Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Heir of Fire
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #3
Edition: Paperback, 562 pages
Publication Details: September 2nd 2014 by Bloomsbury Childrens
Genre(s): YA; Fantasy
Disclosure? Nope, I bought it!

Goodreads // Purchase

Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth…a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever.
Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed.

The king’s assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Crown of Midnight.

Review

I don’t know what it is about this series. I love it at the time of reading, but then I fall out of love with the idea of it and I struggle to find the motivation to pick up the next book. That’s what happened with Heir of Fire.

I bought a copy not long after its release but it took me this long to pick it up. And even when I finally did, I couldn’t get into it at all! I was pretty close to giving up on the series altogether to be honest…but then I got hooked again. Ugh make up your mind, Woman!

I think I only fell in love with this book about half way through, but then I didn’t want to put it down.

In this, the third instalment of the Throne of Glass series, Celaena Sardothian, the once all-powerful, all-confident assassin is a broken woman. She’s walking the streets in a booze-induced stupor, almost starving, getting into fights and losing most, because her strength has all but gone.

She doesn’t seem to have any direction, and although I found it interesting to see this fall from grace, it was all a bit dull to start with. Until, that is, she meets Rowan.

Rowan, a prince of fae is ordered to train Celaena to control her fae powers so she can once again fight against those who plan on enslaving her and her people. Of course, she’s reluctant at first, tired of fighting for other people, but it’s not long until the fire in her is ignited, and with the help of brutal Rowan, Celaena slowly becomes herself again.

I’m not gonna lie, for a lot of this book I didn’t really know what was going on. I kind of skimmed the beginning because I couldn’t get into it and then when I got to the good stuff I was confused. But I couldn’t go back, because I couldn’t tear myself away.

I loved how the relationship between Rowan and Celaena developed and as much as I wanted them to get in on – he is clearly mega hawtttt – I’m glad that instead their friendship became solid and trustworthy. I felt like Celaena really needed that instead of another romance. It was refreshing.

There were a lot of things I didn’t like about this book, for example, I had no idea what the witch-clan chapters were all about, and I found myself skipping some of them but they are pretty terrifying characters and make great villains so I’m hoping it’ll be explored better in the next book.

Despite everything, I still ended up loving this book. I can’t really explain it. I think I’m just destined to have a love/hate relationship with this series.

As it stands, I can’t wait until the next book, but by the time it comes around, I’ll probably feel differently. Sigh!

Heir of Fire is available in paperback from Waterstones now.

Friday Feature: Search Term LOLZ

It’s been a while since I did a post on the weird and wonderful search terms that have brought people to my blog. It’s definitely one of my favourite WP features.

There’s been a nice mix of the amusing, damn-right-confusing, and just-plain-worrying in the last six months. Here are some of the best!

1. ‘i hate divergent movie’

Hate is such a strong word, but yeah kinda. It was pretty terrible, right? The searcher (searchee?) probably wasn’t very satisfied with my extremely brief Divergent Rant, but I hope they have come to terms with their disappointment.

2. ‘dorian throne of glass groin’

Well I guess this one sort of speaks for itself, but I wonder what exactly they wanted to know about Prince Dorian’s groin? I reviewed Throne of Glass here.

3. ‘are there more team zombies or team unicorns’

Obviously, I’m Team Unicorn, so I would like to think that there are more people on the side of the magical beings than the slobbering undead, but who knows. I reviewed Holly Black et al’s Zombies Vs Unicorns here.

4. ‘poor lulu’

This is the first one to completely stump me. Who’s Lulu? And why are we feeling sorry for her? On further investigation it looks like it’s the catchphrase from a Harry Enfield sketch. How the hell that brought them here, I have no idea – but thanks for visiting, sketchshow fan.

5. ‘scooby gang bram stoker’

Hmm I like what they did there. Maybe they were looking for the equivalent of Buffy’s scooby gang in Dracula? Or maybe they were just really confused. Who Knows!? Hopefully my Vampire Guide helped clear things up.

6. ‘what happened to alex o’loughlin’

This happened, obviously.

