All posts tagged Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury

By Brookelorren on 6 Comments
A Court of Mist and Fury cover

I recently read A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. It’s the second book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series, and I think I enjoyed it better than the first book. Since this is the second book in a series, it may include a few spoilers.

Feyre has survived her ordeal under the mountain, and is now learning how to live as one of the Fey. But now that she’s an immortal, something seems… off. She gets to be with Tamlin, but he seems possessive and controlling. Maybe Feyre doesn’t want to return to the life she once had, where she has to hunt for survival, but she also doesn’t want to be shut away in manor like some fragile doll. Tamlin swears that things will get better, but will they really? She’s about to marry him, the mating bond hasn’t kicked in, and things seem wrong.

On the day of Feyre’s wedding, things seem to fall apart.

There’s a lot that happens in this book. We already knew that Feyre was a strong human, but in A Court of Mist and Fury she learns how to be strong as one of the fey. We get to see more of the world beyond the wall. There are new threats… and new friends. And Feyre’s life is turned upside down yet again.

If you read a lot of book blogs or hang out on book Twitter, it’s hard to avoid all spoilers for this series, but even though I knew of something that was going to happen in this book, I didn’t know how it was going to happen, and I really enjoyed it. I was also quite surprised at other things that occurred in A Court of Mist and Fury. Especially the end.

Even though they are marketed as YA, SJM books are definitely more adult than young. This series is not an exception. But if you are on the adult end of young adult and enjoy fantasy books with fey, I recommend this series and this book.

Kingdom of Ash

By Brookelorren on 4 Comments
Kingdom of Ash Cover

The final installment of Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series is Kingdom of Ash. At 980 pages, this is an epic book. To be honest, it was a little bit too long. But it was a fitting end to a great series.

Because this is a review of the last book of a series, there are spoilers for the first six books.

At the beginning of the book, things look hopeless. Aelin is in an iron box trapped by Maeve (whom we now know is Valg), all of our protagonists are separated, and the forces of evil have their armies everywhere. How are they going to find Aelin and fight off all these forces? I don’t think I’m really spoiling much to say that they’re going to eventually win. An ending where Maeve and Erawan win and everyone dies would have everybody shaking their fists, vowing to never read another Sarah J. Maas book again.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was interesting to see the twists and turns, and find out how Ms. Maas was going to pull the characters out of all the messes they got themselves into. There were several situations where things looked really bleak. Sadly, not everybody will survive. In the end, there was no irrational “oh the gods came down and saved everyone” end either. The way the conflict was resolved was quite satisfying.

A Really Long Book

I like big books as well as the next person, but Kingdom of Ash might have been a little bit too long. There were too many long, detailed battle scenes. While I enjoy history, I don’t particularly care for reading a lot of battle scenes. They can easily become too much for me. I gave this book four stars on Goodreads – pretty much the reason it lost a star was the length. Partly due to the battle scenes.

Kingdom of Ash is very detailed. I found myself referring to the map several times while reading this book. There were characters that show up in this book that we haven’t seen since Throne of Glass. There is so much going on in this book that someday I may have to binge-read this series again just to remember everything that happened.

To give an example of how long this book is, there’s about 100 pages of this book where stuff happens after the climax of the book: coronations, wedding talk, that sort of thing. Yes, I want to find out what happens to the characters afterwards, but for 100 pages? After already reading nearly 900 pages? It was a little bit much.

Conclusion

I liked this book. There were a lot of great characters and subplots, but the length was just a bit too much, even for someone that reads a lot of long books. If you’re going to make your fiction book nearly 1000 pages, make sure they’re all necessary.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

By Brookelorren on Leave a Comment
Court of Thorns and Roses cover

After hearing about this book for quite a while, I finally read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I didn’t know what to expect at first (I just knew that I liked the Throne of Glass series and this was her other series) but I found that I liked it. And I realized that this story was something of a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I enjoyed it and I plan on reading the next books in the series at some point.

Feyre is a girl living in the forest, keeping her family from starving. She was a better girl than me, because when her sisters ask for money for things, she gives them more than they deserve. If it were me out there hunting all day, and my ungrateful sisters were asking for money, I’d give them just what they needed, and then I’d tell them to go do something to earn it if they wanted anything more. Even her father is practically useless, although I at least feel bad for him since he had an injury.

