The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas // Book Reviews

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So this is going to be a bit of a different review because I will be reviewing a couple of novellas that were bound-up into a book. This is a spoiler free review so anyone can read this and not get angry at me for spoiling because trust me, you don’t want to get spoiled. If you want to know my feelings on the spoilery parts of the book, you can find the review HERE and reveal all the spoilers. The Assassin’s Blade is a prequel for Throne of Glass and yes I understand that the series has nearly come to an end and I’m at the beginning.

The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Series: Throne of Glass (#0.1-0.5)
Genre: Fantasy
Publication: March 4th 2014 by Bloomsbury Childrens
Pages: 448
Source: Borrowed

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan’s most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin’s Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas – together in one edition for the first time – Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn’s orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.

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REVIEW

I was not in a stable mindset and it was very difficult to gather all my thoughts once I finished reading these novellas. Just, whoa. I understand now when people say that this prequel “redeems” Celaena or justifies her annoying qualities in Throne of Glass, though I’m still not completely pro-Celaena. I admit she ACTUALLY kicks some serious butt, which was what I wanted in ToG, but her attitude really got to me sometimes. Of course we need to talk about Sam. I expected him have a larger role or presence in these novellas, nonetheless, I love him. I also expected to love him more. Strange that. Maybe the huge hype around his character caused that. He’s an adorable cinnamon roll. Arobynn though. I have such rage and resentful feelings towards him, so Celaena’s constant defence of him, consciously or not left me quite frustrated.

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore // Book Reviews

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I’ve got a new book review on book #3 of the Lorien Legacies series, The Rise of Nine. Dun dun duhhhh. This is going to be a spoilerish review so it depends on what you consider as a spoiler. I’m going to be talking about the characters in this book and some of you could think that the introduction of some of these characters are mild spoilers. If so, you can (a) read the book then come back just in case and we can discuss all the thoughts or (b) read this review and skip the bullet points.

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

Series: Lorien Legacies (#3)
Genres: Science fiction
Publication: August 21st 2012 by HarperCollins
Pages: 360
Source: Borrowed

In Pittacus Lore’s The Rise of Nine, third in the New York Times bestselling I Am Number Four series, the stakes are higher than ever as John, Six, and Seven try desperately to find the rest of the Garde before it’s too late.

The Mogadorians who destroyed the planet Lorien continue to hunt down the Garde, the small group of Loric survivors who have taken refuge on Earth. The Garde must come together. They are Lorien and Earth’s only hope.

During the dangerous mission at the Mogadorian base in West Virginia, John found and rescued Nine. But even with their combined powers, special abilities known as Legacies, the pair barely escaped with their lives—and they lost Sam in the process.

In order to save our world and their own, John and Nine must join forces with Six and Seven who have been battling the Mogadorians in Spain, and who are now trying to locate Number Eight in India.

Power in numbers will save us all.

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REVIEW

When I started reading this I was like different POVs overload but I guess with so many important characters, this method is necessary… or convenient. As I kept reading, it kind of worked for me. So the chapter alternate between the narration of Four, Six and Marina’s (Seven) and it was generally systematic, so that made it easier to follow. Each character had a different font, but I wonder if I read the book with the same font, would the voices be as distinct and unique.

In the beginning I was trying to figure out who were the “Nine” that rise, which involved a lot of counting. In this book we got introduced to almost all the living Garde members and I’m glad we got to see more of their legacies develop, though it’s tough trying to remember them all. I think is book was definitely a step up from the previous and I felt more urgency that didn’t really exist reading The Power of Six. However, I felt a lot of scenes were unnecessary – like the talking scenes where they wouldn’t even come up with a plan, e.g. Four & Nine talking, fighting, arguing. Then they get caught *shakes head in disapproval*. WOW, surprise much? I don’t see how the “wing it” method was helpful in finding and discovering how to defeat Setrákus Ra AKA enemy #1.

Waiting to review books // Discussions

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I’ve been thinking about this lately ever since I started writing detailed reviews and blogging – how the time period between finishing reading a book and reviewing it changes your outlook or how you review it. Is there a correlation between the length of waiting to review and your enjoyability of that book?

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder // Book Reviews

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I’ve got a book review today on Magic Study. Am I the only person basically at the start of this series? Firstly, if you haven’t read Poison Study (the first book of this series), you need to read it. It’s one of my all time favourite books because it’s amazing! SO. GOOD. It’s also one of those young adult borderline adult books and it does go darker as you get more into it and ahhhh so so good. Getting off track… today I’m going to talk about the sequel and you will get spoiled for the FIRST book because this one starts near-ish in time after the events of the first novel. There is a going to be a spoilery section which I will clearly warn the start and end where I will talk about what I thought of the major revelations of this book. Also it’s at the end so you can keep reading the non-spoiler part until I flash signals (in words).

