Crown of Midnight, by Sarah J Maas

(5/5 stars)

1. Sarah J Maas has done it again and I'm obsessed! 2. I really need to not read these books before I go to bed or else I'll have really strange dreams. Basically, this book led to more first pumping and yelling things like "Wait, what?!" and "Hell yes!" and "No! My heart!". Reading this was like being on an emotional roller coaster. A really fun emotional roller coaster. 

What I liked: You all know how I feel about the world. I still really want to live there. I also wouldn't mind a map of it to spread out and mark up. So the world is still all kinds of awesome. And then there's the fact that I couldn't read this book without having all the lights on in my room and a blanket to protect me (just in case). This book is scary! Scarier than the first and so much more fantastical, but we find out some great things (sorry for the vagueness) that really move the story along. The love triangle that was once a love triangle is no more, which I liked. She picked a boy (and my heart smiled), but still kept the other in her life, and then all hell broke loose. To say things get complicated would be an understatement. But the complicated is brilliant and crazy and heartbreaking, but I love it so freaking much! Also, if you didn't hate the king in the first, you'll absolutely loath him in this one! And you'll probably scream "Evil!" loudly... or maybe that was just me?

What I didn't like: There wasn't much I didn't like, just like the last one. There was a death that made me upset, but it was a catalyst to the story so it was justified. The only problem I had was with the magic and creatures. I had a bit of a tough time following what was what, but eventually, it all clicked in my brain. 

I loved this book, LOVED it. Almost more than the first. And I know I'll be constantly thinking about it until the next book comes out (considering that ending and all that). Oh well, I guess I can *try* to be patient. But in the mean time, I'll just keep having weird dreams about magic, faeries, and assassins, and I'm totally okay with that!

-Annie

Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas

(5/5 stars)

This book right here. This book right here, though. Books like this one remind me why I love to read and why I love to write. This book literally made me fist bump while reading it. Yes, I threw my fist into the air and screeched in victory. I'm not embarrassed about it. It happens. But let's talk about this book for a second:

What I liked: World building! What a beautiful creation Maas has given us. The world is so vivid and real, I almost have to remind myself that it doesn't exist. Along with the brilliant world comes multi-dimensional characters. Their complexity is the best, like I can't even explain my love for these characters. And did I mention the character development? Because that's done so well I want to sing songs of joy. Celaena is such a beast, can I be her? Yes, she's a deadly assassin and her reputation is well deserved, but yet she still is able to smile and laugh and bond with people. It's amazing. Sure, she's cocky (rightfully so), but she takes on each task with a fierce determination and preparation that you can't help but admire. I'm pretty sure that if I was stuck in a war prison for so long and then forced to compete in scary physical challenges, I'd be lying on the floor in fetal position. But what does Celaena do? She trains hard, and then when she has free time, she builds weapons and continues her training. And then there are the love interests, Chaol and Dorian. How do you pick? Here's the answer, you can't. Like, I don't even care if it's a love triangle, they're both written so well it doesn't matter. But this love triangle is a good example of the protagonist having to pick a path that goes with each love interest. I applaud that. Also, the bad guys are deliciously bad (like straight up evil), me gusta. 

What I didn't like: I thought that the tasks that Celaena was put through during the competition to become the King's Champion weren't as exciting as I wanted them to be. They were things like archery, and poison detection, and I would have liked to see more combat (though the final challenge was all that I wanted it to be and then some). I also found myself upset that Celaena thought Nehemia was involved in all the bad stuff. I wanted her to trust her friend more, but I understand why she had to be suspicious. Celaena is an assassin and comes from a world where trust isn't given freely. But I still wanted them to be besties without trust issues. 

But basically this book has become my everything. I really wish I had a physical copy of it (instead of it being on my e-reader) so that I could physically throw it at people and make them read it. A thousand thanks to everyone who recommended Throne of Glass to me, especially Rinn and Josie! And I probably have to thank my mom too, for dealing with me running downstairs every five minutes to update her on the plot, listening to my endless squeals, and for accepting my (forceful) recommendation. 

-Annie

Vampire Academy, the Movie

Well, I can safely say that someone definitely read the Vampire Academy books before turning it in to a movie. So this past weekend, I dragged my roommate to the movies (under the pretense of a super fun girls' night) to see VA and it really filled all my expectations. Then again, my expectations weren't super high considering that nothing can come close to the perfection of the books.

