Secrets & Lies: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas

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?

This book was actually lot to different to what I was expecting. For some reason I thought it was going to be about Celaena, now the King’s Champion, killing people against her will but then rebelling and fighting back, or fighting for her freedom. But it wasn’t really.

I mean, sure she was tricking the King into thinking she was fulfilling her duties but I expected more Celaena Vs the King going on, I thought she’d escape and start a rebel group or something.

Anywayyyyyyyy, that didn’t happen…but that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy what did happen!

I especially enjoyed seeing Celaena properly kicking ass in this book because in Throne of Glass there was a lot of talk about her kicking ass but we didn’t get to witness much of it. We just had to have faith that she was as awesome as people described her.

As for the love interests, well. Obviously I’m rooting for Prince Dorian because, he’s a Prince and got that brooding, wounded heart thing going for him. But I like Chaol too even if he was a bit soppy. I generally don’t get on with characters that are too nice (Peeta) and soppy all the time, such is the blackness of my heart. But in the end I did warm to him.

I think my favourite parts of Crown of Midnight were those involving Mort, a talking brass gargoyle-type knocker thing a-la Labyrinth (The best film ever) and Baba Yellowlegs, a terrifying witch with iron teeth who Dorian and Celaena seek out for answers. She was a hoot.

Oh, and here’s one for the Buffy fans out there:

But death was her curse and her gift, and death had been her good friend these long, long years.

All in all, I’m still pretty in love with Celaena but I think there is so much more that needs to happen. I felt like Maas was holding back on too much and I’m impatient. I want to know it all right now! I’m already praying for next book to land swiftly!

Disclosure: None, I bought it!
Details: Paperback, 418 pages
Publication Date: Published August 15th 2013 by Bloomsbury Children’s
My Rating: 4/5
Is it a Keeper? YES!
If you liked this try: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends out there!

WWW Wednesday! (27/11/203)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading? • What did you recently finish reading? • What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading: I’m reading Game, Set and Murder by Elizabeth Flynn

Recently Finished:The Prince, The Fairy and The Fouly, a cute Christmas picture book for ages 7+ (Review here) and Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas. Review to follow.

Up Next: Definitely The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. I’ve been told I’ll need tissues…

Leave a comment with the link to your post and I’ll take a look at what you’re all up to!

The Perfect Picture Book This Christmas?

It’s Christmas and two tree decorations – cardboard prince Rudolph and clothes peg fairy Rosalind – are discarded for being too shabby. Christmas Eve magic brings the toys in the cupboard to life, and when they discover their two friends are not on the tree, they search for them. However, while they are away, a Fouly – the exact opposite of a Christmas Fairy – sneaks in and hides. Unaware of the evil creature’s presence, the toys return with Rudolph and Rosalind, who have also been transformed, and they all help prepare a festive feast. During this the Fouly steals Rosalind’s wand and uses it to kidnap Father Christmas… Rudolph and Rosalind go to rescue him, but they must first seek out Santa Lucia for the one thing Foulies hate the most: the Lucia Light.

Their mission takes them to the Fouly Castle, but they are captured and confronted by Malicia the Fouly Queen. Using the Light, they defeat Malicia, free Father Christmas and return home. But the Fouly follows, seeking revenge, and – backed by a fierce Holly Army – the battle for Christmas begins… Will the Fouly be defeated? Will Rudolph and Rosalind be thrown away, or will the gratitude of Father Christmas help them regain their places at the top of the tree?

The Prince, The Fairy and The Fouly is a charming adventure story which combines all the elements of a traditional Christmas tale with a variety of characters and situations that highlight the battle between good and evil.

Resplendent with beautiful black and white illustrations, it’s the perfect bedtime story for children aged 7+ in the run-up to Christmas, and an ideal stocking filler. Its large format and presentation make the book ideal for emergent readers.

I read this when I was ill in bed yesterday and it cheered me up immensely. I’m not sure that lengthy synopsis is really necessary though!

The story centers around two discarded Christmas decorations and their friends who come alive each Christmas Eve and host a party for Father Christmas. However, there are evil Foulies lurking and one of them is so jealous of the fun they are all having, he kidnaps Father Christmas, putting Christmas in Jeopardy for everyone.

This is a traditional story that I can easily picture families reading together at Christmastime. It has just enough danger and action to be interesting and just enough magic to be beautiful. But the main star here is definitely the illustrations. The illustrator has done a beautiful job and the cover really doesn’t do it justice. The Christmas pictures are dazzling and the Foulies are truly sinister with their spidery limbs and hairy coats.

