out there, I really loved their dynamic (cannot wait for The Wicked Powers!!). Diana and Gwyn were so cool, I liked how their story proceeded, I think they should have been given more page time. It was of course lovely to read the TMI characters make their cameo in this series (they have grown soo much).

So, if you like revenge drama, family drama, corrupt government, civil war, forbidden romance, a love triangle that for once doesn’t end up in choosing between two guys, detective duo, transgender badass female ruining the bitches and group of people having tendency to put themselves in situation worse than Jace and Clary (Magnus’ words not mine), then you have to read this series. Let me know your thoughts on this book.

#book review #booklr #tda #the dark artifices #tsc #julian blackthorn #emma carstairs #cristina rosales #kieran kingson #mark blackthorn #kit herondale #ty blackthorn #livvy blackthorn #dru blackthorn #helen blackthorn #aline penhallow #diana wrayburn #gwyn ap nudd #tmi gang

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freakypumpkin · 6 years

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Unpopular Opinion Book Tag

Original Video I wasn’t tagged, but I thought ‘Why not?’ as I tend to have unpopular opinions on books ... I think. Okay, I mostly had them on TMI, but anyway ...

What is a popular book or series that you didn’t like? Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare I know a lot of people love it to no end, praise it over The Mortal Instruments, but I read the first one, got halfway through the second one and it was mostly just boring and honestly I didn’t like the dynamic, that developed between Tessa, Jem and Will in that love triangle thing, that I still don’t get and no, I don’t like the conclusion it got after City of Heavenly Fire either. It just left a weird aftertaste.

The other choice would be The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. Though I’ve only gotten through half of the first book and I just felt like nothing of the plot worked naturally, everything was sort of forced. But again, I haven’t even finished the first book, so who knows what the future will bring.

Then there’s The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I had to read this one for class and it made me so angry.

Also the Starcrossed Trilogy by Josephine Angelini. (Don’t know if it’s a popular series though) Again, I had to read all three for a class and it dethroned TMi as my most disliked book series. It just made me so furious I wanted to hit the MC over the head with a brick.

What is a popular book or series that everyone else seems to hate but you love? Captive Prince by C.S.Pacat I know this is loved by a lot, but also quite hate with a passion, so I decided to go with this one. Also, I usually am on the other side of the discussion with people loving a book and me not getting it. Anyway, I really enjoyed the Captive Prince trilogy. I still wish there would have been some sort of epilogue after the final events (before Summer Palace). It just ended a bit sudden for my taste. Now, is it perfect? No. Is it the gay romance it’s often advertised as? No, I mean, it’s gay, but the romance is more of a subplot. It’s more about earning respect and had a lot of great elements of what makes good leadership. I really liked Laurent, surprisingly I think, I did so from the start because I admired him for his way of pulling strings (not for the cruel stuff, but he had a reason). And to really grasp what happens in book 1 and why, I think you have to read all three and then go back to book 1.

What is a love triangle in a book or series where the main character ended up with the person you did not want them to end up with? Or an OTP you disliked. I don’t read many love triangles, I have more just pairing, that I didn’t like. So, as for love triangles, I think, I only have the ones from The Mortal Instruments and they should not have ended up with anybody in that thing. Clary-Simon-Jace: Clary and Jace kind of deserve each other, Simon deserves a lecture of ‘How to respect the feelings of your best friend and women in general‘. Isabelle-Simon-Maia: Isabelle and Maia would have been a better outcome in this one. Maia-Jordan: Should never have happened and was a plot-device to solve that love-triangle-thing.

Then as I don’t want to keep bashing on TMI. Havald-Leandra from the german fantasy series ‘The Secret of Askir’. I saw it coming, and it never worked, there was zero chemistry between those two and the books would have been better off without them becoming a couple.

And from the Princess Series by Jim C. Hines. I would have liked Talia to end up with Hephyra or stay with Fazya, I think, instead of where that storyline actually ended.

Other couples, I liked ... I think. Or just didn’t care enough about to hate it.

What is a popular book genre that you hardly reach for? YA Contemporary because I’m strongly addicted to fantasy. Thriller/Crime because I’m a fan of sleeping peacefully.

