Tag: fantasy

My Favourite Books With Green Covers | St Patrick’s Day 2021

March 16, 2021

Happy Early St Patrick’s Day! ☘️

Usually the streets and pubs would be filled with parades, dancing, drinking and a whole lot of green as we celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. But sadly this year we’re unable to go-out and celebrate, so I thought I’d celebrate in classic bookish style by sharing a couple of my favourite books with covers in all shades of green! This list started off as a handful of books, but slowly grew into an entire post dedicated to the colour green and the role it plays on some of my favourite book covers.

The ‘I Look Good in Green’ Cover

When I think of green dresses my mind instantly goes to Kiera Knightly’s iconic dress from Atonement, that dress is incredible and I once spent an entire hour discussing it with one of my university lecturers! These stunning green outfits are a popular and reoccurring theme with book covers and all present themes of beauty, power and of course mystery! My cover favourites include the dress from from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, or Yeva’s cloak from Hunted and finally that masterpiece that dominates the cover of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin!

The Spring Green

This green is the embodiment of a beautiful spring morning, it’s fresh, hopeful and embraces the beauty of our environment. I can’t help but feel refreshed and excited for those warm, blue-skied days that these next couple of moths will bring when I look at these covers! I particularly love the new Graceling covers, they’re stunning and were in desperate need of update! This series is definitely on my 2021 re-read TBR because I can’t remember anything about these books, only that teenage Amy really enjoyed them!

The ‘In Your Face’ Green

These books are unapologetically green and standout beautifully on our bookshelves! When I gaze lovingly at my bookshelves these books always catch my eye! Green seems to be a trend-setting colour this year so hopefully we’ll see more green on our bookshelves soon. The neon green of The Perks of Being a Wallflower cover is iconic and holds so much meaning and symbolism that I never noticed until now. The small image of dress shoes in the top right had corner is easily missed in comparison to the striking green of the colour and plays on the books theme of anonymity.

The Hero Green

Fantasy books love a good-old green, don’t they? Green is a colour associated with ambition, growth, adventure and of course envy, which is true because I envy all these characters and the fictional worlds they live in! I think my favourite cover from this bunch has to be either Reaper at the Gates or Sorcery of Thorns, as not only are these covers beautiful but they both manage to capture the fantastical mystery and adventure that lies beyond their pages.

The Mysterious Green

This is the eerie, cold mysterious green that just screams trouble! The dark and dusty hues guarantees a storyline filled with deception, mystery and the unknown but these gloomy colours don’t take away from how glorious these covers are! I’ve yet to read The Kiss of Deception but just from the cover I know that this is going to be a typical YA fantasy filled with assassins, love triangles and an enchanting plot that I’m going to fall in love with.

The Elegant Green

Emerald green is probably one of my favourite shades of green! There’s just something so regal and elegant about it and then when you pair it with gold it instantly becomes a crowd pleaser! As soon as I saw the covers for The Gilded Wolves and The Gilded Ones, I knew I had to have them on my bookshelf because they are stunning!

Birthday Book Haul

October 24, 2019

‘I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22.’

Last weekend, I turned 22 and to celebrate my family and I went up to an escape room in Birmingham which was certainly a new and enjoyable experience. Having never been to one I didn’t know what to expect, but nevertheless I felt a great amount of pressure to escape in under an hour. The room was WW2 themed and we had to solve different clues in order to determine our location and escape route. I’m pleased to say that we escaped in under an hour however I will admit that we did with only 26 seconds to spare! 

A couple of weeks ago I was on a serious reading roll, as soon as I’d finish a book I would automatically pick up another one. In this routine I was reading almost two books a week, which for me and my hectic schedule is a lot. But now I’m suffering from a major reading slump and have been reading Muse of Nightmares for a while now. So I thought the cure would be to order some new books and get myself back into the excited mentally of discovering a new favourite series/read. At this moment in time I’ve really been loving all things fantasy and if you know of any good series then please let me know! Anyway, here are the books I hope will finally relive me from this reading slump.

