Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

  Wow, Wow, WOW!!! Sooo much better! 
                           (third installment after Crown of Midnight)




I was agonizing over the first two books. It would be so good one second then so angsty, dramatic, and cheesy. This one started out with a little angst with Celaena being in a new country with no allies, but it progressively got better.

Celaena takes on the name she was born with, Aelin, and with this change she morphs into womanhood, becoming more comfortable with herself, her powers, heritage, and her role as Queen. She aims for change, and keeps a promise made to her dead friend in her heart. But it was moving to see her make personal progress with the troubles of her life and past. Not to mention, we get to meet Rowan.

Aelin's strict, battle harden, elven teacher. Yum. Team Rowan, please!
Besides the delicious side dish we are introduced to, we get to follow a new character line of blood thirsty witches. I found their story to be a tad distracting when I was more enamored with Aelin's, but I suppose it will lead to something important...eventually.

It does give hints as to what Dorian's father is up to, (nothing good, obviously). There is also some personal progression with Dorian and Chaol. We're left with a giant, frustrating cliffhanger, alas but I was quite thrilled with where Maas is taking her tale!

Lauren - 5 stars

My review for Queen of Shadows! 

The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielsen

4 stars
(Trilogy to The Runaway King)

An amazing conclusion to this trilogy!

And it was all done in classic Jaron style! I was rather impressed with how Jaron managed to work his way out of some tough situations, especially with his still injured leg, and how his friends were there for him in his most dire times of need and were extremely loyal.

Jaron is facing several enemies and finds himself quite short of the army he needs in order to face them. What else is there to be done if you're lacking brawn, except to outsmart with brains!

We get to see some fine strategy on Jaron's behalf, and losses too.

Most of all I was touched by the journey of this series. I watched a young rebellious boy go from the streets, to a Prince in an unwelcoming Kingdom, to a King defending his Throne, loyal subjects, and the people he considers family.

It was a delightfully strategic book with plenty of struggle and although I felt that this final book was missing just a touch of Jaron's clever pizzazz, it was still thoroughly enjoyable and I cannot wait for another book from Nielsen.

Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn

4 stars

(quartet to Silent on the Moor)

Oh, what a tug on the heartstrings this one was...

We join Julia, Brisbane, Portia, and Plum as they head down to India to see Portia's lover Jane, who had left her in the last book in order to have children.

She is pregnant and suspects that her late husband was murdered. It is here that we get to meet some distant cousins of Julia and their unique tea plantation. 

More secrets are revealed about a lot of characters, including Brisbane, as we delve into the mystery and meet unique characters, get to read about the India traditions, hunt for a man killing tiger, and a murderer.

As usual there is plenty of drama regarding inheritance of the tea plantation, affairs, and more. Julia and Brisbane are both adorable and frustrating as they work somewhat together in their relationship. We also get to see Jane and Portia make amends and reunite with some of Julia's cousin's from the second installment, Silent in the Sanctuary.

Things get really dark in this one, lots of action, and as always, a few twists as well! With the way this one ended I cannot wait to see Julia and Brisbane work together in the field for the next mystery to come!

Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn

2.5 stars

(trilogy to Silent in the Sanctuary)

To be honest, I pretty much skimmed this one. Once I saw that Julia and Brisbane were going to continue their cat and mouse game I was having none of it.

I should also mention that I was entirely turned off when I found out that there was a "keeping it in the family" theme going on with some of the secondary characters. You think I'm kidding but I'm quite serious when I say there was some unashamed brother and sister action going on.

Gross.

On the plus side, we do get to see Julia and Brisbane's relationship finally blossom, the ending section was so gratifying, and we also learn more about Brisbane's history and origins. The mystery was fair despite the blatant incest and happy endings were to be had for most characters. 

Hurrah and on to the next!

(My review of Dark Road to Darjeeling)
 

The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen

5 stars

(sequel to The False Prince)

My loyalty has been earned.

I was skeptical at first, I'll admit. I liked The False Prince, but as I said in the previous review, I wasn't blown off my feet. Consider me on my ass. Flat.

The Runaway King doesn't pick up too far off from its predecessor, which was a literary relief to start out with. I was nervous that this was going to be like another book I read where after all that pain to get where the main character to a certain point, they find themselves longing for their old life, and begin to feel irritable and unhappy with the life they worked the whole first book to obtain. 

But instead, I found myself reading about a Prince, trying to fill boots that he longs to fill properly, but finds he's a little rough around the edges. He was relate able, fierce, strong, stubborn, and best of all the underdog.

I'm a huge sucker for the underdogs, the people who throw you in for the loop, who fight and fight until they just can't fight anymore, who care for the people around them, sometimes more than they care to let on. Long live the underdogs!

The plot was fast paced, dangerous, and exciting! We get to meet new friends, make stronger bonds with old friendships, and repair old damages done. We get to see Jaron fight for his right to party to the throne, and take risks like never before. Did I mention there is pirates?

That's right, the Prince goes to pirate island in order to gain information, and prove that he should be the rightful King.

There was a nice surprise near the end of the book, further revealing the treachery within the kingdom, and we also get some more development on characters who I felt were somewhat skimmed over like the lovely Princess Amarinda, the betrothed of Prince Jaron. 

I love how clever the women in this series are, both Amarinda and Imogen are extremely clever. I've got to say, I'm honestly torn between Imogen and Amarinda. I have no idea where Nielsen plans to take things when it comes to this complicated little love triangle. I am so excited for the next book!! Bring on the next broken item themed book! Bring on Jaron, and his smart ass comments, and witty humor!!

(My review for The Shadow Throne)

 

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

4 stars

The False Prince was an interesting book. Sage, our main character, was easy to fall into stride with due to his snarky humor and clever ways. 

Sage is whisked away with a four other boys in order to train to become the "lost" King. The royal family is dead and unless the presumed dead Prince Jaron steps up to the throne a relative will take the crown.

A nobleman looking to install a puppet prince, trains these boys. The catch is only one will be Prince Jaron, and the others will not survive. 

Though Sage does have some bad temperament, I found him easier to like more than his competitors within the story. I laughed aloud a few times while reading this book which I appreciated. 

I was honestly torn between 3 to 4 stars since the book didn't exactly blow me off my feet, especially since I found myself torn at times. It was hard to decide on whether or not I liked a character, because as readers were introduced to the different characters we were shown both their good and bad sides, making our impression of them debatable.

In strong favor of the book, I was kept intrigued with the many mysteries that arose but were later explained, and while the book was predictable, it still had some slight surprises to it's credit, near the end. 

When you finally discover more about Sage, you truly come to appreciate his character even more than you had before. Get ready for an intense sequel.

Get ready for The Runaway King.