What is a popular or beloved character that you do not like? Leo Valdez from Heroes of Olypmus by Rick Riordan. I don’t exactly know why I didn’t like him that much. Maybe because I had Simon-flashbacks from TMI and that wasn’t pretty. I just couldn’t warm up to him and his character did not work for me. I even decided against continuing the Trials of Apollo, when it turned out that Apollo would be travelling with Leo?

Who is a popular author that you can’t seem to get into? Christopher Paolini - I have the audiobook of Eragon and I tried more than once to get into it, but it didn’t work.

What is a popular book trope that you are tired of seeing? ‘To protect you I make you hate me’ - Just why? Anything with ‘you’re not allowed to love Xy’ as a rule because how do you control that? Like, not having sex, not kissing somebody would be something you have imo more control over than not loving somebody ... also, who’s going to control that and how? ‘I’m not like other girls‘ - If you’re not, then you’re a guy I’m guessing. ‘Useless adults‘ ‘The mean girl being mean for the sake of being mean‘ - give her a personality and some sort of motivation you cowards!

What is a popular book or series that you have no interest in reading? The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare, does that count? Apart from that the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke (at least at the moment, let’s see what the future brings), though I don’t think it’s that popular outside of Germany.

What is a movie or TV show adaption of a book or series that you like more than the book/s? I don’t really have one for this, because I either only read the book or only watched the movies ... and in the case of Harry Potter, where I did both, I liked the books better. But most people go with Lord of the Rings on this one, and I did like the movies, so that could be a possibility here.

If you want to share some unpopular opinions as well, feel free to do so. If you have questions, feel free to ask them and as usual, these are my opinions, you are free to have your own, that are different from these.

#unpopular opinion #book tag

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wit-craft · 6 years

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sorry if this is weird and random but do u know any good books with lesbian characters? u just seem like the type of person who would

First of all, can I just say I’m thrilled that i give off that impression? Clearly, I’m doing something right. Second, yes! I do! Not as many as I’d like, but still (also, I’m including bi girls because it does widen the the selection a little.)

Adaption by Malinda Lo

Reese can’t remember anything from the time between the accident and the day she woke up almost a month later. She only knows one thing: She’s different now.

Across North America, flocks of birds hurl themselves into airplanes, causing at least a dozen to crash. Thousands of people die. Fearing terrorism, the United States government grounds all flights, and millions of travelers are stranded.

Reese and her debate team partner and longtime crush David are in Arizona when it happens. Everyone knows the world will never be the same. On their drive home to San Francisco, along a stretch of empty highway at night in the middle of Nevada, a bird flies into their headlights. The car flips over. When they wake up in a military hospital, the doctor won’t tell them what happened, where they are—or how they’ve been miraculously healed.

Things become even stranger when Reese returns home. San Francisco feels like a different place with police enforcing curfew, hazmat teams collecting dead birds, and a strange presence that seems to be following her. When Reese unexpectedly collides with the beautiful Amber Gray, her search for the truth is forced in an entirely new direction—and threatens to expose a vast global conspiracy that the government has worked for decades to keep secret.

they’re sci-fi YA novels with a bi main character and they’re really fun!! There is a love triangle, but it’s resolved super well in the sequel, Inheritance. I promise even if you hate love triangles (I do) just stick it. I don’t want to spoil anything but like… trust me.

The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi

She never meant for her mom to find out. And now she’s afraid that what’s left of her family is going to fall apart for good.

Lexi knows she can fix everything. She can change. She can learn to like boys. New Horizons summer camp has promised to transform her life, and there’s nothing she wants more than to start over.

But sometimes love has its own path…

This is just about the only realistic fiction/coming out story on here— I’m usually not a huge fan. But I read this when I was younger and first coming to terms with my sexuality so it gets a spot.

Ash by Malinda Lo

In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash’s capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

Have you ever wondered what Cinderella would be like if it were gay and had proper faeries? Wonder no more; Ash is the book for you! Seriously though, Lo is a godsend when it comes to queer si-fi/fantasy YA fiction. She has a couple more books that I haven’t read yet but look just as good.

