Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #5

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: September 6th, 2016

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Source: Purchase

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 693

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Summary (from Goodreads):

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those don't.

As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

Aelin's journey from assassin to queen has entranced millions across the globe, and this fifth installment will leave fans breathless. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?

The beginning of this book finds Aelin and her court traveling North to finally reclaim her throne in Terrasen. But a meeting with several Lords of Terrasen changes her plans when she finds out that they  refuse to recognize her as their queen. So instead of heading to Orynth, she heads out to raise hell and raise an army for Terrasen in the war against Erawan and his darkness.

What I liked:

When we first met Manon and the rest of her Thirteen in Heir of Fire, I was so annoyed. I thought that her point of view was pointless. I didn't like her or any of the witches. I thought that they were unnecessarily cruel to everyone. But Manon has grown on me SO much! She is probably my favorite character in this series. And I thought that the turn her storyline took in this book was SO interesting! When we first see her she is getting ready to sack Rifthold. She kills one of another coven's sentinels to save Dorian and as punishment, her second is to die. But she has other plans for her Thirteen than what is laid out before them. 

I love how much Manon cares about her Thirteen, despite it generally seeming like witches don't care about anything except getting back to the Wastes and killing Crochans. I love Manon's relationship with her flower-sniffing wyvern. I love how they can communicate and how they care about each other and it's just so cute. Even though cute doesn't seem like the kind of word Manon would appreciate being used to describe her.

I liked all the action in this book. I don't feel like things really ever felt slow in this book, I think they did feel a little bit repetitive after awhile, but something was always happening and it was EXCITING.

I love all the strong, wonderful ladies in this book. They're all such fighters. I love how they keep the boys on their toes.

I think the other character I felt the least blah about was Aedion because he's so caring and loyal and he actually seemed to have real feelings beyond lust, being pissed off about something, or just generally being kind of cold.

And I LOVE how things from other books that you wouldn't even think of connecting come up in this book. How things have been coming together for this ENTIRE series and you get to really see some of that in this book and it honestly kind of astounded me and made me really regret not rereading anything before reading this because I bet I would have noticed even MORE! But before I read the last one, I will definitely reread all of the books. I'm excited to see what new things I'll pick up!

What I felt 'meh' about:

Aelin. As usual she is incredibly badass. Which I always have and always will love about her. She's so strong and she cares so much about her people, even if not all of them obviously feel the same way about her. She just gets stronger and stronger and more and more clever as this series goes on.

But.

I just feel like the descriptions of her power were so over the top. The parts where she is digging deep into her power to obliterate some enemy just felt really overwritten to me. And there were several scenes in this book like this, where either Aelin or Rowan are diving into the depths of their power and they're all written the same! 

Another thing that bugged me about Aelin was how she was constantly scheming and hardly ever involved anyone else in her schemes. I mean, I can kind of see why, but at the same time, they are there to help her bear the burden of what they're doing. She can lean on them. It was just almost obnoxious how every step of the way something that Aelin schemed up seemed to just happen and everyone is like, "Whaaaaaat?"

Granted, the big scheme at the end did rather impress me.

Honestly, most of the characters were kind of 'meh' for me. I truly do like all of them to some extent, but I just didn't love most of them in this book. Rowan because he's not Chaol and I just don't love him.

Lysandra... I like her. I think she's brave and strong and can definitely pull her own. But I don't know, she was always there, but it was always just talked about how she's in some various animal form and I wanted more of her interacting with people.

Dorian just felt so different to me. And I can understand why. He went through hell in Queen of Shadows, but he just feels so much darker and colder in this book and I don't know how I feel about it yet.

Elide and Lorcan... I will probably eat my words like I did with Manon in Heir of Fire, but I just didn't see how most of their points of view were necessary to this book. I don't see how so much of their journey to find Aelin was important. I think Elide is kind of badass as well, but just don't see why I needed to see so much of her travels.

I don't know, I just wanted MORE from the characters.

What I disliked:

I think that this might partially be because I'm forever butthurt about Chaol not being the object of Aelin's affections, but I just didn't like the romance in this book. Like, generally I feel like Rowan is growing on me. I don't HATE him anymore, but I don't like him with Aelin.

