Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

5/5 stars

So I have finally finished Queen of Shadows; a book that I had highly anticipated every since I finished Heir of Fire. Maas is one of my most favorite authors yet and a definite auto-buy for whatever she gets published. I apologize for a wait between reviews. I needed some time to recuperate before writing about it. The emotions I felt reading this, especially in the end portion, sapped me of all emotional strength.

I'd like to start off by saying I really did love this book! Maas did a great job yet again, and I'm already dying for book five. Why do we have to wait? I had gotten my hands on it before I finished reading another book and was itching to finish it just so I could finally get to QoS. I was not disappointed as I finished its last page. Hey Sarah, can you publish book five early, just for me?

The end of QoS was phenomenal, and I was crying and yelling, and I couldn't take it. I stayed up late just to finish it. Maas destroys my emotions and I'm surprised I made it through in one piece. I love the radically different characters Maas creates, let alone how strong her female characters are! She gives a whole new meaning to badass! No matter if a woman is warrior or courtesan, she is intelligent and strong. It's wonderful. Along with the male protagonists that make you swoon and jump for joy. Everyone has a place! 

I like to describe Maas as a watered down version of George RR Martin. She can be heartless in who she destroys, but I don't think she's as evil as GRRM is. She wouldn't destroy certain characters. Right, Maas? [If Maas ever sees this: please don't make me eat my words.] 

The world within the Throne of Glass books is amazing and the detail describing it gives you the ability to imagine it perfectly well in your mind and feel as though you're there with the characters. If the royal hammer wasn't so horrible in Adarlan, I'd want to live there! 

On to a certain character. Manon. I wasn't a big fan on her or her excerpts in Heir of Fire. I was a little uninterested and just wanted to get past it. Her parts were so different from Celaena's that I couldn't grasp them well enough. But after finishing QoS, I really do love Manon and cannot wait to see what's in store for her in the future! She isn't as heartless and evil as she may want everyone to think. Please give me more Manon, along with her kitten of a wyvern, Abraxos. 

Despite giving this book five stars and raving about it, I will admit to its flaws. I love you, Sarah, but we have to cover all the bases here! If you haven't read it yet, I will hide all spoilers and if you want to read them, you can highlight the hidden text. First off, I won't count as spoilers! I love Chaol. He's been one of my favorite characters from the beginning; stern and serious male characters are my kryptonite. Though, throughout QoS, Chaol just seemed a little too broody and depressed for my taste, even after the events at the end of Heir of Fire. I felt as though his character undeveloped. I will admit though, he got better towards the end of QoS. Second off, Celaena, or how we now know her to be, Aelin, just seemed more bloodthirsty than her usual self. Too kill-happy. I know she's Aelin, but finding out what you truly are doesn't change who you are. 

This next bit is spoiler-y, so I'll hide it. As I said, highlight the text to see it! I love Rowan's character, really loved him in Heir of Fire! I personally never saw anything romantic between him and Aelin, though I do know that a portion of the Throne of Glass series fans did, and really loved them to be a couple. "Shipping" them. I'm more of a Chaolaena fan. I have been. The romantic relationship between Aelin and Rowan, I have no problem with it. If it makes Aelin happy, so be it [but girl, please, I love me some Chaol]! It just seemed that the romance experienced between Rowan and Aelin in this installment was rushed and sloppy. First, nothing in Heir of Fire, then BAM! Rowan is so in love with Aelin and has to hold himself back. I'd have less of a problem with their romantic relationship if it was eased into a bit more. End of spoiler-y bits. 

But in the end, I really do appreciate this book and will continue on through the end of Maas's plan of six books! As long as I can survive the wait between books. I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes action, romance, and epic fantasy. You will love it, so go buy it right now!

Before You Break by Christina Lee

1/5 stars

Main character Ella lost her brother in high school and that has inspired her to pursue a career in psychology, and in college she works on a suicide prevention hotline. Daniel Quinn is depressed and emotional over what happened to his best friend, and calls the hotline. Neither Ella nor Quinn know it's someone they know on the other line, but they're falling hard for each other outside of the hotline.

