Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas

Book Blurb (from Goodreads) 
In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. 

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass--and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world. 






My review: 
Best high fantasy book out there? Most likely. Why do I always put of reading the best books?! That is a serious habit that I need to break really soon, like yesterday soon. 
The plot in this book was so existing that I was shaking from adrenaline about 200 pages in. I would close the book and 'try' to sleep but I was still so hyped up from the book that I felt like it was nearly impossible. It took its time to develop and never got boring. We went from one problem to the next with ease, even when things sped up and you could still see two clear paths and that allows you to pray with all you have that I does not go down the second. On a scale from 1-10 for creativity I give it an 11.
The characters were awesome. We had a nice cosy little group of 3 main characters and many sub characters. Celaena was an awesome kick-ass character with an interesting mind in terms of how she regarded people and different situations. She was fairly relatable in the terms of her hobbies (reading) but not much else. She went through different situations and came out almost laughing and I respect her for that. I wasn't sure what to think about Chaol. His intentions were sometimes unclear but by the end you could clearly see that he actually did have feelings for Celaena but never fully acted on them which made things interesting and sent mixed signals to her which is why she probably hated him for the first quarter of the book. Dorians intentions however were clear. He was not my favourite character but he did treat Celaena well (at the end). I liked how we continuously got a peak at his life a court which was always interesting and allowed us to get a better perspective on what was really going on inside the castle. I wish that Chaol and Dorian's friendship was better shown and we had a scene were that just talked together without it being about Celaena. It probable would have done them both good. Nehemia was defiantly 100% my favourite character. She was a mystery up to the very end and a great friend to Celaena. I honestly hope that we get to see so much more of her and learn more about her origin. 
I you want a seriously action packed book to read but have not read this one yet, get on it.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, it was amazing!

Taube unter Falken by Katherine Allfrey

Book Blurb (from a website):
Evadne, ein junges Mädchen aus dem antiken Griechenland, wird von Sklavenhändlern entführt und weit von ihrer geliebten Heimat fortgeschleppt. An der Küste eines unbekannten Landes werden sie angegriffen und nur Evadne wird verschont, denn die Angreifer sind die legendären Amazonen und Evadne scheint der verschollenen Schwester ihrer mächtigen Königin aufs Haar zu gleichen. Sie sind freundlich, machen Evadne zu einer der ihren, doch sie kann weder ihre Heimat, noch ihr eigenes, sanftes Wesen vergessen. Sie will zurückkehren.







My Review
I found this book interesting. The reason I picked up this book, was because I was in need of a book with animal characters in it, so when I scanned the book name list and saw the words "dove" and "hawk" in the title, I was already getting excited that I found just the right book. But actually, this book is less about animals and more about the Ancient Greeks belief in Amazons. Amazons are women in Ancient Greece who did everything a man was supposed to do in that time. Their motto being "We don't need men!" or something like that. Basically this book was about a girl who got kidnapped and then has to adjust to a new lifestyle. I found the plot very interesting and my favourite character was a girl called Thoösa. She was funny and always supported Evadne/Myrine. You can see a lot of character development in this book.
Even though, I still thought that the conversations between the characters were slightly silly, it keeps on repeating a bit.
Overall, I will give this book 4 out of 5 stars!

I am reading Thrown of Glass and the book shimmy awards

I have just picked up Throne of Glass yesterday and thought that I should just say how utterly brilliant it is. With every page my heart beats faster. I feel how with anticipation! I will defiantly finish it very soon and get up a review as soon as possible.

Epic Reads hosts a show called The Book Shimmy Awards every year. The nomination round has just started yesterday, if you have not nominated your favourite books yet I would get on it! Use this to get to their site. 

Heather Anastasiu Author of Glitch Invterview!

Heather Anastasiu 

Hi there!,
I emailed Heather Anastasiu the author of glitch recently with some questions, this is her answers: 

1. If you glitched, what type of ability would you wish to obtain?

Super Endurance! That way I could just write constantly, be a super mom and wife, and have all kinds of extra energy left over!