But that's not really what I want to talk about pertaining to the romance. Usually I am all about sex scenes in books. When I figured that there would probably be some sexytimes I was kinda pumped. But I quickly went from pumped to UGH because I was SO sick of the constant cuddling, kissing, nibbling, pressing, whatever that was going on with Rowan and Aelin. I feel like there were more mentions of pointy Fae canine teeth and what they were nibbling on than there were mentions of dear old Chaol.

Seriously EVERYONE in this book was like a horny teenager! And I quickly found it getting so old! Every step of the way Aelin and Rowan were kissing and scratching and biting...

I can't believe I'm saying I just wanted them to keep it in their pants.

I feel like a good chunk of this book could have been cut out and it wouldn't have been any different. I'm one who finds repetitiveness incredibly obnoxious to read and I noticed a lot of it in this book. I no longer want to read the words baldly, incarnate, or any form of the word limn ever again.

Overall:

I really did enjoy this. Despite the repetitiveness, obnoxious horniness, and overwritten parts, it was an awesome book full of strong and amazing ladies and wonderful relationships. That ending kind of HURTS and I just need the last book in my hands yesterday.

Have you read the Throne of Glass series? What are your thoughts on this installment?

Review: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #4

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Purchase

Pages: 656

Add it on Goodreads!!

Summary (from Goodreads):

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . .

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

****OKAY, I TRIED, BUT THERE ARE DEFINITELY PROBABLY GOING TO BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW. I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW TO REVIEW THIS BOOK. SO I'M BASICALLY JUST BABBLING INCOHERENTLY ABOUT IT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.****

This book was fantastic! I did not receive mine on the day that it released because I ordered a signed, personalized copy from Books of Wonder so I spent the last week aggressively muting anyone who said anything about what they were reading in it or did tweets with their goodreads updates. I did not want to know anything about this book going into it, but I had something figured out before I even got it that I thought would be a big deal, but I am actually a lot more okay with the thing than I thought I'd be. I'm surprised. Anyway, I loved this book. I was really happy with it. I saw a lot of people talking about the pain that this book caused them, but I didn't feel it. I don't know if I just read this book too fast so I could unmute everyone (I like a lot of those people and reading their tweets!) or so I would know what the hype was about or what. I guess I just experienced the book differently. It was awesome. Expect lots of rambles.

I'm not even going to try and recap the story of this book. I literally have no idea what to say.

Aelin was amazing. Even after reading this whole book with her being called Aelin, I still find it weird. I want to call her Celaena. I think I like that name better. Anyway, Aelin has grown so much in this book. She is ready to reclaim her throne and she is working on building up her court. Ahhhh... She's so smart, clever, brave, strong, fierce, generally amazing. I don't have the words.

Chaol.. Oh Chaol. I don't like what happened to you throughout this book. I loved you so throughout this whole series. I think I even loved you more than Sam (ONLY because I read The Assassin's Blade after I had already read through Heir of Fire). But you're mostly a douchebag in this book. At the beginning of this book, I thought that your feelings towards Aelin and her magic sounded DANGEROUSLY close to echoing the king's thoughts on the subject and that was what made me almost totally give up on you. That and you totally placing the blame on Aelin for all the awful things that happened while she was gone when you're the one who sent her away. I think toward the end when you start to realize how douchey you're acting, you start to redeem yourself and I kinda like you again. But you're gonna have to try harder. Because I want you to be the one, but you gotta shape up or ship out.

I ached for Dorian through this whole book. His chapters were just so hopeless and sad. The things that he had to endure were SO horrible. What a miserable existence it must be to have a demon inside you while you still exist in there.

I absolutely hated Manon's chapters in Heir of Fire because I couldn't bring myself to like the witches. I didn't think that anything that went on in those chapters was important. I thought they were icky. I just liked reading about the wyverns, which I'm still not sure, is that like a dragon? ANYWAY, I truly grew to love Manon! I loved the changes we see in her. That she decides not to be so blindly obedient. She has a conscience. It seems that she actually has it in her to care about others. I kinda think that she's going to switch sides. I hope she does. I think that her and Aelin fighting together would be amazing and would definitely have things going in their favor. I LOVE Manon's wyvern, Abraxos. I love that he's supposed to be this vicious beast, but he's such a softy and likes to smell flowers. Okay, Manon's Thirteen grew on me A LOT! I'm glad that the witches finally met Aelin.

