Review: Throne Of Glass by Sarah J Maas

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THRONE

OF GLASS

 

Title: Throne Of Glass

Author: Sarah J Maas

Series: Book #1 in the Throne Of Glass series

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 404

Link To Amazon

 

I went into this book with high expectations.

Finally, I found it at the library and was so excited I decided to

check it out then and there. So, here's my review on what my

thoughts were after finishing this book!

 

Characters:

I'll admit something I'm a bit afraid of admitting: For the first 

100 pages of this book or so, the protagonist Celaena,
annoyed me. Maybe it was my high expectations for her
character that made me findher annoying, but she just came off as that
way to me personally because of the way she sort of strutted around like she owned the place, and felt like she was better than anyone else.

Soon though, I realized it was because she was.

After I adjusted to the initial sort of shock, her character really grew on me and by the end of the book, she was one of my favorite characters.

And, despite common disagreement, I actually enjoyed the love triangle between her, Dorian, and Chaol. I felt like each of the characters had their own backing and none of it was insta-love in the least, which was a nice change from a lot of other books I have read.

Personally?

I'm Team Chaol.

 

 

Setting   

The setting of this book was Erilea, a fantasy land where magic has been banned and kings and queens rule the kingdoms. I found the magic banishment of Erilea intriguing, and it was clear that this land had been thought out. There was enough to this world that readers were introduced to, that made it unique from other fantasy worlds, but at the same time it wasn't unbelievable.

 

 

Plot

This was the thing that initially drew me in to reading the book. An assassin is taken from the mines of Endovier to compete in a competition and complete tasks in order to become the King's personal assassin. How cool is that? It's very cool, let me tell you.

And while I was hoping for maybe a bit more look into the tasks, and a bit more information and detail about them, the book had a different story to tell. And that was okay, it was great, because I immensely enjoyed the story it did tell!

 

Writing Style

As you can tell from above, I enjoyed every aspect of this book. It was fast paced, but not too fast paced, it had an awesome heroine, and it had a unique world it all took place in. But the thing that bound all those together for me was the writing style of the author.

Let me tell you, once I picked this book up, it hooked me. I could not put in down, not if I was brushing my teeth, not if I was doing the dishes... nothing! Okay, so maybe while I was doing the dishes (don't want to damage a library book after all ;) ) but not for much else.

 

Overall

I loved this book. There a few issues for me at the beginning, but one of my friends asked me while I was out "Hey, what's that book you're reading? You seem really into it." I held up Throne Of Glass, and let her read the summary and first couple pages. She then warned me to keep it close, or else she might steal it!

So, needless to say, this was amazing. It might be one of my favorite series starters at the moment, and I feel like if I had read the prequels before hand I might have felt the connection with Celaena at the start rather than the middle.

 

 

This book get 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Beat the Heat Read-A-Thon

I told myself I wasn't going to do it. I told myself I wasn't going to join yet another read a thon, but the dates on this one are just to perfect to pass up! It started yesterday, when I spent the entire day reading my new library book, and it ends the day before school starts!

This challenge is hosted by Phantasmic Reads and Novel Heartbeat,

My goals for this challenge are to read 10 books, so about 3 books a week since this one lasts for 3 weeks. I'll keep this as my main progress post as well.


Progress:

August 11th
Total Books Read: 0
Currently Reading: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Pages Read: 168
Comments: I spent a lot of time reading today. I really got into my book, it certainly has me hooked, even though I wasn't anticipating to enjoy it this much! Ernest Cline's writing style is just so great and enjoyable.

August 12th
Total Books Read: 1
Currently Reading: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Pages Read: 206
Comments:  So far, I am on track with that goal of mine to read one book every two days... let's hope I can keep it up

August 13th
Total Books Read: 1
Currently Reading: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Pages Read: 0
Comments: Whoopsies.

August 14th
Total Books Read: 1
Currently Reading: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Pages Read: 0
Comments: I'm going camping today, so don't expect any more updates until Sunday, when I shall bombard you all. Hopefully, I can actually make some progress on this book because I am super excited to read it but let me tell you all a secret... I haven't actually started it yet. Eek!

August 15th
Total Books Read: 1
Currently Reading: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Pages Read: 122
Comments: I finally started reading this book! It is a very enjoyable and page turning book that hooked me from the start. I also read quite a chunk of it as you can tell. It also is not that long of a book so I should whip through it rather quickly.

August 16th
Total Books Read: 1
Currently Reading: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Pages Read: 88
Comments: Luckily I had time to read even more of this book today. I rather forgot how much of it I read today but I am pretty sure it was about that much or so. And I was so hoping I could remember too!