And I Darken by Kiersten White

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

Okay so… technically, this one probably doesn’t really belong on this list but like. Guys. It’s so good. And there are lesbians, they’re just not quite main characters, and there’s other queer characters who have larger parts. It’s based on the stories of Vlad the Impaler, re-imagined if he were a woman. The pov characters are Lada (Vlad) and her brother Radu, and I love them, and their messy ass relationship, both so much. It’s all set in the royal court of the ottoman empire, in the midst of the crusades, and there’s so much about fascinating political-religious tensions, and it’s historical fiction (queer historical fiction!!! (queer historical fiction not set in Western Europe!!!)). The sequel is Now I Rise, and features the lesbians more heavily.

The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer

Three thousand years ago, a god told a lie. Now, only a goddess can tell the truth. Persephone has everything a daughter of Zeus could want–except for freedom. She lives on the green earth with her mother, Demeter, growing up beneath the ever-watchful eyes of the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. But when Persephone meets the enigmatic Hades, she experiences something new: choice. Zeus calls Hades “lord” of the dead as a joke. In truth, Hades is the goddess of the underworld, and no friend of Zeus. She offers Persephone sanctuary in her land of the dead, so the young goddess may escape her Olympian destiny. But Persephone finds more than freedom in the underworld. She finds love, and herself.

Have you ever thought Ancient Greek Myths were too heterosexual? Probably not, but now they’re even gayer! A re-imagining of Hades and Persephone where Hades is a woman. It’s a really quick read with a great love story and I highly recommend it.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

At sixteen, Mina’s mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone—has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother.Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything—unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.

I am a sucker for a good adaption of myths and fairy tales, and this is probably my favorite. The plot, the concept… it’s so original and just absolutely delicious. The writing was good, if not the best I’ve ever read, but the characters were wonderful. Also, I picked it up without knowing it was gay, so I was very pleasantly surprised. Oh, but don’t worry– Mina and Lynet aren’t together, there’s no weird stepmother/daughter shit going on. They have separate love stories.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a “baby farmer,” who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways…But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.

Betrayal! Unbetrayal! Mutual betrayal! Mutual unbetrayal! It’s a wild fucking ride y'all. It also gets pretty fucking dark, but there’s a happy… enough ending, because I don’t do shit without happy endings.

Every Day, David Levithan

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Eh, I debated whether to put this on here. As you can see, it’s about a kid who wakes up in a different body every day– be it guy or girl. From what I recall, “A” themself doesn’t every assign a gender to themself, and the book is in first person from their perspective, but the Goodreads description does use he/him pronouns. I read it as a non-binary/genderfluid person who falls in love with a girl, and it’s a really good book, so. Take it or leave it, it’s up to you. On an unrelated note, I think there’s a movie coming out soon.

That’s all I can think of at the moment! Hope you find something you like.

#books recs #queer fiction #lesbian fiction

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rhysthehighlord · 7 years

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Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

4 Stars for Celaena Sardothien

You can also read this review on my goodreads.

"A lovely girl gazing at the stars, and the stars that gazed back."

I reread this book in anticipation of Tower of Dawn (the 6th book of this series) coming out and because I wanted to give it a proper review.

I felt really nostalgic while reading this lol.

I have to admit that the first time I heard of this book, I wasn't sure if I would ever read it. Back then I was not into assassins and people murdering each other. But I'm glad that I decided to pick this book up. I originally didn't want to read this book immediately, but after reading A Court of Thorns and Roses also by Sarah J. Maas and falling in love with it and it's sequels, I just had to immediately read this series too. And now ya fantasy is my favorite genre and I don't mind assassins and murdering anymore lol.

Celaena is a character who immediately fascinated me. She was unlike any other protagonists I met before. I know that for readers that read way more ya fantasy books then me, she might not be overall special, but to me she was. She is beautiful and she knows it. She has swagger and she can be outright dismissive. She has so much sass. And she's damn arrogant, but with her skill set she's allowed to be that aroogant. Big plus for me was that she loves reading as much as me lol. And you can see that deep down she's just a broken girl, who endured too much and just wants to be free. I liked her, she was a refreshing protagonist and I could relate to her.

