Throne of Glass ~ Sarah J. Maas

US

Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Pub Date: August 7, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Author Website: http://sarahjmaas.com/
416 pages

From GoodReads:
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 kings 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.

"Princes are not supposed to be handsome! They're sniveling, stupid, repulsive creatures! This one...this...How unfair of him to be royal and beautiful."

Celaena is stuck in the middle of the dreaded love triangle. As much as I hate them, I actually found this one to be okay. There was a subtlety in the way the Captain of the Guard, Chaol, and Celaena feel for each other. Neither one is overt, neither gives much thought to it. Then we have Prince Dorian who is obvious; in fact many people around him suspect his feelings. And it seems that our assassin feels the same... 


As far as the love interests go, I have nothing invested in Chaol as a character. But Dorian? Try as I might I am falling for him. And he is NOT my book crush type AT ALL! Typically it would be Chaol. As you can see, I am very confused by this turn of events!


The supporting cast for the most part was enjoyable. I wish we could have more about Nehemia. Nehemia is a visiting Princess, she and Celaena become friends and end up helping each other more than they realize. For me, she was the most interesting character. I truly hope we have more with her later on...maybe even her own book!


Overall, I enjoyed the story. My attention and curiosity were piqued throughout the entirety. Not once did I pick up another novel to read in between. (Yes, I have a bad habit of doubling up on books.) I love the initial premise. But there was something about the premise that bothered me. The King is looking for his Champion. So he devises a series of tests to weed out those not worthy, to end with a duel. Okay, that's all well and good. But, why is he testing criminals? There are assassins, thieves, brutes, etc. Not one single "good" person in the mix. That irritated me for some reason. Who knows, maybe the King has some nefarious purpose coming up that would require a criminal.


My biggest issue with Throne of Glass came at the end of the book. I am still puzzled over it two days later. 

"All the clothing Celaena planned to buy when she was free to venture into Rifthold and do some shopping for herself..."

I'm sorry, but what the hell?! First off, Celaena never acted like a woman who was into shopping, or clothes in general. And there is the issue with the use of the word "shopping." While this is a fantasy book, it also has a historical feel to it. And in that sense, would a castle resident really go out to shop? Would they even use the word? Wouldn't there be a tailor that came by to personalize the clothing? This one phrase completely broke the aura of the novel for me. 


Anyway, with the exception of those two issues, I highly enjoyed this book! And I am so ready for the sequel! And to leave you, here is the UK cover of so prettiness! Which cover is your favorite?

UK

So, I have also added Google Friend Connect in the upper left of the blog. Feel free to friend me there-one is such a lonely number :P

Au Revoir Crazy European Chick ~ Joe Schreiber

Title: Au Revoir Crazy European Chick
Author: Joe Schreiber
Pub Date: October 2011
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Pages: 190
Author website: http://scaryparent.blogspot.com/

From GoodReads:
 Perry Stormaire is a normal high school senior—he is busy applying to college and rehearsing with his band—until he agrees to go to the prom with the Lithuanian exchange student who is staying with his family. It turns out that Gobi Zaksauskas is not the mousy teenager that she seems but rather an attractive, confident trained assassin. Instead of going to the prom, Perry finds himself on a wild ride through the streets of New York City as Gobi commandeers the Jaguar his father lent him for the prom in order to take out her targets. Perry learns a lot about himself—and ends up with some amazing material for his college application essays.



My first introduction to this book was at one of the itty bitty libraries in my town. I was there to get another book, but saw this one, and thought Hmmmm. Plus it was small. And I'm not going to lie, I was in the mood was a quick read. I read reviews when I got home. Some good, some not, some mixed. 

Well, today was the day that I read it. And holy crap. Those 190 pages FLEW! At one point my jaw dropped, and once I picked it back up, I continued on my merry reading way. One thing that helped, Schreiber did not spend a lot of time giving us background on Gobi as an exchange student in Perry's home. It was short, sweet, and to the point. Because really, the story was about her being a badass "Lithuanian ninja!" (As Perry calls her.)


The story takes on the form of a college application essay. Each chapter is headed by an application question, which also falls in line with the chapter. One of my favorites "What single word best describes you, and why?" The first sentence on that chapter? '"Dick," my best friend Norrie, burst out. "You are being such a dick!"' So much awesomeness!


This was seriously a heart-pounding thrill ride of a book! Given some of the novels I've read in the past, I do not think this book was too gory or bloody. But still, maybe recommend this to some older readers :P So, if you like smart ass dialogue, ninjas, assassins, thrill rides, and whatever else you can think of, go out and grab a copy of Au Revoir Crazy European Chick!

"Here's me: still screaming."

 
And here is where I discover that part two comes out in November: ::SQUEEEEE:: That's right, Perry's Killer Playlist makes its appearance November 6, 2012! Woot! 

Grave Mercy: His Fair Assassin ~ R.L. LaFevers

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.      Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart? 


Part kick-ass heroine, part love story, part mystery, and part political intrigue set the path for one hell of a story!

"I bear a deep red stain that runs from my left shoulder down to my right hip, a trail left by the herbwitch's poison that my mother used to try to expel me from her womb. That I survived, according to the herbwitch, is no miracle but a sign I have been sired by the god of death himself."

Ismae is our kick-ass heroine. After years of neglect and abuse she is sent to a convent to train as Death's Handmaiden. In other words, she is trained to be an assassin. And Ismae is good at her calling. So she is sent to the palace to uncover the traitor to the young duchess. Will the traitor succeed in their plot to end the life of the duchess, or will Ismae keep her safe? For that matter, will Ismae keep her heart safe and secure?


Full of rich language, tense moments, and beautiful death scenes. The characters were well developed. You liked those you were supposed to like, disliked certain ones, were leery of others, and unsure about others. One of my stand out favorite characters was Vanth. :)


And now to leave you with my favorite passage from the book:

"We will teach you to make poisons. Poisons that grip the gut and force a man's life to dribble from him into a slop pail. Poisons to stop the heart or squeeze the humors from the body. Bloodwort to congeal the blood so it can no longer move through the veins. We will show you subtle poisons that take days to fell a man, and those that kill within seconds. And that is just to start."

 If I were to be an assassin, I'd probably utilize poisons. How about you? If you like this one, you may want to try Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder-while not the exact same, but similar enough.