What I liked: Well, it followed the book pretty well and included all the extremely important plot points. They also did a good job of explaining the world so that if you hadn't read the books, you kind of knew the difference between Moroi, dhampirs, and Strigoi. It was funny and it was cute. Rose's battle cries during surprise attacks against Dimitri were hysterical and just how I pictured them in my mind. The casting of Rose, Lissa, and Christian was perfect. I seriously can't see anyone else doing such a great job and my love for Christian just exploded in the best possible way.

What I didn't like: Let's continue on the casting decisions... Oh Dimitri. I had a couple of problems with Dimitri. He looked exponentially older than Rose, and I know the age difference is a thing and all, but it was a bit too extreme. Also, Rose and Dimitri didn't have that beautiful unspoken connection like they did in the books. This could have been a great opportunity for fans to see that love first-hand as it develops, but it fell flat and I didn't feel any real emotion between them. The movie itself was the ultimate cheese fest. It seemed like they made some of the jokes much cornier than they were supposed to be. It also moved really fast, with no time to process anything that happened. I totally get that, it's hard to smash that many pages full of non stop action into an hour and forty five minute movie. It just felt really rushed sometimes and that made me a bit sad.

Overall, it was enjoyable despite it's flaws. I still recommend it. After all, if you want to see more YA book/movie adaptations, you have to go see the YA movies that are out now. If you've read the book, you'll know what's going on, and if you haven't, you'll probably figure it out. Take it lightly and be ready to giggle, and just have fun watching Vampire Academy!

Next week, I'll be reviewing Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas (synopsis from Good Reads).

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. 

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. 

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. 

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.


-Annie

Vampire Academy, by Richelle Mead

(4/5 stars)

There are so many reasons why I picked up this book. First off, I had heard nothing but praise about it for a long time (although I was always skeptical, I blame the title...). Second, the movie is coming out tomorrow, and if you know me, I love a great YA book turned movie adaptation. Third, I really like vampires and I don't care how many books I've read about them, I will always pick up another. Trust me when I say this, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when this book exceeded my expectations! Yay! A good vampire book is like a narwhal. They exist, but they're so hard to find (at least in my opinion). 

What I liked: This is a whole new take on the vampire mythology (which I actually studied for one my classes), and it's invigorating. Mead paints a beautiful picture of how this world works. It's not a world of vampires versus vampire hunters or whatever, instead it's nice (I use that term loosely because there are always mean people) vampires that age (Moroi) versus evil dead vampires who like to kill the nice vampires (Strigoi). And the nice, cool vampires have guardians (Dhampirs) who are really bad-ass and awesome, like our main character Rose. Rose who I absolutely adore and may be my new favorite protagonist. Sure she's reckless, but she's fiercely loyal and I respect that. 

So the story is really cool and the world building is awesome, but that's not the only reason I loved this book. I also liked the dynamics between all the characters. Whether it was mean girl, Mia, or misunderstood Christian, each character brought something different to the table. I could also talk about Dimitri for days on end, but I won't. I'll just say that I cannot wait to see where this relationship goes, like for real though. Finally, I think my absolute favorite thing about this book was Rose and Lissa's friendship. That's what this book is really about- the strong bond of friendship and how they'll do anything for each other. It's probably one of the best friendships I've seen in YA fiction.

What I didn't like: I'm picky, but there were times when Lissa was frustratingly annoying. I just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her during the times when she was being all wishy-washy. I also wasn't a big fan at how important the school drama was and felt like it shouldn't have taken such a front seat position. Rose and Lissa have much bigger problems to deal with than ugly rumors. That was annoying, especially all the slut-shaming rumors that were constantly being spread. Ugh. I know that's how high school is, but I felt like every other chapter of this book was someone calling Rose a slut for something and that bothered me (but that's a whole other rant for a whole other time). 

Regardless, I loved reading this book because it was different. It wasn't what I expected and I really should have given it more credit before. But now, I'm ready to get my hands on the sequel and the one after that and the one after that (there are 6 books in the series so I'll be busy for a while)! And I can't wait to see the movie, which I will of course let you guys know what I think of as soon as I see it!

-Annie