Dorian, my sweet darling. I liked it that he showed in everything that he did, that he was better than his father. Friendships and the wellbeing of his people are important to him. But he was also a shameless flirt. I loved it that he didn't look at Celaena and immediately thought "assassin and evil", but instead he just saw a lovely girl.

Chaol, Captain of the Royal Guard and Dorian's best friend. I thing looking annoyed is his default mood, just kidding. He definitively is deserves his position as Captain, he's much more careful than Dorian, a skilled fighter with a high sense of honor and someone who has a more analytical way of thinking.

Aside from those three we get plenty side characters. All of them well developed and interesting imo.

As you can probably guess, this book contains a love triangle, between the three protagonists. Surprise! This was actually the first book, in which I couldn't decide if I wanted the girl to end up with this guy or the other guy. Celaena had chemistry with both Dorian and Chaol and enjoyed all their interactions almost equally. I liked Dorian more than Chaol, but it didn't change the fact that I couldn't decide. By the end of the book I had a favorite tho.

The plot of this book was way more than the romance and Celaena killing people. Celaena finds out that the castle contains dark secrets. I can't tell more because of spoilers, but I was glad that this book has some fantasy elements in it.

I think that this is good start into a series. Nothing mind blowingly spectacular but exciting and suspenseful.

I promise you that you won't regret starting that series and even if this book might not have convince you, the rest of the series will get better.

#my review #throne of glass #tog series

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afoolsingenuity · 7 years

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Looking Forward // May 2017

Welcome to another dose of torture where I reveal all the books I’m excited to be released this month and try and not preorder them all (seriously, it’s a lesson in self-restraint) this month you may think I’m missing a couple of glaringly obvious new releases I should be making grabby hands at but I want to remind you all I go by UK release date whenever possible because those are the copies I want to get my hands on (no offense, US, but your editions are too expensive for my tastes). So, that means I’m not including Emery Lord’s new book or When Dimple Met Rishi as they are released on 1st June here. I just feel a need to put that disclaimer in now.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean – Jenny Han

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Release Date: 2nd May 2017

Ramona Blue – Julie Murphy

Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ, Young Adult

Release Date: 9th May 2017

Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.

Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding.

But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

Ramona was only five years old when Hurricane Katrina changed her life forever.

Since then, it’s been Ramona and her family against the world. Standing over six feet tall with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona is sure of three things: she likes girls, she’s fiercely devoted to her family, and she knows she’s destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi. But juggling multiple jobs, her flaky mom, and her well-meaning but ineffectual dad forces her to be the adult of the family. Now, with her sister, Hattie, pregnant, responsibility weighs more heavily than ever.

The return of her childhood friend Freddie brings a welcome distraction. Ramona’s friendship with the former competitive swimmer picks up exactly where it left off, and soon he’s talked her into joining him for laps at the pool. But as Ramona falls in love with swimming, her feelings for Freddie begin to shift too, which is the last thing she expected. With her growing affection for Freddie making her question her sexual identity, Ramona begins to wonder if perhaps she likes girls and guys or if this new attraction is just a fluke. Either way, Ramona will discover that, for her, life and love are more fluid than they seem.

Why Am I Excited?

I began reading this series because it was about a girl accidentally having love letters sent out and a fake relationship. I kept reading because of the cliffhanger. And now? Now, I’m just really in love with Peter and Lara Jean. They are the cutest couple and the covers on these books are stunning. Like, so stunning they are amazing. I would love to see all the outtakes of the photo shoots because they are amazing.

Why Am I Excited?

I mean, I’ve not read any of Julie Murphy’s books but I have heard good things and this one sounds like it will be good and great exploration of a character discovering her own sexuality. It’s too easy to think you know exactly what your sexuality is at a young age when really being a teenager is the time for self-discovery. It’ll be interesting to see how this is all explored in the book.

