Review | Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Title: Passenger (Passenger #1)
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Release Date: January 5th, 2016
Publisher: Hyperion
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Pages: 486 (Hardcover)
Rating: 3.75/5

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them— whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are play­ing, treacherous forces threaten to sep­arate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home . . . forever.

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“She wondered if, in moving outside of the natural flow of time, they had forgotten the most crucial point of life – that it wasn’t meant to be lived for the past, or even the future, but for each present moment.”

Going into this book, I was a little weary. There’s a lot of hype surrounding this book, but I wasn’t sure if it would be something I would like, just based on the description. While I wasn’t blow away by this book, it did certainly have some great parts. 

I loved the diversity in this book. One of the main characters, Nicholas, was the son of a slave of the Ironwood family. As a result, Nicholas is constantly being faced with discrimination due to the colour of his skin. Since this book is mainly set during the 18th-early 20th centuries, there were some pretty harsh comments and realities that he had to deal with. 

Similarly, Etta, being from the present day, was stunned by how she and other women were treated in the various eras she visited. The way she reacted to certain situations was really admirable. I think the character Sophia was also dealing with the misogyny of the era in a rather interesting way. It was great when these two girls would talk about the different years in which they lived, and it was nice to see Sophia fight back in her various ways, even if they were a little intense sometimes.

A big drawback for me was the pacing of the book. The start was very slow, though it did have a sense of building up to something. That something just took a little while to show itself. Even when things got going, the action would happen in sporadic bursts, and things were rather slow in between. Don’t get me wrong, the action that did happen was really exciting and engaging, and those bits definitely made the book worth reading.

There were a few things about the storyline that didn’t quite add up with me, though. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just say that I mainly had issue with some of the reveals about Etta’s mother towards the end of the book. 

In terms of the romance between Etta and Nicholas, I wasn’t really a fan of it. I mean, it was pretty insta-lovey, so that alone is a bit of a let down for me. I think they would have been great as just friends. I mean, the way their romance developed didn’t feel very natural, and it just seemed like the sort of relationship that would begin with an awkward romance, then just fizzle out to just being friends. That’s what I would’ve loved to see, anyway.

Overall, I loved how complex and thought-out this book was; there were a lot of fascinating historical nuggets in there, as well as a very intricate time-travelling system. But while I wasn’t amazed by the book as a whole, it’s still a really fun read with quite an exciting ending, and I’ll definitely be checking out the second book when it’s released.

Review | The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Title: The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave #1)
Author: Rick Yancey
Release Date: May 7th, 2013
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Dystopia
Pages: 460 (Paperback)
Rating: 4.5/5

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother–or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

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This was a really entertaining and fast-paced story. For a sci-fi book, it was remarkably realistic and easy to identify with.

I think all the characters were really well written in this book. The MC, Cassie, was incredibly relatable and authentic. In particular, her reaction to the Crucifix Soldier situation was amazing. Everything about it, from her immediate reaction to her feelings about it afterward, were so perfectly written. Cassie just felt like such a normal person – she was coping (or not) in ways that were so very human. She wasn’t an amazing, alien-fighting super soldier; she was just trying to survive as best as she could.

I’m not sure how I feel about Evan Walker. Since he was introduced, I was rather weary of him, and that unsure and suspicious feeling never really went away. I like him enough, but I’m not convinced that he’s told Cassie everything. And I didn’t really like how the relationship between these two developed so quickly. I can sort of understand it, at least in Cassie’s case – she was pretty desperate for human contact, so I think she just wanted to have a meaningful relationship with someone again.

Other than the slight insta-love between Cassie and Evan, I really enjoyed the relationships in this book. I loved the group dynamic of Squad 53 (i.e. Zombie and co.) in particular. The desperation and determination of these kids was palpable, and that was reflected in how they related to one another. That brings me to my next point: I absolutely adore Zombie/Ben. He is such an incredible character and person. The development we see just in this book is wonderful, so I can’t wait to see what becomes of him in the next books.

As far as the plot goes, I enjoyed that, too. I thought there were a lot of great twists that kept it interesting, and the story developed really well and with excellent pacing. I guess I just wasn’t blow away by it. I can’t really pinpoint anything in particular, but I don’t think there was anything especially amazing or mind-blowing. That is probably the main reason I didn’t give this five stars. There just wasn’t that wow factor. Don’t get me wrong, though, this book is great and I really loved reading it. It just didn’t leave me in shocked awe when I had finished it.