I loved the monster’s ball and the resolution to the story, Fitzsimmons manages to cram in a lot of detail in very few words. I only really had one gripe – the cardboard Prince’s name, Rudolph – I felt might be a bit confusing for children especially when Rudolph takes Father Christmas’ reindeer to go and save him…or is it just me?

Anywayyyyy, if I had a 6-8 year old child in the family, I wouldn’t hesitate in buying this for them this Christmas, it would make a lovely present.

Disclosure: I received an advanced copy from the Publisher/Author in exchange for an HONEST review. Many Thanks!
Title: The Prince, The Fairy and The Fouly
Author: Jim Fitzsimmons
Details: E-book
Publication Date: November 4th 2013 by Troubador Publishing Ltd.
My Rating: 4/5
If you liked this try: Christmas Tales by Enid Blyton

Blog Admin Update & Currently Reading

A few more changes/updates to the blog:

I finally added a Review Policy & Contact page (and got a new gmail account solely for blogging purposes) and updated my TBR page. Hurrah! I’m getting there.

There are more changes I want to make to my sidebar but at least the important things are done, so I’m feeling pretty smug with myself.

I’m off work sick today (having a nightmare with my Wisdom teeth!) so I’m trying to cheer myself up with this beautiful picture book I just got approved for from NetGalley. It’s so cute!

It’s Christmas, and two tree decorations – cardboard prince Rudolph and clothes peg fairy Rosalind – are discarded for being too shabby. Christmas Eve magic brings the toys in the cupboard to life, and when they discover their two friends are not on the tree, they search for them. However, while they are away, a Fouly – the exact opposite of a Christmas Fairy – sneaks in and hides. Unaware of the evil creature’s presence, the toys return with Rudolph and Rosalind, who have also been transformed, and they all help prepare a festive feast. During this the Fouly steals Rosalind’s wand and uses it to kidnap Father Christmas… Rudolph and Rosalind go to rescue him, but they must first seek out Santa Lucia for the one thing Foulies hate the most: the Lucia Light.

Their mission takes them to the Fouly Castle, but they are captured and confronted by Malicia the Fouly Queen. Using the Light, they defeat Malicia, free Father Christmas and return home. But the Fouly follows, seeking revenge, and – backed by a fierce Holly Army – the battle for Christmas begins… Will the Fouly be defeated? Will Rudolph and Rosalind be thrown away, or will the gratitude of Father Christmas help them regain their places at the top of the tree?

The Prince, The Fairy and The Fouly is a charming adventure story which combines all the elements of a traditional Christmas tale with a variety of characters and situations that highlight the battle between good and evil.

Resplendent with beautiful black and white illustrations, it’s the perfect bedtime story for children aged 7+ in the run-up to Christmas, and an ideal stocking filler. Its large format and presentation make the book ideal for emergent readers.

Title: The Prince, The Fairy and The Fouly
Author: Jim Fitzsimmons
Details: E-book
Publication Date: November 4th 2013 by Troubador Publishing Ltd.

Must See TV Update!

During Horror October, I branched out from solely bookish posts which proved a success so I thought I’d do a quick follow up.

One of the posts was about some of the new TV shows that I was excited to watch, all of which I’ve started watching now, some with better results than others. See the original post here.

First up was Dracula.

Thoughts: I’m still not entirely sold on it. The first episode was a bit slow but JRM is a pretty fit Dracula. I’ve only got 3 episodes in so far and still have high hopes, but it definitely needs to pick up soon!

American Horror Story: The Coven

Thoughts: The jury’s still out on this one. I’ve only got round to watching one episode which was pretty good. I just hope that it’s more like the first series and not the last one because I found that one a bit boring after a while.

The Tunnel

Thoughts: Now this is AWESOME. I am loving it. It’s a dark, gripping crime drama set in both Folkestone and Calais. I love the relationship between the two detectives and Clemence Posey is amazing! I really wished I’d watched The Bridge now, the Scandinavian drama that this is based on.

The Originals

Thoughts: Ugh I can not be bothered with this. It was as a feared. TVD went rubbish and this is more of the same. I just don’t care about any of the characters. Suffice to say, I won’t be watching the rest of it.

Bates Motel

Thoughts: I’ve finished this series now. On the whole I did enjoy it, but there was definitely a dip in the middle when I got a bit blahhhh about it. I still think Vera Farmiga was an amazing casting choice and I really started to feel for her even if she’s a bit mental and has clearly sent Norman mental too. I’m looking forward to the next series as surely Norman is now getting crazier and crazier, and pretty dangerous too of course. Come on, we all know how it ends!