Flame in the Mist – Renee Ahdieh

Genre: Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult

Release Date: 16th May 2017

In A Perfect World – Trish Doller

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Release Date: 23rd May 2017

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wrath and the Dawn, comes a sweeping, action-packed YA adventure set against the backdrop of Feudal Japan.

Mariko has always known that being a woman means she's not in control of her own fate. But Mariko is the daughter of a prominent samurai and a cunning alchemist in her own right, and she refuses to be ignored. When she is ambushed by a group of bandits known as the Black Clan enroute to a political marriage to Minamoto Raiden - the emperor's son - Mariko realises she has two choices: she can wait to be rescued... or she can take matters into her own hands, hunt down the clan and find the person who wants her dead.

Disguising herself as a peasant boy, Mariko infiltrates the Black Clan's hideout and befriends their leader, the rebel ronin Ranmaru, and his second-in-command, Okami. Ranmaru and Okami warm to Mariko, impressed by her intellect and ingenuity. But as Mariko gets closer to the Black Clan, she uncovers a dark history of secrets that will force her to question everything she's ever known.

Caroline Kelly is excited to be spending her summer vacation working at the local amusement park with her best friend, exploring weird Ohio with her boyfriend, and attending soccer camp with the hope she’ll be her team’s captain in the fall.

But when Caroline’s mother is hired to open an eye clinic in Cairo, Egypt, Caroline’s plans are upended. Caroline is now expected to spend her summer and her senior year in a foreign country, away from her friends, her home, and everything she’s ever known.

With this move, Caroline predicts she’ll spend her time navigating crowded streets, eating unfamiliar food, and having terrible bouts of homesickness. But when she finds instead is a culture that surprises her, a city that astounds her, and a charming, unpredictable boy who challenges everything she thought she knew about life, love, and privilege.

Why Am I Excited?

I really enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn so I am excited to see more writing from Ahdieh. I am always hesitant over books set in different cultures, like this one being set in Feudal Japan but I’m confident it will be written well with good research (please don’t disappoint).

Why Am I Excited?

Okay, Egypt is a country which has never held much interest for me. I’ve never had a strong urge to visit and so I can totally relate to the MCs unhappiness at going so I am really interested in the idea of her warming to the country upon moving and discovering things she didn’t expect.

Also, I really love Trish Doller’s writing. I still haven’t read her last book (oops) but I am totally there for all she writes because she writes it well whatever she does!

White Hot (Hidden Legacy #2) – Ilona Andrews

Genre: Romance, Urban Fantasy

Release Date: 30th May 2017

I Believe In A Thing Called Love – Maurene Goo

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Young Adult

Release Date: 30th May 2017

Nevada Baylor has a unique and secret skill—she knows when people are lying—and she's used that magic (along with plain, hard work) to keep her colorful and close-knit family's detective agency afloat. But her new case pits her against the shadowy forces that almost destroyed the city of Houston once before, bringing Nevada back into contact with Connor "Mad" Rogan.

Rogan is a billionaire Prime—the highest rank of magic user—and as unreadable as ever, despite Nevada's "talent." But there's no hiding the sparks between them. Now that the stakes are even higher, both professionally and personally, and their foes are unimaginably powerful, Rogan and Nevada will find that nothing burns like ice . . .

Desi Lee knows how carburetors work. She learned CPR at the age of five. As a high school senior, she has never missed a day of school and has never had a B in her entire life. She's for sure going to Stanford. But—she’s never had a boyfriend. In fact, she’s a disaster in romance, a clumsy, stammering humiliation-magnet whose botched attempts at flirting have become legendary with her friends. So when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi decides to tackle her flirting failures with the same zest she’s applied to everything else in her life. She finds her answer in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years—where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten. It's a simple formula, and Desi is a quick study. Armed with her “K Drama Rules for True Love,” Desi goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos—and boat rescues, love triangles, and fake car crashes ensue. But when the fun and games turn to true feels, Desi finds out that real love is about way more than just drama.

Why Am I Excited?

I have been excited for this book since 2015! 2015!

That was back when I thought this book was going to be released not long after and I would get to read and then it was delayed. You would not believe how long I’ve been waiting for this book. I am going to devour it when it’s released. I am tempted to book a day off work to do just that but people would think it was weird.