Overall, I definitely really enjoyed this book. It makes you think about how you would react in similar situations. Maybe not in the whole alien-invasion thing, but the smaller moments that take place in the story. I’m looking forward to reading the next couple of books and seeing how these characters and this story progresses and develops.

(As a side note, I saw the movie the day I finished the last couple of chapters of the book. It was really good, both as a movie in and of itself, and in terms of how it was adapted/how similar it is to the book.)

Review | Five Seven Five by C.E. Wilson

Title: Five Seven Five (The Boy with Words #1)
Author: C.E. Wilson
Release Date: November 18th, 2015
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Pages: 214 (Kindle)
Rating: 3/5

White Frost has only known the darkness.

Luckier than most, White’s cousin provides her with what seem to many as little more than scraps of paper, but they hold deep secrets. The papers he provides are cryptic collections that hint at a world beyond dusty hallways and candlelight. These words give White hope that she can be one of the great people in her colony. A Chosen One. A member of a group of the strongest people who are allowed to escape the darkness and venture out into the Unknown. At eighteen years old, White is too young to become a Chosen and decides to take her cousin’s advice and wait patiently. But when a tragedy upends her life, White realizes that if she wants to truly understand what the mysterious words on paper mean, she’ll have to go beyond every boundary set by her society – including ones set by her own cousin.
When White finally decides to seek the truth, what she finds is more astonishing than anything her cousin could have prepared her for. Blinding light. Colors beyond black and gray. A world where tears fall from the skies. And an incredible being who may or may not be the Creator of it all.

Everything she’s ever wanted is right in front of her, but this information comes at a price White is not sure she can pay. She has always suspected that her hunger for knowledge is simultaneously her greatest strength and weakness, and now she must ask herself if the answers she sought are worth endangering not only her life, but the lives of everyone she’s ever known.

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This was quite an interesting story. There were a few things that didn’t quite make sense, but for the most part, it was a good read.

I really liked how the main character, White, was curious and ambitious regarding the outside world that the Chosen Ones were constantly venturing out into. I loved seeing the world through White’s eyes – it was amazing to see everything described in such exciting and unique ways. Reading the passages where White was seeing and experiencing something brand new to her were definitely the best parts of the book. Wilson’s writing style made these scenes really beautiful.

I wasn’t a fan of Salt, or even Shade for that matter. Both of these male characters seemed to just be really condescending towards White. That, and the fact that neither of them seemed to have much personality, made me not really like them all that much.

I did really like Kaz, though. At times, he did seem a bit overly nice and a little bit too perfect when it came to dealing with White and her people. He did balance Salt out pretty nicely in that regard, I suppose.

I thought the haikus were really nice, but, for some strange reason, I was really bothered by the fact that the pieces of paper should have been massive for White. Like, they should have been nearly half as big as she was. But that’s neither here nor there.

Overall, though, this was an entertaining story and I’m interested to see what happens in the next and final book in the duology.

*I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

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Review | A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Release Date: May 5th, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genre: YA/NA, Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 419 (Paperback)
Rating: 4/5

Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

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I was a little nervous about reading this book because I’m not usually a fan of faeries, but I definitely had nothing to worry about. The writing in this book was, in typical SJM style, absolutely gorgeous.

For me, the highlights of this book were the strong, beautiful writing, and the expert world-building. I’m really intrigued by the intricacies of the faerie lands that we were shown just a small section of in this book. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’m looking forward to seeing that other court that Feyre will supposedly be spending a bit of time in during the next book…

One of the reasons I didn’t give this book five stars was that the characters felt cliche and familiar. A lot of the time, Feyre seemed a lot like Celaena from Throne of Glass; Lucien seemed very similar to Dorian, too. Don’t get me wrong, the characters were great and had plenty of personality, but they were just a little unoriginal. It also took me awhile to actually like Tamlin – he had the whole pained immortal thing going on, and it reminded me too much of Edward Cullen.

