Queen of Shadows

Title: Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4)
Author: Sarah J Maas
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 10/10

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 tried to write a spoiler-free review. I really did. Despite my best efforts, some of them leaked in, so... proceed with caution if you haven't read it yet.

I don't think I can say enough how much I love these books. Maas paints and weaves an intricate world, where all the characters entwine together in intricate, complicated patterns. And trying to figure out those patterns is an awesome hobby - for example, I hope like hell that Manon will side with Aelin, despite their... misgivings towards each other. And now things are looking more possible on that front... because of [spoiler] reasons.

It's all very exciting, and there wasn't a dull moment to be found; even the slower ones just tended to be tooth-rottingly sweet.

The Dorian chapters ripped my heart to shreds. All of them. Every single last one of them. Damn my weakness for fictional men with dark hair and blue eyes!
On the other hand, the Rowan chapters filled me with joy. Yay for the Rowan Fire Fanclub! And no, of course I didn't cry when Rowan showed up *shifty eyes*

But the cake for Best Character Ever goes, hands-down to Lysandra (with honorary mentions to Aelin, Manon and Elide). Such a lovely, lovely surprise to see her blossom into herself. She had me in stitches by the end of the book with her relentless teasing of Aedion. I can't wait to see more of her and Evangeline (that kid is gonna be something else; with all the people she has around her as her role models, there is no way she won't grow up to be a ball of sass, and I hope we get to see more of that sass).

I'm excited about where we left off; I think there's loads more to come in the next two books, although some of the... complications... were dealt with faster than I expected (then again, with a 600-page behemoth, is that really any surprise?).

ps: FLEETFOOT!

Shameless Self-Promotion, some news... mostly just to say I'm alive!

Hello and Happy September!

Hope you're warm and cuddly in your four-poster beds at Hogwarts, and that your first day of lessons yesterday went well.

This year has just flown by; I've been incredibly busy, and sadly, that's reflected on the blog. I know there have been less reviews and posts than I'd like, but I've been scrambling to keep up with all the changes going on. Since last year, I started and finished my first year at university (with really good grades, woo!), had two internships in publishing that went (if I say so myself) really well, got a job at YA Interrobang, moved house, and still tried to fit in reading books somewhere in there.

I didn't always manage to read those books, and, weirdly enough, now that holidays are nearly over, things should get back to normal. Having a schedule for uni really helps make sure things run smoothly in other parts of life.


Also: I have one review on backlog, that will go up later today and have started Queen of Shadows (no spoilers!!), so that should go up, hopefully early next week, as I plan on doing little else over the weekend... wish me luck ;)

(Back) Cover Love: Queen of Shadows

It's up, it's up, it's up! The gorgeous back cover of Queen of Shadows! I have to say, I've never seen back covers provide such excitement anywhere other than the Throne of Glass fandom. Still, who can blame us, since we get these awesome Aelin poses + beautiful dresses, right? ;)

I haven't read the first three chapters, because I know it'll only make the wait worse. Have any of you read it? (no spoilers if you have!)

ps: okay, I know, I know. It's been nearly a month. I'm sorry. Real life got in the way. I snapped my ACL during an (unusual) bout of sport (this is why I don't do the damn things normally, I tell you), so had to have surgery, and now I've got an awesome work experience at Michael O'Mara Books for two weeks, doing publicity. So it's all been a little busy, as you can imagine, and I've had zero time to actually sit down and read more than 10 pages at a time. I have a long train journey in front of me this weekend though, so planning on getting some quality time with my TBR then; hopefully have a review up early next week.

Pre Order Queen of Shadows + Goodies!

Quick stop before my next review goes up to let you all know about a giveaway Bloomsbury is doing for Queen of Shadows. All info in the picture:

I have a button bag that will look absolutely stunning with these on it! ;)
As a reminder, Queen of Shadows is out September 1st.

Cover Love: Queen of Shadows

It's here! It's here!

