Throne of Glass series- Sara J Maas ♥♥♥♥♥

Throne of Glass- Sara J Maas
Throne of Glass, 432 pages- ♥♥♥♥♥
Crown of Midnight, 432  pages- ♥♥♥♥♥
Heir of Fire, 576 pages- ♥♥♥♥♥

I love the structure of this series. The way the character relationships grow, change, and unfold, the way the world is built, and the voice that is shown. This is a quieter series than ACOTAR was. While ACOTAR was loud, in your face, and aggressive... TOG is subtle, fluid, and slow burn. It's a carefully cultivated dance of emotions that swirl around you until you are swept up in it. The first book was good. I liked it. I connected to it. The second book was better and I felt so much more connected to the people. But the third book... that third one so far is the best. It hits harder, it feels harder, and it's my favorite to date. I'm reading the fourth book right now. I'm sure I will forget to comment on it until after I've read several more books, but I have high hopes. 

I still have a lot of questions, there are still some things I am hesitant about when it comes to character relationships and trust, but, to me, that makes it better. It makes it feel real. I'm invested in these people. When I find a book that's good, like really good, the characters become real to me. Like friends I can surround myself with. Maas has achieved that here. 

Hitting this slower pace was like a balm to the chaos and aggression of ACOTAR (which I loved, but man I felt it so hard I didn't think I would be able to pick anything else up for a while). This one is still just as emotional and rollercoaster like, it just whispers to you instead of screaming. There are seven books total, and I'm ready to devour them. 

Overall Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

ACOTAR series- Sara J Maas- ♥♥♥♥♥

 Sara J Maas- ACOTAR series
A Court of Thorns and Roses, 419 pages- ♥♥♥♥♥
A Court of Mist and Fury, 624 pages- ♥♥♥♥♥
A Court of Wings and Ruin, 699 pages- ♥♥♥♥♥
A Court of Frost and Starlight, 272 pages- ♥♥♥♥♥
A Court of Silver Flame, 757 pages- ♥♥♥♥♥

Ok, I've gotten bad about writing a review for each book. I kinda can't help myself when I feel the need to read them all so fast. This series is SOUL. SHATTERING. in the best way possible. I loved it The whole thing. There is one character that I want to marry. I'm basically in love. It's fine. 

Every book is just as good as the one before it, but like ACOMAF is probably my favorite. I was hooked pretty fast, and then Maas just kept me there. I cannot recommend these books enough. Like, I hear music now and it reminds me of the characters. I have spam texted my sister (who was the one that dropped these on my coffee table and demanded I read them) about each book. She was getting emotional update after emotional update. Like... I HATE THIS BOOK, and then OMG IT'S JUST SO GOOD. It's a rollercoaster, strap yourself in. Just be forewarned... there is some graphic violence and very smutty sex scenes lol so, if you can handle that.. read these books immediately. 

Maas likes to torment you. Over and over again. I hate her. But I love her so much. There are supposed to be two more books. I need them in my life right now... 

Rating- ♥♥♥♥♥

Elly Blake- Nightblood ♥♥♥♥♥

Elly Blake- Nightblood
437 pages

Be still my heart; I am in love! I came into this book with a lot of anticipation, and I wasn't disappointed! The level of emotions I had to fight through while reading this final installment in the Frostblood Sage was staggering. I bought this series on impulse. It caught my eye as I wandered through the bookstore, and I'm really happy that it did. Like the second book, this one definitely earned five stars. 

Ruby is such a compelling character. She's flawed, and she knows it, but she doesn't hide from it. She has grown so much and watching it happen made me happy. Like deep down inside warm and fuzzy. The way she handles challenges is inspiring, even if you aren't a fireblood. 

Arcus has grown on me so much. I think that was the point. I don't think you were supposed to love him right away. That would take the fun out of it all. Of all the books I've read and all the stories I've seen unfold, I'm just a little bit obsessed with how his character evolves throughout the series. Seeing all of that growth culminate here made me happy. 

Kia. I still don't know how to talk about Kia. He is one of those characters you just have to love. You can't help. I felt so connected to him this time around, and I was glad for it. His entire arch and his journey through this series carries so much purpose, and I just love him. 

When I was close to 100 pages from the end, I was getting very nervous I would hate the end of this book. I didn't want to hate a series I had come to love so much, but I had this sense of dread as I took in everything that was happening. I didn't hate it, though. I am a little torn about it, but I didn't hate it. I feel like everything was constructed so well that it wasn't really a slap in the face (which is what I was beginning to fear). I can accept it, though. I can understand all of it in a way that I didn't think I would. 

The lore was just as impressive here as it has been in the previous books. You really get to understand it all, which is something I thought would take forever. This book brings it all together and doesn't leave you wondering about much, just a little. 

Overall, I love this book and this series. I highly recommend it to anyone that is looking for something new to read. 