August 17th
Total Books Read: 2
Currently Reading: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Pages Read: 78
Comments: And I finished it, just in time for the Bout Of Books Readathon tomorrow. I might do a review on it since my opinions were a bit mixed? Overall though it was a really great read especially to bring along on a camping trip to read.

August 18th
Total Books Read: 2
Currently Reading: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Pages Read:
Comments: It was the first day of Bout of Books 11.0 today! I started my library book a little after 2pm I want to say. I am enjoying it so far, and how dark it is along with a bit of mystery. It isn't what I was expecting but I am liking it a lot anyway.

August 19th
Total Books Read:
Currently Reading: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Pages Read:
Comments:

Bout Of Books Sign-Up

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
 

So, in case you hadn't guessed from the blurb... I am participating in my first Bout Of Books Read A Thon, which seems to be a very popular Read A Thon. As of right now, I don't have an exact goal or anything, but I'm thinking possibly 1,200 pages as a rough goal for now.
Another obstacle that week will be Orchestra Camp and preperation for starting school... hopefully I will manage to balance everything, but until next time!

Friday Finds (2)

Friday Finds is brought to you by shouldbereading.wordpress.com and it asks you to display what books or "finds" you have added to your TBR pile each week! This week I found so many new books to read, and so from the 27th-2nd (today) I have found a grand total of 13 books to add to my TBR shelf. Whoops?

Castle In The Air and House Of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. These are the second and third books in the Howl's Moving Castle series, and I read the first book, loved it, want to read the others! Plus I may have just watched the Howl's Moving Castle movie for the twelfth time when I added those...

A World Without Princes and Untitled by Soman Chainani, which are the second and third books in the School For Good and Evil trilogy! Obviously, Untitled isn't out yet, but it is coming out sometime next year and I am looking forward to it's release!

Kiss Of Deception by Mary E. Pearson. This book was released last month and I've heard nothing but great things about it!

Princess Of Thorns by Stacey Jay. I added this to my TBR because I've been really into fairy tale retellings as of late. I don't think I've read a retelling of Sleeping Beauty before, at least not recently, so it was added to my long list!


Crown Of Ice by Vicki L. Weavil. This comes out on September 9th of this year. And okay, again with the fairytale retelling but come on. The Snow Queen! One of my favorite fairytales! And it's about the Snow Queen being cursed and having to assemble a mirror by her eighteenth birthday. Sounds promising to me.

Winter Falls by Nicole Maggi. The first book in the Twin Willows series, and it comes out in December 2014. I don't know what I find so interesting about this, maybe the part about the dreams of turning into a falcon, but either way, can't wait!

Untitled by Rae Carson. This is also a first book in a series, called the Goldscryer series. It's about a girl who has a magic power to find gold during the Gold Rush... need I say more? Personally, this sounds very appealing and exciting to me!

The Girl Of Fire and Thorns also by Rae Carson, and also the first in a series, although this is a series that is already out. Something about the synopsis really made me want to read this book.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu. This book to be released on October 7th 2014, and I really can't wait! It sounds so exciting, and with Lu's writing you can never go wrong, right?

The Cage by Megan Shepard. This is the first in a trilogy, and it's set to be released in 2015. It's about six teenagers who are kept captive in a zoo by the "Kindred"-- an otherwordly race. Doesn't that sound cool? (The only problem I have with it, is that I have been planning to write a novel like that for about two years, but just never started. Oh well, can't win them all)

The Monstrumoligist by Rick Yancey. Finally, a book that is actually out! I saw this on someone else's shelf and thought it sounds interesting so I added it to my own!

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Owned Authors

First off- a note to you guys. Even though I'm pretty certain no one really follows my blog, I'm sorry for not being very active on my blog lately! Things have been a little... hectic. With my trip to Washington DC, and a visit to my Aunt's house for a few days, I haven't gotten much free time.
Second off- welcome to another top ten tuesday courtesy of The Broke and The Bookish. Today, we're sharing our top ten most owned authors. I'll try to list these in order, maybe

1) Erin Hunter. I own 18 books by Erin Hunter. Eighteen. Even I didn't know I owned that many. Yet somehow I managed to fit them all into the space of half a bookshelf? Here's a really grainy pic of all the books I own by her (on the other side of the yellow book is a book called "Crookedstar's Promise" that I couldn't fit)
(also I have two books that also aren't in the picture because they were too tall to fit on that bookshelf):

There are so many of them they don't all fit in the camera shot!

2) Rick Riordan. With a slightly less startling five books. I used to have seven books written by him, but I can't seem to find where they disappeared to.

Why yes, yes that is a Totoro Doll you see.

 

3) Michael Scott. I have five books by him also, which are his "Secrets of Immortal Nicholas Flamel" series (which is an awesome series), except I don't have the Warlock sadly. Until then, here's the five books I do own:

 

 

4) Jonathon Stroud. I have three books of his, the boxset of "The Bartimaeus Trilogy". My dad bought it for me for my birthday one year at a used books store for really cheap.