I mean, it’s no Moonlight, but (the ‘new’) Hawaii 5-0 is actually pretty good, and that’s basically what happened to Alex O’Loughlin. Hawaii happened. I hope the person who was trying to find him, found and enjoyed my Moonlight fangirling in 5 Reasons Vampire Show Moonlight was Ahead of its Time. Well, that’s assuming that they’ve seen Moonlight. If not, what a treat they’re in for.

7. ‘good breath teen girl’

The only thing I can think of that this would have led to is Lauren Child’s Ruby Redfort book Take Your Last Breath. Other than that, I’ve got nothing. I hope the searcher wasn’t suffering from halitosis and in need of medical advice. I’m not equipped for that, soz.

8. ‘gay cannibal art’

Wow. I’m pretty proud that that term led someone to this blog. Job well done. I hope they went on to find some nice art for their living room. I’m guessing that the Hannibal shoutouts in my Bookish (and not so Bookish) posts might have had something to do with that one, or the book made out of human skin perhaps.

Until next time!

Friday Feature – Let’s Fangirl for a Second

I had a a proper post all planned out for today’s feature – with notes and everything – but then I saw that the cover reveal for Throne of Glass #3 came and went yesterday and it got me excited/distracted!

The ToG books, not to be confused with GoT which I kept calling it at first, is becoming one of my favourite series. I haven’t found them perfect reads by any means, but the protagonist Celaena Sardothien is so awesome I’d probably read about her painting her nails and still enjoy it! Not to mention how pretty they are…and you should all know by now that pretty book covers will eventually be my downfall.

So here are the two covers revealed on the Throne of Glass Fb page yesterday. They may be pretty similar but I still think we Brits get the better one! In your face America. Ahem.

And while I’m in fangirl mode, guess what’s coming out in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS….

….THE ONE (The Selection #3), OBVS!

FINALLY!!!

New for 2014: Friday Feature

Last year I did a weekly ‘Favourites Friday’ post in which I looked at my favourite books and/or authors. For 2014 I’ve decided to tweak it a little and rename as Friday Feature as that that way I can open it up to post about anything that takes my fancy.

Many of the posts will still be about my favourite books but this way I can feature other things (hopefully) of interest too.

Are we in?

That’s about as far as I got though, so I don’t really have a feature lined up for today. Mainly because I’ve been watching a lot of tennis.

But, please do excuse me while I fangirl for a second….

Yesterday, The guys behind The Selection facebook page released a sneak peak (albeit a very small peak) of The One, due to be released May 6th.

Want it?

No one will know. And seeing as you were with the prince, I won’t ask questions. Whatever you did, I’ll trust it was something important.”

Oh yes, I’m sure whatever she did was VERY important!

AND…

Today is the title reveal for Throne of Glass #3. Watch this space.

Exciting.

[/fangirling]

2013: End of Year Survey

I know it’s pretty late to be posting this, but I really wanted to do a 2013 round-up and this one has been my favourite that’s been doing the rounds. Thanks to The Perpetual Pageturner for compiling this. You can click on the image above to visit them.

I’m only going to do the 2013 book section because I’m so behind on life right now.

1. Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)

On my TTT post I went for Graceling by Kristin Cashore as that’s the book I can’t stop thinking about and reaaaalllly want to read again. But it was so hard to choose. The best book I read that was actually published last year was probably Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll or The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black – it’s a tie!

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

I’m torn between Poison by Sarah Pinborough and A Breath of Frost by Alyxander Harvey.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013?

I guess it has to be The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness just because I’d heard people talk about it a lot but it still took me so long to pick up, and when I did I wasn’t expecting it to be THAT Epic!

4. Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013?

Well I probably talked about The Selection by Kiera Cass the most, but not necessarily recommended it as such (and I first read it in 2012 so not sure it counts). I recommended Frost Hollow Hall and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown a lot.

5. Best series you discovered in 2013?

The Graceling Trilogy by Kristin Cashore

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2013?

Sarah J. Maas

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

Hmm I didn’t really read one, which is bad. But I guess Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep was out of my comfort zone a little bit just because of the size of it.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?

Has to be The Knife Of Never Letting Go.

9. Book You Read In 2013 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Let’s face it, it’s going to be The Selection (and The Elite) before The One comes out in May.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?

It has to be this one which I read before I started blogging. The picture doesn’t really do it justice, the whole book is so pretty.

11. Most memorable character in 2013?

This is soooo hard! Either Katsa from Graceling, or Celaena from Throne of Glass, ooooh or Manchee from The Knife of Never Letting Go. MANCHEEEEEEE!

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013?

It was nowhere near my favourite book of the year, but The Wolves of Midwinter by Anne Rice was written beautifully. As was Frost Hollow Hall.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013?

Without a doubt The Knife of Never Letting Go.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read?

Same again!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2013?

I read two books by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares) last year and they were both full of beautiful, perfect quotes. I think this was my favourite:

I mean, I don’t know how the world broke. And I don’t know if there’s a God who can help us fix it. But the fact that the world is broken – I absolutely believe that. Just look around us. Every minute – every single second – there are a million things you could be thinking about. A million things you could be worrying about. Our world – don’t you just feel we’re becoming more fragmented? I used to think that when I got older, the world would make so much more sense. But you know what? The older I get, the more confusing it is to me. The more complicated it is. Harder. You’d think we’d be getting better at it. But there’s just more and more chaos. The pieces – they’re everywhere. And nobody knows what to do about it. I find myself grasping, Nick. You know that feeling? That feeling when you just want the right thing to fall into the right place, not only because it’s right, but because it would mean that such a thing is still possible? I want to believe that.”
― Rachel Cohn, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

Shortest = The Prince, The Fairy and The Fouly by John Fitzsimmonds at 105
Longest = The Host by Stephenie Meyer at 652 (reread) followed closely by Doctor Sleep

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

Uhm SO MANY! But mainly The Knife of Never Letting Go and the ending of The Polaris Whisper by Kenneth Gregory!

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

Katsa & Po in Graceling (for romance) and Tod and Manchee from The Knife of Never Letting Go for everything else! ‘Ow, Tod’

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2013 From An Author You’ve Read Previously?

Probably Doctor Sleep by Stephen King, and coming in a close 2nd, Human Remains by Elizabeth Haynes.

20. Best Book You Read In 2013 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else?

Has to be Graceling again. (Thanks Tanner)

21. Genre You Read The Most From in 2013?

YA Fantasy. I never really used to read a lot of fantasy so I’m surprised just how many of my books this fell into that. I don’t think I can stop now.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?

Just one??? I need two because I’m greedy – Gavriel from The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, and Celaena Sardothien from Throne of Glass. Fiiiit.

23. Best 2013 debut you read?

The Polaris Whisper by Kenneth Gregory

24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013?

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman for sure.

25. Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2013?

Ooh this one is hard. Maybe Shooting Sean by Bateman because the Mystery Man books are just hilarious. Or The Elite by Kiera Cass, because I’m obsessed and can’t get enough, and the texts that my friend Di sent me whilst she was reading it were BRILLIANT!

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2013?

I think The Knife of Never Letting Go was the only book that made me cry. Bitterblue, the last in the Graceling Trilogy may have too.

27. Book You Read in 2013 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out?

Probably Bitterblue again, because so many people say they haven’t read it yet. READ IT.

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books of 2014

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish (Click the image to visit them). This week the topic is Top Ten Books I’m looking forward to in 2014.

This wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I haven’t really had a lot of time to look forward to new releases, and I also haven’t read that many books that are part of series this year so don’t have many sequels on my radar. Well there are a few…

These are in order for a change (most anticipated first), and it just so happens the first five (bar one)are part of the only series that I’ve been fangirling over this year. May as well get them out of the way first, eh!?

The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass (May 6th): You should have expected this by now.
The Selection Stories (The Prince and the Guard) by Kiera Cass (Feb 14th *barf*): I have no shame.
City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Intruments #6) by Cassandra Clare (May 27th): OK so I still haven’t read books 4 or 5, but I didn’t even know this existed until now. EXCITING.
A Breath of Frost by Alyxandra Harvey (Jan 7th): I have an ARC of this so will be able to cross it off my list pretty soon. I haven’t read any of Harvey’s books although I’ve always meant to. This is the first book in The Lovegrove Legacy.
The Assassin’s Blade (The Throne of Glass Novellas) by Sarah J. Maas (March 13th): I love this series but I do feel like it needs more depth; more fleshing out. Maybe that’s because I haven’t read any of the five novellas. I plan to remedy that as soon as possible.