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Series: Study (#2)
Genre: Fantasy
Publication: October 1st 2006 by Luna Books
Pages: 392
Source: Borrowed

YOU KNOW YOUR LIFE IS BAD WHEN YOU MISS YOUR DAYS AS A POISON TASTER…

With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be reunited with the family she’d been stolen from long ago, Yelena should be pleased. But though she has gained her freedom, she can’t help feeling isolated in Sitia. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways—and her newfound friends and relatives don’t think it’s for the better….

Despite the turmoil, she’s eager to start her magic training—especially as she’s been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia’s throne for a lost prince—and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with all her new enemies….

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GENERAL THOUGHTS

I really enjoyed reading this book and whole experience getting back into this series. We saw some cameos from the first book *excessive squealing*, although they didn’t appear until about halfway. I was actually quite surprised they came in that late. However, this gave time for us to get to know the new characters; Yelena’s family and the magicians. I think it was really cool that readers were able to discover this other side of the Ixia with Yelena and (kind of) experience her journey through this new land and her magic abilities – also because it was in first person point of view. Just look at the synopsis – that’s what I wanted in terms of the basic plot points for the sequel. Keyword: ENEMIES.

Reading habits tag // Tags

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New tag today and I’m going to be talking about my reading habits. The tag was originally made by TheBookJazz and you can find her video HERE. Now you get to read about some of my weird habits while I read.

Top 5 Book series where I only liked the FIRST book // Friday Five

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I hope you are all well. Today I’m going to be listing my top 5 book series in which I adored the first book of the series buuut everything went downhill from there for the rest of the series and I ended up shaking my fists in anger because they could have been so much better. Also expectations were extraordinarily high! I initially thought they could have worked as series but after reading the series… ummm better as standalones (why did the sequels need to ruin the story). Basically, my recommendations for series, but only recommending the first book :D Quick side note, I’ve recently noticed that in my blog post titles for my Friday Five lists are extremely long, and perhaps a little excessive but it’s just really difficult to condense it all or maybe I’m incompetent at shortening everything (you’ve seen my blog posts – full of waffle). Anyway, let’s move on, shall we?

The Crown by Kiera Cass // Book Reviews

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I hope you’ve had a good start to the week and I’ve got another book review today on The Crown, the last instalment of The Selection Series! It was a very light read and helped me get back to reading from my reading slump – that was a nightmare. Anyway, I’ve had a pretty meh experience reading this series, yet I still find myself finishing this series. I’ve been trying to pinpoint why I’ve continued – 5 books!! I’ve stayed through (though to be fair it could have been condensed to 2 or 3 books). Also this is going to be a spoilery review because I really need to discuss the revelations in this book, but I’ll mark that section in BIG WRITING so if you haven’t read the book yet, you can keep reading until I say so. OR if you don’t have any intention reading it or just don’t care, you can read the spoilers :D

The Crown by Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection (#5)
Genres: Science fiction, Romance
Publication: May 3rd 2016 by HarperTeen
Pages: 279
Source: Borrowed

When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.

Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.

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GENERAL THOUGHTS

If I were to put it simply; I was not completely satisfied with this ending to the series even though I wasn’t expecting much. Also this review is going to spoil the previous books of the series so you may want to leave if you don’t want to be spoiled on America’s story. Okay, so this book begins after the events of America’s health scare and Eadlyn still has her selection going on, although it felt like the section was a side plot because it was so neglected. This book was very easy to get through and there were some times I was amused, however I found myself slipping into this phase of reading when after the chapter finished, I would be like what just happened… and go back to skim the words. Also, I felt the issues explored in this story like the lack of people’s choice in the monarchy, the relationship between countries and Eadlyn’s choice in the selection, were too straightforward and solved too simplistically, and unrealistic. The outcomes also seemed forced, as though they only happened because the author wanted it to.

June 2016 recap // Wrap Ups

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I’ve been so busy this week and assessments have been thrown at me JUST after my exams – just needed to get that out. Anyway, you came here to chat about books so happy July, and in celebration for the start of the month, I’m going to wrap up all things bookish in the month of June!! I just realised we’re halfway through the year *gasp*.