[Review] Crown of Midnight (#2) by Sarah J. Maas

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 (#2, Throne of Glass)

The Assassin's Blade | Throne of Glass | Crown of Midnight | Heir of Fire | Untitled

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 15/08/2013

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 353

Source: Publisher for review
Genre: YA (14+) - Fantasy

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes

♪ Evanescence - Lacrymosa ♪

My Rating: 

Kick-ass!

My thoughts

*sigh* This is the second time I'm writing this review. I accidentally copy and pasted right over my entire review like 10 minutes after I finished it. :( I was legit about to go on hiatus, because I was that frustrated. Anyway. Hope this review is at least half as good as the first time around. I will be writing this in the same format as I did last time -- responding to my previous notes from Goodreads, my reactions after finishing the book about a whole year ago.

~~~

By the Wyrd, this book just... kicked ass. Maas writes suspense SO WELL!

That, I remember well. If nothing else, I remember how much this book kicked ass. There is still so much action, so much violence, so much going on that it was hard to stay away. I remember picking up the book and telling myself, "Just one chapter," and then that would stretch into two, three, four chapters.... There's a slow build-up, suspense and mystery that keeps you on the edge, Maas reveals at a good pace -- not too fast, and not too slow. The writing, as usual, is fantastic. I love the style that she utilises, and her writing just flows nicely.

[Review] Landline by Rainbow Rowell

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Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 31/07/2014

Publisher: Orion
Pages: 320

Source: Publisher for review
Genre: Adult // Magical Realism

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Lily Allen - Littlest Things ♪

My Rating: 

Delightful read

My thoughts

This was my first venture into Rainbow Rowell's writing so any of my expectations were established by the enormous amount of buzz, hype and love that surrounds this author. Of course, much of that buzz, hype and love is directed towards her young adult titles, Eleanor & Park and Fangirl, but her adult books have also received much praise. 'Landline' was a delight to read, and it invites the reader to question what they would do in that situation: if you had a magic phone that could somehow contact someone from the past, would you try to fix things?

[Review] Days of Blood and Starlight (#2) by Laini Taylor

[Goodreads]

(#2, Daughter of Smoke and Bone)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone | Days of Blood and Starlight | Dreams of Gods and Monsters

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 08/11/2012

Publisher: Hachette Australia
Pages: 512

Source: Publisher
Genre: YA (14+)

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Meg and Dia - Monster ♪

My Rating: 

x

My thoughts

I've always despised reviewing second books (plus) in a series. Just how much should I be allowed to disclose before the alarm bells in my brain go off, alerting me to the fact that SPOILERS ARE EVIL!? I will preface this review by saying that it if you read Daughter of Smoke and Bone it should be no question as to whether or not you continue the trilogy with Days of Blood and Starlight. Seriously, the cover alone should be convincing enough! Or what about the ending of DoSaB?

[Recap] YA Book Buzz @ Kinokuniya - National Bookshop Day 2014

I normally never get the opportunity to attend a book event--it's either work or school, too early or too late or too far or just somehow otherwise inconvenient to get out there to meet the authors. But not this time! Stroke of luck: my boss told me to take the day off work, so I quickly RSVP'd and ended up going with a couple of fellow book-loving friends.

We entered Kinokuniya at roughly 11:30 am, drinks from the Starbucks downstairs in hand, only to be faced with a panel of authors overlooking about five rows of chairs. Luckily we got to sit down (a few people had to stand along the sidelines) and enjoy our drinks while the crew set up the mics and the authors talked amongst themselves. They looked quite excited to be there, the audience, ditto.

A couple of minutes passed before the host hopped up on stage and started things up. The authors bantered about who should speak first: Garth Nix eagerly nominated Wanda Wiltshire, who admits that this is her second book event, but her first with a considerable crowd. She passionately described her novel, Betrothed, which is about not just romantic love (it is NOT just a romance novel!), but love of all kinds. I had never even heard of her book before, but it was a treat to listen to her talk about her book, as well as her sequel, Allegiance. She finished up with some book recommendations--anything by Melina Marchetta and the Shiver trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater.