One day, while hunting in the woods, she kills a wolf. It’s a ginormous wolf, and she thinks it might be magical, but in her mind, it might be either her or him. This sets off a chain of events that forces her to live in a magical estate over in fae-land. Now she worries for her family (whom she’s afraid might have died without her) but she does have a pretty sweet life otherwise. As a reader, I’m wondering “why?” but it’s explained later in the book.

Despite her rags to riches story, all is not well in the land of the fae. There is a curse that threatens to spill over into the human lands and hurt her family. Feyre must do what she can to save her family… and the fae male that she has grown to… love? You’ll have to read the book to find out more.

What I Liked

A Court of Thorns and Roses has a lot going for it. There’s magic, and I couldn’t help but root for the girl who had been slaving away for her family for so long and finally gets to live a good life. Feyre is a brave and clever girl who is willing to fight for what she wants. The writing was good, as all Sarah J. Maas books are.

What I Found to be ‘Meh’

I can’t say I disliked anything about this books, but there were things I liked less. Although Feyre was clever, strong-willed, and brave, there were some times when she would be extremely unwise. Yes, I can see how she would miss her family and worry about them, but she does some things that are incredibly unwise at the beginning, and part of me wanted to strangle her. Maybe I just couldn’t understand how someone with such a useless family would be so attached to them. She doesn’t listen to counsel at times, even when she should know better.

Conclusion

I definitely plan on reading more books in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.  I decided to get A Court of Mist and Fury on audiobook; the next books in this series are a little longer and I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to find time to read the next books in the series otherwise.  While SJM might not be an author that I often feel like I have to read the next book now about, I do enjoy her stories and I want to find out what happens next.

Tower of Dawn

By Brookelorren on Leave a Comment
Tower of Dawn cover

Tower of Dawn is the sixth book in Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series. Like the other later books in this series, this book is epic in size, but it’s well worth the read.

I was sad to say goodbye to Aelin and her friends to read this book, but a lot goes on in this book that will tie into the big finale when I finally get around to reading Kingdom of Ash.

Chaol and Nesryn have traveled to the Southern continent in hopes of finding a healer that might be able to repair Chaol’s broken body. At the same time, they’re hoping to find some allies to help them in the upcoming war. Here, we find more major worldbuilding going on, as well as some new characters. In a book series this epic, it can be a little difficult to keep track of everyone and every place. Fortunately, there are plenty of clues for those of us who get a little hazy on the details after a while (it’s been a few months since I read the last book with Chaol in it, Queen of Shadows. I can imagine what it would be like if you haven’t read that book since it was first released!).

Chaol’s healer Yrene is talented, but she has a few things against the old king, and she initially takes this out on Chaol. Yrene is a complex character like many other people in this series, and I enjoyed learning about her and her family. Eventually, Yrens is able to see Chaol as more than just the former king’s Captain of the Guard.

The royal family in Tower of Dawn is roughly based on the khaganate, which I thought was pretty cool to see. As a student of history, it was interesting to see elements of this historical civilization come to life.

You won’t want to skip over Tower of Dawn and move straight to Kingdom of Ash, because there are some significant revelations you’ll find in this book. My husband is better at guessing where plots are headed than I am, but I was surprised at some of the things that were revealed. Plus, you want to find out whether Chaol is healed or not.

I don’t think Tower of Dawn was my favorite book in the series, but I still enjoyed it a lot and was glad to read it. Perhaps the only drawback to this book is that 700 pages can be a bit much sometimes. Anyway, if you’ve followed this series so far and liked it, I recommend you continue with this book.

Empire of Storms

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Empire of Storms cover

One of the outstanding books I’ve read this year is Empire of Storms, the fifth installment in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. A part of me was disappointed to finish the book and move on to Tower of Dawn (although I wasn’t disappointed with that book either). I still have to finish Kingdom of Ash, which I’m looking forward to reading this spring.

Aelin is supposed to be the queen of Terrassin, but not everybody wants to see her that way. Even a girl with a queenly bloodline that can incinerate cities as easily as taking a walk through the park needs supporters, and with the dire situation of the world, she can’t exactly incinerate her way onto the throne. Aelin makes some very shrewd decisions that I’m sure will pay off when we rejoin her in Kingdom of Ash.