Rowan. I like Rowan. After Chaol's actions in this book, I was happy to see him and Aelin get closer in a way that I NEVER would have thought I'd ever want. I think I only felt that way when Chaol was being a douche. Because even now, I still feel that that relationship is weird. I don't know, maybe it's not weird to get with people that you're blood sworn to? I don't know! I just know that it doesn't feel right to me! I still think Chaol is the one. I hope the last two books go in their favor. Anyway, I'm glad Rowan is in Aelin's court. He is brave and loyal and would do anything for her. 

Since I don't want to write a whole entire book about what I thought about all of the characters, I'm going to just say that the rest of the characters that are new and old that are introduced, I love them all. I love everything. I can't really think of a new character that was introduced that I don't think I liked.

So anyway, in this book, I feel like really, not all that much really truly happened. But I personally never felt like this book was slow. I don't know. Maybe I'm still just floating on that book high. I was happy to see Arobynn dealt with. He got what was coming to him. Bastard. He's even more of a disgusting pile of trash than I ever thought he could be even after reading The Assassin's Blade. 

Now seriously, if you have read this far for some reason and haven't read the book, stop now because I feel like this part would be the part that I'd be the most angry about having spoiled for myself. Beware, turn back now, etc.

The whole book seems to be working up to the big battle with the king. Which when that battle finally comes, it doesn't feel as epic as it's made out to be, but I mean, it ended in a satisfying fashion. But like, I can't believe that the king was like controlled by one of those awful rings. That was probably the thing that surprised me the most. I feel like he met a really anticlimactic end, but in the scheme of things, I guess really there is a bigger battle to come. One that will definitely be more epic. I was really excited to see Aelin and her court FINALLY head to Terrasen!! I can't wait to see how it comes along in the next book! I don't know how I'm gonna wait a year!! I only just had to wait like 2 months for this one because I actually just heard about this series shortly before I started my blog. And even though I just read the rest of the series a couple of months ago, I feel like I should have reread them before I read this behemoth of a book because I already forgot some stuff.

ANYWAYS, that's my unedited thoughts on this book. It was amazing and I would HIGHLY recommend this book and the whole rest of this series because Aelin is amazing and I love her and STILL want to be her!

This book takes the square for a book with over 400 pages!

Review: The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #0.1-0.5

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: March 4, 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Purchase

Summary (from the back of the book): “Discover where Celaena Sardothien’s thrilling saga began. 

Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom’s most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful Assassin’s Guild, she yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. When Celaena’s scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes and questioning her own allegiance. She will have to risk it all if she hopes to escape Arobynn’s clutches — and if she fails, she’ll lose not just a chance at freedom but her life.

A prequel to THRONE OF GLASS, this collection of five novellas offers readers a deeper look into the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling — and deadly — world."

First of all, I think that this was my favorite book of the series to read so far. It doesn't read like a bunch of novellas to me. It felt like a real book. Everything was in order of how it happened and everything. I found it to be really interesting to read the full stories behind Celaena's adventures that get briefly mentioned in the rest of the series. I loved reading this book!

Buuuuut I also hated it because I knew the tragedies that befall my new and old favorite characters. And I didn't want to read it! I think I like Celaena even more than I did before. I loved seeing her being shaped into the character that we read about in the rest of the series. And ahhhh, I loved Sam for the brief moment that we got to hear his story! :( I really hope that Celaena gives Arobynn what's coming to him... Sloooooowly. I also hope that we get to see more of a lot of these characters in the rest of the books!

In the first story, Celaena finds herself amongst the pirates with Sam to collect a debt owed by them for the deaths of several assassins. But that was a lie from Arobynn and the real reason they are there doesn’t sit well with Celaena or Sam and they disobey their orders and end up making an enemy of the pirate lord, Rolfe. This story basically sets everything in motion for what happens in the rest of them.

In the second one, on her way to the Red Desert to train with the Silent Assassin’s as her punishment, Celaena meets a young healer in a dump of a town while waiting for a ship. She ends up saving her from something awful and helping her to get back on her journey to learn from the best healers. This was probably the slowest and most boring of the five novellas, but it was still good. 

When she arrives at the Red Desert, she has to prove herself worthy of being trained by the master of the Silent Assassins and earn a letter of approval from him to bring back to Arobynn. She makes friends there and finds that she doesn’t really want to leave. But there is betrayal and she saves the day earns the master’s approval and she is on her way back to Rifthold with her head held high.

