Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah Maas

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another.

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

I'm slowly getting into more fantasy novels, and when several friends started talking about the second book in this series (and raving about it), I felt like I had to jump on the bandwagon. My impressions? A decent read, but not as good as some on my list (like the Lumatere Chronicles, Graceling, and Girl of Fire and Thorns). Which isn't to say that I didn't enjoy it and won't read the next one in the series, just that there were some things that I thought could be done better.

The premise here was enticing enough. Jailed assassin competes in a contest against other assassins and thieves. If she succeeds in winning, then she'll become the King's personal lackey for four years, after which she'll be granted her freedom.  I don't know about you, but once I see the words contest along with assassins and thieves, I'm thinking this'll be like what Hunger Games would have been like if every character were as bad as Clove and Cato. In other words, action, blood, death! And yes, people did die, but not the way you would expect them to with that set of circumstances. I guess what I'm saying is that I really expected more sinister fight-for-your-life stuff to occur. And behind the scenes plotting against each other (more than there was). AND I expected Celaena to be showing off her skills with more vigor than merely winning an archery contest. We're told again and again that Celaena is the best assassin ever, and I think the author lost something by not showing the reader this. Granted there were one or two scenes where she showed "some" of her skills, but they happened MUCH later in the story, and were for the most part kind of "quiet" skills, if you will.

While Throne of Glass may not have excelled at giving me a Hunger Games type feel, it did present a nice mystery. Maas does a good job of introducing a number of suspects, and she manages to throw a surprise into the mix, which threw me off. There was also definitely some gore involved, some nifty symbols, and even some ghosts! All pluses in my book. However the mystery didn't exactly keep me on my toes because the suspense had a habit of dying before it was able to really sink it's claws into me. As I said above, I really wanted to see Celaena showing off her stuff, and sending her to the library intermixed with billiards games with the prince just didn't cut it for me.

But all of that aside, I think the thing that puzzled me most about this story was Celaena's character. We get an early indication that she hates the king. She's appalled by the slavery of the conquered nations and there are of course some hints that he was responsible for the death of her parents (although the backstory on this wasn't entirely clear to me). When an evil force is mentioned that she must defeat, she immediately thinks that the evil force is in fact him, and there is no question that he is evil. YET, throughout the story we're made to believe that Celaena is willing to kill for him if she wins the contest. I get that she wanted out of prison and maybe early on she had no choice but to participate, but at some point in the story she does have a choice. Yet instead of taking her chances and leaving, she decides to stay and continue with the contest and even to commit herself as his assassin. Commence head scratching. Celaena's character was also puzzling to me because I felt as if the author didn't go into much  backstory (there was a love interest in her past that isn't given nearly enough attention), and she didn't explore how Celaena felt about the people she had killed. We have a good indication that she has a heart; she hates the thought of slavery and all the people she left behind in the prison. Yet we don't see how becoming a killer has affected her. The author doesn't delve deep enough into this to me. When all is said and done though, I did enjoy Celaena's character. She's tough, witty, and even though she's a killer and knows how to wield a knife, she still likes to dress up and party. I thought that was kind of a neat way to round out her character; there's nothing that says a warrior  can't enjoy the girly stuff too.

The romance/love triangle: as one might expect, the romance takes up the bulk of the story. On the one side of this triangle, we have Celaena with Prince Dorian, and I did really enjoy the banter between the two. However, I think that I liked Dorian's character more for his flaws than for how handsome he was or how he paid attention to her. I can really see him growing in the next book, and I look forward to this more than I do any romance between the two. On the other side of the triangle we have Celaena with Captain Westfall, and this was a more slow-burning, barely there type of romance that doesn't really get off the ground until the very end of the story. I'm sure there will be more development between these two in the next book, but it seemed like it was almost too subtle. Not in the sense that I didn't see the hint of of what was coming, just that I didn't really sigh with elation when it finally happened. 

Again, overall I enjoyed the story and would recommend it, just not as much as I had hoped. 4 stars

Review - A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

Madeleine Tully lives in Cambridge, England, the World – a city of spires, Isaac Newton and Auntie’s Tea Shop.

Elliot Baranski lives in Bonfire, the Farms, the Kingdom of Cello – where seasons roam, the Butterfly Child sleeps in a glass jar, and bells warn of attacks from dangerous Colours.

They are worlds apart – until a crack opens up between them; a corner of white – the slim seam of a letter.

A mesmerising story of two worlds; the cracks between them, the science that binds them and the colours that infuse them.

My thoughts when I saw that Netgalley was offering this book: JACLYN MORIARTY!!!! AND A SPARKLY COVER THAT SCREAMS "OMG CUTENESS"!!!!! So I signed up for the e-arc with absolutely no idea what the book was about because hey, I'm like that when it's an author that I love. Did Moriarty disappoint? NOOOOOO. Is A Corner of White at the top of my JM love list? Well, not quite, but it's up there.

A Corner of White is the story of a boy and a girl from two very different worlds who have a lot in common. Fifteen year old Madeleine is from The World - Cambridge, England to be exact. She and her mother are runaways from a life of luxury. Currently living in a flat where her mother sews and tries unsuccessfully to enter a quiz show, Madeline is home schooled by some quirky neighbors along with two other kids, the very ordinary Belle and Jack.  Madeline, as observed from Belle and Jack's point of view, is full of colors, but she's really a sad girl who is attempting to understand why she and her mother ran away from their old life. 

Sixteen year old Eliot Baranski comes from a parallel world called Cello. He's described as a top athlete, the town's favorite. He often sets things right with a single swoop of his hand. He refuses to give up his search for his father who went missing after a "color" attack. In him, we see a sort of hero, the kind who always catches the ball (or the butterfly child as the case may be), and we truly expect him to save Madeleine as well. 

Through the exchange of letters, Madeleine and Eliot's worlds come together. They learn from each other -- about themselves, about their parents, and about how two very different worlds can be similar. As far as characters go, I thought that both were well done. Madeleine is portrayed as rather naive (yet she's smart) and that totally worked for me; I tend to know a few people like that. She seems much the type to go about doing her own thing, the rest of the world be damned. Yet it seems to come from an inner sense of confusion and loneliness and as the book progresses we see why this is. I think many teens could relate to her in that sense. Eliot also seemed rather independent,though in a much more mature way. I flipped back and forth between liking him and thinking he was too much of everything. Which again, I can see as being the truth for some kids with that sort of personality.

I really enjoyed the whimsical quirkiness of this book, and the lack of a solid plot didn't bother me in the least. I'll admit that I wanted to be in Cello more than Cambridge most of the time because it's when we're in Cello (either in Eliot's POV or looking at it through one of the many townspeople's) that the creativity of this book really shines. I mean who would ever think that colors could be sort of like sentient beings that attack and sometimes make people do weird things? Certainly colors can affect our moods, but this was like taking that idea and stepping off a cliff with it. And I applaud Moriarty for that. There was a great sense of setting and atmosphere throughout, though I did often wonder what the purpose of some passages were. Like the random newspaper column written by the Cello Princesses and the scenes in the police station. I suppose that I should have trusted Moriarty to pull it all together in the end because she did, but at the time I was kind of scratching my head wondering why those things were important. They were a bit boring to me, tbh, and tragically slowed the pace of the story.  

Overall, this book leaves the reader with a sense of hope and positive feelings (sort of like a belief in magic). Since I tend to gravitate toward books/endings like that, it sat well with me despite the slow pace. Final verdict - 5 stars.

Books of June

Why hello July, when did you sneak up on me? Once again I am late with the monthly reading list. I should just make it a habit of planning to post in the middle of the month instead of the first of the month. Then when I do post early, I can surprise myself! I got a lot of reading done this month, and I hope that you guys see something here that might tickle your fancy.

33. Fury by Shirley Marr** Excellent book with a lot of voice and sass. You really kind of want to hate the MC for her bitchy, selfish, rich girl attitude, but in the end you just can't. Loved the relationships between the girls and how in the end they all looked out for each other. A great example of a dislikeable character made likeable by voice and circumstances. Highly recommended!

34. Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher* I really wanted to love this, but in the end it just felt like too much. Too many subplots. Too many characters. Too much of not knowing what the heck was happening until about 3/4 of the way in. I like some mystery in my books, but I don't like being confused. This was confusing. I think I'm pretty much done trying to read Fisher. I didn't get into Incarceron for much the same reason.

35. If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin** Bought on a rec from my good friend, Nomes. I read this very quickly and stayed up late to finish it (which hasn't happened for me in while). While I concede that there was a lot of telling, I really loved how well developed the romance was in this one. The characters were best friends since childhood and the author does a great job giving us peeks into what that was like and how things came to be the way they were. I was a bit disheartened by the ending (and not for the obvious reasons), but it was very true to life. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

36. No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman* This is an instance of oops, I goofed, but it turned out really, really well. See, when I picked this up, I mistook Gordon Korman for Robert Cormier. Now if you've read Cormier (The Chocolate War and I Am the Cheese) you know that his stories tend to be rather depressing. So when I saw this and mistook the author, I was curious if his middle grade books were just as gray. Well, I loved the book (more on that in a bit), but then I got curious and looked up Korman--and discovered that he's written TONS of middle grade stuff (like parts of the 39 Clues, and Everest just to name a few), but of course, no Chocolate War. My goof! But like I said, the book is a great find. No More Dead Dogs is about a kid named Wallace Wallace who has vowed to never tell a lie. He's kind of like those pre-schoolers who haven't quite figured out that when Uncle Vern asks you if you notice anything different he's looking for a compliment on his new hairpiece, not that there's a dead animal on his head. In this story, Wallace tells it like it is when he reviews the book, Old Shep, My Pal, and ends up in detention. Since his teacher is the director of the drama club, Wallace ends up participating in a production of Old Shep, My Pal, and he... changes it a bit. It's a fun read with a lot of great characters. What I particularly liked about it were the alternating points of view. We've got Wallace (of course) but Korman also includes the voice of the leading lady and the teacher who started it all. By doing so, he creates a book that will appeal to both boys and girls.

37. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey* I'm having a thinky-think back to all of the YA books I've read in the past three years, and to be honest I think this is the very first "legitimate" YA horror book that I've read. Horror as in grotesque, blood-and-guts-in-your-face horror that makes you cringe, look away and then peek back moments later. I did not expect this based on the Rick Yancey book I read last month (his new release, The 5th Wave), but it was a pleasant surprise. I used to be a huge horror fan, as in I read ALL of Stephen King's 80's (and about half of his 90's) novels. One thing that I really enjoyed about this one was how Yancey completely changed my opinion of the monstrumologist, Dr. Warthrope, half way through the book. At first, I thought he was a horrible, horrible person and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children, but then as time went on, I actually grew to understand and like him. That's an authorial talent I need to learn in my writing. 

38. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly** I enjoyed this book so very very much, but I do think part of that comes from the fact that I'm a scientist. Not that non-scientists wouldn't enjoy it, but I think that young girls (which is the intended audience) may find it a tad on the slow side. In short, I think there are some middle grade books which seem to be written more for adults and this one fits that category.

39. Five Parts Dead by Tim Pegler Eh? I found this book to be a tad on the boring side, mainly because I didn't feel like there was enough connection with the characters. Maybe there was just too much telling instead of showing in the story. Or maybe it was all the lighthouse "log" entries that got to be a little too much. I mean, every time the author cited the wind speed and direction my eyes glazed over and I found myself skimming. I did like the voice, but overall I was very neutral about this one.

40. Shadows:The Rephaim by Paula Weston* There was a little too much about this story that felt cliche (erased memory, girl discovers she has "abilities", hot guy who is questionably on her side). Still, I found myself reading it fairly quickly anyway and will go on to read the next one in the series. I DO appreciate that this book fit well into the NA category, and in that respect was a bit sexier than some other YA angel books. Also love the new cover!  Pssst - this one is available on netgalley right now!

41.Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala* What I enjoyed most about this book was the way the author illustrated that boyfriend abuse isn't always physical, it can be mental as well, and just as damaging. This book also has much darker themes - drugs and prostitution - that reminded me a lot of the book Smack by Melvin Burgess, though it just wasn't "quite" to that level. Looking forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.

42. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey* Okay, I was a little shocked when after reading this for about 50 pages 
I finally realized that it's historical. No clues whatsoever until the author starts talking about the war in Vietnam. The book itself wasn't what I expected, as in I expected much more mystery, the MC trying to figure out who the murderer really was, etc. Instead it was mostly introspection and a bit of romance (cute romance though); it fits well into the literary category. The book was very well written though, and the sidekick character was a gas!  I loved the casual references to all the Australian animals. Aussies might laugh, but I got a kick every time the author would say that a kangaroo was hopping by.

38. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly** 
39. Five Parts Dead by Tim  Pegler
40. Shadows:The Rephaim by Paula Weston* 
41.Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala* 
42. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey*  - See more at: http://addktd2books.blogspot.com/p/book-list-2013.html#sthash.9EmW8x7y.dpuf

38. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly** 
39. Five Parts Dead by Tim  Pegler
40. Shadows:The Rephaim by Paula Weston* 
41.Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala* 
42. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey*  - See more at: http://addktd2books.blogspot.com/p/book-list-2013.html#sthash.9EmW8x7y.dpuf

38. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly** 
39. Five Parts Dead by Tim  Pegler
40. Shadows:The Rephaim by Paula Weston* 
41.Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala* 
42. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey*  - See more at: http://addktd2books.blogspot.com/p/book-list-2013.html#sthash.9EmW8x7y.dpuf

 

Books of May (not so late this time)

I have no idea what happened to May. I look at what I read and think to myself, is that ALL?? Then I look at how much I accomplished on my various WsIP and I ask myself, is that ALL?? I hope to get more done this coming month, including a review or two. In the meantime, here's my book list for May...

29. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling** Obviously this is a re-read for me, but it was one of the most fun re-reads I've ever done because I read it OUT LOUD to my daughter. I put that in bold because reading out loud has never been my cuppa. I don't think I have a good reading voice and doing Hagrid's accent was rather challenging. But why this was so much fun was seeing my daughter's reaction when things would happen (even though she's seen the movie) and how excited she would get knowing that certain characters were coming up. We're currently on book 2 and I hope to keep going with her, and re-read the whole series that way. Though by the time we get to book 5, I may be pulling my hair out because those later books get loooong.

30. Mila 2.0 by Debra Dizra* This one had a very teenage-ry voice and a cool premise that I think will resonate really well with the younger set. For me, I usually like my romance to be a bit more in depth and not quite so instantaneous, if you will. I guess I was kind of hoping for less on the romance side of things and more on the action side (because it is supposed to be a sci-fi story about an android and evil government scientists and all). That's not to say that there wasn't some action and some very tense scenes, but I think that I just wanted... more? In all it was entertaining, just maybe not what I expected.

31. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey** I'd heard so many good things about this book, including that it could be the next Hunger Games. I'm not sure if I'd go that far, although I wasn't as crazy about the first Hunger Games book as I was by the others, so you never know. At any rate this was still a 5 star read for me. I loved the characters and I thought the premise was outstanding. I also really appreciated that for an apocalyptic book, the author didn't go into many of the cliche things that happen during an apocalypse (people stockpiling, jumping off buildings, religious fanatics, etc). There were a few parts that seemed a bit too convenient, but I overlooked them because of the other things that stood out for me--Cassie's voice, the prose, etc. I highly recommend this one and look forward to the next.

32. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead* I was just so-so with this 4th installment of Vampire Academy. I actually enjoyed the first half of it, but when she gets to the point where Dimtrius is trying to lure Rose into changing into a Strigoi, I sort of lost interest. I think part of it was that there was too much telling of how Rose was feeling and not enough showing. The idea of Rose being an addict just didn't worked very well for me, though that's not to say that I don't appreciate her trying to show Rose making more mistakes. It just didn't work, again because I think there was too much telling and I wasn't feeling the emotions of what an addict is truly like. Also, I'm getting the impression that this series is stealing a lot from Buffy at this point, and I feel like I know too well where this is going. I do have the 5th book and decided to start it already because I do want to finish up the series. If I wait as long as I did with this one I'm unlikely to ever get back to it. 

Books of April (again a bit late)

But better late than never right? I have so many books on my TBR list now that I cry a little every time I see how much I actually read as opposed to how much I want to read. Why do we have 5 day work weeks instead of 4? Why can't we all retire at age 35? Mysteries of the universe, right? Or maybe the musings of a wanna be lottery winner (hey, I'm not nearly as bad as my husband). I did manage to read a bit more this month, but not nearly as much as I wanted. And I tried once again to expand into the middle grade and lower middle grade areas. Take what you will from this list...

 The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes #1 ** LMG This was a super cute book for girls age 7-8, told in alternating journal form and with a 3rd person narrator. I loved Abby's personality. She's a determined girl who doesn't realize just how special she is. And she's a writer! I've told my daughter she needs to read this one. 

22. Just One Day by Gayle Forman** I heard a lot of friends comment that this book just didn't do it for them, but I really loved it. It reminded me a lot of Wanderlove by Kirstin Hubbard, with the main character finding independence and confidence by going out and exploring the world. I did think the ending had an unexpected turn that wasn't particularly satisfying. Though I do love Gayle Forman's writing, and I found myself reminiscing about my college days and wishing I could experience some of that again. Looking forward to the sequel.

23. A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty** Intriguing! Unusual! Though just a bit all over the place. I found A Corner of White difficult to traverse in places because I kept asking myself, now why is this important? And isn't this a YA book, why am I being given such an in depth look at what's going on in the sheriff's office? And what's with this newspaper-style column written by the princesses? It does all come together in the end, and I felt satisfied overall. It's a unique premise, and I really enjoyed the creativity that went into describing the colors. I guess it would lean more toward 4.5 stars for me though because I felt a bit lost at times and all of the non-YA stuff didn't keep me engaged in the story. I will most likely read the sequel. Got to say that I do love that cover though!

24. Splintered by AG Howard** A very cool take on Alice In Wonderland that really shows it's YA flavor, unlike Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars (where you really have to search for it). The author did a particularly good job making me like the bad guy because there was just the right amount of good in him. If you like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you'll probably fall in love with Morpheus (even though  he's a fairy, not a vamp. Or maybe he's a caterpillar. Hmm....)

25. Quintana of Charyn  by Melina Marchetta** OMG DIES!!!!!! Review is here. READ IT!!!

26. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan* Rick Riordan's books are beginning to be one of those where you feel like you want to read the next one by the time you get to the end, but then once you start the next one you feel like you've been fooled into reading something you've read before. I still love The Lightning Thief, and I find myself wishing that I would have thought of the idea of teenage demi-gods, but... I'm getting tired of them. I guess I'll wait to see if my son wants the next one in the series, or... well, dang it Percy and Annabeth are stuck in the underworld so maybe I will have to find out what happens to next. *sigh* See what I mean?

27. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta** After finishing Quintana, I had to go back and re-acquaint myself with the first book. I marched through it in two days and plan to read Froi again too. I just love this series so much. The characters and humor give me that optimistic, "feel good" feeling, despite the darker moments that drive the story forward. I want everyone to read this series. Won't you, please?

28. The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch* My 5th grader bought this last year at the book fair and since he hadn't read it yet, I decided to pick it up (because you know how I hate to feel like my money has been wasted). I did enjoy the story, but the first half was a bit hard for me. I could understand the main character's motivations, but relating to him was difficult. If I hadn't know that this was a MG read and therefore that the character would have to undergo some major change, I probably would have put the book down. I did end up really loving the second half of the book. I even shed a few sprinkles of tears. Not sure how the author managed to do that in just 250 pages, but he did and so I give him a kudos for that.