Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas



Another new author, but this time with a very different premise.
This books, as the cover says, is about an assassin and sounded pretty darn cool. From the blurb I expected it to be a Hunger Games-like scenario: a fight to the death between a number of trained criminals. I was very wrong. There were indeed some aspects that matched to HG, but there were a lot more where it differed.
I'll start off with the characters. The main character, Celaena, started off as expected: a very cool and collected personality, hardened over time through experiences and training. I liked her almost from the off for her sardonic attitude and defiance, and also for how she spent most of the first few chapters contemplating how she would kill most off the people around her (fortunately never seriously). She always seemed to know exactly what she was capable of without being overconfident. Her narrative didn't grate on me as Katniss' did in HG and - surprisingly for an cold-hearted killer - was very relatable. Once her hard shell started melting a bit she became quite a fun person and surprisingly girly at times. Some may consider her a bit too Mary Sue, but I liked her. The other characters as well were very well done. None of them felt flat to me and they were all completely individual: Chaol, stoic yet a very warm person underneath; Dorian, flirty and dashing but with a determination of his own; Nehemia, determined, opinionated but guarded and many others.
The plot, in my opinion, moved a little too slowly compared to the excitement promised in the blurb. It wasn't a boring pace per se, but when you go into the book expecting action and blood and gore it's a bit of a downer. There were plenty of moments of excitement and there was always an air of mystery about it, but these were interspersed with periods of calm that made it hard to pick up the pace again when the time came. There was a touch of romance in there but it wasn't exactly the focus of the story, it came across as slightly superficial but I think that was the aim; to show the difference between it and a much more real love story that I could sense brewing.
The end of the story left me wanting more and with plenty of unanswered questions. I can't find word of a sequel anywhere but it definitely feels like there is more to tell. Perhaps more is explained in the accomanying e-novellas.
Overall a good read but don't go into it expected wall-to-wall action. Can't fault the writing in any way.

The Immortal Rules - Julie Kagawa

This book and Insatiable are reinstating my faith in vampire books!
I'd already been introduced to Julie Kagawa through her Iron Fey series (which I will be reviewing two of very soon) and count her as one of my favourite YA authors. However, I had no idea what to expect with this book as I'd seen some mixed reviews by the time I finally found it in my local books shop (though I still squeeed when I managed to snatch up the only copy).
The first few chapters you start off with the main characters still human, though you know she's going to get turned very soon, and you have a little time to get to know her and the life she's led. It was a bit depressing knowing what was going to happen, but it helped me to understand her decision a bit more.
Then, of course, came the inevitable turning to vampirism. In all honesty, I completely understood her decision and I may have even made the same one in her position, much as I may hate myself for it afterwards. Then came the learning about vampires, getting the backstory and a few hints of what's to come but not too many. And then the struggles of being a bloodsucker alone, the love interest and the reactions of the humans to what she is (because they were always going to find out eventually) and much more. Definitely a lot happens in this book and Julie Kagawa's brilliant descriptions kept me right there in the middle of it. The introduction of the love interest was, perhaps, a bit obvious but it is in most books.
It's also much grittier than the Iron Fey series and there is a lot more blood and gore (then again, what can you expect from a vampire book) and, unlike in Iron Fey, there were plenty of deaths of well-loved or undeserving characters. Even when you think the group is safe something comes along and rips one of them apart. And it shows plenty that being a vampire isn't an easy road to take: Allison is constantly having to struggle against her monster nature not to bite someone, while at the same time she knows she'll become a crazed monster if she holds off.
Then there's the action, and plenty of it; keeping up the excitement and sense of danger and letting Allie be as kick-ass as she wants to be. You definitely see the animal side of her come out when she's fighting. There's also scene with a stake that shows that the author is by no means unwilling to torture the characters when needed.
And finally... NO INSTA-LOVE. You know they definitely like each other and it's clearly confusing for them both, but it's slowish in building and it definitely isn't a boy-gets-girl happy ending.

A very different read to the Iron Fey but that's definitely not a bad thing. Utterly enthralling and I eagerly await the next one.

