Eveline's Books

Restore Me (Shatter Me #4) - Tahereh Mafi [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 14:28:00 +0000

This review contains spoilers.

Restore Me (Shatter Me #4) - Tahereh Mafi

Title: Restore Me (Shatter Me #4)
Author: Tahereh Mafi

Released: March 5th 2018
Rating: ★★★

Juliette Ferrars thought she'd won. She took over Sector 45, was named the new Supreme Commander, and now has Warner by her side. But she's still the girl with the ability to kill with a single touch—and now she's got the whole world in the palm of her hand. When tragedy hits, who will she become? Will she be able to control the power she wields and use it for good?

Review:

I was so excited to read that the Shatter Me series would continue with 3 more books. The end of Ignite Me was indeed pretty open and I was eager for more. However, now that I've read Restore Me, I think it should have ended with the third book. Why? I'll tell you.

Plot

Although it was a fast-paced book with great writing, at the end I realised there was little to no action in Restore Me. In contrast to the first 3 books, this plot was driven by drama, revelations and plot twists.

The main twist in the book about Juliette I found quite strange and disappointing. [Spoiler] It reminded me of the last book of Divergent, in which one plot twist changes the whole way you perceive the series. I also did not think the twist was that original, as I have seen unknown sisters, parents and the special 'chosen one' twist before. A pity. [end]

The Juliette - Warner drama, which took up most of the book, got a bit old for me. Ever heard of talking, guys? I had hoped we had left the 'can I trust you?', secretive, non-talking relationship in book 3.

Some events happening in the story remain unsolved, [Spoiler] such as the assassination attempt on Juliette with poisoned bullets. What kind of poison was it? Who was the shooter? [end] I hope we get some answers in the next book about that, but I doubt it.

World Building

Mafi could have done more with world-building.
After four books, I still have no clue what their world looks like. Warner's compounds in book 1 and Omega Point from book 2 and 3 are clear, but the rest? They are building compounds somewhere in the Sector, there are wastelands and there is an ocean. And the inhabitants of Sector 45 also live and work somewhere. Not much else is introduced or described, which I had hoped for in this book.

The mysterious Reestablishment is also not clarified much. We get some clues on how the Reestablishment formed itself, but on the whole it remains a mystery. What happens outside Sector 45 is also left unsaid.

Not a lot is said about powers either. Juliette only uses her powers in the end, which she apparently still hates even though they won her the war, and the rest of the people with powers do not engage them either. I had hoped the origin of the powers would be explained in this book, but unfortunately this was not the case.

Characters

I was a bit disappointed by the overall character development in this book.
The story focused only on the main characters (Juliette, Warner, Kenji) and the newcomers from different countries. The previous side characters, such as Winston and Brendan, kind of disappeared. Even Adam and James, who I hoped would have some nice talks with Warner, appeared only a few times. The newcomers too, with the exception of Nazeera, remained stereotypes.

I was glad this book finally included Warner's POV, which shows his emotional side. I'm still conflicted about how I feel about Warner. He obviously loves Juliette and would do anything for her, but he has done many bad things in his life, for which he doesn't explicitly feel guilty, he still lies a lot, and does not seem to want to improve himself except for Juliette. He is mean to Haider, who seems to want to be his friend, to Juliette's friends, and to his ex Lena, who really loved him. [spoiler] About the ex-girlfriends, this twist came to me as a surprise. I always saw Warner as a passive guy who only ever fell in love with Juliette. Him having been in other relationships, even if they didn't mean anything to him, feels strange.[end]

In the first half of the book, I understood Juliette's problems, but I also found her quite naive again. Did she really think leading an entire continent would be fun or easy? Fortunately, Kenji talked some sense into her, but I had hoped she had grown enough to realise this fact herself. Later, after all the truth bombs, I started to see the Juliette we had left in book 3 again, who is strong and does not let herself be led.

About Kenji I have little to complain. He was still funny and often a voice of reason for both Juliette and Warner in this book.

I can see Mafi added some diversity to Restore Me. A trans character is introduced, though very briefly and in a hostile manner, Warner is revealed to have anxiety, and characters from new cultures arrive.

Ending [Spoilers!]

In the last few pages, the story went from basically action-less to a whirlwind of death, kidnapping and revelations. I was confused about what was going on. I hope the many deaths have some signifance, because this plot point seems pretty useless right now. And of course the story ends with a cliffhanger, which I am never really a fan of.

I am unsure if I would recommend this book. The first three books I found much better and could stand alone as a trilogy. This book wasn't bad, but it just didn't fit well with the previous three.

I award the book 3 stars.

Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 18:38:00 +0000

No (big) spoilers.

Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo

Title: Six of Crows
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Released: September 29th, 2015
Rating: ★★★★

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Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he'll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:

Break into the notorious Ice Court
(a military stronghold that has never been breached)

Retrieve a hostage
(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)

Survive long enough to collect his reward
(and spend it)

Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done - and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable - if they don't kill each other first.

Review:

I read the Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo quite a while ago, see here my review of book 1 and book 2. I liked the trilogy, but I wasn't overwhelmed by it, especially when rereading it. Then I started seeing all these good reviews of Bardugo's new Grisha-world series: Six of Crows. I postponed reading it for a long time (2 years!), but I finally did! And it didn't disappoint :) I definitely liked this book better than the Grisha series.
Onto my review!

Plot

Six of Crows has such an amazing, fast-paced plot, I was never bored while reading it. Probably because the story contains so many plot twists! The story is one big criminal heist - which is of course never simple or boring. Every time you think, 'pfew, the characters are okay', Bardugo inserts a new obstacle, keeping you on edge. The fact that the crew members all have their separate missions keeps the pace up too. Six of Crows is action-packed until the very end!

World Building

Bardugo did a great job of creating several new spots in her Grisha world, including the rigid, cold Fjerdan country and its Ice Court, and the dark slums of Ketterdam. I'm not sure if someone would fully understand the storyworld if they haven't read the Grisha series, as there are a lot of references to Ravka and the Grisha, which are not fully explained in this book.
I'm Dutch, so I absolutely loved the Dutch names and references to Dutch stuff (hutspot!) in Six of Crows. If you aren't Dutch, you should definitely look up the Dutch terms, because often they are very fitting to the story. You can see that the author spent a lot of hours researching this, as she also did with Russian for the Grisha series, and the hard work pays off. To be honest, Kaz is not really a typical Dutch name (Kas with an 's' is though) - but I rolled with it.
Ketterdam's harbour reminds me of the setting of the British TV series Peaky Blinders - the dark slums of an industrial city where all criminal activity happens, with the Dregs gang as the notorious Peaky Blinders, always getting in trouble for wanting more power. Fortunately, I love Peaky Blinders! Fans of this book should definitely watch this series, and vice versa.

Characters

The leading characters in the book, which are the protagonist Kaz's crew, are all round characters full of depth and complexity. They have interesting backstories and relations to one another, which are beautifully woven into the story. Although the characters are pretty dark and don't shun violence, they're still easy to love and all have something good hidden in them. Especially Kaz I found interesting. In the beginning he seems quite ruthless and laconic, but slowly you get to know his sad backstory and how he learned to survive in a hostile environment. This shows you he does have a heart, which makes you bond with the character even more. There's also a lot of girlpower - in form of the Grisha Nina and the spy Inej - who both have overcome hardship and keep fighting.

The book has several POVs which I usually hate, but Bardugo has given each of the characters a unique voice, so I didn't mind this time and I didn't get confused.
There's a hint of romance in the book for several of the characters, which I hope will be explored in the second book.

Ending

I prefer books with a closed or an open ending, not stopping in the middle of action or a cliffhanger. Six of Crows however does contain a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, though it didn't bother me too much. I won't tell what it is of course, but it does make you want to pick up the second book immediately.