How badass does Aelin look?! She looks so ready to kill... well, anyone really. I would not want to be Arobynn right around now.
First one up is the UK/Aus version, with the awesome tagline "Her destiny awaits. But first, vengeance..." *shivers excitedly* this is going to be awesome, I can feel it.

And here's the US version, sans tagline, but still equally as badass. Even though I prefer the cool effects of the UK cover with the blue swirls, the red is so striking!

What do you think? Did you like the covers?

Waiting on Wednesdays #3: Queen of Shadows

Waiting on Wednesdays is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Title: Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publication Date: September 1st

"Sarah J. Maas's New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series reaches new heights in this sweeping fourth volume.

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."

We don't even have a cover yet, and I'm already desperate for it. In all honesty, I challenge you to find one person who finished Heir of Fire, and wasn't already crazy for the next one! At least I managed to wait until we had an actual title before doing this. There are so many questions, and I need more Rowan in my life!

What books are you looking forward to?

Title Reveal: Queen of Shadows

Sarah J. Maas just released today the name of the fourth Throne of Glass novel:

What do you guys think? It sounds like Celaena is going to forge ahead with her decision from the end of Heir of Fire, and is going to claim her birthright.

The Twelve Books of Christmas: Day 2

It's the final countdown to Christmas, so to keep the blog in the Christmas spirit, I thought I'd number my 12 all-time favourite books to give (or receive) as gifts.

Day 2
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Moving away from the classics, this is more for the fantasy fans out there.
Throne of Glass follows Celaena Sardothien, a trained assassin with more secrets than Albus Dumbledore. She's rescued from a prison camp by the Crown Prince of Adarlan to work for the King.

Badassery ensues, and if you get this as a gift for someone and they like it, you'll have great options for birthday presents - the next two books in the series, Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire respectively, are already out. You can read my (very excited) review of Heir of Fire here.

Throne of Glass is a good bet for anyone who liked Kristin Cashore's Graceling and Maria V. Snyder's books.

Shipping Saturdays #1

This will be a weekly addition to the blog. Basically, I talk about my favourite ship in a book/series, and then you guys get to vote on which favourite pairing of that book/series you prefer. If there are any couples you'd like me to talk about, let me know in the comments (along with what book they're from, in case I haven't read it yet!) and I'll add them to the list. 
Weekly poll winners will be announced in the next Shipping Saturdays post.

This week, the spotlight is on Celeana Sardothien and her veritable harem of men. May contain spoilers for Heir of Fire; definite spoilers for the first two books.

So I've always been an avid Doraena (Dorian x Celaena) shipper. He gets her in a way that Chaol never could, because he too knows what it's like to have to hide part of yourself, out of fear and protection. This quote from Heir of Fire, when Dorian tells Chaol that he 'can't pick and choose which parts of her to love' really touched me, and reminded me why I shipped them so hard back in Throne of Glass.
Also, by the end of Crown of Midnight, I was all but convinced she'd have to marry him to help seal the peace between Terrasen and Adarlan. And they could have a plethora of royal babies. And while that's still definitely a scenario I'd be happy to see, Heir of Fire introduced another contender - Rowan.
And I know, chances are it will never be more than platonic because of his mate way back when, but a girl can dream, right? I mean, can you imagine the badassedness that would be a marriage between those two? And the same reasoning applies here - this wedding could also help seal peace between Terrasen and the Fae kingdom, since I'm sure Auntie Dearest will declare war soon enough.

My friend Kim disagrees and tells me I'm insane for shipping anything other than Chaolena, and how dare I. It's weird, cause it's one of the few times we've disagreed on a ship, so Aelin should feel special - she's one of two to divide me and my bookworm friends!

But you tell me now, through comments or just by voting: who do you think Celaena should end up with? (taking into consideration, there are still 3 more books to come, so don't rule out any characters as of yet!)

Who do you ship Celaena with?

Chaol

Dorian

Rowan

Aedion

Other (including Sam. Comment & let me know)

Poll Maker