Back in Rifthold, Arobynn is apologizing profusely for his punishments for her disobedience. He gives her a mission which will pay VERY well and she gets help from Sam to complete it. The mission ends up being the opposite of what she was expecting and she pays off hers and Sam’s debt to Arobynn so they can leave because they’ve had enough of his crap. Sam and Celaena move into her apartment and are finally together and of course it can’t just end there, with them being happy. Nooooooo.

In the final, and most heartbreaking, story, Sam and Celaena have plans to leave Rifthold forever to be completely free of Arobynn. They have to pay him and ungodly amount of money to be free of the Guild and leave and so Sam finds them one last job to do so they have enough money to go. And it ends poorly and they are completely betrayed and that’s how Celaena ended up in Endovier with her heart completely shattered.. And that’s when I cried forever. And ever. And ever. Ugh. I didn’t think that I’d think Chaol wasn’t the best for her, but maaaaan, Sam was the one!

I just kind of want to hug Celaena forever. 

Waiting on Wednesday (#2)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, I am anxiously awaiting...

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #4

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Pages: 672

Summary (from Goodreads):

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . .

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world. 

I just started reading this series about a month ago or so ago. And I can't believe it took me so long to pick up the first book! This is an amazing series and I am DYING to get my hands on this book! 

What book are you waiting for this week? :)

Review: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #3

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Publication Date: September 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Bought off Amazon

Summary (from the back of the book): “She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.

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 not only to 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.”

This book follows Celaena to the kingdom of Wendlyn where she was sent by Chaol who wanted to keep her safe from the king after discovering that she is Fae. The king believes that she is there to assassinate the king and prince of Wendlyn, but she has her own agenda. 

After spending weeks doing not much of anything, she is approached by Rowan, a Fae prince sworn to serve the Fae Queen, Maeve. He takes her to meet Maeve who she believes has all the answers she needs to her questions about the Wyrdkeys. But before she can get them, she must master her Fae powers so she can enter Doranelle.

Likes: 

I liked this book a lot. I liked all the new characters that we met (except the witches). I liked the relationship that Rowan and Celaena developed and how he helped her to master her powers even though he was just kind of nasty at first. I liked all the demi-Fae that you meet from Mistward. Because Celaena was basically awful to everyone a lot of the time, but they all were so understanding and forgave her for it. They knew she was struggling. 

I liked the flashbacks that we got, back to when Terrasen fell and you got to see how it all happened and how Celaena ended up where she did. It was tragic, but interesting. And you learn what her inner demons really are and why she can’t bring herself to get past it.

I was really happy when she did finally get past those inner demons and forgave herself for not being able to help those that she loved and felt like she had failed and decided that she was deserving of her title as Queen of Terrasen. The path to that forgiveness was a tough one and the end of it was almost really awful, but she pulled through because she’s tough!!

I was ECSTATIC when she finally got back on the boat to go back to Adarlan because I need her and Chaol to kiss and make up and be cute and in love again. 

Dislikes:

I really dislike when a book has chapters from many different points of view. It wasn’t hard to distinguish between the characters or anything, I just don’t care what so many of the characters are doing. I just wanted to know what was going on with Celaena, Chaol, and a little bit of Dorian!

I didn’t like the Ironteeth witches. I thought they were just kind of icky. And it was really hard for me to imagine them as being beautiful. I did start to kind of like Manon at the end when she kind of started to have a heart, but for the most part, I really didn’t want to read about them and kind of felt like those chapters were unnecessary, but maybe in the next book I’ll see why they were. I was kind of expecting them to be out trying to exact revenge on Celaena for killing Baba Yellowlegs, but nah, they were just playing war games in the sky on their new wyverns (whatever a wyvern is, is it a dragon? I think it’s like a dragon) for the king. I liked the wyverns. I liked how they were training vicious beasts in the mountains that somehow had more of a heart than any of those witches.

Another thing I dislike is when a character has a ton of different names. I don’t know. I just don’t like that.

Overall, I was really happy with the book and am DYING for  QUEEN OF SHADOWS to come out! I already have it pre-ordered and am impatiently waiting for it!! 

Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #2

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Publication Date: January 1, 2013

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: Bought from BAM

Summary (from the back of the book): "An assassin's loyalties are always in doubt, but her heart never wavers.

Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become the King's Champion. But she is far from loyal to the crown. Though she hides her secret vigilantly, her deadly charade becomes difficult when she realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. No one is above questioning her allegiance -- not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then, one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... And whom she is willing to fight for."