2. Is the idea of your books (the controlling the human race with chips) One of the ways you imagine the future?

I get weirded out about all the ways that technology could be used in the future. Don't get me wrong, I think so much of it will be for good! Think about what computers and the internet have done for us over the past thirty years! But I also think about how much smaller and smaller technology gets every year and how ambitious human kind is. I think about how people start off with good intentions - it's for medicine! And then corporations could get involved and want to skew it for control and power over the population. Or the military usage of things. *shrugs* Then those thoughts worry me.


3. What are your hopes for the trilogy now that it's done (movie, novellas...)? 

Haha, I'm not so ambitious. I'm just extremely happy it's being translated into other languages and still has more audiences to find!


4. When you found out that you were going to be a published author what was your first thought?

It's funny, what I most felt was RELIEF. Like, oh thank God, this is actually going to HAPPEN! I was so anxious, so worried that I'd never get published. And then a big New York publisher was going to publish my books and I just felt this immense amount of relief, like, *yes* I'd done it, I'd made it, the impossible dream was coming true. And lol, I could finally tell everyone that I'd been writing a book! Because no one knew! I'd been too embarrassed to tell anyone other than my husband! So when I told them all, they were like, what? You write? Like, books? Hahaha.


5. Do you have any more plans for future books? If so what are your ideas? 

Always more ideas, always more books! Finished two novels this year in fact! One's a kind of young adult thriller and the other is for adults actually, a historical/women's fiction WWII saga. Hopefully I'll have more news about one of those in the upcoming year!

Make sure to check out Glitch! 

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Book Blurb (from goodreads)

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:
Debate Club.
Her father’s “bunny rabbit.”
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.
Frankie Laundau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer.
Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society.

Not when her ex boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she’s smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew’s lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.
Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.
This is the story of how she got that way. 

My Review: 
I have never read a book almost purely about high school life, and as soon as I saw that it was by E. Lockhart the author of we were liars  which I adored and therefor threw against the wall (those of you who have read it will know why), I had to buy it. I had high expectations for this, they were probably a little too high because I feel a little short but I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. 
The plot in this book was well thought out and explained. We got a lot of Frankie's history and family life which would be harder to do if you are placing almost all the scenes in a boarding school. However it did take a little bit too long to get to the main plot which only really came around in the last 200-150 pages. This was a 360 (somewhere around that number) page book, that's a long time for a plot to really come into, for me, however it was worth the wait. The pranks in this book where funny, and I loved how each one had their own meaning. And may I just say that if Frankie doesn't end up being a spy when she grows up she will defiantly be a criminal. 
The characters in this book where, well just there. We got a lot of history on Frankie which was great and I loved her character because I could really relate to it, but that was it. I know that the whole book was about Frankie's development from cutsie girl to 'criminal mastermind' but I doesn't mean that you have to cut out the other characters back story. For example I really, really wanted to know more about Trish but the information never came. I felt like she could have been a really important character to Frankie and I wish that they had more girl time together so there could be some kind of best friend thing going on because that was one thing that this book was lacking. 
Mathew and Frankie's relationship, whilst cute felt a little inappropriate. It is a senior, so an 18 year old boy (something like that) dating a 15 year old girl. I know that it is not that rare-a-thing in the world world but still made me feel uncomfortable in their moments where I think they were suppose to be the cute couple. It just did not feel right to me. 
Okay, now for a quick rant about something that has been annoying me and I have been holding my frustration in. GRAMMAR, grammar lessons in a book? NO! You do not do that, that is not allowed. I get that it was part of Mathew's character and all, but we got a 5 page grammar lesson in this book, A 5 PAGE GRAMMAR LESSON! You can not put in a 5 page grammar lesson in a book. I does not work like that. The reader (or at least me) does not care about those kind of things in a book whilst reading. I just skip over it. It was thoroughly annoying that, that was in there. Okay i'm good. On to the stars...

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars (I actually really did enjoy this book despite its faults!): 

The Magician's Guild (The Black Magician Trilogy #1) by Trudi Canavan

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):
"We should expect this young woman to be more powerful than our average novice, possibly even more powerful than the average magician."

This year, like every other, the magicians of Imardin gather to purge the city of undesirables. Cloaked in the protection of their sorcery, they move with no fear of the vagrants and miscreants who despise them and their work-—until one enraged girl, barely more than a child, hurls a stone at the hated invaders...and effortlessly penetrates their magical shield.

