Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas Book Review

General Info

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Published September 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

(SPOILERS)

648 Pages

Hardcover - Goodreads

Plot Summary

The queen has returned.
Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…
She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.
She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.
The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

My Personal Favorites

I absolutely loved this fourth installment in the series. It took me about a month to get through this book because it's extremely huge. So let's just get right into all of the good stuff. The story starts off with Dorian's POV now that he has been possessed by the Valg Prince. My heart couldn't take it.

Dorian is my baby and I hated seeing him like that. Next thing I would like to talk about is the whole rescue sequence to get Aedion back. It was amazing how Aelin acted like a dancer and the whole black roses were actuallysmoke bombs. It was so epic and when Aelin and Aedion finally reunited my heart dropped. Then when Aelin almost killed Dorian, I was just sitting there like if you kill Dorian off I'm not reading the next book. I was glad when Nesryn swooped in and saved the day. Now let' talk about

Rowan. Yes ROWAN IS BACK. This ship has sailed and it won't sink......HOPEFULLY. Rowan is the sweetest guy ever and when Aelin put on that golden dress, he was basically drooling all over the place. I love them together. I basically loved everything in this book.

My Personal Dislikes

Even though I loved everything about this book, I did have a couple minor problems. First off, I didn't like that ever since Celaena became Aelin, her whole personality changed and it wasn't for the better. She suddenly turned mean. I also didn't like that Sarah basically tried to make everyone hate Chaol. I loved Chaol since the beginning but I hated that this book depicted him to be the bad guy. This made it pretty obvious that the Chaolaena ship has finally sunk and it sucks because I was Team Chaol for like ever. 

Rating

4.9/5 Stars

My Final Thoughts

This book was really good and I can't wait to read the next one. I will be having a theories post coming soon because I want to put them out there so I can be first. Anyways see you in the next post.

~Naya J.

August Wrap Up

This month I read 5 books and three graphic novels which is a lot since I did fall into a reading slump towards the middle of the month. Overall I read some pretty good books that I am excited to share with you so let's just get right into it.
1) We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - 5/5 Stars
This was my very first read of the month and it was soooooooo good. It definitely threw me when the plot twist came because I totally didn't expect it.
2) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews - 4/5 Stars
I laughed so hard during this one and I liked it way more than I thought I would. I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 stars because I felt no connection with any of the characters.
3) Every Last Word by Tamera Ireland Stone - 5/5 Stars
This is definitely one of my new favorite books of all time. I loved the poetry aspect of the book and the characters.
4) Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo - 5/5 Stars
Favorite read of the month hands down! I can't wait for Six of Crows coming out this month.
5) The Rent Collector by Cameron Wright - 4/5 Stars
For a book assigned for summer reading, this was pretty good.
6) The Amulet Series (Books 1-3) - I really didn't like this that much.

Reviews
1) We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - http://mylittleinfinityofbookss.blogspot.com/2015/08/we-were-liars-by-e-lockhart-book-review.html
2) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews - http://mylittleinfinityofbookss.blogspot.com/2015/08/me-and-earl-and-dying-girl-by-jesse.html
3) Every Last Word by Tamera Ireland Stone - http://mylittleinfinityofbookss.blogspot.com/2015/08/every-last-word-by-tamera-ireland-stone.html
4) Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo - http://mylittleinfinityofbookss.blogspot.com/2015/08/ruin-and-rising-by-leigh-bardugo-review.html
5) The Amulet Series (Books 1-3) - http://mylittleinfinityofbookss.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-amulet-series-books-1-3-review.html

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews Review

General Info

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Published March 2012 by Amulet Books

(SPOILERS)

295 Pages

Paperback - Goodreads

Plot Summary

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

My Personal Favorites

Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed this book thoroughly. It was hilarious and had me laughing all the way through.  My favorite character was Earl because he didn't care what people thought about him while Greg's life basically depended on it. This book isn't my absolute favorite but it was still pretty dang good.
My Personal Dislikes
Alright so let's get started. I know that I just said that I enjoyed this book but I still had some problems with it. So to start it off, I didn't feel connected to ANY of the characters. Like when Rachel died, I felt no remorse. It didn't make me feel sad or any types of emotions towards her. I also felt like the use of profanity was a little too much. Last thing is that all of characters felt static to me. They didn't change over the course of the story like I thought they would.
Rating
4/5 Stars
My Final Thoughts
Although this book was enjoyable, I still had problems with it. Anyways see you in the next post.
~Naya J.

 

Young Adult Stereotypes Part 2!!

As you can see from the title, I am doing a second part for my Young Adult Stereotypes post. This is my most popular post on my blog so I wanted to do a second part since I do have more stereotypes to share. So let's hurry up and get into it.