Now that Celaena has become the King's Champion, she is back to being an assassin as the King gives her name after name of people that he wants dead. But Celaena doesn't carry out the assassinations, instead she helps the King's enemies fake their deaths and flee. The the King gives her the name Archer Finn, someone Celaena knows from her days with the assassins. The King believes that he is involved in a rebel group. So Celaena finds him and gives him one month to get his affairs in order and in exchange he gives her information regarding possible rebels. Celaena gets approached, once again, by Elena, who asks her to find the source of the king's power. So you know he's definitely up to no good. Then the events build up until a terribly heartbreaking event comes up and her world falls apart. 

Likes: 

I loved that Celaena and Chaol finally got together! I wanted them to be a thing from the very beginning! And that scene at one of the King's events where he asks her to dance on the balcony... Just yes. I loved it. I want Chaol all to myself. All the more reason why I want to be Celaena.

I liked that you finally got to see Celaena being her badass assassin self. I had been waiting to see her more deadly side. I liked that she only used her skills to defend and protect the people she loved and to get revenge against the people who hurt her loved ones. Basically I like that she's not just a monster. 

Dislikes:

I didn't like Archer Finn. He tried to be all smooth, but deep down he's just a coward. He seemed okay at first, but he definitely proved me wrong.

I really can't even think of anything else that I actually disliked about this book. Granted, I didn't write this in as timely a fashion as I should have and I struggled to remember a lot of what happened.. But it was a really good sequel and I usually am not a huge fan of sequels!

I gave this book 4 stars just because my mind wandered while I read it (not even because of the book or anything, just life). I promise my review for HEIR OF FIRE will be better! 

What are you currently reading? :)

Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #1

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Publication Date: August 7th, 2012

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Bought off Amazon

Summary (from the back of the book): "Two men love her. The whole land fears her. Only she can save them all. 

In a world without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will be released from prison to serve as the King’s Champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. 

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And a princess from a faraway land will befriend her. But something evil dwells in the castle — and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival — and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.”

Okay, so this will be one of my first ever reviews, so I’m not positive on how I want to go about this. Also, I tend to be long-winded and ramble a lot, so please bare with me!

We meet Celaena Sardothien in the salt mines of Endovier where she has spent the last year after being caught and enslaved for being the most notorious assassin in Adarlan. She is being taken to a meeting with the Crown Prince who is requesting that she join in the king’s competition to find a Champion. If she wins, she will serve the king for so many years and then she will be free. 

Soon after the competition begins, something evil in the castle begins killing the potential champions. And she is asked by someone unexpected to find the source of evil and stop it and become the Champion. So with the help of her new friends Dorian (the Crown Prince), Chaol (the Captain of the Guard), and Nehemia (Princess of Ellywe) she does just that.

Likes:

I really liked this book in general. I have heard a lot about how good this book is, so I was kind of expecting to be disappointed because that’s usually how I feel about books I’ve heard nothing but good things about. 

I loved Celaena. I loved how much she seemed to love herself! She deserved it after being stuck in that death camp for so long. I love how much she loved clothes and sweets and books. I kind of just want to be her. 

I really liked Chaol. Team Chaol. I liked that he was so protective of Celaena and did everything he could to help her train and help her be the best so she could win.

I don’t know, I just really liked this book. I’m finding it hard to just pick out certain things that I liked about this book. I’ve been getting really into fantasy books lately so I think that definitely helped that it’s fantasy!

Dislikes:

One thing that I was a bit disappointed about was the competition. I was kind of expecting it to be more Hunger Games-y. Like a fight to the death between all of them. But that wasn’t what it was at all. Basically just different trials to test their skills in different things. I wanted there to be more blood. There were some of the competitors that I kinda liked that I didn’t want to see die, but I wanted there to be blood.

I wished we could have seen more of Celaena doing assassin stuff. Show off her skills a bit.

I didn’t like that there was a bit of a love triangle going on. I liked both of them and I didn’t want to feel bad for one of them when they didn’t get the girl!! 

You don’t get to know much about any of the other potential Champions. Celaena gets sort of close to two of them, but you don’t know much about them. Cain just basically strikes me as the bully on the playground and most of the other Champions are like the other kids who go along with it just to stay on his good side. 

Overall, this book was really good and I would definitely recommend it! 

Also, I got that super adorable little Celaena bookmark from HappyHelloCo on Etsy! Check them out! So cute!