Have you been watching any of these? What do you think?

How Many Unicorns?

As mentioned earlier, I’m doing some long overdue blog admin this weekend.

Changes thus far:

I finally got round to creating a proper rating system for my reviews. I’ve also included the criteria on the sidebar and added my NetGalley Member button. Yay.

My Unicorn Ratings!

5/5 Unicorns: Just Amazing!

 

4/5 Unicorns: I loved it!

 

3/5 Unicorns: I really enjoyed it but something was missing.

 

2/5 Unicorns: It was OK but I had some issues with it.

 

1/5 Unicorns: I wasn’t a fan; I might not have finished it.

Blog Admin in progress!

This weekend I’m doing some much needed blog admin. On my agenda is a proper ratings system, compiling a review policy & contact page and updating my TBR list. And in between all that I’ll be watching some Christmas films. Oh hello Lazy Weekend, how I love you!

In the mean time I thought I’d leave you with this…

One of my favourite WordPress functions is seeing what search terms have brought people to my blog. Some of them really crack me up. Here are some recent ones that made me do a LOL.

• What a douche
• Dorian Throne of Glass groin
• Does the movie Catching Fire have curse words in it?
• Were so hot friday (????)
• Fiction book woman see’s her mum stabbing someone from treehouse daisy.
• Hot Tucks

Share your good ones with me!! (Leave a comment 🙂 ) 

Favourites Friday #18 :The Magician’s Nephew by C. S Lewis

Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of C.S Lewis so what better day to do a Narnia FF post. I’ve loved the Narnia books ever since I saw the BBC’s adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (yes I saw it before I read the books cut me some slack, I was like 8!) and immediately begged for the books.

As much as I love The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, it’s always between The Magician’s Nephew and The Horse and His Boy for my ultimate favourite.

For the purpose of this post, I’m going to go for The Magician’s Nephew simply because you get to see the creation of Narnia itself.

The Magician’s Nephew was actually the 6th book in the series that Lewis wrote but was a prequel to the rest. In modern editions, the books are sequenced according to Narnian History and so The Magician’s Nephew is usually listed as book one.

I’ll always remember the first time I read this; I was amazed by the Wood Between Worlds. It’s quite a bit darker than some of the other books (Uncle Andrew is proper sinister), and the idea of being able to visit different worlds – some nicer than others – by going through the different puddles is pretty awesome. Also, watch out for “Queen” Jadis. You aint no Queen of Narnia!

Synopsis:
When Digory and Polly are tricked by Digory’s peculiar Uncle Andrew into becoming part of an experiment, they set off on the adventure of a lifetime. What happens to the children when they touch Uncle Andrew’s magic rings is far beyond anything even the old magician could have imagined.
Hurtled into the Wood between the Worlds, the children soon find that they can enter many worlds through the mysterious pools there. In one world they encounter the evil Queen Jadis, who wreaks havoc in the streets of London when she is accidentally brought back with them. When they finally manage to pull her out of London, unintentionally taking along Uncle Andrew and a coachman with his horse, they find themselves in what will come to be known as the land of Narnia.

Mini Review: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare

To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters – never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City – whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of the New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.

The further I get into this series, the more it seems to be taking over my life! I’m all like…what’s Jace up to? What’s Isabelle wearing?… I hope they don’t die. Ahem.

Suffice to say that I’m glad I decided to give TMI another go. The 3rd book is pretty epic, we’re building up to an all out war between the Nephilim and Downworlders with the evil Valentine at the helm. Secrets are (finally) revealed, some hot kissing happens and Isabelle finally kicks ass with her whip. And when I say kicks ass, I mean severs body parts. Oooosh.

The main thing I enjoyed about this book though was that it was the first time I really appreciated the whole world that Clare has created. It’s pretty vast and impressive.

I still want more Alec/Magnus action though, and I hope Jace and Clary don’t get all boring…we shall see.

4/5 Unicorns

WWW Wednesday! (20/11/2013)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading? • What did you recently finish reading? • What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas. Insert fangirling excitement here. Also if I can tear myself away I’ll also start Game, Set and Murder by Elizabeth Flynn.

Recently Finished: I finished Orbital Kin by James E. Parsons which was one of those books that is great one minute and then awful the next. Read my review here. I also just finished City of Glass. The 3rd Mortal Instruments book by Cassandra Clare. Review to follow.

Up Next: Either The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Or A Breath of Frost by Alyxandra Harvey. Or The Mortal Instruments #4.

Plus, It’s almost time for some Festive Reads! Yesssssssssss!

Leave a link to your WWW post and I’ll come and visit later. 🙂