After the End by Amy Plum (May 6th): Again, I haven’t read any Amy Plum yet but love the look of her books. This one is no exception, the cover is stunning. Synopsis below.
Untitled (Warm Bodies #2) by Issac Marion (2014): Marion recently made this statement…

I love that world. I love those people, and I want to show you what happens to them. So I’m writing another book about them. Another book-and-a-half, actually…but I’ll explain that later. For now, just trust that I have a story to tell and a reason to tell it, and I’ll try my best not to ruin everything.”
Half Bad by Sally Green (March 4th): I recently spotted this on the Waterstones website and thought it sounded awesome. It is Sally Green’s debut novel. Synopsis below.
Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare (Jan 28th): This looks like the very best kind of trash. AND the series is called Castles Ever After…SOLD!
Veronica Mars by Rob Thomas (Feb 4th): The first book in an original mystery series featuring twenty-eight-year-old Veronica Mars, back in action after the events of Veronica Mars: The Movie. I didn’t know this was in the pipeline either until now. I heart VM!

After The End – Amy Plum

She’s searching for answers to her past. They’re hunting her to save their future.

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They’ve survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.

Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she’s trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

Half Bad by Sally Green

In modern-day England, witches live alongside humans: White witches, who are good; Black witches, who are evil; and fifteen-year-old Nathan, who is both. Nathan’s father is the world’s most powerful and cruel Black witch, and his mother is dead. He is hunted from all sides. Trapped in a cage, beaten and handcuffed, Nathan must escape before his sixteenth birthday, at which point he will receive three gifts from his father and come into his own as a witch—or else he will die. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is tracked, when there is no one safe to trust—not even family, not even the girl he loves?

In the tradition of Patrick Ness and Markus Zusak, Half Bad is a gripping tale of alienation and the indomitable will to survive, a story that will grab hold of you and not let go until the very last page.

What made your list?

Monthly Round-Up

November 2013
November was a bit of slow one for me as far as reading/blogging was concerned. I found myself in one those funks where you’re just not in the mood to read anything. Thankfully that’s a distant memory and I’m really looking forward to some festive reads this December. I also did some blog maintenance and read my first blogging book. Here’s the summary.

Total Posts: 28

New WP Followers: 30

Books Read & Reviewed (5):

The Wolves of Mid-winter – Anne Rice, 3/5 (Review)
City of Ashes (TMI #2) – Cassandra Clare, 4/5 (Review)
Orbital Kin – James E. Parsons, 3/5 (Review)
City of Glass (TMI #3) – Cassandra Clare, 4/5 (Review)
The Prince, The Fairy and The Fouly – Jim Fitzsimmonds, 4/5 (Review)

Read but not yet reviewed

How to Make Money Blogging – Bob Lotich
Game, Set and Murder – Elizabeth Flynn

Favourites Fridays:
Most Fridays I have been posting about my favourite books or authors. Although I didn’t do so well this month.

#18 The Magician’s Nephew – C.S Lewis (View Post)
#17 The Book of Lost Things – John Connolly (View Post)

Most Viewed Posts:

*Fangirl Alert* The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass (View Post)
WWW Wednesday 06/11/2013 (View Post)
TTT: Books I’d recommend to reluctant readers (View Post)

Books Purchased:

I mainly bought festive reads to get me in the mood for Christmas, which I well and truly am already. As well as Starry Night, I bought The Night Before Christmas by Scarlett Bailey.

Books Swapped:

Swap #1: Stormbreaker by Anthony Horrowicz for The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

Swap#2: The Black Dragon by Julian Sedgewick for A Christmas Visitor by Anne Perry

If you want to get involved in book swapping in the UK visit Readitswapit.co.uk. My username is Lipsyp1.

ARCs/Giveaways:
I received these Advanced Reader Copies via Netgalley.

*BOOK OF THE MONTH*

*COVER OF THE MONTH*

*MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH*

I hope you all had a good November. And now, onto CHRISTMASSSSSSSSS!

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!

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. 🙂