I would definitely recommend Six of Crows if you liked the Grisha series, or if you just love fast-paced, action-packed stories in a fantasy world.

I award the book 4 stars.

Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6) - Sarah J Maas

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 20:25:00 +0000

This review contains spoilers.

Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6) - Sarah J Maas

Title: Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6)
Author: Sarah J Maas
Released: September 5th 2017
Rating: ★★★1/2

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In the next installment of the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series, follow Chaol on his sweeping journey to a distant empire.
Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken.
His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica—the stronghold of the southern continent's mighty empire. And with war looming over Dorian and Aelin back home, their survival might lie with Chaol and Nesryn convincing its rulers to ally with them.
But what they discover in Antica will change them both—and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined

Review:

I was excited to read Tower of Dawn, as Chaol had always been one of my favourite Throne of Glass characters. I started to like the book series less after Aelin left Adarlan in book 4, so I haven't read Empire of Storms (yet). Perhaps a bit dumb, as this book runs parallel to it, but I didn't feel as if I was missing a lot. Same went for the fact that I read the last ToG before that a very long time ago - the basic plot lines were enough to understand this book. A good thing as I hate books that expect you to remember all details from a previous book published two years ago...

But now onto a review of Tower of Dawn!

Plot

This book is definitely a slow burner. It's a whopping 664 pages long, of which the first half is mostly a long introduction to the new country and characters. If I think about it, not a lot happens even in the second half. Only towards the very end when several plot twists pop up, some action occurs. I was never bored, but I think (based on Goodreads reviews) many will agree that it would have been better some few hundred pages fewer. It really is a book based on characters and world-building, which is not a bad thing, but you must like the lack of adventure. As someone on Goodreads summarised, it's a story of healing and hope, which is a nice change. The rest of the Throne of Glass series is more action-packed to my knowledge.

World Building

As always, Sarah J Maas has been able to create a vibrant storyworld. I get a kind of 'Game of Thrones' vibe: siblings fighting over the throne, tribes with long haired warriors who ride in the desert, demon invaders. I read Maas got her inspiration from Genghis Khan, although I know too little of his history to confirm this. I like the different settings in book, namely the palace, Torre and warrior-homes, although the latter remained a bit vague to me (what exactly is a Ruk? what is a hearth-mother? how do all these tribes function?).

Characters

One characteristic of Sarah J Maas books: so. many. characters. I always love how she can give even the smallest characters a distinct personality, but I get so confused by the (often strange) fantasy names. Maas must really add a character list at the end of the book.

The book has separate POV's of Chaol, Nesryn and Yrene. At first, I didn't understand why Yrene had her own POV and found it a bit annoying, but she grew on me. The name of the POV is not mentioned at the beginning of chapters, which in some books can be confusing, but here it is very clear who was talking.

I like Chaol's character development. His darkness from the earlier books is explained and lessens throughout the book - I'm glad he's happy again at the end. He deserves that.
SPOILER. I do wish Maas had treated his handicap a bit differently. Chaol never really accepts his condition and is healed quite quickly - I found this somewhat easy. Then, at the end, when he is wounded again, I thought: 'Oh, now he gets to finally accept his handicap', but he fights it, then he gets healed again (How Yrene healed him exactly is still a mystery to me - that special type of magic was never mentioned before, a bit convenient). After that he is handicapped part of the time, but he suddenly seems to be okay with that. Not a very convincing character development TBH.

I didn't really have a lot of feelings for Nesryn at the beginning of the book, and still not that many at the end. Same goes for Yrene (yes, I should probably have read the Assassin and the Healer before this, but ain't nobody got time for that). They both seem like lovely, strong women, but I just didn't really feel a connection to them.
This while some of the minor characters I would have loved to hear more about, such as Kashin (what are his feelings for Yrene?) or Borte (why did she choose to marry that person whose name I forgot?).

SPOILER. That Chaol and Yrene, and Nesryn and Sartaq would become a couple was very obvious from the beginning. I wish Maas had made the connection or struggle between Chaol and Nesryn a little stronger. Now they were already grown apart from the start, making their breakup inevitable.

Ending

There are several plot twists at the end, some of which were shocking, others I had seen coming from a mile away.

SPOILER. For example, the twist that Aelin was Yrene's helper was obvious to me from the start, it couldn't have been anyone else. The twist that Duva was the Valg demon was not obvious, but I found it a bit easy as we didn't see her that much during the book.

Let's just say I wasn't as flabbergasted at the end as with some of the Throne of Glass books (nr. 3 :O) and the happy-peppy romance level was very high.

The last chapter about Fireheart was confusing, as I didn't know who that was about. Probably something I missed from not reading Empire of Storms...

I would definitely recommend reading this book if you liked the rest of the Throne of Glass series.

I give the book 3,5 stars.

Into the Still Blue - Veronica Rossi [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:37:00 +0000

This review contains some spoilers.

Into the Still Blue (Under The Never Sky #3) by Veronica Rossi

Title: Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3)
Author: Veronica Rossi
Rating: ★★★★

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The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do—and they are just as determined to stay together.Within the confines of a cave they're using as a makeshift refuge, they struggle to reconcile their people, Dwellers and Outsiders, who are united only in their hatred of their desperate situation. Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. Then Roar arrives in a grief-stricken fury, endangering all with his need for revenge.Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble an unlikely team for an impossible rescue mission. Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival—he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.In this final book in her earth-shattering Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.

Review:

For my (gushing) review of the previous two books in this series and the prequel, see this link. As I told you there, I really love the Under the Never Sky series, so I was pretty excited to read the last installment: Into the Still Blue. Judging from the title, this book will finally shed some light on the mysterious Still Blue we've been hearing about from the beginning.

And, fortunately, Veronica Rossi did not let me down! I read the book with the same (light)speed as I did with the others and I was content with how it wrapped up the series.

Plot

The story starts right where the last book left off: the Tides have moved in a cave for protection from the Aether and the Dwellers saved by Aria join them. So, in contrast to the three-month-leap in between the first and second book, we step right into the drama. Unfortunately, this gives the reader little time to settle into the story again and also gives the characters no time for a well-deserved break. I especially wanted some time alone for Aria and Perry, who were just together again - and Perry and Roar, to mourn Liv.
The action starts right from the beginning, as Aria, Perry and other major characters move away from the camp immediately to save Cinder. Of course, they are imprisoned and split up - meaning no much-needed heart to heart talks. Although this makes the story fast-paced, it would have been good for character development to let them all rest and talk a little - as now we keep reading how they stuff away their feelings and fight each other over unprocessed emotions. It is just a bit unrealistic or at least undesirable for young people to keep jumping from fight to fight while also dealing with severe emotional trauma.

The story world is still quite vague, although less than in the previous books. I now understood sort of what the realms, hovers and Aether are, but other stuff like the Unity, Still Blue and the DLS illness were still little explained. In the end the Still Blue becomes pretty clear, but the rest remains some nice dystopic inventions of which I have to fill in the blanks myself.

Characters

What I found the best characteristic of the books, was that throughout the series the characters have been fleshed out very well. Not only the protagonists, but also most minor characters received a rounded personality with whom I could bond.

First of all, we see Perry transition from a boy into a real leader, although I am still not sure whether I actually like his character. He tends to crop up his feelings and emotions, making him in the beginning of this book fight with Aria and Roar - not cool. Nevertheless, I liked his POV more in this book than in the second. There I had the urge to skip through it quickly at times because I was more interested in Aria's story, but now that was not the case. He does still have a lot of alone time, so without Aria and Roar (yawn..:P), but because they are still mostly in the same environment and storyline, his POV was not too diverging.

