“I was burning through books every day - stories about people and places I'd never heard of. They were perhaps the only thing that kept me from teeter“I was burning through books every day - stories about people and places I'd never heard of. They were perhaps the only thing that kept me from teetering into utter despair.”
4.5 stars
So hard to say goodbye to those characters....more
I need to know what will happen with Lou and Reid or I'll literally die.I need to know what will happen with Lou and Reid or I'll literally die....more
"Their heads are heads of rock, their hearts set upon rock. Be different. Set your sights on something higher. Something more grand."
“Claim the sta"Their heads are heads of rock, their hearts set upon rock. Be different. Set your sights on something higher. Something more grand."
“Claim the stars, Spensa,” he said.
I want to kick myself. This was the first time I read a Sanderson's book, and now I'm angry with myself for not having picked his books earlier.
This book is everything I want!
I don't trust myself forming coherent sentences, let alone write a decent review but I've got to try.
This book is about Spensa, a seventeen-years-old girl triyng to survive in a wasteland of a planet where the human fleet set refugee after some events (can't write too much about it because ha spoilers). She's the daughter of a infamous pilot, and all she wants is to attend flight school and to become a full pilot, fight the Krell and bring honor back to her family's name.
“It has always seemed to me,” she said, “that a coward is a person who cares more about what people say than about what is right. Bravery isn’t about what people call you, Spensa. It’s about who you know yourself to be.”
Brandon Sanderson brilliantly creates a story that wrappes you in a way that you phisically can't put this book down. He talks about privilage, and what a family's name can do for one; the ruthless world-building, where a outcast teenage girl has to hunt rats so she and her family can live and humans dwell in caverns - and never see the sky - and are constantly attacked by a alien race called Krell and throughout all this, you keep wondering what's going to happen. And boy oh boy, I did not see that ending coming. You read about five hundred pages of something, and within a few pages, everything... twists.
And I loved de discussion about being a coward and being a hero and how it's about who you know yourself to be.
But now... the characters...
"It turned out that strange little girls grow up to be strange young women."
Spensa is one of the best characters I've read. She's passionate, very, very fierce, and her determination is awe-inspiring. Also, she hilariously funny. Seriously, I literally laughed out loud a thousand times, her character is simply brilliant.“You watch yourself,” I said, wishing I had something to stand on to bring my eyes level with his. “When you are broken and mourning your fall from grace, I will consume your shadow in my own, and laugh at your misery.” Yet she's a character with lots of space to grow, and she does so. With the first POV writting, it's amazing to read about an already unique character that develops and grows so much throughout the story. This bloodthirsty ball of aggression and destruction owns the distilled darkness that is my heart. And I adored that she adopted a bright colored cavern slug with blue spikes and called "her" Doomslug the Destroyer. This just shows how awesome she is. Also, it warmed my heart dedication with her flight - Skyward Flight - and how she does everything for them.
“You have large twin destructor emitters on each wing, along with a light-lance turret underneath. That’s as much firepower as our larger ships. You’re a warship.” “Clearly not,” M-Bot said. “I’m here to categorize fungi. Didn’t you listen to my last orders? I am not supposed to get into fights.” “Then why do you have guns?” “For shooting large and dangerous beasts who might be threatening my fungus specimens,” M-Bot said. “Obviously.”
But the star of the story is M-bot, the sentient AI-driven ship that Spensa finds. He's a super powerful machine, loggical, yet with so much personality. He's fond of mushrooms! His bond with Spensa is superb, and I loved that in the end the becomes more like Spensa. I'm deeply in love with M-bot, and I'm sure you'll fall in love with him too.
This is a book about hope, to live and to be human. I never imagine that I would love it intensly, and I cherish it with all my heart. I'm eager to see what's going to happen with Spensa and her awesome starship.
I don’t know why, but every time I read “krell” I thought about the “skrull” and the “kree” ---------------------------
Just finnished it and I can't stop smiling! Review to come....more
It took me a while but now I’m fully invested in this series. I thin”Best lies were always mixed with truth”
Wow... This one was SO MUCH BETTER!!!