What the Magicians' Guild has long dreaded has finally come to pass. There is someone outside their ranks who possesses a raw power beyond imagining, an untrained mage who must be found and schooled before she destroys herself and her city with a force she cannot yet control.

My Review
OK, I admit that I didn't really want to read this book in the beginning, even though my friend kept on recommending it to me, but it just didn't look interesting to me so I waved it off. But then I finally relented and I found that it was a pretty good book.It is pretty much about a girl, who found out that she has magical powers and the Magician's Guild has to find her before her powers destroy her and the city. I didn't really enjoy the part in the slums, when the girl (Sonea) hid from the Magicians. It was slightly boring, while the Magician perspective was more interesting. I also thought that the finding part of the book, where the Magicians had to capture Sonea, was to dragged out. They searched for her until more than half way through  the book. That was way too long. Otherwise, I liked the book, the characters were interesting. I liked Dannyl and Rothen, they had a sense of humour and were friendly.
Overall, I found the book satisfying and good and I can give it 4 out of 5 stars!

Sabriel (Old Kingdom #1) by Garth Nix

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):
Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him. She soon finds companions in Mogget, a cat whose aloof manner barely conceals its malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories. As the three travel deep into the Old Kingdom, threats mount on all sides. And every step brings them closer to a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death—and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own destiny.

With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen trilogy, Garth Nix exploded onto the fantasy scene as a rising star, in a novel that takes readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear—and sometimes disappears altogether.

My Review
The reason why I picked this book off the shelf was that the cover looked interesting, magical and I'm totally into stuff like that. When I read the back, I knew it was my kind of book.
It all starts with the prologue, where they gradually introduce the main characters: Abhorsen, Sabriel and Kerrigor, the antagonist. Then the actual story began. I didn't really enjoy the first 2 chapters or so that much, mostly because it was slightly boring and nothing was happening. Then realization dawned on me: this is taking place in a kind of modern age. The book had stuff like trucks, planes, tractors and whatnot. Now, the thing is that I expected this book to be set in ancient times, since the map on the front said "Old Kingdom". But the more I read this book, the more I enjoyed it and just couldn't put it down. I think that Mogget was my absolute favourite character. His aloof personality was so cool and his comments were funny. Touchstone annoyed me at the beginning, but I quickly warmed up to him. My only complaints were that it took me some time to memorize where everything was on the map and the names of the bells, so I always had to flip back to check what each bell does.
Overall, I really loved this book, it had an original idea with Death and Life. This book would be good for magic, adventure and fantasy lovers.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars!

Shadow and Bone (the Grisha #1) Leigh Bardugo

                                                          Book blurb (from goodreads)
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

My Review: 
Shadow and Bone.... a book which I have never been able to get my hands on..... until now *evil laugh*. Okay no, I will not do the evil laugh but this is a expecionaly good book. 
You could get straight into the book right away. The way how the book started with the before chapter where you got to see Alina and Mal at the orphanage was a great way to introduce the characters and to get a bases of the story line and history of the book. Straight after that chapter and the 'real' story began it spread up at full spread. From going into the Fold and people dying in the first 50 pages? Lets just say that it was pretty epic. I loved to see how Alina's character developed just by the people she was surrounded with and where she lived and when she finally got the sense where she belonged. However I do agree with her on one thing, what good is she for apart from midnight picnics. After she has completed her 'destiny' she would be practically useless (in my opinion). 
I have allready talked about Alina's charater development so I will talk about other things. I liked how Alina was so stuborn and always managed to keep it together, even when she was falling appart inside. Sometimes though I wanted her to stop feeling so sorry for herself and get on with her life.
Mal was a interesting character which I would love to see more of. I went from loving him to hating him and back to loving his character all over again. I would like to have even more information about him and I don't often say this (well, actually I have never said this) I would like to see  the book in his point of view as well, because I really want to know what is happening in that head of his. His character can be a little confusing to understand. 
I saved the best for last. The Darkling. Can I take a moment to express my hate towards him? I know that most people like him even though he is a complete ******* but I am not one of those people and would be more than happy to get rid of him myself. I had a bad feeling about him from the start. When I started to think that he might be the love interest Leigh Bardugo showed me something that made me want to forget that I had even thought that. Okay enough said otherwise I am going to spoil the book. 
The world building in this book was well done, and that sometimes proves difficult for a lot of authors. Espectialy when you create your own Kingdoms, myths and languages. I applaud Leigh Bardugo for doing such a good job.
I give this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars. 