Look, Burn For Me and White Hot and the next book, Wildfire, have terrible covers but they are so, so, sooooo good that you really need to read the first one if you haven’t already. I read it because of Danya (see, you’re recs often do work out but I didn’t expect this 10000 years of waiting business) and I have no regrets about reading. It is the best.

Why Am I Excited?

I am a girl who loves me a good K-drama. I mean, they are seriously addictive with their crazy OTT storylines and swoony romances that get dragged out for more episodes than necessary but you can’t stop watching. You have the ridiculous storylines which would never work in real life but are crazy addictive to watch on TV and they would never be made into UK shows (or US ones really) but you wouldn’t want them to because they would lose all their charm and they wouldn’t work in the same way.

As such, when I saw there was a book about a Korean American who decides to follow the rules of K-drama in her love life I knew I had to read. I am so crazy excited I’m currently contemplating pre-ordering because I want to read this that bad.

The Girl With The Make-Believe Husband (Rokesbys #2) – Julia Quinn

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: 30th May 2017

Come Sundown – Nora Roberts

Genre: Contemorary, Romance, Romantic Suspense

Release Date: 30th May 2017

While you were sleeping...

With her brother Thomas injured on the battlefront in the Colonies, orphaned Cecilia Harcourt has two unbearable choices: move in with a maiden aunt or marry a scheming cousin. Instead, she chooses option three and travels across the Atlantic, determined to nurse her brother back to health. But after a week of searching, she finds not her brother but his best friend, the handsome officer Edward Rokesby. He's unconscious and in desperate need of her care, and Cecilia vows that she will save this soldier's life, even if staying by his side means telling one little lie...

I told everyone I was your wife

When Edward comes to, he's more than a little confused. The blow to his head knocked out six months of his memory, but surely he would recall getting married. He knows who Cecilia Harcourt is—even if he does not recall her face—and with everyone calling her his wife, he decides it must be true, even though he'd always assumed he'd marry his neighbor back in England.

If only it were true...

Cecilia risks her entire future by giving herself—completely—to the man she loves. But when the truth comes out, Edward may have a few surprises of his own for the new Mrs. Rokesby.

Love. Lies. Murder. A lot can happen... COME SUNDOWN

Bodine Longbow loves to rise with the dawn. As the manager of her family's resort in Western Montana, there just aren't enough hours in the day - for life, for work, for loved ones. She certainly doesn't have time for love, not even in the gorgeous shape of her childhood crush Callen Skinner, all grown up and returned to the ranch. Then again, maybe Callen can change her mind, given time...

But when a young woman's body is discovered on resort land, everything changes. Callen falls under the suspicion of a deputy sheriff with a grudge. And for Bodine's family, the murder is a shocking reminder of an old loss. Twenty-five years ago, Bodine's Aunt Alice vanished, never to be heard of again. Could this new tragedy be connected to Alice's mysterious disappearance?

As events take a dramatic and deadly turn, Bodine and Callen must race to uncover the truth - before the sun sets on their future together.

Why Am I Excited?

I feel like the name Julia Quinn should be enough to be excited about this book. But if it’s not then it’s also for the whole fake married thing as well. I have been excited about this book ever since the buddy read I did with Danya and Kaja and hot damn I need to get on reading this (also, guys, we need another buddy read, they make even the worst book good).

Why Am I Excited?

I have only ever read one Nora Roberts and it was fantastic. I got emailed about this book a while back and missed out on a physical ARC (damn my need to work stopping me from replying to emails) and I’ve been excited ever since. Luckily, I got approved on Netgalley for it and plan to read sharpish so either way, I get to enjoy.

I’ve not read much romantic suspense but it’s definitely one of those genres I know I’ll love because it’s my kind of genre. I like the mystery to go with my romance and it gives a bit more depth for when you’re fatigued by contemporary.

Wow, there really are a lot of books coming out on the end of the month, aren’t there? It will be a busy day for me, I was joking but maybe I really should take a day off and read.

Anyway, have a missed off any important releases? Which books are you excited to get started with in May?