I just really didn't like this book very much. The story could be interesting and it could have gone very well, but Lee didn't put much into it. I felt like the story went way to quickly and nothing really developed. Basically, it was insta-love. Quinn is immediately has the hots for Ella and it's same for her. There was no building in the relationship. And it was as if Joel, Ella's boyfriend, was just there for kicks; he could have been taken completely out of the story and it would have been exactly the same. 

The language used was also ridiculous. Ella's girlfriends would call her "bitch" as a nickname. No one does that! Along with terms used such as "bud[s]" and "very stiff". 

I also felt as though Quinn's emotions were just too extreme. Everything he did and felt were extreme, from happiness to sadness to depression or anger. He was too much the "good guy". But what I really disagreed with was the whole "bring out my inner caveman" and a sense of ownership over Ella. That isn't very good guy in my book. 

This book held some potential and could have been a great story, but in my opinion, Lee didn't put enough into it and ruined this story of Ella and Quinn. I couldn't follow the plot because it was all over the place and each rising action rose quickly and dropped like a roller coaster going down. The story was immediately entered and there was little to no exposition. 

I don't recommend this book to anyone unless you like cheesy stories. They by all means, go read it! 

Just wasn't my type of book!

The Dark Elements trilogy by Jennifer L. Armentrout

5/5 stars

I would like to begin by saying that I finished this trilogy with high-pitched squeals. Happy ones, I might add. I'll always have a soft spot for JLA; she's one of my most favorite authors and I have loved every single book I've read by her so far. She hasn't disappointed me yet [let's hope she keeps it that way]. But this trilogy has probably been one of my favorites by her yet! 

This trilogy really got my emotions going. That takes a lot for me nowadays in books. Aside from just everything going on in the book, I was a little hesitant to read the series just because it was gargoyles. Gargoyles! I didn't know how it would pan out; you almost never see gargoyles being the main part of what books are about. But now that I've gotten through it, I think it was an amazing choice for JLA to stray from the cliches of vampires, werewolves, faeries, and so on and write about something fairly new. Doing things like that, writing about something out of the ordinary, is basically putting your head on the chopping block for authors. 

JLA always ties her stories together in a little perfect bow in the ends. Things make sense, you aren't sitting there wondering "Why" or "How". She hands you a story that is satisfying in the end, even though she has you cursing her name throughout the entire story. 

Now, I won't spoil anything for you, but I am so glad how the romantic-aspect side of things ended up for Layla. I was so stressed out when I finished Stone Cold Touch and began Every Last Breath. Seriously. I really like romance [good romance, mind you] so I stress over the unknowns in relationships in my books, but JLA really got me and I felt like I aged five years just over what I wanted to happen. ///The next bit may end as a spoiler, so highlight the text if you want to see what it says.\\\ I wanted Layla to end up with Roth from the very beginning. Zayne was a great character, but I feel like Roth was better for Layla by a ton. Roth encouraged her and acknowledged her strengths, whereas Zayne didn't want her to go out and hurt herself and was overprotective. I feel as though Zayne never recognized Layla's abilities until the very end, but Roth knew she was strong and let her fight alongside him. I'm just not one for overprotective male-type. Protectiveness is fine, but definitely to a point, at least for a romantic-prospect. 

I believe a lot of people who have read this trilogy forgot that it isn't strictly YA+a little romance+action, it's fiction/fantasy/romance, meaning that the romance will be focused on a lot more than a general YA. There were a few people that I noticed on Goodreads that complained about the romance getting too much focus on it, especially through the last book. News flash: there's a reason for that. Remember that JLA wrote this to be a romance along with being fantasy/action.

JLA is such a talented author and I have no idea how she hasn't surpassed authors such as Stephanie Meyer and EL James in popularity and recognition. JLA creates well-rounded, strong characters, pleasing stories, and leaves you begging for more.

Read her books now!