Rating:
♥♥♥♥♥

An in depth look at the series will be posted soon on my In Depth Review page

Elly Blake- Fireblood- ♥♥♥♥♥

Elly Blake- Fireblood
408 pages

At the beginning of my review for Frostblood, I talked about how a book that is a five star is just obvious. It just earns it, no questions. Fireblood definitely did that, and I'm in love with this book! From the very beginning, it grabbed me and pulled me along with it. 

The pacing was on point this time. It took me through ups and downs, lulls, and intensity. My only "complaint" is the lore is kind of hard to follow. There are so many players with affinities and ties to the land, it's a little hard to track. That isn't really a bad thing, though. It's something that makes you think about relevance, and it pushes you to connect dots and remember details. This is definitely the kind of series you have to come back to and read again to truly appreciate all the nods and inferences. I'm still really enjoying untangling all the threads. On top of all of that... the emotions were still so it-hurts-so-good. They were intense and fitting and beautiful and painful all at the same time. And I loved every second of it. 

Ruby has come so far since the beginning of the first book. Don't get me wrong, I was always rooting for her, but now I feel like I'm screaming my support for her. There is so much I want to say about her, but I don't want to give away too much. So, I'll put it like this: she is a refreshing version of a trope I am rather tired of. And I absolutely love her for it. 

I feel so much more connected to Arcus in this book. As I said in my last review... the type he was portrayed as feels so old to me, like I've seen it too many times and want to roll my eyes. However, here, there is a lot more to him. I felt like there was more depth than I gave him credit for. So this is my apology for that. 

Kia. I don't even know what to say about Kia. I hate him. But I love him. I feel like he is such a perfect addition in so many ways. He gives a complete balance to the books that I am feeling so hard. I didn't want to like him, to be honest, but I do like him. 

I also loved the way this story progressed. I like watching all these changes happen both within and without Ruby. This book one hundred percent is the set up of the next book, but it didn't feel like a 400-page intro. It felt complete. Contained, but a part of the whole. If that makes any sense. 

The way this book ended was so satisfying. It wasn't what I expected at all, which was really lovely. I read a lot of books, and it isn't very often I am taken off guard by an ending. It's something I very much appreciated! I sincerely can't wait to start the next book!

Rating:
♥♥♥♥♥

Elly Blake- Frostblood ♥♥♥♥

Elly Blake- Frostblood
371 pages

I was really torn about how to rate this one. I went back and forth between four and five. I settled on four because, to me, for a book to get a five-star rating, there should be no doubt; it's just that good. 

The pace of this book was too steady. The fight scenes didn't carry urgency, and the reprieve scenes didn't have a slow stillness to them. It was fast enough that I wanted more, but not fast enough to need the more right now. The emotions, though... Those were there in spades. The pain and longing, the sadness and lonely. The joy and the hope, the love and grace. The emotions were gut-wrenchingly well written. I've never encountered a story before that had problems with pacing but still packed an emotional punch. 

The last quarter of the book had much better pacing AND the it-hurts-so-good emotions. That was the only part of the book I really didn't think I could put down. I did really like it, though. I loved the world Blake created. The lore was fascinating, but a touch confusing at times. The was another book I was able to pull out the twist before it happened (sort of). I had it mostly right, so I was only half surprised. However, the way it was set up was really fantastic. There were enough crumbs for me to focus on and string together, but not enough to ruin the ending. 

Ruby is a very intriguing character. She went through a lot of growth during the course of the book, but it feels like she has a long way to go still. She has a few traits that annoyed me, but I feel like that's the sign of a strong, realistic, and relatable character. Arcus is equally compelling. I am a little weary when it comes to the strong, silent, haunted thing in main characters. I don't think it's going away anytime soon, though. 

The actual story was compelling, and it left a lot of questions swirling in my head. I don't want to say too much and spoil anything, so I'll just say this: Diving into the lore and untangling the threads will be fun. I really hope there is an opportunity to do that in the second book. 

Rating:
♥♥♥♥

Jennifer Estep- Protect the Prince ♥♥♥♥♥

Jennifer Estep- Protect the Prince
417 pages

I'm in love with Jennifer Estep's writing style. I found her through the Elemental Assassin series and fell madly in love. This series is just as wonderful, and I really like the small nods in the first book to Gin and everyone. 

I've really liked watching Evie figure herself out. She has grown a lot since the beginning of the first book. I am a little unhappy with the character development of Sully and Paloma, though. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but it feels like they are startlingly the same as when the series began. There have been some small changes, but it's not enough. Until the last couple of chapters. Almost as though the evolution of their characters was an afterthought. 

The storyline was really interesting, and the only problem I had with it was the level of foreshadowing. I knew the big twist almost immediately after the set up for the "end game" of the book. It would have been nice to have a little more guesswork involved. Maybe it was intentional, but it was frustrating to know, 100%, where things were headed, and to have Evie so oblivious. 

That being said, I'm really excited about Crush the King! There is still so much I want to know, and several questions I still have. This series very much so adds to the love I have of Jennifer Estep. (As a side note, her website is lovely, and she makes it so easy to identify what order her books and short stories should be read in. Something is that woefully underrated). 