1) Main Characters Do the NASTY In the Last Book In the Series
- This is so predictable because it happens in almost every book series. Throughout the series, the main characters have a TON of sexual tension between each other. This happens in countless last books like City of Heavenly Fire, Clockwork Princess, and I'm sure that it is going to happen in Ruin and Rising. I like those books, but it was incredibly predictable. But some books don't fall into this book trope like the Throne of Glass series and Daughter of Smoke and Bone series.
2) The Main Character Discovers That He/ She Has A Power That Can Save the World
- In almost every fantasy series, the main character discovers that they have a power that can save their people, land, or the whole world. I don't hate this one, but it is pretty annoying. Can you at least give me a weak main character that is defeated in the end? That actually leads me into my next point.
3) The Main Character ALWAYS Wins In the End
- I know this sounds mean but sometimes I want to see the character fail their mission/ quest and lose for once.
4) The Female Protagonist In the Story Has No Sexual Experience
- I don't know why authors want to make every female protagonist a virgin. Tell me why like please tell me why.
5) Guys Are Head Over Heels For the Main Character
- In almost every book the female protagonist has everyone trying to get with her. Like everyone!

Alright so that is it for this post and I hope you enjoyed it. I am also thinking of doing a SEX IN YA discussion in the future. Maybe this month or next month, I don't know. Anyways, see you in the next post.
                                                                                                                                      ~Naya J.

JULY TBR

Last month I read a whopping 7 books, which was amazing. And not to mention all of the books I read, I thoroughly enjoyed. But this month I lowered my TBR because I don't want to put too much pressure on myself as a reader. These books do not count to my BOOKTUBEATHON TBR, but I will be doing a separate post to explain that so let's just get started. I have a TBR jar and I picked two which came out to say start a new series and read a book someone else picked out for you. I chose Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo for start a new series and my sisters want me to read None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio and The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson. I am so excited to read these books and hopefully I like them all.

 

P.S. I am approaching my Goodreads reading goal of 35 books fast and I'm thinking if I should raise the bar higher. I don't know, tell me what you guys think about it.

 

QOTP: What are you reading this month and are you participating in Booktubeathon?

Young Adult Stereotypes

So I admit that I LOVE LOVE the Young Adult category when it comes to books but over the past two years, I came to a realization that most books have similar elements. Like a lot of similar elements. It's almost like reading the same thing over and over again. I am not losing an interest in YA, I'm just making an observation. So to back this up, I'm going to tell you most of the stereotypes I've encountered in YA literature.
1. The Main Character Is Almost ALWAYS A Female.
-This annoys the crap out of me. I am a girl so sometimes I want to experience being in the mind of a  male. Come on authors give me some more male protagonists!
2. Girl Hates the Love Interest For the First Half Of the Book.
-  Okay I get that the author doesn't want to make the romance insta-love but does the boy and girl
   have to hate each other every single time. This happens in The Infernal Devices trilogy by  
   Cassandra Clare, The Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and many more. I love both of those
   series but it's kind of getting old. But I'll still read books like that because I really love the
    tension.
3. In a Love Triangle, The Girl Never Picks the Friend.
- This is with almost all love triangle when the choices are the main character's friend and
     someone they just met, they always pick the new guy. This happened in Twilight and The Mortal
     Instruments, but I'm sure that it happened many more times in literature. JUST PICK THE
     FRIEND ESPECIALLY IF IT WAS SIMON LEWIS!
This was my YA Stereotypes. I hope you enjoyed it because I might do a part since there are so many more that I didn't put in this post. Anyways see you later, I'm assuming in the next post :)
                                                                                                                         ~Naya J. 

Fantasy Recommendations

 

My favorite genre is definitely fantasy. It is what I mainly read on

a regular basis. Fantasy takes me to another world, so today I decided to list

 my top five fantasy books/series.I did this for contemporary books so let's 

just get started. This list is from my least favorite to my most favorite

 fantasy book.

 

1) The Raven Cycle (quartet) by Maggie Stiefvater - This series is so unique

and it has a great premise. It is a little hard to get into but after book

one, you are fully invested in the story.

 

2) The Infernal Devices (trilogy) by Cassandra Clare- I love this so much.

It has the best love triangle ever and you guys WILL HERONDALE!!

 

3) The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas- Sarah J. Maas is a great

writer and this series is just BOMB! Celaena Sardothien is just so kickass and

amazing. #TeamChaol

 

4) A Court of Thorns and Roses (trilogy) by Sarah J. Maas- Let me just say

Tamlin or Rhysand?

 

5) The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare- This is my all time

favorite series. It was the one that actually got me into reading.

You need to definitely read this one and a show is in the making.

 

I hope you enjoyed these recommendations. If you have any fantasy

books that you would like to recommend me, comment them down below.

QOTP: What is your favorite fantasy book?

See you in the next post.

~Naya J.