Grave Mercy by Robin Lafevers – French assassins who serve the god of death, yes please! I love the concept of this series and I’m way too excited to dive into this world.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson – I’m embarrassed to admit that its taken me this long to finally order the rest of this series as I’m always going on about the first book which was nothing short of incredible. I think what’s stopped me was the fact that I love the first book so much and I’m hesitant in that the rest of the series won’t meet my very high expectations. Nevertheless I’m ready to dive straight back into this world and the adventure these characters share.

The Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb – Every time I searched for ‘best fantasy series to read’ this came up and that fact that its highly praised by George R.R Martin then I’m sold.

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski – After seeing the teaser trailer for the adaptation starring Henry Cavil as the lead protagonist, I’m eager to jump into this series and read the books before its release.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik – I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews around this book and I think its time that I make my own decision.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang – This has been floating around the book blogging community for a while now and its only right that I join the hype train and finally read it. It’s fair to say that again I’ve got high expectations but from reading the synopsis I know this is going to be a favourite.

The Queen of the Tearling – Erika Johansen

October 30, 2016

First things first, I’m sorry for the lack of posts, we’ve both had so much work and reading to do for our course so we haven’t read or reviewed anything recently. But I read ‘Queen of the Tearling’ whilst I was on holiday this summer (yeah, I know it’s a bit late!) and I just had to share my opinion of this book because it has to be one of my favourite fantasy reads of this year! The characters were refreshing and the storyline was exciting and jam-packed with action.

Kelsea Raleigh, an untested young princess who was raised in hiding after the death of her mother, Queen Elyssa, far from the intrigues of the royal Keep, must claim her throne, learn to become a queen, and combat a malevolent sorceress in an epic battle between light and darkness in this spectacular debut.

Our protagonist Kelsey, is such a powerful and strong character as well as being described as plain and a little on the heavy side, which I think is also refreshing compared to the usual female leads who end up being gorgeous and with a model-like body. She’s also described as being a huge bibliophile, which I can obviously relate to as well!

Every character in this book was a joy to read about from Lazarus and Pen to Arlen Thorne but my favourite secondary character had to the Fetch! I freaking love him already even though his character is so shady and mysterious and he has only appeared in about 2 chapters but finger crossed we see more of him in the sequel!

One thing though I couldn’t wrap my head around and found slightly confusing was the history of the world and how the story is set in the future but they’re living in medieval conditions?! But nevertheless I found the world building really interesting and I love/hate the fact that we are still left with loads of unanswered questions about the world….

Overall, I thought this was a brilliant debut novel which amazing characters, storylines and I can’t wait to read the second book. If you’re a fan of Red Queen or Throne of Glass then this book is perfect for you and I recommend you pick it up!

Plus, what is it true that Emma Watson will be playing Kelsea in the film adaptation? If this is true then I’m sure that it will be an amazing movie!

Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo

July 12, 2016

I always love it when I’m buying a book and cashier sings its praises, it always makes me want to read the book even more. So this book started off well right from the beginning in Waterstones!

I’m just going to jump right into this, this book is set in the same world as the ‘Shadow and Bone‘ series but is in a different time period, has different characters and is a completely different story. This book is based in the country of Kerch instead of Ravka and follows the rag tag gangs within Kerch but mainly the Crow Club (gang) and it’s most prominent members. This gang gets contacted for a massive mission which is to break into the most well guarded and notorious prison in the Kingdom, The Ice Court and rescue a prisoner. It is clear this is a suicide mission, but with the prize of 30 million Kerch, Kaz and his team cannot resist.

Whilst browsing the shelves, this book intrigued me, mainly because I’d read the Shadow and Bone series, which was good but it wasn’t my favourite. Because of this I really wanted to know what it was like because I did like the world and was interested in learning more about it and exploring new areas and new characters. This book did not disappoint, it was so exciting and intense. The characters were strong with intimate and complex backstories which beautifully intertwined with the story line. I actually preferred this greatly to the Shadow and Bone story, I feel as though the story was a lot stronger and the characters were much more complex and likable.

What I really loved about this book was that it was so gripping! Right from the start it was interesting and I kept wanting to know more, there was no faffing they got straight into what the story was about and the main premise of the story. I just wanted to keep reading, but the best thing was that you never really know what was going on, you never knew if the gang are genuinely in trouble of if Kaz Brekker or the gang had something else up their sleeve! Because of this it was literally impossible to predict and I never knew what was happening and the ending was always so up in the air, even two pages from the end!

