Goodbye and Hello: July Wrap-Up/August TBR

Goodbye and Hello: July Wrap-Up/August TBR

July Books:

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

I’m so glad I reread this before reading The Rose and the Dagger. It reminded of everything I loved about the story and was a good reminder of everything that happened before jumping into the second book.

The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

I really enjoyed the second book of this duology. Check out my full review here!

Wrecked by Maria Padian

I picked this one on NetGalley because the topic was really relevant. It’s about an alleged rape on a college campus, and the crazy that ensues afterwards. It seems to address several topics of situations like this very realistically, and the book definitely addressed college campus rape culture. This one comes out in early October, so my full review will be out at the end of September. I definitely recommend it!

The Hazards of Skinny Dipping by Alyssa Rose Ivy

I picked this one up for fun, while I was wading my way through the beginning of A Clash of Kings. It was a quick and easy read, but I got super annoyed with it at times. You can check out my mini review of it  in my WWW Wednesday post from last week.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I’m about halfway through this one, but I’m on a retreat with a bunch of high school students this weekend that I am super excited about, so I don’t think I’ll be getting much reading done, but a review will be coming for this one as soon as I finish it.

August Books:

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

Why I want to read this series?

I love everything that Sarah J. Maas writes. And I’ve heard nothing but good things about this series.

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who held sway over an age of enforced peace are dead…victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.

As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky—a comet the color of blood and flame—six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard’s son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King’s Landing. Robert’s two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.

A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and wartime. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel…and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors.

Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment;a tale of pure excitement you will never forget.

Why I want to read this series?

I love the TV show, and really enjoyed the first book, so I thought I would continue with the series.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

Why I want to read it?

This one has been on my TBR for awhile. I had a student recommend it to me last school year. This upcoming school year, which starts in just under a month, I am leading a discussion group on this book as part of the summer reading program.

Jack by A.M. Homes

In Jack, A. M. Homes gives us a teenager who wants nothing more than to be normal—even if being normal means having divorced parents and a rather strange best friend. But when Jack’s father takes him out in a rowboat on Lake Watchmayoyo and tells his son he’s gay, nothing will ever be normal again. Out of Jack’s struggle to redefine what “family” means, A. M. Homes crafts a novel of enormous humor, charm, and resonance, the most convincing, funny, and insightful novel about adolescence since The Catcher in the Rye.

Why I want to read it?

This one is another book I’m reading in preparation for the school year. I’m working with sophomores in addition to working with freshmen this year, and this is the first book we are reading this year.

Tears of Time by Joel Lawrence

Cal State freshman Eden Ellis feels like a stranger in time, and her dreams are growing more dangerous each night. Is she really the reincarnation of a Bronze Age princess, or is that just the medication talking?

Dreams and reality start weaving together, and Eden and her friends begin to develop extraordinary powers and find themselves confronted with ancient secrets, government experiments, and the return of the same demonic force that nearly shattered the world 3,500 years ago.

Eden’s dreams hold the key to saving the future—if she can embrace her duel identity and defeat the reincarnation of the man she used to love.

Why I want to read it?

I was sent this book as an ARC in return for an honest review, so that’s what I’ll be doing. It, of course, sounded super entertaining too!

What are you guys reading during the month of August??

Happy Reading!

Erin

 

WWW Wednesday 7/27/16

WWW Wednesday 7/26/16

This is my weekly WWW Wednesday post in which I answer three simple questions.  It is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Go check her out, her blog is great!  Each week I will answer the following three questions about what is happening in my book world.

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you are going to read next?

So, here we go.

What are you currently reading?

 

**A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

This one is moving a little slow for me, but I’m really going to try to stick with it. I guess we’ll see what happens.

 

**Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

This series has been sitting on my bookshelf for 9 months, and people, in particular, my awesome sister, have been bugging me for years to read it, so I finally am. I’m super excited to have finally started it.

**Devour by Shelly Crane

This one I started only because I wasn’t home, and it was one of the few times I left the house without a book that I had already started, and all I had was my Kindle.

What did you recently finish reading?