♥♥♥♥♥

The Weight of Blood- ♥♥♥♥

David Dalglish- The Weight of Blood

170 pages

I’m a little torn with this book. I discovered a different series by Dalglish by chance at the library. I fell in love with it immediately. The Shadowdance series has stuck with me since the first book. I’m talking deep down, can’t stop thinking about it, obsession kind of stuck with me. I found out the Half-Orcs was in the same world, and I just had to get my hands on all of them. From what I understand from various author’s notes, the Half-Orcs series was written first, and Shadowdance was created as a backstory. This is where being torn comes in…

I did like the book. Enough to give it four stars even. The tone just felt so foreign. In his author note Dalglish talks about the book taking a much darker tone than was anticipated, but that wasn’t even the issue for me. Dark books, movies, songs, etc, are my comfort zone. This just felt… rushed. It felt like there wasn’t as much description as I was used to from him, and it felt like we were being dragged along without getting much time to look around. I’m hoping as this series progresses things will fall into a more familiar rhythm. I think Shadowdance just set such a high standard in my mind for all of his writings.

Now, the negatives are out of the way. Seeing more of Drezel was much needed for me. There are a lot of complexities to this world that I was only beginning to understand at the end of Shadowdance. More of the gods’ backstory is revealed, and the ways of magic shown even more in depth.

The main characters are fascinatingly contradictory. Seeing how their bond grows, changes, or collapses will be interesting. Harruq’s growth is what interests me most though. It feels like his character will be the more dynamic of the two, and while I want to like Qurrah… I just can’t. I hope that will change, the brothers seem to rely on each other in so many ways. We’ll see.

The storyline was a little discombobulated. Things moved so fast, and connections were made and ran by so frequently, some of the threads were a touch hard to grasp at first. I think a lot of it was because the book was so short. With only 170 pages to weave something so complex, it leaves the reader with a bit of whiplash. I checked, the next book is 321 pages. Things should only get better from here!

Overall, I liked the book. Stepping back and holding it as its own novel rather than trying to push it into the Shadowdance shaped hole I wanted it to go in helped a lot in coming to that conclusion. I’m really looking forward to reading the rest of this series!

Rating:

♥♥♥♥

A Dance of Mirrors- ♥♥♥♥♥

DavidDalglish- A Dance of Mirrors

378 pages

This one was an interesting change of pace. Angelport is very different from Veldaren. While there were some similarities, the social climate was different. The power structure was also something new to get used to. So much more about the world was revealed, and I feel like I have a much better understanding of how everything works in Neldar. There is also a much greater introduction into the Elves.

Haern comes further into himself and begins to more thoroughly understand what he wants to become. Alyssa showcases a lot more of who she is, and I find myself liking her a great deal. Zusa has a much more prominent role, and she is one of my favorites.

While this book wasn't what I was expecting, I loved it just as much as the first two.

Rating:

♥♥♥♥♥

A Dance of Blades- ♥♥♥♥♥

DavidDalglish- Dance of Blades

391 pages

This book carried on the fantastic vibes from the first book. I really love how the characters are separate yet unified, and dangerous but lovable. There are still some lingering questions about the setup of the world, but they are overall irrelevant for now. It’s more just curiosity on my part. The level of change and growth in a lot of the characters was astounding. While five years had gone by, Dalglish did a really good job of moving them forward in a way that felt authentic. I’m pretty attached to most of the main characters now, even the new ones. They each have something fantastic about them that I can’t help but to love.

I liked this plot significantly more than the previous, which is saying something. While the last book was about Thren trying to impose his will onto Aaron, this one focuses on Haern deciding who and what he wants to be. A couple new characters added impact the dynamic in interesting ways. The way Dalglish builds up plot arks, the next couple of books should be just as amazing if not more so.

Rating:

♥♥♥♥♥

For a more detailed review (including spoilers), click here!

A Dance of Cloaks- ♥♥♥♥♥

David Dalglish- Dance of the Cloaks

461 pages

This book was truly incredible! When I think of fantasy novels, this is what I want. Dalglish talks in the author’s note at end about not having a complex world built, but I think he did an amazing job setting everything up. The main characters are extremely flawed people, and it makes watching their lives unfold so much more interesting. My emotional connections to several characters were strong almost immediately. Others took some warming up to. There is a real rollercoaster of feelings toward several characters. Love and hate blend wonderfully.

While this isn’t exactly a mystery, the complete ark of the story isn’t really known for most of the book. Things are revealed slowly and deliberately. While a few of the twists are a given, the rest caused interesting things to happen to the perspective of the story. There is still so much of the world left to explore, and the next books I hope will unlock it all. Overall I am really happy I swung by the library on a whim, and even happier the name Dalglish jumped out at me!

Rating:

♥♥♥♥♥

For a more detailed review (including spoilers), click here!