I don’t want to say too much about the characters because there is a lot you learn about each character and I want to keep that as a surprise. But I will say a tiny bit about the 6 main characters… Firstly there is Kaz Brekker (Dirtyhands) he is very high up in the gang and will do anything for money. Secondly there is Inej, known as The Wraith, she has silent feet and can climb anything. There is also Nina a Corporalki Grisha from Ravka and Matthias from Fierda who was trained to kill Grisha. Finally there is Jesper a good friend of Kaz Brekker but also has a slight glambling problem and Wylan who is always made fun of for being young and inexperienced. The characters were each so unique and different from each other, also each chapter was from a different perspectives so you got to know all of them really well!

I really did love this book, I would recommend it to anyone who loves a bit of excitement in a book. There are so many twists and turns I promise you that you won’t get bored! I’m going to give this book a 5 out of 5 stars, I really did love this book and it lined up perfectly for a sequel so I seriously cannot wait for the second book!!

A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J Maas

May 24, 2016

Firstly, I would just like to apologize for how late this review, it took a while to read because here in the UK it is currently exam season so both Amy and I have had our heads stuck in text books instead of reading books… Anyway, wow, I have waited such a long time to read this book, the first book, A Court of Thorns and Roses, was amazing and I just couldn’t wait to jump back into this world! Although I try not to have high expectations, it just couldn’t be helped with this book, my expectations were sky high, but I am very happy to say that my expectations were met and even surpassed!

For those who don’t know, this is book follows from the first book, A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR). This book picks up a couple months after the horrific incidents from ‘Under the Mountain’ in the first book and shows how those events have impacted upon all members of the Spring Court, but especially Feyre and Tamlin. I feel as though readers should go into this book relatively blind, as I did, there is just a lot in the book that could easily be spoiled by mentioning any of the plot. I will try my very best to keep this review spoiler free but I can’t make any promises about not spoiling the first book ACOTAR, if you wish to read that review I will link it HERE.

So, on to my opinions! Firstly I really liked how this book really throws you back into the story, there isn’t an awkward re-introduction, things just start happening right from the start which gripped me straight away! This book really quickly became ‘that book’ that I would look forward to reading at the end of the day and it was always such a treat to come back to, especially after a long day of grueling school work! I would also like to add that I am really sad that I’ve finished it, I keep thinking that I will be able to continue the story each night and I’m crushed each time I realise that I’m going to have to wait a whole year before I know what happens next! Grrrr!!

All the main characters return from the first book mainly Feyre, who’s character development is truly fantastic in this book, she grows so much, I was actually really proud of her, especially after all that she had to ordeal under the mountain! Also Tamlin returns (obviously), my opinion of Tamlin was always changing in this book but he’s just as gorgeous as always, especially without that darn mask! Finally there is Rhysand, I’m still totally in love with Rhys, that hasn’t changed from the first book! I just loved how he would always manipulate a situation to be able to pop up and the most awkward times! Haha!

This book really is an emotional roller-coaster and I was either crying, laughing or gasping with shock (oh yes I gasped with shock A LOT!). However I would say that the main plot of the book was a little bit overshadowed with other themes of the book, so I kind of felt that I wasn’t as well informed as I probably could have been when it came to the ending, but this might have been because it was late at night and I was tired and zoning out a bit… The only other criticism is that the book dipped in action in the middle a little bit, but that part was really essential to the story, so although it was a little more dull, it was absolutely necessary!

I would also like to mention that this book is VERY steamy, and when I say steamy I mean adult fiction steamy, there is a lot of sex and adult themes! I looked up the age rating for this book and it said 14-17, but if I am really honest, I wouldn’t want a 14 year old reading those scenes, I know if I read that at 14 I would have… well let’s just say I would have learned a lot…! So if you are on the younger side, perhaps just be prepared? Or maybe wait until you’re older? I obviously don’t want to tell you what you should or shouldn’t read but I just want people to know that it is very graphic in places and is maybe not a book for tweens… Although saying that the scenes worked with the story and were very well written!