**The Hazards of Skinny Dipping by Alyssa Rose Ivy

I picked this one up as a bit of a break from A Clash of Kings. It’s NA Romance. I’m getting into these more because they are entertaining and easy reads. This one drove me crazy! The main character was weak and gave into the guys she was seeing. She seemed to have no backbone The male characters were misogynistic and controlling. I felt like I was cringing and yelling at the characters every couple of pages, but I stuck with it because it was easy and entertaining. I almost got to the point where I DNF’d it, but not quite.

What do you think you’ll read next?

(All synopses are from Goodreads)

**Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

**Heir of Fire

Celaena has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak―but at an unspeakable cost. Now, she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth . . . a truth about her heritage that could change her life―and her future―forever. Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. Will Celaena find the strength to not only fight her inner demons, but to take on the evil that is about to be unleashed?

The bestselling series that has captured readers all over the world reaches new heights in this sequel to the New York Times best-selling Crown of Midnight. Packed with heart-pounding action, fierce new characters, and swoon-worthy romance, this third book will enthrall readers from start to finish.

I can’t wait to hear what all of you are reading!  Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Reading!

Erin

ARC Review: Children of Icarus

ARC Review: Children of Icarus

Author: Caighlan Smith

Release Date: August 1, 2016

Pages: 313

Rating/Grade: B

 

Synopsis

It is Clara who is desperate to enter the labyrinth and it is Clara who is bright, strong, and fearless enough to take on any challenge. It is no surprise when she is chosen. But so is the girl who has always lived in her shadow. Together they enter. Within minutes, they are torn apart forever. Now the girl who has never left the city walls must fight to survive in a living nightmare, where one false turn with who to trust means a certain dead end.”

Characters

Clara –  Clara is a daredevil. She has always wanted to go into the labyrinth and become an Icarii.  It is part of who she has always wanted to be.

Narrator – She is nameless. She is quiet. She is nothing like Clara who is her best friend. However, when she makes into the labyrinth and survives her first day. She takes on Clara’s name unintentionally.

Elle – I feel so bad for her. She is broken and the labyrinth has done terrible things to her. It has taken from her, and because of this she is not who she was when she came into the labyrinth.

Collin – The actual Clara’s older brother. He is a the leader of a group within the labyrinth. The Labyrinth has changed him as well, he has become heartless and cruel. He is willing to punish people in the group in the worst of ways.

Review

Children of Icarus was a refreshing dystopian YA novel.  While the YA dystopian genre is definitely not a new thing, the concept of this book was definitely different than any other dystopian novel that I’ve read. One of the things that I think this book does well is it addresses the fact that a lot of the characters are really screwed up due to this dystopian world, which I’ve found isn’t necessarily true of other dystopian YA novels.

However, the fact that the narrator of the book never has a name drove me nuts. Even after I realized why Smith doesn’t give her name, it still bugged the crap out of me. It was especially frustrating because the story is told completely through her eyes, so there was very little actual dialogue. I read an ARC, so I would be really interested to see the print version of the book to see if it is drastically different.

Reason For Rating

Like I said, this book is like no other dystopian YA novel I’ve read, which was super refreshing. It was also fast-paced and pulled me in immediately. These things are probably what salvaged its rating. My annoyance with the main character not having a name and everything being filtered through her is what brought it down. While I understand why Caighlan Smith did the things she did in regards to the main character it, unfortunately, doesn’t make it any less annoying to read. I give Children of Icarus a B, but if you think you can get past the fact that the main character doesn’t have a name throughout the entire book, and just enjoy the story for what it is then I would definitely recommend it.

Happy Reading!

Erin

WWW Wednesday 7/20/16

WWW Wednesday 7/20/16

This is my weekly WWW Wednesday post in which I answer three simple questions.  It is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Go check her out, her blog is great!  Each week I will answer the following three questions about what is happening in my book world.

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you are going to read next?

So, here we go.

What are you currently reading?

**A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

I’m excited to jump back into this series now that I’m having some Game of Thrones withdrawal with the latest season of it having ended a few weeks ago.

 

**The Hazards of Skinny Dipping by Alyssa Rose Ivy

I decided to pick up an NA romance to balance out all the heaviness of A Clash of Kings, so we’ll see how I like it. I don’t typically read a lot of NA, but I thought I’d try.

 

What did you recently finish reading?

**The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

I ended up really liking this book in the end. I still didn’t like it as much as the first one. The Wrath and the Dawn pulled you in so quickly. Check out what I thought about it in my review.

 

**Wrecked by Maria Padian

I could not put this one down. While it is about some heavy content, a rape case on a college campus, it was very good. This one comes out Oct. 4, so my review for it will be up just before it’s release date. Keep on the lookout for it.

What do you think you’ll read next?

(All synopses are from Goodreads)

**Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass–and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

**Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

I can’t wait to hear what all of you are reading!  Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Reading!

Erin

Book Review: The Rose and the Dagger

 

Book Review: The Rose and the Dagger

Author: Renee Ahdieh

Release Date: April 26, 2016

Pages: 416

Rating/Grade: B+

 

 

Synopsis

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever.

Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. But to do it, she must evade enemies of her own to stay alive.

The saga that began with The Wrath and the Dawn takes its final turn as Shahrzad risks everything to find her way back to her one true love again.

Characters

Shahrzad –  Shazi starts the book in the Badawi camp that Tariq was in at the end of The Wrath and the Dawn. If I thought Shazi was a sassy badass in the first book, man, her true colors, sassiness, and badassery really shine through in this book. It takes a while for those things to come out, but eventually they do, and they come in full force.

Khalid – Khalid is weak and seems very lost, especially at the beginning of The Rose and the Dagger. It seems as though he is trying to figure out who he is, or at least who he wants to be, now that Shazi is gone.

Tariq – Tariq simply doesn’t know what to do anymore. He has gotten himself into a situation in which he is in over his head. He enacted this plan of saving Shazi with emotion rather than thinking it through,and it is in The Rose and the Dagger he must now deal with the fallout. Tariq grows up a lot in this book. He faces feelings and circumstances that doesn’t want to face and he learns to work with someone he doesn’t necessarily like.

Irsa – Irsa’s role in this book grows immensely compared to what we saw of her in The Wrath and the Dawn. We spend a lot of time with Irsa as she is learning who to be without Shazi. It’s a lot of fun to watch her become her own person. Irsa then becomes Shazi’s right hand woman, in a sense. The two of them really grow to be best friends in this book.

Review

The Rose and the Dagger seemed to start a lot slower than The Wrath and the Dawn did, so I had a hard time really getting into it. I was excited about it and knew I wasn’t going to DNF it, but it wasn’t one of those books that I wanted to spend all my time with, at least for the first 100 pages or so. Then, all of sudden, the story got super intense, the action kicked in, the romance became super passionate.

There were also some great quotes later in the book. Irsa gets sassy when she meets and talks with Khalid. “Really? Irsa blinked, astounded.”Goodness, but you’re odd? Has anyone ever told you that?” I love it. Irsa is this meek, quiet character at the beginning of the book, but by the time Khalid shows up in the encampment, she is this little firecracker talking back to the caliph of Khorasan. It is also a testament to Khalid’s growth in the story that he is does not fire back at her in anger.

There is also a really beautiful line between Rahim, Tariq’s servant and friend, and Rahim’s love interest where Rahim says, “Because when I kiss you, I want yours to be the first. . . and last lips I ever kiss.” I just swooned when he said this. Lines like this are the reason we readers have book boyfriends, and often like characters in books better than real people.

The last 150 pages of The Rose and the Dagger were some of the most fast-paced pages I have read this summer. They were also full of so much emotion that I cried multiple times. Renee Ahdieh did a beautiful job wrapping up this story. I wasn’t left wanting more or feeling as though something was missing. It was beautifully ended.

Reason For Rating
So, The Rose and the Dagger is getting a B+ simply because the beginning was hard to get into. The last two-thirds of the book drastically made up for that, which is why it isn’t getting a B or a C. And it was so beautifully ended that I was more than pleased with the book overall.

I’d love to hear what you thought of The Rose and the Dagger, if you’ve read it.

Happy Reading!

Erin

WWW Wednesday 7/13/16

WWW Wednesday 7/13/16

This is my weekly WWW Wednesday post in which I answer three simple questions.  It is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Go check her out, her blog is great!  Each week I will answer the following three questions about what is happening in my book world.

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you are going to read next?

So, here we go.

What are you currently reading?

**The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

I’m really liking this book. I’m not sure if I like it as much as I enjoyed  The Wrath and the Dawn, but it is good, nonetheless. I’m still holding out in hopes that it will be as good as the first one.

 

**Wrecked by Maria Padian

I’m still pretty early on in this book, so I don’t really have a lot to say about it quite yet.

 

What did you recently finish reading?

**The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

I loved this book the second time around as much as the first. It’s a beautiful and tortured love story with broken and imperfect characters.

What do you think you’ll read next?

(All synopses are from Goodreads)

**A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who held sway over an age of enforced peace are dead…victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.

As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky—a comet the color of blood and flame—six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard’s son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King’s Landing. Robert’s two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.

A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and wartime. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel…and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors.

Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment; a tale of pure excitement you will never forget.

**Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass–and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

I can’t wait to hear what all of you are reading!  Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Reading!

Erin

ARC Review: Crystal Crowned

ARC Review: Crystal Crowned

Author: Elise Kova

Release Date: July 12, 2016

Pages: 305

Rating/Grade: A

Synopsis

Long live Solaris.

One bloodthirsty ruler has been overthrown by another, casting the shadow of death over the Solaris Empire. Vhalla Yarl stands upon the stage of fate, prepared to do battle one final time. Fragile alliances will be tested and new bonds will be formed as the world is reshaped. She fights as the champion of peace, but when the night is darkest will she be able to pay the price of a new dawn?

Characters

Vhalla – At the beginning, Vhalla seems so lost. Due to the fact that Victor basically siphoned her powers from her, she has to learn how to be a commoner again. Since she is surrounded by sorcerers this is particularly hard for her to do. After learning how to be a commoner again, she is probably stronger and feels more convicted than ever about what needs to be done in order to save the empire.

Aldrik – Speaking of feeling convicted, Aldrik, who is now Emperor due to Victor’s rampage, has truly taken on the role of a leader. He no longer hides behind the black of the Tower. He truly feels like the leader of an empire.  He takes on all of the good qualities of the role, despite the fact that he knows he is flawed.

Jax – He is his typical, jovial, sarcastic self, and I love his character more than ever. He has vowed to be Vhalla’s personal protector as his last promise to Baldair. I love Jax’s character more than ever because we finally find out his backstory and why he is tied to the crown as well as why he is the way is, AKA, using sarcasm as defense mechanism. I always love characters that are a little broken because people are all broken in their own way, so it was nice to find out the cause behind Jax’s brokenness.

Elecia and Fritz – While we don’t spend a ton of time with these two characters in this book compared to how much time we’ve spent with them in previous books, they are present, and every page they appear on shows just how much they care for Vhalla and Aldrik. While I have amazing friends, and trust me, I do have some pretty outstanding friends, friends that will drop everything immediately to help me out, I did, on occasion, get a little jealous for not having Elecia and Fritz as friends.

Victor – Again, Victor is not someone we actually spend a lot of time with in Crystal Crowned, especially compared to how much time we spent with him in Water’s Wrath, but he is a constant presence because he is always being talked about. When we do finally see him at the end, it is driven home just how much of a psychopath he really is.

Review

It was once again another whirlwind of emotions brought to you by Elise Kova.  I was crying by the time I got about 10% of the way into the book, I mean, big huge tears streaming down my face.  After having spent 4 books with these characters, I have become so emotionally attached to them.  It is something Elise Kova is able to do so well through her writing.  As a reader, you feel as though these characters are real people and that you know them as if they were your friends.

There were some beautiful things that have gradually been communicated throughout the series and touched upon in each book that were wrapped up in beautiful quotes in Crystal Crowned. The idea of no one being perfect was something that definitely made itself apparent through each and every book. We are able to see that all of the characters are flawed in one or another at some point in time. The idea that we should accept someone, including yourself, for who they are, flaws and all, is also emphasized. At one point Vhalla reflects on her relationship with Aldrik, and thinks to herself, “She didn’t make him out to be perfect. [She] knew Aldrik was horribly flawed. But so was she.”

Another very strong idea that is gifted to us is the idea that people are constantly changing, that this is a good thing, and that change, especially change in people, is unfinished. Aldrik expresses his feelings to Vhalla by saying, “You’ve changed. . . And I love the woman that you’ve become, deeply and completely.” He also says something about himself to Vhalla that I think shows how drastically Aldrik has grown and changed. It also shows how heartbreaking the turn of events in his life were and how they affected him. He says, “I have no more family, so I am no longer the black sheep.” Vhalla has a realization about herself, and I think this is something we all need to realize about ourselves and our lives. “Vhalla was discovering that the path to being the person she wanted to be had no endpoint.” Elise Kova leaves us with this as a reminder that we are always unfinished, we are ever-changing.

Now that I’m done mooning over the wonderful thoughts and ideas that Elise Kova communicates to her readers through her reading, let me tell you about the last third or so of the book. It is non-stop, and I mean, NON-STOP action, I could NOT put it down. I actually finished about the last half of the book in a day, but during the last third of it, there was no social media, no eating, no sleeping, no moving from the spot I was stuck to in the house, which could have been my bed or the couch. Honestly, I don’t really remember because I was so enthralled with Elise Kova’s world that she has built over these last five five books that the real world around me didn’t really matter.

Reason For Rating

There’s really not much to say here anymore. I think I covered all of it in the review. What I can say is that Elise Kova has taken me on a journey over the last year that I never could have expected when I signed up to be on her street team and got the ARC of Air Awakens in the mail. I don’t think I’ve been so excited about a book series, particularly an author in a long time.

Elise’s characters are so well-developed. They are real people to me.  Her world building is outstanding. Since she does these things so well, her books are not only enjoyable, but they also challenge you to think about who you are as well as the people around you. She is not afraid to take on hard or controversial topics in her books, to the point where they don’t really feel like your stereotypical young adult fantasy novel.  I guess I had plenty to say. Sorry for going off on a bit of a tangent, but Crystal Crowned definitely gets an “A” from me! If you haven’t done so already, do yourself a favor and pick up the Air Awakens series.

Check It Out!!

The Author, Where to Get It, and an Exclusive Excerpt

Elise Kova has always had a profound love of fantastical worlds. Somehow, she managed to focus on the real world long enough to graduate with a Master’s in Business Administration before crawling back under her favorite writing blanket to conceptualize her next magic system. She currently lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, and when she s not writing can be found playing video games, watching anime, or talking with readers on social media. She is the author of the Air Awakens Series as well as the upcoming Loom Saga (Keymaster, 2017).

Where To Get It

Exclusive Excerpt

With just the one weapon and a leather jerkin, she struck a course northward. Given all the reports she’d been receiving, it seemed like the most logical location for her Emperor. A red sunrise streaked across the sky, mirroring the crimson land before her.

The casualties had been heavy, heavier than she expected given the number of soldiers who had been in the Western force surrounding the city. But the hulking corpses of giant winged beasts offered a chilling explanation. Teeth longer than her body jutted out from their massive jowls. They had almost canine-like heads but with thick leathery skin pulled taut against oddly shaped muscles. Some had two arms, some had four, one even had six. They had the wings of a wyvern and scorpion-like tails. It was a creature that the Gods had never intended to exist, and the now-dormant crystals embedded in their bodies glinted like dull obsidian in the sunlight, slowly cracking into dust.

A handful of men and women were surrounded, forced to their knees. Soldiers waited around them, sorcerers and Commons alike, ready to execute the traitors who had ridden in to kill them all on the backs of monsters. The lean figure of a man was mounted before the lot—an Emperor casting judgment on those who fought against his throne.

“. . . forsake the false king.” Vhalla could hear Aldrik’s words as she approached. “Those who give information will be rewarded with their lives.”

No one spoke.

“You protect a coward,” Vhalla called out, announcing her presence. Aldrik turned in surprise as she rode up next to him. “You stand with a man whose power comes not through his own merit—as he would have you believe—but through theft.”

“What would you know?” one of the kneeling sorcerers demanded, curiosity drawing the words from him.

“I know all too well,” Vhalla replied quietly, “because I was the one whose powers he stole.”

Now she had their attention.

“Victor could not open the caverns on his own; he wasn’t strong enough to manage the crystals. I know because he needed me to help him do it. When he had what he wanted, he stole my magic to make him immune from the taint.”

“Lies!” one sneered. “The taint only affects those of weak will, Commons, and lesser sorcerers.”

Desperation carved the way for stupidity in the hearts of men.

“You can’t possibly believe that. Is that what Victor has told you? That you are the strong ones and immune?” She shook her head with a bitter sorrowful laugh. “He has written you off as expendable with his lies.”

“Are you really the Windwalker?” a timid voice asked from among them.

“I was.” Vhalla spoke only to the man who had asked. “I was the Windwalker until he stole my powers. Now I am a Commons. It was my magic that unleashed this monster upon the world—”

“Vhalla . . .” Aldrik had a cautionary note.

“—but because of that, no one will fight harder than me to do what is necessary to right that wrong.” The words hurt. They hurt like the wind still hurt on her cheeks, plain and un-magical. But it was finally the right kind of hurt. The hurt of a confession that needed to be said. “This is but a night. The sun will rise again, and I stand with the dawn.”

She looked to the Emperor. His eyes were a chameleon over the past few weeks, constantly changing to match the woman she was becoming.

“Who will stand with the sun?” He tore his eyes away from her to make his final demand.

The man who had asked his timid question stood slowly. “A false king sits on a false throne.”

“You disgrace sorcerers,” another loyalist spat. “You’ll follow a liar and a Commons.”

“Strength channels its own magic,” the man said in reply, looking directly at Vhalla.

“Who else will stand with us?” Vhalla demanded.

Two more stood.

“Why take pity on them?” a Western soldier finally spoke. “They fight against your Empire. Put them to death.”

“Because a wise woman taught me that no soul is beyond saving,” Aldrik replied easily.

Vhalla’s chest tightened, instantly thinking of Larel.

“Those who stand with us, live; those who do not, die. Make your choice. Dawn comes and it will wait for no man.” Aldrik turned back to Victor’s sorcerers.

Two more stood, five in total. That was all who were spared. Vhalla bore a silent witness to the other sorcerers who died for Victor’s ideal. Men and women who had become so tainted with his lies that they valued his dogma more than their lives.

Vhalla counted every man and woman put to death. Twenty-three in total. She shifted in her saddle and felt the sword pulling heavy on her shoulder. The next time she saw Victor she would stab him herself, Vhalla resolved, twenty-three times.

Make sure to pick up the whole Air Awakens series!! It’s outstanding!!

Happy Reading!!

Erin

WWW Wednesday 7/6/16

WWW Wednesday 7/6/16

This is my weekly WWW Wednesday post in which I answer three simple questions.  It is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Go check her out, her blog is great!  Each week I will answer the following three questions about what is happening in my book world.

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you are going to read next?

So, here we go.

What are you currently reading?

**The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

 

**Wrecked by Maria Padian

 

What did you recently finish reading?

**Crystal Crowned by Elise Kova

Crystal Crowned, the last book in the Air Awakens series comes July 12th!! My review will be up on Saturday, July 9th.

 

**A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Love, love, loved this book!! Review for it is here.

 

What do you think you’ll read next?

(All synopses are from Goodreads)

**The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

The darker the sky, the brighter the stars.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever.

Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. But to do it, she must evade enemies of her own to stay alive.

The saga that began with The Wrath and the Dawn takes its final turn as Shahrzad risks everything to find her way back to her one true love again.

**A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who held sway over an age of enforced peace are dead…victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.

As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky—a comet the color of blood and flame—six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard’s son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King’s Landing. Robert’s two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.