Stolen Away - Alyxandra Harvey

This book played up to my love of all things faerie and fantasy. Not the cutsey thing of fairy tales and true love, but something a bit darker and more alluring.
<----Plus it looked pretty :D
It's a pretty standard premise: girl discovers family links to the Good Neighbours that end up coming home to bite them, plus some great friends and a splattering of supernatural romance. But luckily, some formulae are used often BECAUSE THEY WORK.
First off, there are our two main characters (that was a surprise - I was only expecting one): Eloise and Jo, best friends with lots of similarities but querks of their own - Eloise's quieter behaviour and Jo's fettishes for example. Eloise is the one with the faerie problem and Jo tries to help her out. These two made the story work for me and kept me entertained.
All the places and characters were wondefully described and it was really easy to imagine. I had a little trouble picturing Eloise at first as we didn't get a physical description of her until a little way in and she did not fit any of the stereotype images that my mind provided me with, but I got her after a few chapters. All of the characters seemed to have some sort of back story that was explained by the end and you could tell where most of their motivations stemmed from.
There were a few things that bugged me about the story though. First of was a major case of insta-love: not the couple-of-weeks-to-becoming-a-perfect-couple kind, the within-two-days-declaring-their-love kind. It was really only two days! The initial attraction between them was fine - from the description I'd jump him too - but how quickly it progressed to love was irritating. And there was the second case that wasn't as bad as the first but, again, travelled far to fast for me to believe it.
Overall, the entire time-frame of the book wasn't great: for three people who didn't believe in the supernatural they acclimatise to it all ridiculously quickly, even for book characters. It wasn't an absolute disaster and I still enjoyed the story but this niggled at me quite a bit.
In the end, I liked it a lot but there were just a few things that didn't sit right. As far as I can tell this is a stand-alone but I may venture to read a sequel if one appears.

Night School - C.J. Daugherty

I actually bought this book while I was busy reading another and I had planned to wait until the first was finished before I dug into this one. However, this one just kept looking so tempting just lying on my table that I abandoned the first book.
<---- I mean, just look at it!

Anyway, after completely ignoring my reading principles, I opened this book with high hopes - the description was as alluring as the front cover.

I'd expected to find some supernatural elements to this book, but it turned out there was as much magic in it as a lawnmower. But in the end that hardly mattered - there was enough going on without it. Far most grisley and gritty than expected, lots of plot twists - though they became more and more predictable - and lashings of humor.

Some characters were a little flat and I didn't like the fact that a couple of them kept switching from loveable to someone-I'd-be-willing-to-punch-in-the-face (okay, when it's someone who's fighting feelings I can cope with it, but when that someone is meant to be the 'best friend' ?), but the developed characters were well done and there are plenty that you know have a back story but you just don't know what it is yet. I liked our protagonist, Allie, who was nice and spunky, by no means a push-over and really relatable. And you could see her change and grow throughout the book, opening up more and becoming much more steady on her feet.

There were points where the story dragged a little and it was pretty obvious from the start who Allison was going to end up with, plus the inevitable love triangle situation that will no doubt play a part in the sequel. There were also far too many unanswered questions for my tastes. One or two things still unexplained are fine, but most of the things that were mysteries at the beginning still are by the time you close the book.
A good book to occupy yourself with but not one to read if you don't want to commit to a series. It's definitely only the start.

Insatiable - Meg Cabot

Well, another thing I tend to avoid: a vampire novel. But this one is more Adult than YA and by a well-established author (though, I'm ashamed to say, not one I'd actually read before) so I decided to give it a go.

The blurb was definitely a draw - someone who's sick of how often vampires pop up in modern culture, fits me perfectly - and it gave away very little of the story. No choice but to dive straight in!

Well, Meg Cabot definitely lived up to her reputation and I was hooked from the start. The main character, Meena, was wondefully ordinary with a few quirks and some supernatural excess baggage, but that excess baggage never seemed to take over the storyline - it was just there adding extra drama which didn't hurt at all. The supporting cast, also, were well developed and all had their own agendas, making for some amusing situations (Alaric and Jon in particular, one is clearly exasperated while the other won't give up pestering). There were one or two dotted around who I found a little two-dimensional, but it didn't bother me much and it's really only looking back that I noticed it.

The plot meanwhile, while predictable at points, certainly kept me entertained and there were some very unexpected twists towards the end. And the ending itself, while definitely setting up for the sequel, didn't just trail off like I'd been afraid it would. A couple of cases of insta-love (or at least insta-crush) thrown in there but none of them disaterous.

All in all making me much less leery about modern vampire books and I'll be keeping an eye out for the next.