Showing posts with label Sarah J Maas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah J Maas. Show all posts
Thursday, 31 December 2020
Monday, 9 November 2015
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas [Review]
WARNING: QUEEN OF SHADOWS IS THE FOURTH BOOK IN THE THRONE OF GLASS SERIES, SO THERE ARE BOUND TO BE SPOILERS WITHIN THIS REVIEW. I HAVE DONE MY BEST TO KEEP THEM LIMITED BUT I CANNOT PROMISE THAT YOU WILL LEAVE WITHOUT HAVING SOME PLOT DETAILS FROM PREVIOUS BOOKS SPOILED. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE SERIES AND ARE INTENDING TO DO SO, THEN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT READ ON! THIS IS A FAIR WARNING, AS THESE BOOKS ARE AMAZING AND SHOULD BE ENJOYED BY EVERYONE WHO READS THEM IN THE SAME, EXPLOSIVE FASION! THANK YOU.
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Written by: Sarah J. Maas.
Published by: Bloomsbury.
Format: Paperback.
Released: 1st September 2015.
Rating: 5/5.
Official synopsis: "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 will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. 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. Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world."
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I am something of a latecomer to the world of Sarah J. Maas and the amazing Throne of Glass books. I only read Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight last year, before deciding in my wisdom, and with some people saying that book three had literally killed people with all the emotional goings on, to leave Heir of Fire for as long as I possibly could so that the wait between book three and the gargantuan (seriously, it's huge, you could hurt someone with it!!) Queen of Shadows, would be somewhat short and remotely bearable... So picture my face late August when I finished Heir of Fire and wanted to cry and shout because I had a whole week and a half to wait for Queen of Shadows. I was not a happy bunny! Thank god I decided to wait, I do not think I would of managed a year without having a breakdown!.. Any who... on to Queen of Shadows, which quite literally ripped by heart from my chest, threw it on the ground and stomp, stomp, stomped it into a pulpy, bloody mess.
This book is seriously one of the best I have ever read, and I would go as far to say it is my favourite book I have read in 2015 so far! Yes, it is not perfect, but nothing ever truly is, is it? But this book was epic, it had scale, it had action, it had romance and it had friendship. There was blood, and guts, and revenge, and more sexual tension than you could wave a stick at! It had it all and then some!
The book opens with a very short chapter that had me holding in the tears from the very beginning. Poor Dorian has been taken over by a valg demon after his evil father placed a wyrdstone collar around his neck. I LOVED this chapter and the chapters from within his mind, showing what was actually going on inside him, the conflict, the fear, the complete loss of self, and thought this was a really cool way for Sarah to add a new element to the story. We knew from Heir of Fire and from people wishing to die once they had been possessed that it cannot be pleasant, but to actually see it and feel it through Dorian's eye was amazing, albeit it horrifying and very sad to witness.
I loved that we got to see a lot more of Manon, who is really becoming one of my favourite characters in the city. I loved Celaena so hard in this book it's crazy. Especially when she became Aelin and really let go, really fought. Some of the fight scenes in this book were incredible, and the climax of the book. WHOA! Do not even go there! I am really confused as to where things will go next as the ending of the book seemed pretty final, despite throwing some new elements into the mix. Aelin's powers are incredible though and I am looking forward to seeing them develop, along with the characters. I think that is the true magic of Sarah's works. Her characters are all so relatable, and believable and they all develop so well, changing as you would expect them to with age and with experience in this weird and dangerous world.
As per the usual, the cover is absolutely stunning! The design department at Bloomsbury are incredible and despite the covers being relatively simple with just Celaena standing on the front, they are so stunning and visually exciting and they look so beautiful lined up on the shelf. I am a massive hardback nerd and decided to re-buy all the books in US hardback to go alongside my UK paperback and let me tell you, it is a stunning collection and as soon as I get my new bookcase up they will be the first to find a home there!
When I finished the book, I wrote a very short review and I mean very. It was two sentences, and I am going to close my review with them because I stand by them and they sum up my reading experience perfectly. Thank you Sarah for another amazing read, for Bloomsbury for bringing into the forefront and to Celaena for being so bad ass! Bring on book 5!
Forget rattling the stars! Queen of Shadow tears them from the sky and scatters them to the wind. Stunning from start to finish, and it has left me gasping for the next instalment!
I loved that we got to see a lot more of Manon, who is really becoming one of my favourite characters in the city. I loved Celaena so hard in this book it's crazy. Especially when she became Aelin and really let go, really fought. Some of the fight scenes in this book were incredible, and the climax of the book. WHOA! Do not even go there! I am really confused as to where things will go next as the ending of the book seemed pretty final, despite throwing some new elements into the mix. Aelin's powers are incredible though and I am looking forward to seeing them develop, along with the characters. I think that is the true magic of Sarah's works. Her characters are all so relatable, and believable and they all develop so well, changing as you would expect them to with age and with experience in this weird and dangerous world.
As per the usual, the cover is absolutely stunning! The design department at Bloomsbury are incredible and despite the covers being relatively simple with just Celaena standing on the front, they are so stunning and visually exciting and they look so beautiful lined up on the shelf. I am a massive hardback nerd and decided to re-buy all the books in US hardback to go alongside my UK paperback and let me tell you, it is a stunning collection and as soon as I get my new bookcase up they will be the first to find a home there!