A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and wartime. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel…and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors.

Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment; a tale of pure excitement you will never forget.

**Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass–and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world

 

I can’t wait to hear what all of you are reading!  Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Reading!

Erin

Book Review: A Court of Mist and Fury

Book Review: A Court of Mist and Fury

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Release Date: May 3, 2016

Pages: 624

Grade: A

Wow!! I went and looked back at my review for A Court of Thorns and Roses, which I reviewed about a year ago, in order to compare the two reviews. Was it different! I realized I have come so far in my book reviews, in both layout, style and depth. They are so different that I can’t compare them.Here it is, if you want to see how far I’ve come and what I thought of it.

Synopsis

Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas’s masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

Review

A lot of people mistook A Court of Thorns and Roses for a Young Adult book when it was meant to be a New Adult book, me included. Well there is no mistaking A Court of Mist and Fury for a YA book, it is an NA all the way through. The sex is more prevalent. The language is more grown up. The topics that the characters face and deal with are much more mature.

The fact that the concepts and ideas in the book grow with the maturity of the characters is so important. Feyre and Tamlin are dealing with facing the things they experienced under the mountain with Amarantha. They are so frustrating because they aren’t dealing with it and they eventually have to face the consequences of what happens when they don’t deal with it.

So much of the book focuses on how Feyre grows and what she kind of person, or faerie, she wants to be after what happened to her. She is trying to learn how to be in love and be her own person while being in a relationship, which I think is something a lot of us wrestle with when starting a relationship.

Sarah J. Maas weaves a beautiful story full of wonderfully developed characters and outstanding world building. And while I don’t think I’d want to live in Prythian at the particular moment in time that A Court of Mist and Fury takes place, I think I would definitely want to experience it at a time in which there was peace.

Characters

Feyre – She grows exponentially in this book because of what happened to her at the end of A Court of Thorns and Roses. Feyre is so broken and lost at the beginning that she doesn’t know what to do with herself, but she does find herself, and she is a strong, independent and capable woman who can stand on her own with a man by her side, but she does not need a man by her side. She grows not only in the physical aspects of her power and abilities, but also emotionally. Feyre is a BADASS in this book, and she is FIERCE. Do NOT mess with her.

Tamlin – Tamlin ends up being a rather minor character, but what we do see of him is not appealing at all. He changes drastically. His dependency, and need to protect Feyre so much so that he practically locks her away, is highly unattractive. I found myself swearing at him a lot while I was reading.

Rhysand –  Rhysand, oh Rhysand. When we left him at the end of A Court of Thorns and Roses, he was a villain that had cut a bargain with Feyre where she was required to stay with him one week a month. In ACOMAF, we learn so much about Rhysand’s backstory and what caused him to become the person that he’s become. It makes me love him so much more. I did swoon a little bit, ok, a lot, when he says things like, “I would have torn apart the world to get you back.” I can’t wait to see how he takes on the world in the next book.

Lucien, Mor, Amren, Cassian, Azriel – These are all the major secondary characters. Most of them are brand new to us in this book.  Lucien is the only returner, and we don’t spend much time with him because we don’t spend much time with Tamlin. Mor, Amren, Cassian, and Azriel are some of the most loyal and down-to-earth friends that Feyre could ever have. I was so pleasantly surprised at how well each of these characters was developed. They each have their own complex background story that I want to learn about.

Rating
A Court of Mist and Fury is a great sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses! While it is a long book, I never felt like what I was reading didn’t to be there. Even looking back on it now, I can’t think of any one part that wasn’t necessary for the story. It moves quickly, it keeps the reader engaged, the characters are developed really well, and, as a reader, I fell in love with the new characters and fell in love with the old characters all over again.  A Court of Mist and Fury gets an “A” from me!!

Happy Reading!

Erin

Goodbye and Hello: June Wrap-Up and July TBR

 

Goodbye and Hello: June Wrap-Up and July TBR

June Books:

 

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

I really enjoyed These Shallow Graves. You can check out the review I wrote for it here.