Empire of Storms spends a lot of time with different points of view. Sometimes I was disappointed in leaving one POV for another, but the story kept on building and it was great nonetheless. There are many great characters in this book, and even though Chaol is gone from the scene (for now), many of them meet up for an epic showdown towards the end of the book.

The ending of Empire of Storms was absolutely crazy. I’m not sure if I had been Aelin I would have made the same decision she did, but she did what she thought was right and I can’t wait so see how everything works out in Kingdom of Ash. It’s an ending where you are left scratching your head and wondering how they’re going to make it.

There is some mature content in this book that isn’t in the previous ToG books, so I wouldn’t recommend this for younger teens. Aelin and Rowan do find some time alone… and end up enjoying it quite a bit.

The worldbuilding here is epic and as a writer… I just hope that I can do worldbuilding even a fraction as well in my books as in these. The territory is so vast that as a reader (who didn’t binge read the series) I sometimes have difficulty keeping track of all the towns and people, but I always have a general idea of where they are on the map, so I don’t really need to. The world is populated with animals and magical creatures that Lysandra (the shape-shifter) must have had a blast with.

The whole plot is so complex and involved that I can tell it took a lot of planning to create it. But real world wars are complex too… that’s why historians write volumes on events like World War I.

If you’ve enjoyed the previous Throne of Glass books, I recommend you continue with Empire of Storms. I thought it was great and can’t wait to finish the story with Kingdom of Ash soon.

Queen of Shadows Rules

By Brookelorren on 4 Comments

Queen of Shadows coverI just finished reading Queen of Shadows, the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series.  Although I loved it, I have to be honest — after several weeks of reading a ton of LONG books (this one is about 650 pages) I want to read something a little shorter for a change.  The next book, Empire of Storms, is almost 700 pages, and I’m not ready to conquer it yet.

Because this is the fourth book in the series, this review may contain spoilers for the first three books.

Celaena (now mostly going by Aelin) returns to Rifthold in this book, and she’s ready to bring justice to the world.  She has a few goals in mind as she comes back into town.  For one thing, she wants to obtain the amulet that her parents gave to her when she was a child.  Arobynn has it, and it also happens to have the third Wyrdkey in it.  Speaking of Arobynn, she wants to have her revenge on him as well.  Then she has a score to settle with the king.  While she’s at it, maybe she’ll bring magic back into the kingdom.

It’s a tall order, but if anybody can do it, the Queen of Shadows can.  This book is full of action and is not without a dull moment.  There are many delicious scenes involving deceit and killing monsters and exacting revenge.  It was a lot of fun.

Rowan comes back in the book, which also brought a lot of amusement to me with it.  I loved how he bickered with Aelin’s cousin Aedion after he returned; the fae can sometimes behave like humanoid animals, and it was quite a bit of fun to watch.

When I read Heir of Fire, I wasn’t that excited about the chapters involving the witches.  I actually enjoyed the chapters with the witches more in this book than in the last one.  Manon shows character growth in Queen of Shadows, and I am beginning to like her some.  I’m looking forward to see how the alliances shake up involving the witches in the next book.

I definitely recommend this book, along with the books before it in this series.

Heir of Fire was Awesome

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments

Heir of Fire CoverToday, we’re continuing our review of different books from Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass Series.  Heir of Fire is the third book, and although I liked it a lot, I’m not sure if I liked it as well as I liked the second book.  Since this is the third book in the series, there may be spoilers from the first two books.

In Heir of Fire, Chaol has sent Celaena Sardothien away to her homeland.  The king sends her there as an assassin, but she finds out that she can’t carry out her mission.  Instead, she hopes to get some information from her aunt, the fae Queen Maeve.

Heir of Fire splits off into three storylines.  In the first storyline, we see what happens to Celaena, now going by her fae name of Aelin, along with the fae prince, Rowan, who is supposed to oversee her training.  The second storyline revolves around Prince Dorian, Chaol, and some rebels back at Rifthold.  The third storyline revolves around the witches, who are gathering in a fragile alliance.

Since the first Throne of Glass book, we see a dramatic change in where the story is headed.  Whereas there was fairly little magic in the first book, this book is overflowing with magic.  There is magic everywhere, from the fae, to Rifthold, to the witches, and of course, there are magical creatures to fight.

I think that one of my favorite parts of this book was Celaena and Rowan’s growing relationship.  It looks like they can’t stand each other at the beginning of the book, but even then, you can tell that there should be something going on between them.  I like them together.