It took me a while but now I’m fully invested in this series. I think I was a little confused in the beginning but now things are starting to make sense and I feel confident to say that the Throne of glass series is AWESOME!!
Since the first one the writing has improved a lot, and one of the things I like the most about Maas’ writing is how she really makes you feel part of her world and story. Specially the moments of dread and danger. She knows how to create a very unsettling atmosphere and her monsters in both series, Tog and Acotar, are so scary!!
But the best part was Celaena. I always liked this bloodthirsty ball of rage, but her arc in this book is amazing.
”A familiar, dark fire rippled in her gut, spreading through her, dragging her down into an abyss without end. Celaena Sardothien stood from her chair”
HOLY SHIT. This part tore through me. The way Maas depicted this strong, badass and fierce character and character crying, prostrated and utterly broke was brilliant!
Sadly, I can’t say the same about Chaol and Dorian. Sorry those who like these characters, but they are a bit annoying. But it's certain they'll have their arc too in the next books, and I can't wait to see.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable reading and I’m definitely hooked with this series....more
“Is it strange?” I asked. “To change so much? To look at yourself and see so many different things? “Is it strange to be stuck as one thing?” Cielo ask“Is it strange?” I asked. “To change so much? To look at yourself and see so many different things? “Is it strange to be stuck as one thing?” Cielo asked just as quickly. “To look at yourself and see the same face, over and over, when you’re constantly changing?”
Mmmm... this book... I don't know how to start. I wanted to write something because I just finished it and is still fresh but I found myself struggling with my thoughts with this book.
When I first read the synopsis I was eager to start this book, I mean, a story about Teodora, a strega who turns her enemies into objects, 19th century Italy inspired world, mafia and vendetta, political intrigue and a romantic interest that is a genderfluid strega?? I was with high expectations, but in the end I was a bit disappointed.
The writting is just dull. The author just throws some italian words and we get something like "It claimed my breath, turned my heartbeat to a painful staccato." or "my feet became the high note in an aria of discomfort". I think it was mean to make the writting beautiful, but no, this book doesn't have a lyrical writting.
The same happens with the world building, we know that there are five families that rule different regions of Vinalia and they have a conflict with some land called Eterra (??) and there's this Capo who wants to rule an united Vinalia and that's it. All throughtout the book I had the sensation of lacking.
I wanted so much to fall in love with Teodora di Sangro, she seemed so awesome with this power of changing things and people for vendetta and her feeling of duty with her family, but the most interesting character is Cielo. Who doesn't like a cheeky and cunning character, which is actually a cinamon roll, with a sad past? and this one can change into a boy, a girl and basically anything (I suppose). But honestly there's not much to talk besides Cielo and Teo, the rest were just flat. Oh, and it's so irritaiting to read Capo over and over, just please give this bastard a name, godammit.
But, to be honest with myself, the story managed to keep me interested. The story and Teo and Cielo. I wanted to see how everthing would develop and every moment I kept wondering what was going to happen with this shape-shifter duo.
Overall, this was a very entertaining reading, I don't know with there's going to be a sequel, but if there is, I hope to see the missing pieces explained....more
It's frustraiting to say, but this book did not work for me. It's not bad- and yet...
I'll be honest, "Don't let her silence the storm inside you.”
It's frustraiting to say, but this book did not work for me. It's not bad- and yet...
I'll be honest, what first called my attention was that exuberant stormy, feathery cover (I know, I'm not that strong), and then the synopsis beguiled me with a tale of a tormented princess of a lush tropical kingdom Rhodaire, was bethroted to the crown prince of Illucia, an enemy kingdom. Fair enough, the plot is just like the blurb promised, but some details - or rather not so teensy to be called details - kept me fom enjoying this book.
One of them was the said setting. I was beyond thrilled to read about a fantasy story set in an tropical realm. Don't get me wrong, my favourite season is winter and I love cold, gloomy, eerie settings, but the literary world is saturated with fantasy novels set in some european-esque world, thus a different type of weather and atmosphere is most welcome. But, to my disappointment- and bewilderment- Thia spends most of the book in Illucia, which is described as cold and dull place. It shouldn't matter that much, but the fact that Illucia borders Rhodaire and are bluntly different pissed me off. Perhaps I'm being picky, but it still feels wrong- it's like Brazil bordered Sweden! Makes no sense...