 

 

Children of Icarus by Caighlan Smith

It feels like I read this book so long ago when I actually only finished June 5. That tells me I did a good job reading several books this month. Yay me!! I don’t have a review up yet for this one because I want to put it up closer to the date of release, which is August 1st. It was a good read. A different type of YA dystopian book that wove in a little fantasy and a little mythology. I haven’t read another book like it. Look out for my review on July 23rd.

 

 

Crystal Crowned by Elise Kova

I’m still working my way through this one, and I’m loving it. It makes me sad that this is the last book in the series, but we are going to see many more beautiful things from Elise Kova in 2017, I just know it. This book comes out July 12th. My review will be out July 9th in celebration of it!

 

 

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

This was a reread for me, and I think I had just as much fun reading it this time as I did the first time around.  I read it so fast the first time that I had forgotten a lot of it, so I reread it before A Court of Mist and Fury. I loved every page all over again.Tamlin and Feyre are delightful and perfect. Their love story just as frustrating and beautiful the second time around.

 

 

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

I have 60 pages left in this one, so I’ll finish it today! I have loved every piece of it!! The characters have grown so much since the first one. I cannot wait to see what happens in the last one. I know that a lot of people categorized ACOTAR as a YA book when it is actually NA. You can definitely tell that ACOMAF is an NA book. It pumps up the sex and the relationships between the characters, so if you’re not into NA and you still want to read it, you have been warned. My review for this one will be out on Saturday, July 2nd.

 

July Books:

 

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

This is  reread. I was warned about the lack of reference to The Wrath and the Dawn in The Rose and the Dagger, so I thought it would be a good idea to reread this one before diving into the next.

 

 

The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

I am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse—one that might keep them apart forever. Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid’s empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan.

While her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces he doesn’t yet understand, Shahrzad tries to uncover powers that may lie dormant within her. With the help of a tattered old carpet and a tempestuous but sage young man, Shahrzad will attempt to break the curse and reunite with her one true love. This one comes out April 26th.  I hope Amazon delivers it on time

Why I want to read it?

I have been looking forward to this book since I finished The Wrath and the Dawn, which was my favorite read of 2015! So, due to the awesomeness of the first book I have some very high expectations; I hope it rises to meet them.

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who held sway over an age of enforced peace are dead…victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.

As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky—a comet the color of blood and flame—six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard’s son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King’s Landing. Robert’s two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.

A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and wartime. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel…and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors.

Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment;a tale of pure excitement you will never forget.

Why I Want to Read the Series?

I have been a fan of the show since the beginning, and I love fantasy.  So many of my friends have recommended it to me and have been waiting for me to read it for over a year. I plan to read the remainder of the series, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to get through the whole thing this month. This is the year that I’m going to tackle it despite the book series not being completed, damn you, George R.R. Martin!  Can’t wait!!

Wrecked by Maria Padian

Everyone has heard a different version of what happened that night at MacCallum College. Haley was already in bed when her roommate, Jenny, arrived home shell-shocked from the wild Conundrum House party. Richard heard his housemate Jordan brag about the cute freshman he hooked up with. When Jenny formally accuses Jordan of rape, Haley and Richard find themselves pushed onto opposite sides of the school’s investigation. But conflicting interests fueling conflicting versions of the story may make bringing the truth to light nearly impossible–especially when reputations, relationships, and whole futures are riding on the verdict.

Why I want to read it?

I received this ARC from the publisher through NetGalley. It sounded like a really interesting and controversial read especially considering all the rape cases being publicized recently, so I wanted to dive into an intense read that takes on a very hot topic right now.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. 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 four 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.

Why I want to read this series?

I imagine when my sister sees that I am finally starting this series she will be very excited. She has been pushing me to read this series for over a year. So much so that between my mom and her, I received the entire series for Christmas last year.  It is also super helpful that I am absolutely in love with anything Sarah J. Maas writes.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

Why I want to read this series?

I love everything that Sarah J. Maas writes. And with the way everyone talks about this series, I am going to want to read them all back to back so that’s why the first and second books are both going to be read in July.

What are you guys reading during the month of July??

Happy Reading!

Erin