When I finished the book, I wrote a very short review and I mean very. It was two sentences, and I am going to close my review with them because I stand by them and they sum up my reading experience perfectly. Thank you Sarah for another amazing read, for Bloomsbury for bringing into the forefront and to Celaena for being so bad ass! Bring on book 5!
Forget rattling the stars! Queen of Shadow tears them from the sky and scatters them to the wind. Stunning from start to finish, and it has left me gasping for the next instalment!
Monday, 8 September 2014
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas [Review]
Published by: Bloomsbury.
Format: Paperback.
Released: 2nd August 2012.
Rating:
Official 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?"
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Man! What is it with me this year being late to the party! Yikes! First it was Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series which I started last month and now it's this... Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I really do not know what has taken me so long, why it has taken me the amount of time it has to actually pick the book up. I've had a copy of this for so long, both physically and on my Kindle as I knew whenever i eventually got around to reading it it would have to be on my Kindle because there wasn't a chance on earth that I'd risk damaging my beautiful finished copy, with it's perfect white spine and stunning cover which you can see above. I also had Crown of Midnight, which I got around publication and I already had Throne of Glass so I'd been sitting on it for a year. Yikes. That is terrible. I think part of my apprehension was the hype surrounding the book. I had heard so many things, so many people, blogger friends and non-bloggers alike, that it's epic, wonderfully written and so on. I was scared that a book with such a beautiful cover might have a flaw somewhere. As Beetee said, there is always a flaw in the system.
But when it comes to Throne of Glass I can throw my head back and howl with conviction that this book is flawless. It overshot my expectations big time! BIG TIME! I'd hoped it would be amazing but what unfolded before my eyes took my breath away and surprised me.
The world building is incredible. I loved the way that little tidbits were revealed as the story went along. It didn't feel like everything was being shown all in one go, like one massive information dump, and I really liked that. I think world building works far better that way, I find that I remember a lot more if its given in dribs and drabs rather than in one long section.
Celaena herself is an awesome character. She feels dangerous, unpredictable and untameable whilst at the same time there's this edge to her that you can tell some of it is just a front to protect herself. I liked this about her, and the fact that she is supposed to be the most dangerous assassin in all of Erilea was great, because everyone seems to be scared of her to start with even though she has been sent to the salt mines in Endovier for her crimes. We also meet Dorian, the Crown Prince of Adarlan, son of the King of Adarlan who is intent on taking over all of the kingdoms. Dorian himself is a bit more laid-back than his father. There's a cocky, arrogant and swaggy air about Dorian, himself. He's so sure of himself and isn't ashamed of his luck with the ladies. As well as Dorian we also meet Chaol, the King's guard, a fearful and authoritative figure who mistrusts Celaena and every step she takes. And rounding up our main cast, for now, is Princess Nehemia who becomes Celaena's best friend, Princess of Eyllwe and staying in the glass palace for the time being.
Maas' writing is so fluid and crisp that I quickly got into a rhythm and couldn't stop reading. Throne of Glass is an epic blend of fantastic writing and fantastical plot that is brilliantly executed and built up to keep the suspense going and the reader turning the pages at a hellish speed. You'll fall in love with the world, with the characters and with Maas' style itself! I cannot express just how much I which I had picked up these books sooner! It really was such an epic read!
I am currently reading the second book in the series, Crown of Midnight, and I didn't think it was possible for it to be even better than Throne of Glass, but so far I have been proved wrong! Look out for my review for that one soon!
I cannot wait to bet caught up with this series, although I'm dreading it too because then I have to wait like everyone else for the next book and I'm so impatient! Haha!
The world building is incredible. I loved the way that little tidbits were revealed as the story went along. It didn't feel like everything was being shown all in one go, like one massive information dump, and I really liked that. I think world building works far better that way, I find that I remember a lot more if its given in dribs and drabs rather than in one long section.
Celaena herself is an awesome character. She feels dangerous, unpredictable and untameable whilst at the same time there's this edge to her that you can tell some of it is just a front to protect herself. I liked this about her, and the fact that she is supposed to be the most dangerous assassin in all of Erilea was great, because everyone seems to be scared of her to start with even though she has been sent to the salt mines in Endovier for her crimes. We also meet Dorian, the Crown Prince of Adarlan, son of the King of Adarlan who is intent on taking over all of the kingdoms. Dorian himself is a bit more laid-back than his father. There's a cocky, arrogant and swaggy air about Dorian, himself. He's so sure of himself and isn't ashamed of his luck with the ladies. As well as Dorian we also meet Chaol, the King's guard, a fearful and authoritative figure who mistrusts Celaena and every step she takes. And rounding up our main cast, for now, is Princess Nehemia who becomes Celaena's best friend, Princess of Eyllwe and staying in the glass palace for the time being.
Maas' writing is so fluid and crisp that I quickly got into a rhythm and couldn't stop reading. Throne of Glass is an epic blend of fantastic writing and fantastical plot that is brilliantly executed and built up to keep the suspense going and the reader turning the pages at a hellish speed. You'll fall in love with the world, with the characters and with Maas' style itself! I cannot express just how much I which I had picked up these books sooner! It really was such an epic read!
I am currently reading the second book in the series, Crown of Midnight, and I didn't think it was possible for it to be even better than Throne of Glass, but so far I have been proved wrong! Look out for my review for that one soon!
I cannot wait to bet caught up with this series, although I'm dreading it too because then I have to wait like everyone else for the next book and I'm so impatient! Haha!
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