The characters all felt very bland and tedious, with personalities practically non-existent. Thia's emotinal struggles annoyed me the most, not because she was suffering from it, but because it was thoroughly underwhelming. It was one of the things I was most looking foward to reading in this novel (one of my favourite things of A court of mist and fury is Feyre's PTSD, makes me cry everytime), but Thia's mentall illness was, to say the least, poorly- handled. It is said rather than shown in the novel that she's traumatized with what Illucia has done to her kingdom, she saw her mother and her aunt being burned alive while they tried to save the magical crows and, therefore, it is stated that fire triggers her. But the problem with her overall mental illness thing is, it is only placed when it's convenient to the story, with only a couple of scenes when you can see she's utterly broken and afraid, but besides some rideable moments, the majority of the book she appears to be handling herself quite fine. By the end of the book, all of the sudden, there's no PTSD or suffering or depression anymore. Just vanished, like magic. I think most people who really suffers from it wished it was that simple. Yikes..
I really don't have much to say about the plot, since it's weak and very unoriginal and fantasy standard, with kingdoms at war and a prickly evil sorceress-queen who only wants to RuLe ThE wOrLd for reasons I can not remember- nor care- and some special crows. Speaking of the crows, by the by, they were the only thing that had the potential to be the coolest and save this book, but unfortunetly they don't have much "on-screen" time, and the few of their scenes only made me struggle to imagine a big sized crow, big enough for someone to ride it.
At least the writing is quite decent, feels a bit like a debut with no remarkable quotes, but overall decent and steadfast.
Overall, it's not a bad book, not even the slightest, but alas, it wasn't enjoyable or even entertaining enough for me to read the sequel. It will be placed in the great shelf of mehness....more
”You could rattle the stars,” she whispered. “You could do anything, if only you dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you mos”You could rattle the stars,” she whispered. “You could do anything, if only you dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you most.”
This will be probably a shitty review because I had so much mixed feelings with this book...
Yeeey I enjoyed it a lot... but didn’t love it...
After seeing so many recommendations, I started this series with The assassin’s blade, and I found it very entertaining. So I was a bit disappointed with Throne of glass, because this book isn’t as thrilling as I thought it’d be. There’s just a few action scenes and hints of things I’ll fully understand in the next books, but I just wished this book was, darker?? I mean, one of my favourite scenes of the prequel is when Celaena goes do Endovier, and when we start Throne of glass she’s already out of the mines! This book has a interesting thematic, about slavery and death camps, but we don’t see much about this (at least for now).
The writing was fine, for a debut novel. A lot of people complain about Maas’ writing, but I think it makes picturing what’s happening very easy.
What’s most appealing about Maas’ books are the characters. There are so many, and with different traits. But as a Throne of glass review, let’s talk about Celaena: she’s arrogant, sassy, bloodthirsty (although we don't see much of her assassin side, tbh), bratty, and VERY narcissistic. But I kind of like her??? Although I must say that the argumentum ad nauseam “The best assassin of the world” whatsoever is irritating. But I hope to see her develop in the next books.
I going to keep with this series, I’m curious and look forward to know what’s going to happen....more
”She would go into Endovier. Go into Hell. And she would not crumble.” I can’t believe no one shoved this book in my face and told me to READ IT!!!”She would go into Endovier. Go into Hell. And she would not crumble.” I can’t believe no one shoved this book in my face and told me to READ IT!!!! I’m an A court of thorns and roses trash, and this is the first Throne of glass’ book that I read, but I must say that I’m already a trash as well!!!! And HOLYSHIT.... THAT ENDING!!!!! I’m genuinely surprised that I managed to turn the last page and not immediately die of cerebral aneurism, because this book FUCKING DESTROYED ME, GOODNIGHT AND GOODBYE. ...more