The second half of the book, where Feyre finds out a lot about the High Fae and all the politics and such, was rather interesting. Though I was a little disappointed to find out that it was a ‘chosen one’ situation with Feyre and Tamlin. Also, the trials were a little underwhelming – they were exciting, sure, I just expected more. And don’t even get me started on how easy that riddle was.

As I mentioned earlier, one of my favourite parts of this book was the world-building. SJM is great at building worlds. Everything we needed to know was revealed slowly and deliberately – there was very little info-dumping to be seen. Some of the descriptions of the Spring Court were simply gorgeous and extremely vivid, so that was a definite highlight of this story.

Basically, this was a great book, though it didn’t necessarily blow me away with it’s originality. I mean, I know that it was a retelling of sorts, but the cliche characters let it down a little. I know I’m giving a lot of criticisms, but overall, I really enjoyed this book. SJM has a writing style that I absolutely love, and she is definitely a wonderful storyteller. Since I didn’t have many expectations for this book, I wasn’t too disappointed as a whole. Criticisms and all, I still really enjoyed it and I’m super excited for the sequel!

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Review | Follow Me by Angela Clarke

Title: Follow Me
Author: Angela Clarke
Release Date: December 3rd, 2015
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Crime
Pages: 326 (Kindle)
Rating: 4/5

LIKE. SHARE. FOLLOW . . . DIE

The ‘Hashtag Murderer’ posts chilling cryptic clues online, pointing to their next target. Taunting the police. Enthralling the press. Capturing the public’s imagination.

But this is no virtual threat.

As the number of his followers rises, so does the body count.

Eight years ago two young girls did something unforgivable. Now ambitious police officer Nasreen and investigative journalist Freddie are thrown together again in a desperate struggle to catch this cunning, fame-crazed killer. But can they stay one step ahead of him? And can they escape their own past?

Time’s running out. Everyone is following the #Murderer. But what if he is following you?

ONLINE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM …

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This was a really compelling thriller with a strong modern presence. I was kept guessing right up to about two pages before the identity of the #murderer was revealed.

It took me a little while to get into the story. I felt fairly indifferent towards the main character, Freddie, so it was only when the action started to build that I got interested. The premise of a murderer who leaves clues on Twitter was really gripping. I was itching to see how that whole scenario began, and the way the account was found was not a let down.

Freddie, as a main character, was fine. I didn’t love her, I didn’t hate her. She was just fine. There wasn’t really anything about her that bothered me, but there wasn’t anything that I could connect or relate to either. But that’s just me. I think the way she reacted to events was incredibly realistic, particularly towards the end where the case ramped up a whole lot. It was refreshing to see a main character, who hadn’t been trained to deal with these situations, really struggle with everything that was going on around her.

The mystery of the Hashtag Murderer was great. It was fast-paced and the development of the police investigation was fairly believable. Well, except for the fact that every police officer on the case has zero clue regarding social media. I was quite surprised by who turned out to be the murderer, though I had taken notice of the character previously, just for a different reason. Looking back, the reasons that I had taken notice of the character were definitely hints that they were the killer. Basically, it was really well written.

I was a little underwhelmed when we found out about this big terrible thing that Nas and Freddie did when they were younger. I mean, sure, it was bad, but I was expecting something much worse. Something dramatic that maybe pushed Nas into become a police officer.

Overall, this was a really exciting thriller/crime novel. It’s a brilliant debut for the author, and someone I’ll definitely be checking out when more books are released. I’d definitely recommend this, even if, like me, you’re not a big thriller reader.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Review | My True Love Gave To Me edited by Stephanie Perkins

Title: My True Love Gave To Me
Authors: Multiple (edited by Stephanie Perkins)
Release Date: October 14th, 2014
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Holiday, Short Stories
Pages: 336 (Hardcover)
Rating: 3/5

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… This beautiful collection features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of the most talented and exciting YA authors writing today. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays.

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Overall, this book was decent. It did help me to get into the holiday spirit, at least. There were some stories that I loved, but there were also others that I just didn’t get into at all.