My least favorite part of the story was the storyline involving the witches.  I didn’t dislike their story, it just wasn’t my favorite.  I was always looking forward to seeing Celaena and Rowan together.  I did like the character of Manon though.

I love how this world continues to get more complex and diversified as the books continue.  I’m glad that the next book in the series is already waiting for me to read on my Kindle (even though I’m currently drowning in library books).

 

Crown of Midnight May Keep You Up Until Midnight!

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments

Crown of Midnight coverBack in May, I put the Throne of Glass series on hold at the library; it took until July for the books to start becoming available, but shortly after that book became available, Crown of Midnight was ready to read.  I had to start reading it right away, and I think I liked it better than Throne of Glass.  Since this is the second book in a series, this review may contain spoilers for the first book.

As we begin this novel, our heroine, Celaena Sardothien, is now the king’s champion.  The king has been asking her to kill enemies of the realm for a while now.  Not too far into the book, however, you realize that Celaena is keeping a secret about these assassinations…

Meanwhile, Celaena is getting closer to Chaol.  At the end of the last book, Celaena decided to break things off with Prince Dorian, giving the excuse that she didn’t think it was appropriate for the king’s assassin to be dating the crown prince.  While reading the first book, I didn’t get the impression that Celaena was that into Chaol, but in this book things dramatically shift.

But not all will remain rainbows and lollipops for the king’s assassin.  There are forces at work in the kingdom that were hinted at in the first book, and we find out more about them here.  Celaena’s most recent assassination assignment leads her to a group that may be trying to overthrow the kingdom… but are they on her side?  Well, let’s just say that you don’t want to piss the king’s assassin off.  In this book, you get to see quite a bit of Celaena’s badassery.

Even though magic was supposedly banned in the kingdom years ago, we learn in this book that plenty of magic remains.  Crown of Midnight reveals more magical secrets, both of the world, and of some of our main characters.  Because the king has banned magic, these secrets can be very dangerous.

This series is like an onion: the farther you get into the book, the more is revealed about the characters and the storyline that you need to find out answers to.  Throughout this story, we find out more about Celaena’s past.  The king’s assassin definitely has some secrets that she wouldn’t want to have exposed.

The book concludes with a nice set-up for the next story.  There are no nail-biting cliffhangers, but you’ll want to find out what happens next to these characters.  I’m looking forward to Heir of Fire becoming available at my local library!

Throne of Glass Sparkles!

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments

I recently started reading Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series.  Well, I’m waiting for the second book to become available at the library, but I got to read the first book.  I thought it was excellent and can’t wait until the next one becomes available.

Celaena Sardothien has had a difficult life.  After her parents died, she was trained to be an assassin, and was pretty good at it.  Unfortunately, she was caught and was sent to be a slave in the mines.  Although most people die in the mines fairly quickly, Celaena survived for over a year there.  When the king needed a trained assassin to do his bidding, Celaena as picked as one of his potential “champions.”  If she became picked as his champion, she would receive her freedom after several years of service.  Otherwise… back to the salt mines she goes (literally).

When she gets to the castle where the competition is going to be held, she has to train hard and regain her strength.  It takes her a while to get up to speed.  All the while, other things are going on in the castle.

We find out that the king is corrupt, but the prince, Dorian… maybe not so much.  There is something out there that is killing some of the competitors vying to be the king’s champion.  Celaena makes a friend for the first time in probably eons, and maybe… there still is a little bit of magic in the world after all.  This story is full of court intrigue and political maneuvering.  Celaena also has a love interest in this story; I’ve seen other reviewers say that there’s a love triangle, but she really only seems to show interest in one person for most of the book, even though another person seems to be developing an interest in her as well.

There really is a lot going on in this story, and it doesn’t all get resolved by the end of the book.  It’s a good thing that there are more books in this series, because there is so much happening that it will probably take a while to resolve everything.

I like the main character, Celaena.  She might be a little bit too bad-ass to actually be believable in real life, but this is a story, so anything is possible.  I like the fact that she actually has interests beyond killing — she is also a girl who is into fashion and reading books.  There are also a few funny scenes in here that are pretty cute.

It seems like most people who read Throne of Glass either love it or hate it.  Most people who hate it seem to dislike the main character.  I happen to like her, and also happen to like the books.