 

5) J.K. Rowling I have three books of hers I believe. I bought the boxset of "Quidditch Through The Ages" and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" right before the Borders near me closed. Then I also have Goblet of Fire which I got on my eighth birthday.

 

 

6) Cornelia Funke. One of my favorite authors! I have 4 of her books, which have all been very loved as you can tell through the spines of most of them...

 



7) CS Lewis. How could I forgot to put him earlier? I have all of the Narnia books. It was the first box set I ever recieved and I remember being mighty proud of it. This was one of my favorite series when I was younger, and it still is!

 

Also well-loved, as you can probably tell.

 





8) Tony Diterlizzi. Unless I'm missing something (which is entirely possible) that's it for my "3+" books authors. I have tons of authors that I own two books of, so I'll be choosing these next three for various different reason. I have two books of Mr. Diterlizzi's, and these books are massive, with absolutely  stunning art inside them!

 

 

9) Jeanne Birdsall.  I love Ms. Birdsall's series, the Penderwicks. It is my favorite middle grade series of all time, and probably just one of my favorite series period. It's a great fun read, and I feel like I can connect a lot to Jane from when I was younger. I own the first two books of the Penderwicks series.

 



10) Kim Stanley Robison. And finally, I chose this book to show that yes, I do own a variety of books. Both of these are Adult Sci-Fi books, but they aren't from the same series.

 

 

And... that's it! That's all I have for you today. Do you own any of these books? Perhaps you've read them? Thanks so much for reading. 

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Deserted Island

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Broke and Bookish. I know it's Wednesday, but shh--! I'll still sneak this in. Yesterd--ahem, today's topic is top ten characters you'd bring with you on a deserted island.

1. Cinder from The Lunar Chronicles mostly because I have a feeling her cyborg parts could help us out if we got in trouble.

2. Wolf from The Lunar Chronicles because he's a great fighter. If something tried to attack me then I could get him to fight it off.

3. Gandalf from The Lord Of The Rings because he's very wise and all-knowing. And maybe he could call on his Eagle Friends to fly us out of there.

4. Legolas from The Lord Of The Rings because he's an elf who probably could find food for us somehow.

5. Lucy from The Chronicles Of Narnia because she has a knack for finding things and hopefully those things might, in this case, include food or a boat or a cool portal through a palm tree into another land.

6. Percy from Percy Jackson and The Olympians because he's the son of the Posedon! And maybe he could talk to the fishes and ask them for survival stuff. Plus we need a little laughter in our time at the deserted island.

7. Annabeth from Percy Jackson and The Olympians because she's really smart, and a great architect, so I'd be counting on her to build us a huge treehouse.

8. Katniss from The Hunger Games because she obviously knows a lot about how to survive anywhere-- hopefully a deserted island as well.

9. Han Alister from The Seven Realms Series because he's rather good at the whole surviving thing.

10. Howl from Howl's Moving Castle because hello, magic. Also I'd just want him there with me on the deserted island.

So, those are my picks. Sorry they were late!

SLC: Library Scavenger Hunt!

So, this week on Summer Library Challenge (hosted by the lovely Book Monsters) it was time to do a Scavenger Hunt! This one was so much fun and it really forced me to try and discover new things! I'm sad that this challenge is coming to an end, and I really hope they host it again next summer.


1. Go to your favorite section of the library. Close your eyes and feel out, picking a random book. If it’s a book you haven’t read before, see if it’s one you would like and then check it out and read it.
I went to the YA section of the library, and chose a shelf at random. Then I closed my eyes and picked out...
Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

2. Go to a section of the library you’ve never been to and pick out a book you normally wouldn’t.
For this one I went to the manga section because that's somewhere I don't go often plus it was nearby...
Hikaru no Go Vol. 1 story by Yumi Hotta

3. Talk to your reference librarian, ask them a question (or two), skip the computer and go straight to the source to help you find something.
I didn't accomplish this one... oops.

4. If you normally use self checkout, go to an actual circulation clerk to check out. Or opposite.
Okay, the only reason I did this was because the self chechkout refused to check out one of my books and kept coming up with an error message. Luckily, the circulation clerk did not do the same.

5. Find a movie, CD, or other non-print item to check out.
Uh... I didn't do this one either. Does an anthology of short stories count? I don't think I've ever checked out an anthology before, so I checked out...
Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbaleister

There we have it, library goodness! I suppose this also turned into a bit of a "Library Haul" so that can count. Hehe. See you next time!

Thursday Thoughts On Spoilers

Thursday Thoughts is a weekly meme held by Ok, Let's Read. This week the topic is "Spoilers".