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ishouldreadthat · 7 years

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I chose to review these books as a duology rather than as individual books since I essentially read them back-to-back. This is a spoiler-free review.

Kaz Brekker is offered a fortune to pull off an impossible hiest — he is to break a political prisoner out of the Ice Palace, an impenetrable fortress has never been breached. If anyone is going to do it, it’s ‘Dirtyhands’. He pulls his team together — The Wraith, who specialises in stealing secrets from the shadows; the Grisha Heartrender, who can stop a man’s heartbeat with the flick of her wrist; the sharpshooter, who loves to play the odds; the convict, a man who hunts and executes Grisha; and the budding demolitionist, desperate to hide from his past. Together, they could pull off the crime of the century, but danger and betrayal lurk behind every corner and they must survive in order to enjoy their reward.

I’ve been thinking that some of the most innovative fantasy over the past few years has been coming from the YA genre and the Six of Crows duology is certainly evidence of that. These two books are absolutely amazing. Seriously, they’re some of the best fantasy I’ve read in ages. Instead of rambling for pages and pages, I’ll list my pros and cons of the series:

Pros

A real, actual, believable female friendship

I didn’t realise how few female friendships I had read in fantasy, and probably in general, until this series. A believable friendship between women, particularly badass women, is like a freaking unicorn. Inej and Nina are not catty with each other, they aren’t enemies that have formed a shaky alliance for the sake of this job, they aren’t trapped in a love triangle. They truly love and care for each other. They rely on each other, roll their eyes at stupid boys, and confide in each other just like real girls would. You see all these incredibly strong young women in YA fantasy, but I feel like they never actually have any girl friends (I could be wrong about this — send me recommendations if I am, I’d love to read them).

Strong and complex characters, both male and female

Every member of the team gets a real past and a real story arc between the two books. While Six of Crows focuses more on one half of the crew, Crooked Kingdom brings in the others for equal treatment. As much as I like all of them, I have a huge soft spot for Nina and Wylan. Nina’s past isn’t as gripping as some of the others, but I love how she grows and changes over the course of the two books. Wylan’s struggles through to the conclusion of Crooked Kingdom really gripped me.

A perfect combination of humor and darkness

These books are pretty dark, you guys, especially when you get to the characters’ pasts. But the author manages to balance a lot of this out with snappy dialogue that’s genuinely funny. There’s plenty of banter, particularly with Jesper, but no one serves as comedic relief. The balance Bardugo manages to strike is pretty much perfect.

Fantastic world-building

I know that the world in these books was already established in the Grisha trilogy, which I have yet to read, but she still manages to make the world rich and so visual. I love a good fantasy world with a creative magic system and these books deliver. The Sights, sounds, and smells of Ketterdam are well-written and well presented.

Ocean’s 11 meets fantasy

I love a good heist. A well-written con makes for an amazing read. Six of Crows, and Crooked Kingdom to a similar but lesser extent, is all about the heist. You get sprinklings of the plan, and you definitely see where things go wrong, but you don’t know the whole thing until it actually happens and I absolutely love that.

Cons

Character ages

This isn’t really a con, but I felt that the plot and the back stories would better suit older characters. I felt like mid-twenties would work really well, that way they would have a longer period to have all this terrible stuff happen. I wonder if this was a move to make the book more easily marketable to a YA audience. Maybe I’m just a grumpy twenty-something.

That ending

Okay, this definitely isn’t a con. The ending is left open enough for there to be a follow-up, but also satisfying enough for the series to remain as a duology. The author herself has said that she’s going to leave it as a duology for now, but dammit I have questions!

Ultimately, we have a smart YA fantasy adventure that will satisfy readers of dark fantasy as much as those who like their fantasy a little lighter. I can see why these books are so appealing to so many people — they really are deserving of all the praise they’ve been getting.

Rating: 4/5

Have you read these books? What did you think? Want to nerd out about them? Leave a comment below!

A smart YA adventure worthy of all the praise: The Six of Crows duology I chose to review these books as a duology rather than as individual books since I essentially read them back-to-back.

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