Throne of Glass

Throne of Glass
by Sarah J. Maas

Show More

Show Less

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. (description from Amazon.com)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Celaena is a broken, yet resiliant character.  She's notorious and almost anonymous at the same time.  Though she's the kingdom's premier assassin, most have no idea what she looks like and no one knows her true past. She survived a year in a death camp, working the salt mines, and that is almost unbelievable. Is it any wonder that she terrifies and enchants almost everyone she meets?

Though love triangles start to feel old if they are not done well, in this book, the triangle totally worked for me.  Perhaps because Celaena continuously puts her own wellbeing first...the way things should work! Though she's entranced with the Crown Prince and would gladly be with him, if she is to be his Father's Assassin, a relationship could never work... and then there is the Captain of the Guard.  Though he does not elicit the same, ahem...lustful...feelings in her, there is a soul deep connection that can only make them truly friends...and perhaps more someday.

Maas did a masterful job at worldbuilding in this book.  While the reader never truly gets the entire back story on the kingdom that Celaena finds herself in, Maas trickles little bits of information into the story as things develop, allowing readers to learn just enough to be aware of how things work, and also leave them salivating for more backstory.  In fact, I'm now working my way through the four e-pubbed novellas (The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, The Assassin and the Empire, The Assassin and the Desert, and The Assassin and the Underworld) in hopes of learning more before the next book...

In a kingdom where magic is forbidden, there is certainly a lot of weird, unexplainable things going on here.  There also seems to be a certain reason why a lot of these events seem to seek out Celaena... Maas again managed to blend the perfect amount of realism and the fantastic.  With characters that know things they shouldn't and those that seem to be perfectly in the dark... Celaena must determine who she can truly trust...her life most certainly depends on it. 

Fans of Tamora Pierce, Rae Carson, and other fantasy writers with strong female characters will devour this book!

Full disclosure: Review copy received from NetGalley, signed ARC received at BEA 2012.

 

Fury

Fury
by Elizabeth Miles

It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But all is not as it seems...

Em is thrilled that the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend. And on the other side of town, Chase’s social life is unraveling and the stress of his home life is starting to take its toll. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel....And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed.

In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. There are three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—to choose who will pay. Em and Chase have been chosen. (description from Amazon.com)

This book was interesting. I liked the contemporary stories dealing with Em's relationship dilemma and Chase's horrific betrayal. I liked the concept of the Furies punishing those who broke life's moral rules.

But, something felt like it was missing... I felt a disconnect - like the two parts of the story did not match up. Maybe part of it was that Miles wrote this knowing it was part of a trilogy, so not everything about the Furies needed to be revealed. I longed through this book for...more. More about where the Furies came from, more about how they choose their victims, more about where they go when their "job" is done.

I'm really hoping that in the next book in the series, much more will be revealed. I would love to see more of the mythology behind the Furies!

2011 Debut Author Challenge title

Hex Hall

Hex Hall
by Rachel Hawkins

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father - an elusive European warlock - only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her Dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries start to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

What a stellar debut from Hawkins! I picked this book up and couldn't put it down. It flowed like a dream. Not once did I question who Sophie was or have any confusion about characters or their relationships to each other.

I loved the world setting - reminiscent of Harry Potter in a way, with regular humans and Prodigium, but SO not a Rowling rip-off. "Hex Hall" was an interesting place, full of complex and varied characters. Sophie is fantastic and believable and I cannot, CANNOT wait to see what happens to her next. Her love interest is smoking hot and the twist in their potential relationship is HUGE!

After the major revelation and twist at the end...what can I say? WOW. I am holding my breath until book 2 comes out.