 

 

 

A Court of Thorns and Roses Review

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Review

Star Rating: 5 stars

Genre: New Adult Fantasy

Page Count: 416 pages


This book revolves around main character nineteen year old Feyre who basically takes care of her crippled father and two older sisters. One day while hunting in the woods, she kills a wolf like fairy but it comes with a consequence. She has to live in the fairy realm with her captor Tamlin. Will she get back to her family? Will she escape alive? Are you team Rhysand or Tamlin?

SPOILERS!!!

 

 

     Oh my goodness, this book was so swoon-worthy and steamy and I just loved it! I can not wait for the second installment because the love triangle is killing me. I am so conflicted with who to choose: Tamlin or Rhysand? I can't choose because I love them both but if one is chosen, my heart will break for the other. Tamlin is just so nice and sweet, and Rhysand is a hot bad boy who is very enticing. Besides the love triangle, Feyre is a fairy now. How crazy? During that scene, I was literally imagining the Breaking Dawn scene when Bella turned into a vampire.

 

 

     This book was just amazing and I loved every piece of it. I liked it way better than Throne of Glass and I loved that too. Sarah J. Maas is just a great author. She is becoming one of my favorites. Just read it. Read it now. Now!

 

QOTP: Are you team Rhysand or Tamlin?

 

See you in the next post.

 

 

                                                                                                                                      ~Naya J.

 



Reading Slumps

     Have you been reading lately? Are you stuck on this one page and you just can't get past it? Are you picking up multiple books and none of them are grabbing your attention? You are probably in a reading slump. Cue the scary movie music. I think that I might be in a reading slump. I haven't read in a week or so which is pretty terrible for me. Right now I am currently reading Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor and I am not enjoying it. At the moment, I am on page 22 and I have been on that page for eternity. (Not literally, but it still feels like it.)

    

     I used to set a specific time for me to read each day but I have been a little busy playing the Sims 3. If you play this game then you know how addicting it can be at times. I am also wasting my time by watching way too many YouTube videos. Like seriously, YouTube is ruining my life. So as you can see the internet, electronics, and my pure laziness are delaying me from doing what I love to do which is reading. You might ask "How are you going to dig yourself out of your reading slump?". I actually don't know yet, but for now I am just going to at least try to push through my current read. If I don't succeed on that then I will probably pick up another book.

     Anyways, goodbye for now and see you in the next post.

QOTD: What do you do to dig yourself out of the EVIL reading slump?


                                                                                                                              ~Naya J.

Summer Contemporary Reads

     Well we are now approaching that lovely time of the year again. SUMMER!!!! Now I can have more time to read and I don't have to deal with school. It's going to be great. During this time a lot of people like to read the light-hearted contemporary books. I on the other hand read what I am in the mood for, which can range from fantasy to dystopian to contemporary. But for this post I will be listing some of my favorite books and my rating for each that would be great to read over your summer break.

1. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick- I gave this book four stars but it was still a fantastic book.

2. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell- This book was amazing. It was cute and the characters were pretty relatable. I gave this one five stars.

3. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han- I love this book so much! You guys need to read it because the sequel is coming out this month. FIVE STARS!

4. Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally- It might be a little cheesy at times but it does have a great story to tell. Besides I need a cheesy book once in a while to please my guilty pleasure.

5. Any book by Sarah Dessen is great for the summer because I think almost all of them take place in a quote on quote 'beachy town'.

I hope you liked these book recommendations. I don't read that much contemporary so if you have any books that you want to recommend to me, leave them in the comments. Bye for now.


                                                                                                                              ~ Naya J.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli Review

 

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli Review

Star Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Contemporary

Page Count: 303 pages



      This book is about a not so openly gay teen named Simon emailing an anonymous boy under the pseudonym of Blue. But one day after forgetting to close his emails at school, they fall into the wrong hands. Now he is being blackmailed by a fellow classmate. If Simon doesn't achieve to get his best friend Abby to date his blackmailer, his biggest secret will be exposed.

 

     Overall this book was amazing. I loved all the characters especially Simon and my favorite part of the book were the emails. They were just so cute and hilarious.  Through the whole book you are trying to guess who is Blue. When Blue's identity finally came to the surface, I was so surprised. I didn't expect it to be the person that it was. When they finally got together, I just fangirled so hard. I just wish that this book was longer because I wanted to see more of the relationship. But I guess that everything great must come to an end.


                                                                                                                              ~ Naya J.

 

Introduction To My New Blog



NEW BLOG!!!!

 

Welcome to my new blog which will be dedicated to books. I love to read and I have a passion for writing. On this blog you will see artsy book photos, book reviews, hauls, a little bit of my personal writing, and basically everything that has to do with books. I am excited to start this journey with you guys and hopefully you are too. See you in my next post!

                                          

                                                                               ~ Naya J.