Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Buy This Book
Throne of Glass #1
Pages: 426
Published: August 2012
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance

Goodreads Synopsis...
Meet Celaena Sardothien. Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?
 
Review...
This is going to be one of those reviews, where I say that I really liked a book. And then proceed to tell you the many things I didnt like.

Throne of Glass was a really enjoyable read. The writing style was fun, and kept me interested the whole way through. You also get to see the story through not only Celaena's eyes, but also Captain Westfall and Prince Dorian. It was great to be able to see what they were doing away from each other, especially as they were major parts of the story.

Another thing I really liked about the story was Celaena. She is this bad ass assassin, who can kill you and look amazing doing it. She embraces her looks and femininity, using them to her advantage. Also she was such a strong willed and stubborn character, even in precarious situations. And she loved to read. Need I say more.

Ok so those are the things I liked, now the things I didnt.

Unnecessary love triangle: Oh love triangles, how you plague me. The one that appeared in this story was expected, and turned out to be unoriginal and kind of dull. Mainly because it caused me no uncertainty. I knew who she would chose eventually. I wasn't worried, I wasn't rooting for the underdog. Because I knew it would be useless. (And I was right) Why couldn't they just be friends? Oh I know, because its YA. 

Implied Violence instead of actual violence: Basically I wanted more violence. Maas continually describes violent or action scenes after they have finished. The challenges were often skimmed over, in favor of the aforesaid useless love triangle. Also Celaena doesn't really get enough chances to show us her assassin side. Its something we always know about, but don't experience enough.

Slightly implausible: There were some situations, like the Prince being left alone with an assassin. That just didnt seem like they would actually happen. Also the whole challenge scenario also seems a bit dubious. Would a king actually allow an assassin or criminal to work closly with him, and have a high position in the kingdom. Then after a few years let them go free. I dont know about that.

So like I said at the beginning, I had my misgivings about this book. But I still enjoyed it, and I will definitely continue to read about Celaena the assassin.

4/5

Book Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Buy This Book
Pushing the Limits #1
Pages: 203
Published: July 2012
Genres: YA, Romance

Goodreads Synopsis... 
I can't remember the night that changed my life. The night I went from popular girl to loner freak. And my family are determined to keep it that way.

They said therapy was supposed to help. They didn't expect Noah.

Noah is the dangerous boy my parents warned me about. But he's the only one who'll listen. The only one who'll help me find the truth.

I know every kiss, every promise, every touch is forbidden. But what if finding your destiny means breaking all the rules?

Review... 
I started reading this book, and I really didn't like it. It was cliched and stereotypical. The voices of the main characters were not believable and their dialogue felt stiff. I was separated from the characters and their stories because of this. They were like cardboard cut-outs with difficult lives, that I didn't really care about. Then without even really noticing it, something changed.

After about 50 to 70 pages I really started enjoying the book. I also started caring about Echo and Noah. I wanted things to work out for them, and I wanted them to end up together. I think this change is mostly due to the voices of the characters. Somewhere along the way, they became much more individual and they felt honest. As well as this the smoothness of the writing definitely improved, making for a better reading experience.

By the end of the book, I was completely invested in this story, the characters and their struggles. It still had its flaws, and was still a bit predictable. But overall it was a great book about two very complicated lives coming together.

4/5

Book Review & Talk: Every Day by David Levithan

Written by David Levithan
Pages: 336
Published: August 2012
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Goodreads Synopsis...
In his New York Times bestselling novel, David Levithan introduces readers to what Entertainment Weekly calls a "wise, wildly unique" love story about A, a teen who wakes up every morning in a different body, living a different life.

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.



My Review...
I bet after reading that synopsis, your thinking that you have to read this book. That it sounds so interesting and unique and different! And thats the same reaction I had when I heard about it. Now I really like this book, but I want to cut through the hype, and not get you too overexcited about 'Ever Day'. Trust me its for your own good. 

The things I liked most about this book was the plot. I mean come on! Its so cool, and something Ive never read before. The way the story is laid out, also allows some very interesting and VERY different messages to be shown. Messages I have again never encountered before. The book over all was captivating, and because each chapter was 'A' in a different body and life, it was hard to get bored.

With all the good, came some bad as well. This is primarily a romance book. For some reason I started reading it, thinking it would be more sci-fi, and more action. There is little to none in that department. What this is, is a very, VERY complicated love story. I think it could have been so much more if it had gone in a different direction. But eh, what are ya gonna do? The romance was also annoying sometimes, and it led to a strange ending. I felt like there should be another book, and there isn't. Which begs the question, why there are so many loose ends to this book?

In any case, this book was well written, thought provoking and different.

I enjoyed it very much, and I give it 4 out of 5.

If you have read this book and want to discuss it with me, then watch the video below and head to my YouTube page: bookswithdylan