In conclusion I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK! The twists and turns were AMAZING and it is unreal how much I want to read the next book. Even though I had a few (very small) criticisms, they didn’t lessen the quality of the book at all! One thing Sarah J Maas is very good at is continuing a story successfully! I’m going to give this book the biggest 5 out of 5 stars, I loved it so much! Lastly I have tried SO hard to keep this review spoiler free as I know not everyone has read it yet, including my co-blogger Amy, so please feel free to leave a comment but please keep it free of spoilers (I know it’s very hard!)

Lady Midnight – Cassandra Clare

April 1, 2016

Righty ho, before we get started with this mammoth review (trust me it’s going to be a long one!) I just want to disclaim that the first half of this section will be SPOILER FREE, but after a big warning, the second half will be a SPOILER review because I can’t not talk about what happened, but there will be ample warning so if you haven’t yet read Lady Midnight and don’t want to be spoiled, leave at that point.

OH MY GOODNESS! I am actually so excited to write this review also emotions are still very high so if this review isn’t very coherent I do apologise! So, this Shadowhunter book is set approximately 5 years after the last Mortal Instruments books left off, it follows the lives of Julian Blackthorn and his family and Emma Carstairs in the Los Angeles Institute. This book is an absolute Shadowhunter classic with action, adventure, love and loss, but it’s also a bit of a murder mystery with Emma trying to find out who killed her parents, as we found out in the last Mortal Instruments book.

I was SO excited for this book it’s unreal, anyone who has followed our blog for a while knows that I (Eleanor) adore the Shadowhunter novels, it’s one of my favourite worlds to live in! However, this did mean that I had incredibly high expectations going into this book, which is usually a bad thing for any book. Although this book absolutely did not disappoint, it was everything I was hoping for AND MORE! The characters in this book were so strong, I cared for them so much and felt their pain with them. The characters that I’m going to talk about in this half of the review are going to be Julian and Emma, because I’m so scared of spoiling it for you guys and they are the main characters… Anyway, lets start with Emma, I loved Emma so so much, her character was really quirky and she had some amazing one liners, she kind of reminded me of Jace. She is also an amazing Shadowhunter, she’s an amazing fighter and is so determined, anything she sets her mind to will get done, she’s just a great character! Now onto Julian, oh Juilian, he is another amazing character, he kind of reminded me of a combination of Will and Jem, he’s very thoughtful but he also feels emotions very deeply and you can’t help but feel pain for him! All the characters in this book though are so incredibly written and the emotions you feel for them are so powerful, you just have to appreciate Cassandra Clare’s talent, she is awe inspiring!

Another thing I really love about this book is that it touches on so many real issues in life, things like young carers, body image, learning difficulties like Autism and mental health issues. The book in no way focused on these issues but they were always in the background and were hinted at, because of this, it never felt like they were being thrown in your face. They were subtly obvious, which I thought was incredibly clever, it must have been hard to obtain that balance.

Finally, for this section at least, I want to talk about the pace of this book, because this isn’t the first or even the second shadowhunter book, it wasn’t necessary for there to be so much description about the world. The story jumped straight into the plot, why they where there and what they were doing. This made the book feel a lot faster paced without having to stop for extra description and the pages just kept turning!!

Well that’s it for the non spoiler section of the review, I truly, truly LOVED this book, so please if you’re a fan of this world I implore you to read this, it is incredible! For that reason I’m going to award it a massive 5/5 stars! If you have read the book and wish to read on then please do, I will be talking about some of the events in the book and my thoughts on them. If you don’t want to be spoiled then please click off now, I really don’t want the responsibility of you being spoiled because that is literally a crime!

 

 

!!**SPOILERS AHEAD** **SPOILERS AHEAD**!!

 

 

HOLY SMOKES! Okay, in this section, I’m just going to give a run down on what I thought were the best/most shocking/ most emotional moments of the book, I will also give my opinions on them and what I was thinking when I was reading them!

First of all let’s talk about the forbidden love story between Emma and Julian. I honestly don’t think I have ever shipped a couple so hard, but it was also so painful because at the back of my mind I knew they could never be together because of their Parabatai bond, but you know what, that didn’t stop my feelings and all I want is for them to be happily in love with no limits! What was also interesting is that they didn’t really declare their love for each other until about 400 pages in, so all this time we’re building up to them eventually being together which just builds the emotion even more, and made me ship them even more, well played Cassandra Clare! But lets talk about that beach scene! HOT DAMN! At first I didn’t think they actually went all the way, because in The Mortal Instruments, it took like 5 books for Jace and Clary to finally have sex. It only really dawned on me that Emma and Julian had sex when Julian was talking about contraceptive runes and stuff and I was like “OH, OH! THEY DID IT!” and it just made me so happy! Although, I’m not gunna lie, the last couple pages when Emma was trying to ‘break Julian’s heart’ because of the repercussions of Parabatai falling in love LITERALLY KILLED ME. I know it was necessary because I don’t want Julian and Emma to get all power hungry and destroy their family, but jeeeze, those pages were so hard to read!

On to the next thing, Mark. I was SO HAPPY that Mark was in this book, he added another dimension to the whole story. He was such a good character as well, he was so childlike because he had essentially been indoctrinated into faerie. He also turned out to be incredibly loyal to his family and eventually, we saw a cheeky side to him, especially in the last line of the whole book when he said ‘Why lie’. I took this as Mark wanting to ‘do stuff’ with Emma, so they didn’t have to lie to Julian and the rest of the family. This was so cheeky, I was a little dumbfounded by this as first as I didn’t really see Mark as that kind of character, but once it sunk in I thought it was funny and quirky and just showed how Mark had developed throughout the book.

Okay, now let’s talk about the main plot and plot twist of this book. I loved the whole murder mystery element to this book. I was totally involved in the plot, and I’ll be honest I had no clue who The Guardian was, I had a sneaky feeling that maybe it was Dianna but I wasn’t 100% sure. So when we found out it was Malcolm was completely knocked for six! Initially I really liked Malcolm, he was funny and intelligent, and I was like YES ANOTHER MAGNUS! But noooooo no no no! The little git, I felt genuine fear when he took Tavvy, holy moley! But I was glad Emma finally had closure on who killed her parents all those years ago and no one I cared about died, I was so pleased and thankful that Cassandra Clare didn’t kill anyone!

Some of the new characters were amazing, I loved Christina, Perfect Diego and the whole Blackthorn family, I also had so much respect for Julian and all he’s done for his siblings, effectively becoming a single parent at 12 years old! But most importantly I was so intrigued by Kit, I couldn’t get my head around who this boy was, especially as as he effectively starts off the whole series! I knew he was important but I just couldn’t figure out why, so when we found out he was a Herondale I was like “WHOA WHOA WHOA! WHAT THE F*CK!” Cassandra Clare is so clever because even though I thought the main plots were out of the way, something else comes flying out of the woodwork!

I am SO excited about the next book, even though it’s going to be so painful to read with the whole forbidden love thing! But this series has completely sucked me in and I just can’t wait! If you’ve stuck with me through this whole review, well done because insanely long (1500 words!) but also thank you, and I hope you enjoyed this book as much as I did, and also please be considerate in the comments for people who haven’t read the book and keep the spoilers to a minimum! Thank You!

 

Prince of Hazel and Oak – John Lenahan

January 12, 2016

This book took me A LONG time to read, over a month, but this was mainly because things were on TV that were distracting and school had me so tired that when I went to bed, I would just fall asleep and forget about reading! That being said, the book was a little bit slow… but it did pick up and the ending was pretty kickass!

This is the second book in the Shadowmagic series, if you haven’t read the first one, I have reviewed it, so I would suggest popping over and reading that first. This book pretty much picks up exactly where the last one finished and I was very happy to be back in The Land! This book continues the adventures of Connor and his friends Araf and Essa, but the main premise of the book is a quest to find a cure for Connor’s very sick father, and time is certainly of the essence, there are also a few surprises along the way and the introduction of some awesome new characters!

Let’s start with the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start… I was not expecting this book to start the way it did, I was so shocked with the circumstances that Connor found himself in in the first couple pages, it certainly had me on the edge of my seat and got me very excited for the rest of the book! However, after this the plot did start to thin out and dull down a little bit, to be honest I was disappointed. It took a long time to get to the good bits and some things were just not necessary, this probably contributed to the fact that it took me so long to read. Although when we did get to the good bits, they were very good and exciting!

The ending though was just pure class, it was one of those endings where I had absolutely no idea how they were going to get out of this sticky situation, and if it was me in that situation, I would be basically stuffed! Although saying this there was one element that I don’t want to give a way, but I think it was supposed to be this huge twist, but I saw it coming from a mile off, to be honest I was very glad my 6th sense was right! Overall, the beginning and the end saved the book for me, the middle was just too slow and boring, if the book hadn’t ended the way it did, them this book wouldn’t be getting such as positive review! I liked this book, I’m going to award this book a 3 out of 5 stars, a good second book in the series, but I think I do prefer the first, but let’s see how the third one does!

The Sin Eaters Daughter – Melinda Salisbury

January 9, 2016

This is another book where I have mixed feelings about it and I’m still trying to decide whether I liked it or not. I picked up the book mainly because of the cover which I thought was absolutely gorgeous and I was expecting something along the lines of ‘Throne of Glass’ and ‘Graceling’ but that wasn’t the case.

Twylla’s mother is the Sin Eater and Twylla trained her entire childhood to take over for her mother. But a chance encounter with the Queen revealed Twylla to be Daunen embodied a Goddess who can consume poison and not be killed. A Goddess who can kill anyone with just a touch.

I loved the idea of the protagonist having poisonous skin, and was really intrigued by the idea. The world building I also thought worked really well and I enjoyed learning more about the founding of the kingdoms, it’s traditions like the sin eating and more about the gods. The world is well thought out and has a Game of Thrones, medieval-esque vibe which I really enjoyed.

But I felt for about 80% nothing really happened and there wasn’t any exciting or adventurous plot to the story which I was disappointed about however by the end of the book the storyline picked up with the big revel which I enjoyed.

As for the characters, the protagonist Twylla is extremely naïve given her power is exceedingly lethal. Instead of being all deadly and all she’s just your typical protagonist who does nothing at all. Then we have Lief I didn’t like him that much. I kinda liked his personality at first and he seemed to be very loyal, but there wasn’t much about him that made me love his character.

I wasn’t a fan of the relationship between Twylla and Lief as I felt like it was very instal-love. I didn’t sense very much chemistry between Lief and Twylla and there wasn’t enough development before certain events in order for me to become completely convinced of their connection.

I pretty much only liked one character and that was the Queen who played the role as the villain as she was all kinds of crazy. I mean legit maniac and sadist. I don’t know about you, but murdering someone because he smiles too much is well asinine. She made everything so much more intense and gripping. 

Overall, it’s sad to say that I rate this book 2.5/3 stars as for me it was a bit disappointing and could have been so much better!

Magonia – Maria Dahvana Headley

August 9, 2015

I found the concept of this book really interesting, so interesting in fact that I wizzed through this book whilst on holiday in France (by the way I read 4 books on holiday and all reviews will be posted in due course). Originally though I was attracted to the cover of this book, it is just gorgeous, I know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but let’s be honest, we all do… not only is it beautiful, it also reflects the story perfectly, which I find is quite rare these days, I often see covers that have no relation to the actual story at all…

Anyway, let’s stop talking about the cover and start talking about the actual story. The story revolves around 15 year old Aza, who for as long as she can remember has suffered with a unique lung disease (so unique in fact that it was named after her). The disease means that the air is too thick for her lungs and she is effectively drowning in thin air. In the days leading up to her 16th birthday, everyone, along with Aza herself are surprised that she is still alive. However strange events start to occur and Aza finds herself flying through the clouds on board an airship in the fantasy land of Magonia where for once in her life she can breathe normally.

I really enjoyed this book, it was full of wonder and interesting theories that I’ve never read before. Along with a good story, this book is also paired with some great characters that restore my faith in humanity somewhat (even though they’re not real people, but we’ll skip over that fact…they’re real to me…) The character of Aza was a really strong female lead, all through her illness and the way she embraced death so willingly and without fear was really commendable and brave. I also really liked the character of Jason, Aza’s best friend. He cared for Aza so much and he always went out of his way to help Aza in any way possible. He was just a really cute guy best friend (he reminded me a lot of Simon Lewis from the Mortal Instruments series)

The start of the book though I did find it quite difficult to read as it’s written very phonetically (if that makes any sense), what I mean is that it was almost as if you were inside Aza’s head and you learn A LOT about her life, her past and present in a very short space of time and it was just a little difficult to take in. Although saying this, I love that kind of writing, where you can really hear the character’s voice, so it’s as though the character is talking to you and telling you their story and not reading it.
This book kind of reminded me of an interesting mix of Peter Pan and the Fault in Our Stars, if that isn’t a spark for the imagination then I don’t know what will…

Just to add a little factoid at the end as I found this quite interesting when I found out, the concept of ‘Magonia’ originated from the Saxons who thought that ‘Magonia’ was a scientific breakthrough, and genuinely believed that there were sky people controlling the weather and stealing all their crops, it was Saxon fact. So the inspiration for the book came from Saxon mythology. Sorry if I just completely bored you there, I do love history, and I just found that interesting, and if you already knew, sorry again…

I really liked this book, it was fresh, new and exciting, I had no idea how the book was going to end, however little bits here and there were quite predictable. I’m going to give this book a 4 out of 5 stars, a good read.

Heir Of Fire – Sarah J Maas

April 30, 2015

Warning: Expect a lot of exclamation marks and fangirling!!!!

I am a fool for not reading this book earlier and I don’t think I will be able to wait till September for the next instalment ‘Queen Of Shadows’. Once again Sarah J Mass has produced a gripping and adventurous tale which I couldn’t put down. With new characters left, right and centre this book never left a dull moment!!!!

‘Heir Of Fire’ again follows the journey of Celaena Sardothian as she tries to discover who she really is as well as trying to uncover the mystery behind the Wydkeys. At the same till we again follow the storyline of Chaol, Dorian and the new girl on the scene, Manon, a witch!

Like I have said, there are so many new characters all which we are able to experience their point of view on different events. In my opinion, the different perspectives worked really well in this book as the different character voices were clear and allowed us as the reader to discover more of the wonderful world Sarah J Mass has created. Again, it also added great depth to the plot and I can’t wait till all these perspectives collide!

The addition of the character, Manon a witch, at first I thought was a bit odd and I thought her chapters and perspectives were a bit dull but soon, it was her chapters I was looking forward to the most! They became more exciting and I loved seeing her character develop; I look forward to seeing more of her in ‘Queen Of Shadows’!!

Rowan was another new and important character, who in my opinion was again brilliant. His character development was also perfect and I really enjoyed his relationship with Celaena. When we are first introduced to him he is infuriatingly patient and stubborn but as the novel continued he begins to open up and becomes such an amazing character; he is quickly becoming one of my favourite characters in the book!

Celaena’s character development was also phenomenal as in this book we see her broken, relentlessly blaming herself for the fates and deaths of her beloved ones. Her fierceness was once again awe-inspiring and I loved that she’s still the same stubborn, snarky and brave young woman!!

As for the storyline, I thought it was actioned packed and never left a dull moment; It was very hard to put down! Mass transports you in to her fantasy world and you honestly begin to feel part of the action and journey! Personally, I think that 500 pages was a bit too much but I’m not complaining as it meant more for me to read!! The writing is also just perfect. I can’t describe how much I love her writing and the multiple points of views all with their own character voice adds to this!!!

Words cant express my excitement for ‘Queen Of Shadows’ and ‘A Court Of Thorns and Roses’ as she is such an amazing author which I can’t wait to meet at the Hay Festival this year!!!! Overall, I give this book 5/5 stars, another amazing book to add to this equally amazing series! If you haven’t yet read this series *cough* Eleanor *cough* I highly recommend that you do and don’t forget to take a look at our reviews on ‘Throne Of Glass’ and ‘Crown Of Midnight’!!

What did you think of the book? Are you excited for the release of ‘Queen Of Shadows’ and ‘A Court Of Thorns and Roses’??