Aria has also gone through an interesting development in this series, which becomes really clear in this book. We now have the Dwellers as contrast, showing how scared she was at first and how strong she has become now. I love her relationship to both Perry and Roar, especially how she can rely on them unconditionally. Although I have to say that both in the second and in the third book, the focus has seemed to be more on Aria and Roar's friendship than on Aria and Perry's relationship. The latter has been more long-distant pining than actual engagement, unfortunately. I had hoped that in the third book they would interact more, but nope... Beside Roar and Perry, I do miss Aria's connection to other characters. We know she was friends with Caleb in Reverie and met with Talon several times, but we almost never see them interact. In this book, we also get to meet her father. Their relationship is quite shaky and almost non-existent until the end, for understandable reasons, but I would have liked to see some more bonding time here as well.

I felt so, so sad for Roar in this book. I really adored his character in the previous books and the prequel showed me how much he loved Liv. But to come back from losing the love of your life, and then to have her brother and your best friend attack you and consequently not speak to you is just horrible and could break anyone. Although I kept wishing the upbeat, comic Roar from the previous books to return, I understood why he needed to go through that dark phase at the beginning. When he started to smile and joke again, I was so happy! His friendship with Aria really felt like the thing that saved him, that was very well written. I was sorry that Perry did not support Roar more in the beginning, he seemed a bit lacking as a friend. Fortunately, he eventually figured this out as well (mostly b/o Aria..), and their friendship returned to its awesome state from the previous books.

In the beginning, I was not sure what Rossi wanted me to feel for Soren. At times I sympathised with him, but then he would do something that irritated me again. However, after the death of his father, he seemed to have become an actual nice and friendly person. I think he made the same transition as Aria, who in book one was also mad at Outsiders all the time before finally accepting them. I guess his and Brooke's character would be nice as a couple, which is hinted at in the end. In this book, Brooke fortunately got a little more speech to remove her from the stereotypical ex-girlfriend character she had gotten in the previous books - so she finally seemed likable as well.

The villains in this series are a bit stereotypical, though. Both Hess and Sable would do anything for power and have no redeeming side, although Hess in the end turned out to be the lesser villain of the two. Upper villain Sable double-crosses every one of his partners, so I thought it pretty stupid Perry wanted to make a deal with him and sort of trusted him to keep his promise. Kinda obvious what happened after that... Of course, they needed Sable to survive, but Perry should have been way more suspicious.

I am glad that this book series did not include a love triangle, like so many YA trilogies (see like 50% of my reviews). I admit that sometimes it seemed close to become a triangle, as Aria spends a lot of time with Roar, especially in book two and again in this book, and they become quite close (also literally, a lot of touching going on there). But whenever Aria and Perry are together, which is fortunately more in the third book, though still not a lot, they seem best for each other. And after reading the prequel about Liv and Roar and seeing his reaction to her death in book three, I know that there could never have been a real love triangle.

Ending
I thought the ending was nicely wrapped up. There were some sad losses, but the 'most important' characters have a happy future ahead of them. This is of course more realistic than that everything would suddenly be perfect (cough.. Hunger Games.. cough).

I would definitely recommend reading this series, overall I would give it 4/4,5 stars. The story, the characters and their relationships are all amazing!

Dystopian novels by Margaret Atwood - Handmaid's Tale / Oryx and Crake [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 May 2017 13:22:00 +0000

CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Rating: ★★★★

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Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

Title: Oryx and Crake
Author: Margaret Atwood
Rating: ★★★1/2

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Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.

Review:

In light of recent events in the world , I decided to re-read the Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian novel which I had once read in high school. Back then, I thought it to be a pretty strange book and I couldn't really relate to it. But, perhaps because of reading it a second time, maturing, or recent politics, I now found it a terrific story with a terrible message. Because I liked this book so much, I started reading Oryx and Crake, another dystopian novel by Atwood. This too I finished quickly, but, although I very much enjoyed it, it stuck with me less than the Handmaid's Tale.

The most interesting thing about these two dystopians is their focus on different reasons and causes for the world we know to have come to an end. The Handmaid's Tale centres on fertility problems, which end up constraining women's rights. Oryx and Crake on the other hand discusses the downsides of scientific progress, especially DNA mutation and bacterial warfare. Both protagonists grow up in a world like ours - women have to fight for equality, surveillance is increasing and science has more and more breakthroughs. Like us, they saw nothing wrong with this world - only when it went it sideways they remember the warning signs. A creepy prospect...
Atwood once said nothing about her books was made up, everything came from the real world. Unfortunately, I really believe that. All gender issues discussed in the Handmaid's Tale - women as sex objects, as baby producers, as pretty housewives, as property of and subordinate to men - have occurred and still do all over the world. I'm glad people keep reading this book, especially in times when sexism is starting to get normal again.Similarly, the catastrophe in the story of Oryx and Crake could probably happen any minute in this world too. I am sure that there are many dangerous viruses stored in labs, which could cause a pandemic when leaked. And although the ethical side of science is discussed quite a lot nowadays - like, can you experiment on fetuses or clone people? - this does not really seem to stop scientists from advancing further and further. For example, in Oryx and Crake people are designed to have better traits and handy traits lent from animals. Scientists are currently trying to discover genes for characteristics such as aggression. But, if (or when) they have found those, what stops them from trying to change those genetics? Then we quickly move from our world to Oryx and Crake! Thus, these books really make you think about the world and its issues.

One negative point is that both novels have a pretty confusing chronology. This is because both are told from a 'survivors' POV, who switches between the present dystopia and flashbacks from the 'normal' world in the past. You really have to give it time to get into the books and to understand what is going on - keep calm and carry on! Atwood only gives away pieces of the story at a time, which does make the ultimate understanding of it all more rewarding. So be prepared to be confused by weird terms like Crakers and Handmaids in the beginning, you will get them eventually. In the Handmaid's Tale around page 100 you discover the truth of the dystopian world, though I of course knew the story already the second time. However, in Oryx and Crake, the real reveal is only almost at the end, which leaves you with quite a lot of questions, both throughout the book and at the end.
Also, both books have an open (and quite cliffhangery) ending, although Oryx and Crake has a sequel which will probably continue on this ending. The Handmaid's Tale in turn contains an epilogue which looks back centuries later at the dystopian world. This gives some perspective to the story world and the rebellion which is only touched upon in the book, but provides no answers about the protagonist's fate. One thing I found odd about this epilogue was that is said the Tale was based on tapes found, indicating the storyteller had recorded them afterwards. However, the way the story was told - unchronological with flashbacks - seems more like a diary than a recollection of memories. Strange...

Unfortunately, both stories were not really character- or plot-driven in my opinion. All characters were quite flat and did not develop throughout the story. In case of the protagonists, you only saw the difference between them before and after the dystopia happened. I guess I liked the book Oryx and Crake less because I did not really connect to Snowman, the protagonist. He had this weird obsession with a child porn star and admired the friend turned 'villain', who seemed a bit too ambitious from the beginning. I did feel sorry for him though, as he had no one to really talk to.
The Handmaid's Tale's protagonist, on the other hand, whose name we never learn, seems more likable, as she has lost so many people, plus of course all her rights and freedom. However, she seems to have cast aside most emotions. Her story is told fairly straight forward by herself and she has no frantic outbursts. This could indeed be a survival strategy or acceptance, but I did not really feel emotionally bonded to the character because of that.
Furthermore, because there are so many flashbacks, not much happens in the actual plot. The Handmaid's Tale does have some suspense at the end because of some rebellious stuff that happens, but this is cut off short by the end. Oryx and Crake is essentially only a walk from the beach to a compound, thus also not that exciting. The flashbacks carry the stories in both books; they provide the action and 'exciting' apocalyptic memories. These however come scattered throughout the book, leaving you to make sense of them together in the end.

So you should really read the books for the message behind it, not the fantastic characters or fast-paced plot. Nevertheless, that message is so powerful and the slow discovery of the dystopian world Atwood created so eye-opening, that they are still both amazing books!
That is why I give the Handmaid's Tale 4 stars and Oryx and Crake 3,5 stars and I can definitely recommend them to everyone! Perhaps if I re-read the latter in a few years, it will have become 4 stars too...

PS: There is now also a TV series about the Handmaid's Tale. I'm excited to see how they have adapted the book!

Ignite Me - Tahereh Mafi [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 17:15:00 +0000

CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Title: Ignite Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Shatter Me #3
Release Date: February 4th 2013
Pages: 416
Rating: ★★★★1/2

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Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she'll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew - about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam - was wrong.

Review (with spoilers):

I was so excited to read this last book in the Shatter Me series and it did not disappoint me! I read in just one day, so I can say for sure it is a page turner. I really loved Ignite Me, but there were just a few things that bothered me...

First of all, Adam, he changed so much in this book. He went from sad and heartbroken in Unravel Me to mean and cruel. If he really loved Juliette (of which I was convinced in the last 2 books), he would have let her go and respected her choices. Instead he said the most horrible things to her and acted like she was a child who needed controlling. Although I'm a Warner fan, I found this change disappointing and it just did not fit with who he was in the previous books.

The end was quite rushed in my eyes. Most of the book works up to a war against the Reestablishment, which is over in 10 pages. I had expected an entire showdown with Anderson, but he was killed in a second. Juliette then tells everyone she is in charge now and that is it. The last page suggests the war is far from over and the entire world will be charging them, but since this is the last book we will never know about that.

I had hoped that the reveal of Warner and Adam being brothers would be bigger, that maybe they would have had more bonding time or maybe a confrontation together with Anderson. I felt this too was a bit rushed.

That were the negative points about the book, of course there were also so many great things! Mafi really knows how to write a story: great pace, beautiful writing style, awesome characters and swoon worthy romance.

Aaron aka Warner was just the perfect 'bad boy who is actually really sweet'. I loved how he opened up further to Juliette and also started to trust other people beside her in this book. He was such an interesting and complex character, it was intriguing to watch him unfold. He is one of my favourite book characters ever.

It was great to see how Juliette finally accepted her powers and became truly badass. She changed so much from the sad, weak girl she was in Shatter Me. She was brave and fierce, the ultimate heroine.

Kenji was hilarious, I had to laugh so hard at his witty remarks. Without him the series would have been too serious, he was the perfect comic relief.

The romance between Juliette and Warner was amazing, I'm so happy they ended up together. I cannot say anything else than that they belong together. ~~And chapter 55 guys..~~

Conclusion: A great end to a great series!

Stars: 4.5 out of 5

My Most Anticipated Releases of 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 20:07:00 +0000

New year, new releases!

These are the releases of 2014 I'm dying to read.

Sequels

Ignite Me
City of Heavenly Fire
Ruin and Rising
Silver Shadows
The Retribution of Mara Dyer
Opposition (Lux #5)
The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2)
Split Second
Sweet Reckoning

New Series

Landy Park
Alienated
After the End
Panic

Already-read releases of 2014

Uninvited
Into the Still Blue
Cruel Beauty

What books are you waiting on this year?

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books of 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 13:22:00 +0000

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.

This week: Top Ten Books/Series of 2013

Clockwork Princess
Unravel Me / Destroy Me
Indigo Spell / Fiery Heart
Crown of Midnight
Under the Never Sky series
Pivot Point
The Darkest Minds / Never Fade
Antigoddess
Girl of Fire and Thorns series
Heroes of Olympus series

There were many other books I liked in 2013, like Siege and Storm and The Evolution of Mara Dyer, but these 10 were my favourites!

PS: I reached my goal to read 115 books in 2013!

HAPPY 2014 everyone!

Uninvited - Sophie Jordan [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:53:00 +0000

Title: Uninvited
Author: Sophie Jordan
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Uninvited #1
Release Date: January 28th 2014
Pages: 384
Rating: ★★★★
Add on Goodreads

The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer.

When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

The first in a two-book series, Uninvited tackles intriguing questions about free will, identity, and human nature.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher. This won't influence the review.

Review:

When I first read the synopsis of this book I knew I was going to like it. There has always been a lot of debate whether a tendency to criminality is genetic or caused someone's environment. This book takes an interesting spin on this subject.

Short Summary

The story revolves around Davy, a seemingly normal girl. She is tested positive for HTS, the killer gene. This means she will very likely kill someone in the future. People with this gene are separated as much as possible from society and are seen as dangerous. Davy is first put in a different school and then a special training academy. She encounters a lot of violence, but also trustworthy people, like Sean.

Characters

I liked the protagonist Davy. I could emphasize with her when her perfect world suddenly collapsed. She was a good person, even though the government and society saw her as a potential killer. At first she was a little naive, thinking everyone was going to treat her the same. She quickly changed and hardened, and would not let people mess with her.

I had little connection to the love interest Sean. He was set on protecting Davy from the beginning, without any obvious reason. Apart from his foster family, we learn nothing about him. He seemed like a flat character, I hope this changes in book two.

Unfortunately because the book was in two parts, most characters did not get any development. I would have liked to see more from the people at Davy's new school and training center.

Romance

I wasn't really into the romance. I did not feel the chemistry between Sean and Davy. To me it seemed like Davy wasn't attracted to him, but only liked his protection. I can't remember her ever mentioning she actually like-liked him. Sean constantly had to protect Davy, which made her appear kind of dependent. I hope the relationship gets more depth in book two.

Killer Gene concept

I thought this book had a very interesting concept. Here killing is genetic, and findable in the DNA. This means nothing can be done about the person's tendencies to killing, it's in their nature. This goes against what we believe now and all our crimes prevention programs. And even if killing were genetic, how far would you have to go to prevent someone from killing? Lock them all up from birth? When something is in your nature, does it mean you can't fight it? I really love books that make you think and this one definitely did.

Plot

The book had two parts: one where Davy is still at home and one at the training center.
I liked part one. We get to see how Davy suddenly gets treated differently and her adapting to her new school. I found part two to be a bit rushed. We don't really get to know the center or the people in it. But part two had much more action than part one, I liked that. Overall, the pace was okay. I was never bored, but I would have liked more depth at some places.
Something I missed in the book was news from the world outside Davy's new school and training center. The story is from her isolated perspective and we don't get further knowledge about the world, like how things are going in the other camps and cities.
The book does not end in a cliffhanger, but it does leave you wanting to know how it continues.

Conclusion

A great book that makes you think about issues on nature versus nurture!

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pawn - Aimee Carter [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:34:00 +0000

Title: Pawn
Author: Aimée Carter
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Series: The Blackcoat Rebellion #1
Release Date: November 26th 2013
Pages: 346
Rating: ★★★★

YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING.

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.

Review:

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, this will not influence my review in any way.

This book was a pleasant surprise! I started reading it at the same time as I started watching Orphan Black. They are both about people taking other people's identities, an intruiging concept!

Quick summary

The world in Pawn is divided into 7 sections: from I to VII. You get your rank via a test. Our protagonist Kitty gets a III, which condemns her to a low job. She is bought by the president who Masks her as his niece Lila, who had been killed. Kitty has to impersonate her to stop a rebellion fused by Lila's actions.

Characters

Kitty was very likeable, caring and didn't hold back her opinions. But I did have the feeling her intelligence fluctuated a lot, one easy thing she couldn't figure out and another difficult thing she solved easily.
Benji and Knox were both good guys and set on protecting Kitty. There is no love triangle in this book, hopefully also not in the next one.
The bad guys did not have a lot of depth. The grandmother and president were just bad and only cared about power. They did things to their family that were quite extreme and slightly unrealistic.

Plot

The plot had a quick pace and was exciting. It was like one big game of chess, in which Kitty is the pawn and used by everyone (great title!). You were constantly guessing who was on which side and what would happen next. There were a lot of twists and a few unpredictable shocks. Fortunately there was no overwhelming romance in the story. Benji and Kitty were already together at the start of the book and were sweet as a couple.

Dystopian World

The dystopian world of Pawn was interesting and well developed. One test determines the rest of your life. Most people score low and have as a result a bad life. If you protest or if you get too old, you get sent Elsewhere, a mysterious place. Kitty makes a lot of shocking discoveries of how her world works and is therefore determined to continue Lila's rebellion. I would have liked to learn more about the rebellion and how the Blackcoats work, hopefully in the sequel we will.

Conclusion

I loved this book, especially the Masking concept. It's a creepy idea that you can live in a world where they can remake everyone into someone else.
I'm looking forward to reading the sequel!

Stars: 4 out of 5

Short Reviews: Not a Drop to Drink, Perfect Ruin & My Soul to Take

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 13:39:00 +0000

Today I'm going to give you some short reviews of books I've read in the last couple of weeks, but never reviewed in full. This could have been because I couldn't really think of what to say about it or lack of time.

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

I know many other reviewers absolutely loved this book, but I wasn't really blown away by it.
The romance was unnecessary in my eyes, the backstory of why the world suddenly had no water wasn't explained and I found the end a bit rushed. I did like how Lynn's character developed during the story, she became more trusting and friendlier.

Stars: ★★★

My Soul to Take (Soul Screamers #1) by Rachel Vincent

This was quite a short book. I liked the paranormal concept of this book, the soul screamers, it was original. I did not really like the romance, it seemed like the boy only liked the girl once he figured out she was like him. Except for the boy, Nash, I liked the characters and they have a lot of potential. The book introduces a mystery and I'm curious to see how it unfolds in the rest of the series.

Stars: ★★★

Perfect Ruin (The Internment Chronicles #1)
by Lauren DeStefano

The book starts off pretty slow and the story gradually builds up. I did not really get the backstory of Internment and the whole thing with the edge. I did like the romance (for once), Basil and Morgan were sweet together. The book ends in quite a cliffhanger, unfortunately. I think the story has a lot of potential and I will definitely read the next book.

Stars: ★★★1/2

Cover Reveal: Fracture Me - Tahereh Mafi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 19:05:00 +0000

Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi

(Shatter Me #2.5)

Summary:

In this electrifying sixty-page companion novella to the New York Timesbestselling Shatter Me series, discover the fate of the Omega Point rebels as they go up against The Reestablishment. Set during and soon after the final moments of Unravel Me, Fracture Me is told from Adam's perspective.

As Omega Point prepares to launch an all-out assault on The Reestablishment soldiers stationed in Sector 45, Adam's focus couldn't be further from the upcoming battle. He's reeling from his breakup with Juliette, scared for his best friend's life, and as concerned as ever for his brother James's safety. And just as Adam begins to wonder if this life is really for him, the alarms sound. It's time for war.

On the battlefield, it seems like the odds are in their favor—but taking down Warner, Adam's newly discovered half brother, won't be that easy. The Reestablishment can't tolerate a rebellion, and they'll do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam has ever cared about.

Release Date: 17th of December 2013

I love the cover! The feather lashes are so beautiful, although I can't figure out what they signify. This novella will be from Adam's POV. I never really liked Adam in Shatter Me and Unravel Me, but I'm still excited to read this novella.

What do you think of the cover?

Allegiant (Divergent #3) - Veronica Roth [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 19:30:00 +0000

SPOILERS!

Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Harper Collins
Series: Divergent #3
Release Date: October 22nd 2013
Pages: 526
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

Review:

Spoilers!

I was so excited to read this book, after loving Divergent and Insurgent. Unfortunately I was really disappointed by this book.

Instead of my usual review scheme, analyzing characters etc, I will just explain to you my criticism of the book.

The most disappointing thing in Allegiant I thought was the ending with Tris dying. It was definitely not what I had expected and I just found it needlessly cruel. I know not every story has a happy ending, but every good thing at the end was overshadowed by grief for Tris. If it had been a beautiful death with meaning I would maybe have accepted it, but it wasn't. Tris chose to steal Caleb's chance at redemption and be the selfless hero herself. And for what? To wipe the government memory while in the city the slaughter continues? I did not find it very meaningful. The worst thing was that I thought she was finally done with her sacrifices after she told us she "wanted to live" in Insurgent, which she clearly wasn't and didn't.

The story did not grab my attention like the other two did. I found myself bored at times, I felt like nothing happened most of the book. The middle part seemed only to exist of Tris and Four bickering at each other. The other books had a lot of action in it, while Allegiant consisted most of Tris and co. hanging at the government compound. I really had to drag myself through this book.

The explanation for the faction system was a bit disappointing. I really liked the dystopian faction system and it did not need a weird scientific background. The government on the outside and the opposing genes caused a lot of new problems, while I actually wanted to know what was going on in the city. I also felt like the government, the experiments and the genes etc. were explained very quickly, in a sort of info dump. It was way too much new information for a last book, especially when everything we had 'learned' in the previous books turned out to be a lie. Allegiant should just have continued in the city or Roth should have added another book to explain the new twist some more.

Everything the previous books was about and built up to: the factions, the Divergent, the factionless and the war in the city, was discarded in Allegiant. As soon as we find out these problems are based on lies, they are not important anymore. The majority of the book was about the new upcoming war between GD's and GP's and how the government was corrupt. To give the reader a little closure on the items in the previous books, Evelyn chooses Tobias over the war, when at first she wants to kill all the Allegiant to get what she wants. A bit of an unrealistic and easy solution.

The dual perspective was very confusing. Most of the time I did not know who was telling the story and I had to flip back pages to check the narrator. Tris and Four had very similar voices, I did not think the dual perspective added much to the story, although it was necessary of course at the end.

This may sound a bit dramatic, but I wish I had not read Allegiant and had just stopped at Insurgent. I was disappointed by the whole of Allegiant, not just the ending. I also don't know whether I'll be able to read the first two books again without thinking how everything is actually a lie.

Conclusion: the Divergent trilogy has a great beginning and a disappointing ending.

Stars: 2 out of 5

Series Review: Girl of Fire and Thorns - Rae Carson

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

This review contains spoilers for those who haven't read the whole series.

Girl of Fire and Thorns (#1)

The Crown of Embers (#2)

The Bitter Kingdom (#3)

The Girl of Fire and Thorns (#1)

★★★★☆

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

The Crown of Embers (#2)

★★★★☆

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny.

Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy.

The Bitter Kingdom (#3)

★★★★☆

The epic conclusion to Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns trilogy. The seventeen-year-old sorcerer-queen will travel into the unknown realm of the enemy to win back her true love, save her country, and uncover the final secrets of her destiny.

Elisa is a fugitive in her own country. Her enemies have stolen the man she loves in order to lure her to the gate of darkness. As she and her daring companions take one last quest into unknown enemy territory to save Hector, Elisa will face hardships she's never imagined. And she will discover secrets about herself and her world that could change the course of history. She must rise up as champion-a champion to those who have hated her most.

Review:

I absolutely loved this series and I'm so sad I've finished it! Once I started the first book I was completely sucked in the story. I finished the whole series in a week, I was so addicted to it!

Short Summary

The Fire and Thorns series is a fantasy series about Elisa, who bares a magic stone called the Godstone. She is married off to a king of a neighbouring country. At first she is very insecure, but as she learns more about her powers and make friends she becomes more confident. The series is about the coming war between her country and the magical country of Ivierne.

Characters

Oh, so many extraordinary characters in this series!

When we meet Elisa, she is a insecure, inactive princess described by herself as really fat.
I wasn't really bothered by Elisa's insecure talk about her body in the beginning of book one. It just highlighted the contrast with her new found confidence later in the book. I don't think this encourages girls to think that by losing weight you suddenly become a much better person who everyone likes. By losing weight, but mostly by surviving the desert (which caused her weight loss), Elisa finally finds the confidence she was always missing, learns to accept herself and her flaws and becomes a stronger person.
Elisa develops so much in this series, I've rarely seen so much character development in a YA series. As I said, she goes from an insecure girl to a strong, independent woman and true queen.

Hector, Hector, Hector.. What is it with royal guards in fantasy series that makes them so attractive (Chaol...)? Hector is introduced in book one as guard of King Alejandro and his loyal friend. From the beginning he seemed a kind and trustworthy character, and as the story progressed I liked him more and more. On the surface he's a stoic man, but he turns out to be very warm-hearted and a lot of other very positive adjectives. I love how he always wants the best for Elisa and tries to protect her however he can.

And there were a lot of other great and realistic characters in this series. We have Elisa's friends from the deserts: Cosmé, Belen, Mara.. all survivors; unexpected Ivierne friend Storm, the too loyal nurse Ximena and of course weak-willed king Alejandro. Those are just a few of them, though they all seemed to play a great role in the story, even the small characters.

Romance

The romance in this series was very confusing. First I thought Elisa and Alejandro would become a thing eventually.. no. Then we had Elisa and Humberto.. no. And when I thought we had our final couple, Elisa and Hector, things got messy between them too. But luckily the mess got cleaned up and they got their happily-ever-after, phew.
Elisa and Hector (Helisa?) was definitely my favourite couple in this series, They weren't all swoony and lovebirdy, but just very sweet and caring about each other. They always protected each other and would literally go to the lair of the enemy to save the other.

Fantasy

The writer has succesfully created a whole new fantasy world. And in this world there's magic, Godstones and Animagi who create fire.. what's not to love? The world building has been done in a lot of detail and the writer took enough time to explain the world and the magic.
The fantasy world in this series has a lot of Spanish influence. All names, of countries, cities and people are Spanish and the descriptions of building and landscape have a bit of a Spanish/Mexican feel. Me gusta!

The Godstone part of the story is based on religion. I have seen some reviewers who were bothered by it, but I wasn't. The religion wasn't specified, although it had a lot of similarities to Christianity. The religion in the series wasn't preached, but was treated like another kind of magic, that made it mysterious and very interesting to read about.

Plot

The series has a lot of action and is never boring. A lot of the time Elisa is traveling through all sorts of landscapes, mostly dangerous ones. There were lots of twists and turns in this series: things and people who were not as they seemed and a lot of betrayals and deaths.
I loved the ending of the series, because it wasn't open, all questions were answered and all problems solved. I really dislike YA series which leave their ends open with still some questions to answer, it's quite frustrating.

Conclusion

Everyone should read this amazing fantasy series! It has all the elements of a great YA series: action, romance, magic, humour, lovely characters.. etc etc.

PS: I haven't read the short stories accompanying this series, but I sure am planning to.

Overall stars: 4 (or maybe even 4.5) out of 5

Cover Reveal: Defector (Variants #2) by Susanne Winnacker

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Some time ago I read Impostor, the first book in this series (see review here).
I wasn't a really big fan of the book, but I'm curious to see how the story continues. So here's the cover of book 2 in the Variants series!

Title: Defector
Author: Susanne Winnacker
Series: Variants #2
Published by: Razorbill
Publication date: June 26, 2014
Genres: Thriller, Young Adult

The synopsis for book 2 is currently unavailable.

Synopsis for book 1 – Impostor:

Can Tessa pose as Madison . . . and stop a killer before it’s too late?
Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she’s spent the last two years training with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again.
Tessa hates everything about being an impostor—the stress, the danger, the deceit—but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she’d do anything to keep. Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself

About the Author

Susanne Winnacker studied law before she became a full-time writer. She lives with her husband, a dog and three bunnies in Germany. She loves coffee (in every shape and form), traveling and animals.
When she isn't writing, you can usually find her in the kitchen, experimenting with new vegan dishes.
Her YA thriller IMPOSTOR will be published on May 28, 2013. It has been optioned for TV by Warner Brothers!

Author links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Have you read Impostor? If yes, are you excited for Defector?

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown - Holly Black [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Series: ?
Release Date: September 3rd 2013
Pages: 432
Rating: ★★★★

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

Review:

If you thought there weren't any good vampire stories left, than check out this book!

Short Summary

In this book vampires have come out of the shadows, only to be locked up in special 'Coldtowns', together with all infected people who are 'Cold'. When all of Tana's friends are killed at a party by vampires and her ex-boyfriend Aiden is infected, she travels to Coldtown, accompanied by mysterious vampire Gavriel.

Characters

Tana was a very strong and caring character. She tries to save her ex-boyfriend from her mother's fate, even though he treated her badly. She stands her ground in difficult situations and doesn't back down from a fight.

Gavriel was the sort of mysterious character with a dark past that you just couldn't help but love. He switched between being very sweet and funny and being a bit mad and bloodthirsty. He was certainly a very interesting character.
I wasn't really a fan of Aiden. He behaved himself throughout the book and was pretty funny at times, but I just could not get over what Tana told us about their relationship and how messed up it was. Once I read that my opinion of him was ruined and nothing could change it during the course of the story (even though he redeemed himself a little at the end).

There were quite a lot of character in this book and sometimes I had a little difficulty in remembering who was who.
And no, there was no love triangle! Tana was clearly done with Aiden, but she was attracted to Gavriel. Their romance was a very small part of the book, but very interesting. I hope that if there comes a sequel, the writer will develop their relationship some more.

Vampires

Black gave the much used vampire story a new, modern twist in this book. Vampires are not in hiding or ruling over humans. Instead they are locked up in Coldtowns and vampires are the new media hype. Live feeds from Coldtown, vampire hunter TV shows, forums, vampires are everywhere. Vampires are romanticized by the people and the Coldtowns portrayed as the ultimate place to go and party and become famous. But the Coldtowns are really not as glamorous as they seem. The vampires are just as they are known to us readers, cold and bloodthirsty. I really liked the Coldtown idea and the way the writer shows how horrible things can easily be made positive by the media.

Plot

The story is mostly told from Tana's POV, though we get some glimpses of Gavriel's past and of the life outside Coldtown from Tana's sister. It is quite action packed, it has a quick pace and it was an absolute page turner. Black is not afraid to describe some gory scenes, but I like that in vampire books. The book had an open ending. There is no news about a sequel being written, so it could be a standalone, but there's definitely an opening for a next book.

Conclusion

An original vampire story and a great read! I really hope there's going to be a sequel.

Stars: 4 out of 5

Antigoddess - Kendare Blake [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 19:04:00 +0000

Title: Antigoddess
Author: Kendare Blake
Publisher: Tor Teen
Series: Goddess War #1
Release Date: September 10th 2013
Pages: 333
Rating: ★★★★

Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.

Review:

I really liked this book! I absolutely love Greek mythology and this book gives the old myths a great new spin.

Short Summary

The old Greek Gods are slowly dying. Athena and Hermes are determined to find a cure and this leads them to Cassandra, a clairvoyant girl, who Apollo has been shielding the whole time. Together with Odysseus they begin a race against the clock and a fight for existence against other Gods.

Characters

The characters were amazing. The writer put much time in developing them, especially in the Gods, to make them humane and relatable.

My favourite character was Athena. She is of course the goddess of wisdom and war strategies. But in this book she was portrayed as a normal teenager, with stepmother (Hera) and uncle (Poseidon) issues. She was very strong and determined to cure herself and her brother Hermes, but she could also be vulnerable at times. I liked her witty humor, which was her own way of dealing with the fact that she was dying.

Romance

There was only a bit of romance in the book. You could see something blooming between Athena and Odysseus, I hope this romance is developed in book two, since I really liked those two together. There was also Cassandra and Apollo, who already had a relationship when the book began. I never really liked their relationship, I guess because I knew what Apollo did to her in the Greek myths.

Mythology

I truly loved the mythology part in this book! Normally Gods are almighty and immortal, but in this story they are slowly dying and losing strength. The Gods are portrayed as pretty normal people, with normal (family) issues. Many famous stories, mostly about Troy, are mentioned in this book and given a twist. Although the writer doesn't keep to the myth rule book, she still manages to describe the backstabbing, power hungry Greek Gods family like they are.
I don't think you need any knowledge of Greek mythology to understand the book, but I think you would enjoy it more if you did.

Plot

The book was split in two storylines: one of Cassandra and one of Athena, until they meet and their storylines come together. This was not confusing at all and gave the reader a nice alternation between the perspective of a God and of a normal girl. The pacing was great, just quick enough so you don't get bored, but still everything is explained and displayed in detail (sometimes very gory detail). The writers is one for visual descriptions: she shows, not tells.
The book builds up to an epic end fight and ends in a sort of open end, not really a cliffhanger.
One thing about the book I did not like: we never get to know what caused the dying of the Gods, not even a little hint. I hope in the second book we get some answers.

Conclusion

Antigoddess was an awesome book giving Greek myths a fresh twist and I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Stars: 4 out of 5

Short Reviews - Ruby Red, Transfer, Devil and Deep Blue Sea, Darkness shows the Stars

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 13:02:00 +0000

Today I'm going to give you some short reviews of books I've read in the last couple of months, but never reviewed in full. This could have been because I couldn't really think of what to say about it or lack of time.

Ruby Red (Ruby Red Trilogy #1) by Kerstin Gier

I liked this book! It was a fun, quick and light YA read. The focus wasn't on the science part of the time travel, but I didn't mind that in this book. I liked the characters, especially the narrator. It was clear this was the first book in the series, the end felt very abrupt and the mystery hadn't been solved.

Recommended to: fans of light YA reads with a hint of sci-fi.

Stars: ★★★1/2

The Transfer: A Divergent Story by Veronica Roth

I waited for this novella for so long! I really loved Four in the Divergent series and I always wanted to know more about him and his life before Dauntless. Although it was a pretty short story, we get to see Four in a whole other light than in Divergent and this story gave him more depth. I liked the similarities between him and Tris, both gathering up courage to transfer and feeling strong afterwards.
I can't wait to read Four's next story!

Recommended to: everyone who loves Divergent.

Stars: ★★★★

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

This was a very mysterious book, though I did not find it super creepy or horror-like. It had a lot of twisted characters, so I couldn't really identify with them. Same went for the romance, since it wasn't sincere I could not root for it. But I still quite liked the book, the writer is very talented in describing creepy locations.

Recommended to: lovers of mysterious books.

Stars: ★★★

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

I read this book, since I absolutely loved Persuasion and I was curious to see how this writer would retell the story.
I can't say I thought it was very successful retelling. The pace was very slow and the story seemed to drag on and on. It did not help that the protagonist was constantly whining about how the boy she loved did not love her back anymore.

Recommended to: Well, not fans of Persuasion. Maybe fans of impossible romances?

Stars: ★★1/2

What did you think of these books?

Top Ten Tuesday #13 - Fall TBR List

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 15:39:00 +0000

This week: Top ~~Ten~~ Nine Books On My Fall 2013 TBR List

Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth

October 2013

The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4) by Richelle Mead

November 2013

World After (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee

November 2013

Antigoddess (Goddess War #1) by Kendare Blake

September 2013

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

September 2013

Perfect Ruin (The Internment Chronicles #1) by Lauren DeStefano

October 2013

These Broken Stars (Starbound #1) by Amie Kaufman

December 2013

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

September 2013

The 100 (The Hundred #1) by Kass Morgan

September 2013

Leave your TTT in the comments!

The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 12:51:00 +0000

This review contains small spoilers.

Title: The Bone Season
Author: Samantha Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Series: Scion #1
Release Date: August 20th 2013
Pages: 480
Rating: ★★★★

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine—a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her. It also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

Review:

I was so excited to read this book, because of all the great reviews and publicity. And no, it absolutely did not disappoint!

Short Summary

In a not too distant future London has become Scion. There are two kinds of people: Amaurotics (normal people) and Clairvoyants. The Voyants are hunted and most seek protection in the Scion underworld. Protagonist Paige is a Dreamwalker and works for criminal Jaxon. That is her life until she is captured and transferred to Sheol, a whole new and different world ruled by non-earthly Rephaims. She discovers that nothing is as it seems and Scion is definitely not her worst enemy.

Characters

I thought protagonist Paige was a very likable character. She adapted quickly in new situations and was strong, physically and mentally, but she still had flaws. She did not accept her poor living standards in Sheol and bravely fought the regime. She was the ideal YA heroine. (even though this book officially was meant for adults.)

Warden was a very mysterious character. You never came to know his true motives and intentions. He started out as the bad person, but slowly he came to be the good guy. I was very intrigued by him and I'm excited to read more about him.

There were many other characters, maybe a bit too many. Sometimes I forgot who certain characters were when they were suddenly brought up again. Also because there were so many characters, only a few were developed, others just stayed in the background while I would have loved to know more about them.

Romance

There was only a tiny bit of romance in the last part of the book. I did not really mind this, the book was amazing without the romance and wouldn't have been better with.

World building & Plot

I absolutely loved the world building in this book, it was definitely the strongest feature of the book. Everything about the Scion and Sheol world was explained in so much detail. You could tell the writer put loads of time in developing a new world and figuring out all the details. In terms of imagination The Bone Season can definitely be compared to Harry Potter.
Not only the world, but also the Clairvoyant abilities were explained extensively. In the book there were numerous types of Voyants and all had different abilities and strengths.
In the back of the book there was a glossary and trust me, that was no luxury. The world building was so complex and extensive that I forgot some names and things while reading. You really needed to pay attention, especially in the beginning of the book where most is explained.

The book was quite slow in the beginning, but after about 100 pages the pace picked up. There was a lot of action in the book and it had an epic end fight. The book had an open ending and left you with a lot of questions, the kind of end that is usually in the first book of a series.

So if you don't like slow, long books with a detailed world building, this book is definitely not for you. I, on the other hand, love those books, so this was a treat for me.

Conclusion

I really loved this book, especially the amazing world building. I'm very excited to read the rest of this series.

Stars: 4 out of 5

Feature and Follow Friday #7 - Bookshelf Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 09:29:00 +0000

Feature and Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. The goal is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community. If you would like to join in the fun just visit one of the host's blog for the rules.

Activity of the Week: Bookshelf Tour! Take us on a tour of your shelves.

I have four bookshelves in my room. Three are for my (YA) books and one for my studybooks.

I don't own a lot of physical books, since I mostly buy ebooks. Only my favourites I buy in physical form, keeps the shelves tidy:)

These are my books for my study English . Lots of heavy dictionaries and anthologies.

These are my three other shelves. You can see I love series! TMI, TID, HP, VA, THG, all on my shelves somewhere:)

My whole bookshelf :) Still some room for new favourites.

You can follow me via GFC, email, Bloglovin, and of course via Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads (see sidebar).

Share your FF links in the comments!

Impostor - Susanne Winnacker [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Title: Impostor
Author: Suzanne Winnacker
Publisher: Razorbill
Series: Variants #1
Release Date: May 28th 2013
Pages: 274
Rating: ★★★

Can Tessa pose as Madison . . . and stop a killer before it’s too late?

Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she’s spent the last two years training with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again.

Tessa hates everything about being an impostor—the stress, the danger, the deceit—but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she’d do anything to keep. Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.

Review:

This book is the kind of book you like while reading, but will forget instantly after finishing. A nice book, but not anything special.

Short Summary

Protagonist Tessa is a Variant, a shape-shifter. She is still in training with FEA, a secret branch of the FBI, when she is sent to a small town to find a serial killer. She has to impersonate Madison, the killer's last victim and take over her life. Will she find the killer before she loses herself in Madison's life?

Characters

The characters in this book were not really memorable. The book seemed more story-driven and took little time to develop its characters.

Tessa was a normal teenage girl, insecure about everything. She had been in training for 2 years, but she still seemed pretty weak and not kickass at all. I sympathized with her when she finally got the loving family she never had (Madison's family..), but she did not have any other likable traits.

Tessa's crush Alec wasn't likable at all. Tessa constantly reminded us of how hot he was, that was apparently the only thing she liked about him. During the book he was overprotective and he seemed to lead Tessa on, knowing she liked him, while he had a girlfriend. It made me dislike him and of course Tessa only liked him more, sigh.

The other characters were stereotyped and had no development. Bitchy girlfriend of the crush, anti-social nerd etcetera.

Romance

I did not like the romance in the book. Tessa had a crush on Alec, who was her friend in the FEA. He obviously liked her too, but he already had a girlfriend, Kate. It seemed he had some secret reason of being with Kate, because of which he did not break up with her, since she wasn't exactly nice, but this was never explained. As I said Alec kind of lead Tessa on during the book, which is the one of the most irritating kinds of romance you can have in a book in my opinion.
Tessa also seemed to have developed a crush on Devon, Madison's brother (while she was impersonating Madison, that was pretty creepy). I hope there's not going to be a love triangle in the next book, since I usually hate those.

Sci-fi

The sci-fi concept was cool, but unfortunately not really explained. Like in many YA sci-fi books, the sci-fi is only a nice basis, while a mystery or romance forms the actual story.
In the book we have people with special powers, who are trained at the secret FEA. We meet Tessa, a shape-shifter, Holly, who can become invisible and Alec (super strength). How the powers, the organization etcetera work is never explained. The concept did indeed share some similarities with X-Men, although I did not find myself comparing the two while reading.

Plot

Impostor was a fast paced book. Tessa constantly got new clues about who the killer could be, which made you want to read along fast. The killer and his motive were predictable, this made the end anti-climatic and the mystery simplistic.
The book was also pretty short, only 274 pages. Such short books are never my favourites, it always seems like there's something missing and the story seems rushed. I'm not sure what the next book is going to be about, since the story was round up at the end.

Conclusion

A quick, light sci-fi/mystery book, nothing special.

Stars: 3 out of 5

Top Ten Tuesday #12 - School Wishlist

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 14:00:00 +0000

This week: Top Ten Books That You Wish Were Taught In Schools

I never read much books for English in high school, I hope that's going to change now that I'm going to university to study English:) I like classics, also the ones that are usually taught in schools, but I think some YA books would also be awesome to read in class. They have great ideas and morals to think about and can teach teens a lot.

Dystopians

The Hunger Games
Unwind
Partials
Delirium
Uglies
Divergent

Good dystopians make you think a lot, because the writers used things/problems from our society. This makes it quite realistic and makes you think we should do something about it before it goes too far (like environmental things, war, crazy science etc.) That is why I like dystopians and why they are great to teach in schools!

Fantasy

Percy Jackson

Awesome Greek mythology lesson!

Harry Potter

In these books you learn about good vs evil, friendship, love and much more (and they are just awesome).

Contemporary

Looking for Alaska

Great book about death and learning to deal with the choices you make.

Perks of being a Wallflower

This book is a realistic projection of an average insecure high school teen and discusses a lot of familiar problems.

Leave your TTT in the comments!

A Monthly Round Up: AUGUST

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 10:00:00 +0000

A Monthly Round Up is a meme hosted at Feed Me Books Now!!!. The purpose of this meme is to sum up the month's blogging in one post. In the post you can mention the books you read that month, things that happened in the bookish world and blogs you discovered/read that month.

This month was not really a big blogging month. I went on vacation and after that I kind of lost blogging inspiration. I did a few reviews, but I couldn't come up with other posts, like discussions. I hate this blogging slump and I hope it will be over very soon.

Books read & reviewed this month

So, only five reviews this month, not my best month indeed.

The favourites of this month are: Crown of Midnight and Never Fade. Both amazing sequels!

Other Posts

And I had my second discussion post this month, about love triangles:

Let's talk: Love Triangles

I also started my own meme called 'Classic Love', in which I feature my favourite 'adult/classic' books.

Looking forward to in September

Starting at the university! I'm going to study English. But with that I don't think I'll be able to blog as much as I could in my holiday. So sorry in advance if I don't post so much.
My birthday! It's on the 21st :)
Releases of Antigoddess, Coldest Girl in Coldtown, The 100 and Not a drop to drink.

Happy September!

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) - Sarah Maas [Review]

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 10:00:00 +0000

This review contains spoilers.

Title: Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Series: Throne of Glass #2
Release Date: August 15th 2013
Pages: 432
Rating: ★★★★1/2

An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt.
But her heart never wavers.

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

Review:

I absolutely loved this sequel! Throne of Glass I found an amazing book, but well, I'm always afraid for the second book. But after reading several raving reviews, I went into reading this book with high expectations. And the book definitely did not disappoint!

Short Summary

The book continues where ToG ended. Celaena is now the King's Champion and has to kill everyone the king orders her to kill or he'll kill her friends. The mystery around the Wyrdmarks also continues and Celaena grows closer and closer to Captain of the Guard Chaol.

Characters

Celaena's character was again great in this book. I know I had some problems with her arrogance in the first book, but I have accepted this now as I can see it's just a defense mechanism of her. She was still sarcastic and quite arrogant, but she was also smart, strong and willing to do anything to help the people she loves.

In this book we saw a softer side of her. She finally loved someone again and felt at home. In the previous book she was only in the castle for survival, but now she has friends and she feels loved again. This made her more caring and less snarky, I liked that side of her.

Dorian really grew as a character. In book one he was still a spoiled, naive boy who couldn't see what was right in front of him. In this book he started to explore for himself and defied his father several times. He matured and definitely became more likable.

Chaol.. I love you! He is definitely one of my favourite male book characters ever. He was just so sweet and he truly cared for Celaena. But when he had to be he was super badass. He was just an overall good person and he did not deserve what Celaena put him through in the last part of the book.

There were a lot of other characters, but for me one stood out: Princess Nehemia. She was one of the few people in the castle who was real and kind and I loved her friendship with Celaena. Nehemia wasn't afraid to fight to get what she wanted and she really cared about her people.

Romance

Where to start about the romance? Well, as I had already foreseen Chaol and Celaena finally admitted to their buildup chemistry and started a relationship. I absolutely loved their romance. They were so sweet together. Chaol really cared for her and Celaena became a better person because of him. But of course their happiness couldn't last too long and they broke up in the last part of the book, so frustrating. I really hated this and I hope everything will work out in book three.

There was no sign of the love triangle that had built up in book one. Celaena and Dorian were strictly friends and she was only romantically interested in Chaol. Since they are broken up now, maybe the love triangle will pop up again in book three. I hope not, since I love the friendship between Celaena and Dorian.

Fantasy/Mystery

The fantasy elements in the book: the magic, Wyrdmarks, elves.. they made up the mystery in this (and the previous) book. Celaena got pulled in even more in this book and also Dorian got his share in the mystery. The mystery gets darker and bigger, although nobody gets killed by monsters anymore. I really liked this part of the book, the mystery's scary and unpredictable.

Plot

The book was fast paced, full of action, had lots of twists, was mysterious and romantic. It had a few heartbreaking moments, but also some where I laughed out loud.

Unfortunately, the 'shocking' cliffhanger I had already predicted and thus did not leave me with my mouth on the floor. But I do really want to how everything continues, since there are a lot of other things that are not yet resolved.

Conclusion

If you liked Throne of Glass, you're going to love Crown of Midnight, as it's even better than its predecessor. More mystery, more romance, more action.. I can't wait for book three!