I've finished JL Armentrout's White Hot Kiss and have moved on to book two in her The Dark Elements trilogy, Stone Cold Touch. Can I just say... Jen, can you stop hurting me so much? I can't deal with the emotions of the characters. Umm, Roth, get your act together please. Layla, kick some butt. Zayne, calm yo' booty with over-protectiveness. I am freaking out over what's happening in this series!

Vanished in the Night by Eileen Carr

3/5 stars

So I finished this book a little while ago, but got caught up in life that I've just had now to write out a review! Sorry!

Vanished in the Night is written about a cold case popping back up. A decomposed body turns up in a construction site, which turns out to the body of Veronica's brother who had gone missing years before. Although there is much more to what happened than just what happened in the past; there's murders happening around town that the police can't piece together. 

I did like this book, though I had to focus on how things were written and described. I got it off of BookOutlet under their romance section, and don't get me wrong, there is romance in it, but I wouldn't put it under romance books. Vanished in the Night focused more on the mystery/crime case aspect of the story than the romance between the two main characters, Veronica Osborne, a nurse, and police Sergeant Zach McKnight. There's little romance to it; I'd say 85% mystery, 15% romance.

The characters were well put together and didn't seem cliche to me. Zach, Veronica, and supporting characters all seemed real. Along with the fact that, even with a growing attraction, Zach and Veronica kept their heads in the game instead of unrealistically "caving to their fiery passions" in the middle of important happenings. 

By the end of the book I was satisfied. I enjoyed the ending, and just by how it ended. It made sense to me! The only reason I gave three out of five stars was that this really wasn't my type of book. Not sure how else to explain it, but I'm sure my fellow bookworms know what I mean! I do recommend reading it though if you like crime case books!

So I'm pretty sure those of you who like to check out this blog have noticed my... absence. I'd like to say sorry for that.

I just got home on Sunday from a 10-day stay at my boss's house, watching his dogs and home while he was in France with his family. Why would that keep me from reading and blogging, you may ask. Well, my boss's house is also on the land where I work. My job? I work with horses and give lessons, and at work, I generally work all day. Each day I usually didn't get off until 7:30 and by then, I was exhausted and did not have the energy to read, so the last book I read, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, took me a while to get through. I loved it though, I promise! I didn't think it required a review, though, because who doesn't love Harry Potter? 

Along with getting up at 6am for class and Saturday work day, I was exhausted every day. But I'm back to my normal schedule and have more time for reading! I finished Jessica Sorensen's book in about 2-3 days. 

So forgive me! I've just started Don't Look Back by Jennifer L Armentrout, so hopefully you all will get a new review soon! 

The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden by Jessica Sorensen

4/5 stars

I don't know why, but I'm actually surprised that I enjoyed this book. Though I know one reason is because of the abuse cases in this book aren't romanticized—just the connection that Callie and Kayden share are the hard experiences they're dealt with in their lives. As a trigger warning: there is physical abuse from a parent and rape/child rape mentioned in this book. 

About the only thing I didn't like about this book was the "I never noticed you before, but now I do" cliche; but to be fair, I generally don't like that in stories. Although, it is not overdone, which is wonderful!

I really love Kayden, he isn't made out to be absolutely perfect like so many men in books. He has problems, and again, those problems aren't romanticized. As with Callie's past. They're there for each other. They don't run away from their mental challenges anymore, they've accepted them, which is a common case for long-time sufferers of such things. Depression, anxiety, triggering. Sorensen does pretty well at hitting these parts of a bad past/present. And she doesn't make it seem like said actions make a person bad. 

There is a killer for me; grammatical errors. I'm a fast reader, so I generally don't notice too many minor grammatical errors, but there was one that the editor must have missed. The use of 'your' instead of the proper "you're". I was ready to pull my hair out, the grammar nazi that I am. Sorensen may need to find a new editor. 

All-in-all, this was a pretty good book. Not one of the best ever, but worth the read. The ending tortured me and I really can't wait to get my hands on the next one!