• Midnights by Rainbow Rowell – 5/5
• The Lady and the Fox by Kelly Link – 2.5/5
• Angels in the Snow by Matt de la Peña – 2/5
• Polaris Is Where You’ll Find Me by Jenny Han – 1.5/5
• It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins – 5/5
• Your Temporary Santa by David Levithan – 3/5
• Krampuslauf by Holly Black – 4/5
• What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? by Gayle Forman – 4.5/5
• Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus by Myra McEntire – 3.5/5
• Welcome to Christmas, CA by Kiersten White – 3.5/5
• Star of Bethlehem by Ally Carter – 3/5
• The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – 2/5

So, yeah… There were a few that I really liked, but there were also many that I found really boring and uninteresting. I will admit, though, it quite a few of the cases, the short story format let it down. Like, there was potential with the characters, but the story was just too short for me to get into.

This is a really nice holiday read, though, so I would recommend it if you haven’t picked it up yet. You may very well enjoy it more than me!

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Review | Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Title: Ready Player One
Author: Ernest Cline
Release Date: November 16th, 2011
Publisher: Random House
Genre: YA, Dystopia, Sci-Fi
Pages: 374 (Paperback)
Rating: 4.5/5

It’s the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We’re out of oil. We’ve wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS – and his massive fortune – will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation. For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle. Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions – and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.

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I ended up enjoying this book much more than I thought I would! I’m not a gamer, so I wasn’t sure if I would ‘get’ the story. While I may have gotten more out of the story if I was a little more into video games and 80’s pop culture, I certainly loved it regardless of my naivety.

I loved the complexity of the contest and how it was paced throughout the book. The info-dump of the contest at the beginning didn’t feel excessive because it was told in context – through Halliday explaining it to the world. I loved all the details we were given regarding OASIS but, again, it wasn’t excessive or pointless.

I thought that it would be another ‘Chosen One’ type of story when we found out that Wade was the first person to get the first clue in the five years since the contest began, but the reasoning for almost no one else finding it made total sense. However, I did think that after the location of the first key became known, some other ‘gunters’ would’ve been able to find the second one, instead of just the original group. I think that would’ve been a great way to introduce another character or two.

I quite liked Wade as a narrator. He wasn’t an amazing character, but he was decent. He was loyal, honest, respectful, and kind to those who deserved it. All the other main ‘gunters’ were great, too. I loved when we found out who the people behind these avatars were, particularly Aech.

I though Wade and Art3mis’s relationship was really nice. In particular, I liked that it was a side plot and didn’t take too much focus away from the main story. It suited Wade’s character to not have it take precedence over the contest.

Overall, this is a really intense and entertaining story. I was kept on the edge of my seat for a lot of the book – it was incredibly hard to put down. I’d definitely recommend it!

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Review | 24 Hours by Claire Seeber

Title: 24 Hours
Author: Claire Seeber
Release Date: October 9th, 2015
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pages: 304 (Kindle)
Rating: 3/5

Here today. Dead tomorrow?
My best friend, Emily, is dead – killed last night in a hotel fire.
But it was meant to be me.
Now I have 24 hours to find my daughter.
Before he finds out I’m still alive.

24 Hours is a fast-paced, intelligent psychological thriller that will leave you breathless.

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This was quite a captivating story that was really enjoyable in parts. However, I didn’t really feel any connection to the characters, so it can’t say I loved it. The story was well written, though, so I was still interested in what was happening.

The story is told in alternating chapters, switching between ‘now’ and ‘then’. The ‘now’ part of the story tells of what happened after the fire that killed the main character, Laurie’s, best friend. I really liked some of the characters that were introduced in the later parts of these chapters, and I was glad to see them pop up in the epilogue. These chapters were high-tension and very exciting to read. The ‘then’ chapters, however, were often slow and dull in comparison.

It took me awhile to get into the story, and it was really only the last third that truly engaged me. Throughout the story, the main character, Laurie, had a whole lot going on in her life, so she was a bit of a mess. I just couldn’t relate to any of it, so I couldn’t connect with her. It was only when events started to ramp up, and the different parts of the story started coming together, that I felt truly drawn in.

There are quite a few important topics discussed in this book. Laurie is going through a divorce, with her young daughter, Polly, stuck in the middle. There main issue in here is domestic violence, and there is quite a bit of great discussion of it throughout. I found this to be a really strong point for the book, and it made me strongly sympathetic towards Laurie and all she was going through.

I think this book would be really enjoyable for many. However, as I didn’t feel invested in the characters, I struggled to love it. It was definitely a strong psychological thriller that was filled with enough of red herrings to make it exciting, but not tiresome. Overall, a really solid story that many would enjoy.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Review | The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Title: The Rest of Us Just Live Here
Author: Patrick Ness
Release Date: August 27th, 2015
Publisher: Walker Books
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, Contemporary
Pages: 352 (Hardcover)
Rating: 4/5

What if you aren’t the Chosen One?

The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?

What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.

Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.

Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions.

Award-winning writer Patrick Ness’s bold and irreverent novel powerfully reminds us that there are many different types of remarkable.

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I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. There were a lot of pretty average reviews floating around. I thought it was actually a pretty good book. Not amazing, but definitely good.

I loved the relationships in this book, particularly those of the main group. They were all so comfortable around each other, which was really fun to read. However, they weren’t without their troubles: there were quite a few things that the narrator, Mikey, had to work through with many of them.

I really liked the character development of Mikey. He was struggling with a lot for most of the book, so it was really nice to see him make a conscious decision to make an effort to be happy.

“If you heal all that stuff, I’ll live the rest of my life not knowing if I could have figured it out on my own.”

I must admit, the story was a little lacking. There just wasn’t much going on. I do understand that that’s probably the point, that these guys are just trying to make it to graduation while all the ‘indie kids’ are off trying to stop the apocalypse. It’s a good thing that I like the characters and their relationships, because that’s pretty much all that was going on.

This was quite a nice story – it was fun to see the story from the POV of those not in the thick of all the chaos. This is the first Ness novel that I’ve read, and I really enjoyed his writing style, but the story and plot left a bit to be desired. This book is quite a quick read, so I’d definitely recommend it to people who read urban fantasy, as it is a fun way to see what happens to those on the sidelines.

“Not everyone has to be the Chosen One. Not everyone has to be the guy who saves the world. Most people just have to live their lives the best they can, doing things that are great for them, having great friends, trying to make their lives better, loving people properly. All the while knowing that the world makes no sense but trying to find a way to be happy anyway.”

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Review | Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Release Date: September 1st, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genre: YA, High Fantasy
Pages: 648 (Hardcover)
Rating: 5/5

This review contains spoilers for the first three books in the Throne of Glass series (particularly the first two).

The queen has returned.

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 has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. 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.

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Wow. I have no words. If you saw my ramblings the other day, you might have some idea of how I feel about this book. Some of you kept telling me how amazing this book is, how it’s the best in the series so far and, boy, you weren’t wrong!

“She was fire, and light, and ash, and embers. She was Aelin Fireheart, and she bowed for no one and nothing, save the crown that was hers by blood and survival and triumph.”

I love that Celaena is now officially Aelin – it was strange in the last book how she was still kind of Celaena, but also Aelin…? Anyway, she is incredible, and it was great to see her develop as a leader and accept her role in everything that is going on. I was a little sad to see what had become of her and Chaol’s relationship. I get that everything’s pretty tense and complicated and whatnot, but I still thought they could have been a bit more friendly toward one another.

If you read my review for Heir of Fire, you would have seen that I’m a little bit in love with Rowan (that might be understating it…). Well, he was just outstanding in this book. It was rather entertaining seeing him and Aedion go up against each other with their ridiculous Fae alpha-male thing, at least to begin with. I must admit, it did get a little bit tiresome after awhile. However, I was glad how they gave it a rest towards the end of the book. Actually, I really loved the whole development of their relationship – it felt very realistic to both of their characters and the situation.

I really loved Manon and the witches in this book. I’m so glad that Manon is starting to think for herself a whole lot more after the events of Heir of Fire. The meeting between Manon and Aelin was incredibly exciting to read, and I loved that whole outcome.

I think one of my new favourite characters is Lysandra: she was just amazing in this book! I was pretty skeptical when I heard she was in this book, because I really didn’t like her in The Assassin’s Blade. It was so great to learn about her relationship with Arobynn, Wesley and Sam. I’m also really happy that Aelin has a friend like this again after what happened to Nehemia.

The development of the series in this book was, again, fantastic. The trajectory of the story is very exciting, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the final two books! Too bad there’s such a long wait >.<

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