Garth Nix took the mic next, much to Wanda Wiltshire's relief (Garth: don't worry, we'll get back to you). He was a bit sick but still very charismatic and funny. Unfortunately I only remember his recommendation of Rogues, a collection of short stories about rogues written by the likes of George R.R. Martin, Gillian Flynn, himself (Garth Nix) and Neil Gaiman, and Howl's Moving Castle and all other works by Diana Wynn Jones.

Next up, Margo Lanagan, who I was pretty excited to meet since her books probably interested me the most. She describes her books as 'dark fantasy' and mentions that her next book will also be a selkie novel, but even darker and more messed up than Sea Hearts (The Brides of Rollrock Island). She makes light of the fact that her previous books have run into trouble in the past for being filth (Them: Is this the kind of filth that kids should be reading these days? Margo: Yes!). Her biggest recommendation was Joyce Carol Oates.

Last to speak was Justine Larbalestier, who was wearing an incredibly snazzy coat. Her new release, Razorhurst, sounds so good, it was pretty hard for me not to get a copy of it for myself (both my friends did, so I will have to borrow later on). I can't remember what she recommended, but she did add on to one of Margo's (Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott). (Apparently the dialogue is amazing; Justine wrote Razorhurst from her reading of that book to better understand the period and how to write good dialogue.)


Then it was time for questions!

I had intended to get a copy of Tender Morsels for the longest time, so I finally got it and it's mine and she signed it and she was lovely. I'm kind of really really frugal and money-conscious, so I did not end up buying a book from every author on the panel (I did feel bad about it when I only went up to get a signature from Margo!). If I had prepared a little more and KNEW that there would be author signings I would have brought my copy of Zombies vs. Unicorns, Team Human and Sea Hearts. My friends made up for it though since they went nuts.

Anyway, I had an awesome time and I was extremely glad that I was able to attend. Let me know if any of you guys attended too! I would love to have more reading buddies for Tender Morsels... and also for Garth Nix's Abhorsen series (I've preordered the pretty new cover editions! :D)!


PS. I know I'm super late with posting my recap of this book event. I'm going to try and be more up to date with the goings-on with bookish stuff, including book events.

PPS. I will be having a giveaway in the near-ish future. Something Garth Nix related! :D <3

PPPS. I am EXTREMELY sorry for the lack of posts and presence lately! Blogging is, and always will be strictly a hobby for me, so in the grand scheme of things it'll never be up there on my priority list. Work's been crazy, life's been crazy, you know how it can be. I'll be flitting from one full-time job to another very soon, so I have no idea what's to come in the future (as usual).
 



[Review] Bitterblue (#3) by Kristin Cashore

Goodreads

(#3, Graceling Realm)

Graceling | Fire | Bitterblue

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 18/09/2013 (pb)

Publisher: Firebird
Pages: 608

Source: Bought
Genre: YA (14+) - Fantasy

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes
♪ Christina Aguilera - Castle Walls ♪

My Rating:

My thoughts

First, let me preface by saying that it's been a month and a half since I finished reading this book and I barely wrote any of my initial thoughts and feelings afterward, simply because I didn't even know what to say or think. This series, and author, has been a major influence on me as a reader. Graceling was my first venture into high fantasy young adult fiction. It was one of the longest books that I'd allowed myself to be engrossed in from start to finish. Kristin Cashore was also the first author I'd ever met in person and gotten signed personally. So you could say that my writing this review saddens me is entirely correct. Because after this, there is nothing more. It's like recovering from a really good TV show, something that has moved you in more ways than you can even begin to understand. The Graceling books will always hold a very special place in my heart, of that I can be sure. So for all the reasons mentioned above, I'm pretty sure this review is going to be sloppy and not really any good at all, but it's important for me that I write this.