My opinions on spoilers are conflicted. First off, let me begin by saying that: I don't like surprises. At all. Not even good surprises. (Except for presents. Yay, presents!) So alot of the time I ask people what happens in a book. If I want to know spoilers, then I ask for them from people. However, when people say or post spoilers without warning, that's when I don't like spoilers.
Because yes, I don't mind spoilers, as long as you give me fair warning.
And okay, I'll be honest here and say that when I see the warning on Goodreads or wherever, something deep inside of me (not that deep inside of me) can't help seeing what it is. I can't help myself, ok? I know spoilers ruin the book for alot of people, but for me it just gives me time to brace myself.
And, as a disclaimer, I will say that I never spill spoilers without fair warning, even if it would be a smallish spoiler.
So that's all I have for this topic today. What are your opinions on spoilers?

Marry Kiss Cliff Book Tag

So, this is a tag that actually originated on YouTube, but I really wanted to try it out because hello, it looked awesome and fun and yeah. I first watched it here but there are a billion other videos on it too. Pretty much it's like the title says. You put names of your fictional crushes (or just fictional characters in general) into a mug or hat or what have you, draw out three names, choose which one you would marry, which you would kiss, and which you would cliff.

Without further ado, let's get started:

Round One:

Harry Potter (Harry Potter Series)
Peter (Narnia Series)
and
Edmund (Narnia Series)

Marry Peter
Kiss Harry
Cliff Edmund

Round Two:

Leo Valdez (Heroes of Olympus)
Grover (Percy Jackson Series)
Seamus Finnigan (Harry Potter Series)

Marry Seamus
Kiss Leo
Cliff Grover

Round Three:

Howl (Howl's Moving Castle)
Captain Carswell Thorne (Lunar Chronicles)
Augustus Waters (Fault in our Stars)

My first thought was "Squee, Howl!"

Marry Howl (!)
Kiss Thorne
Cliff Augustus (Sorry, Gus)

Round Four:

Pippin Took (Lord of the Rings)
Ron Weasley (Harry Potter)
Four (Divergent)

Again, I squee-d out loud when I saw Pippin's name because I'm way too much of a fangirl. Hah.

Marry Pippin, of course
Kiss Ron
Cliff Four

Round Five:

Han Alister (Seven Realms Series)
Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson Series)
Prince Kai (Lunar Chronicles)

This one was hard.

Marry Percy
Kiss Han
Cliff Kai (I love you Kai)

Final Round:

Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit)
Maxon (The Selection Trilogy)
Fire Dancer (The Demon King)
Bilbo though! Yas! And Dancer! Augh this is so difficult! (The problems of a Fangirl)

Marry Bilbo
Kiss Dancer
Cliff Maxon

There you have it, my pointless but very fun to make post. Do you agree with any of my descisions? Disagree with any of them? If you do this meme yourself then I'd love to check it out. Thanks for stopping by.

Beautiful People Meme (July 2014)

 

 

I am back from vacation! I took lots of pictures of the monuments and memorials I visited while in Washington DC. It sure is good to be home though! And because that had absolutely nothing to do with the task at hand, I'll now introduce this meme again. I did last month (I was the last to link up... but no more! Onward!) It is hosted by Notebook Sisters and Further Up and Further In so if you are an aspiring author, or write at all, give this meme a try!

 

Today's character is one that popped into my head a few weeks ago and hasn't left since. He doesn't even have a last name yet, but his first name is ... Pierre!

 

1) What’s their favourite food? (Bonus: favourite flavor of chocolate!) I don't know. Something sweet, probably candy or pie or other sweets.
2) What do they absolutely hate? Being bossed around. He's only seven years old, and is sort of in that "You aren't the boss of me" phase.
3) What do they enjoy learning about? Well, he doesn't exactly enjoy learning because he thinks it's a waste of time. But if you know something about a language that he doesn't know, then he will constantly ask you "What is ____ in *insert language here*?"
4) Who is the most influential person in their life? He lives in the alleyways by himself most of the time, but he does get help from Guisieppe alot of the time. (Obviously, he can't survive by himself at the age of seven.)
5) What is their childhood fear? Still a child. But he is frightened of nightmares.
6) What is something they have always secretly dreamed of doing, but thought impossible? Finding and being reunited with his dead twin brother, Gustav.
7) What is something he is impractically afraid of? Nightmares, again.
8) Are they a night owl or morning person? Night owl, mainly because he doesn't really like sleeping.
9) Do they say everything that pops into their head, or leave a lot unsaid? He says everything that pops into his head. Literally, everything.
10) What are their nervous habits? Avoiding eye contact, fidgeting, playing with the sleeves of his shirt, subtle things like that.

 

That was alot of fun!