Silvertongue (Stoneheart #3) by Charlie Fletcher

Book Blurb (from Goodreads):
George and Edie are travelling through unLondon, a world of danger on the city streets, and they are quite alone.

Time is standing still, and the rest of London is unaware of their plight, unaware of the hidden world of living statues, of Shackleton and the Queen of Time.

In the concluding part of the breathtaking and critically acclaimed Stoneheart trilogy, Edie and George look deeper into Edie's past, and her future.






My Review
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this series. Sadly, I didn't get to enjoy this book as much, mostly because I was annoyed at one of the characters, but more about that later on. I think that this book has had some sense of humour, not a lot, but there was some. As I mentioned in the earlier reviews, I think that the idea was original and I found it amazing that Charlie Fletcher managed to give statues from our everyday lives a likable personality. In this book you also realize how much you like a character until they are fatally injured and you have no idea if they are going to survive or not. Charlie Fletcher also introduced a lot of new characters, with which you don't really bond with because you don't know their personality yet. My current favourite character list for this book now expanded to three characters: Spout, the gargoyle, the Gunner and Richard the Lionheart. The last one is new, but he is such a cool character.
There were some sad moments in this book, but not to sad although, when a character dies, any character at all, I always reread that section a million times, like, "Did that really happen?"
During the whole book,  there were (not so) shocking betrayals and shifting alliances. My only complaint was that I was so very, very annoyed at Edie. She got all of the Gunner's and Queen's attention and I felt that George was being neglected. She always gets hurt and then the others get concerned about her. All of them say that Edie is special and seemed to ignore George. Also at the end of the book, the author made it seem as if everything is alright, but there were still a lot of questions unanswered.
That's why I can only give this book 4 out of 5 stars!

The Perfectionists (The perfectionists #1) by Sara Shepard

                                                  Book blurb (from goodreads)

In Beacon Heights High, Nolan Hotchkiss is king. His charm, wealth and good looks are deceptively seductive, and many are the students whose lives and reputations have been ruined by it. All while Nolan continues to reign, unquestioned and undisrupted. Until now, that is.

Mackenzie, Ava, Julie, Caitlin and Parker seemingly don't have much in common. Each has their own friends, dramas and goals. But one thing they do share: they all have a deep hatred of Nolan Hotchkiss. And they all think it's about time he paid for what he's done. They come up with the perfect murder - a hypothetical murder, of course. It's all wishful thinking ... until they wake up one morning to find that their wish has come true. Nolan has been killed - in exactly the way they planned. The thing is, they didn't do it. So who did?

My Review: 

Hmmm, where do I start? The Perfectionists has been compared a lot to the Pretty Little Liars series also by Sara Shepard but since I have not read that series yet this review will be comparison free (yay!)

This book has a very interesting plot. I haven't read many murder books but this one has got me wanting more. At first it seemed like they actually did kill Nolan Hotchkiss but then you find out what had actually happened. The plot never got boring, the last 60-70 pages where super suspenseful and I actually thought that they where going to go to jail. The writing in this book flowed nicely and was extremely easy to get through. This book was defiantly a page turner from start to finish. 

Each character in this book had a back story of their own. Each back story was unique and you could really see how it affected the person that they became. I loved Parkers character the most. She came off as a really strong person who can get herself out of any situation. She had a hard family life and is 'damaged' physically and mentally, yet she makes it through every day. Not as in she is living life to the fullest but she still makes it. 

On the negative side of things I did find it a little hard to tell who was talking and had to always look for a name on the page. I think that it would have helped if every chapter had the name of the person who was speaking at the top. Just something for the people to consider when they make the much needed next book.

Finally I would like to say that it is not okay to end a book like that when the next book comes out June of next year!

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars: