Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Hi there, guys!
Here's another review for you!
Are you all celebrating the Supreme Court Marriage Decision?
Because I sure as hell do!

BASICS

Title: Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bones, book #1
Author: Laini Taylor
Release Date: September 27th 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for  Young Readers
ISBN: 0316134023
Number of Pages: 418
Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult, Romance

SUMMARY

Karou's your ordinary girl.
Your ordinary girl with blue hair who gets languages as birthday gifts and collects teeth for her not so human foster father.
Well, maybe not so ordinary after all.
The thing is: She doesn't know who (or what) she is herself.
Since she can remember she was with Brimstone and Issa and all the other chimaeras who live a secret life in Brimstone's office with a door that leads to every city in the world.
Karou never searched actively for information concerning her past until she meets the angel Akiva.
Beautiful, tortured Akiva who tries to kill her in the streets of Marrakesh.
The two are drawn to each other and Karou starts to unravel who she really is.
But the question in the end is: Does she really want to know?

MY OPINION

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.

This is just one example for one of many pre-chapter pages. I adored them.
I hope they kept them in the other two books.

First, let me tell you: Laini Taylor can write like hell.
She managed to build a magical and mysterious world that sucked me in.
Taylor tells us about a parallel world in which angels and chimaeras are tangled in an endless war lasting for a thousand years. She tells us about two star-crossed lovers.
Just like Shakespeare has already written centuries ago:

The course of true love never did run smooth.

And the course of their love definitely has some twists.
While all this sounds quite "cliché", Laini Taylor manages to give the typical YA themes a new twist.
The angel Akiva is no eternal warrior, he's quite young in the angel sense (comparing him to other Angel Boys)! And the angels' leader is not God or some messenger angel, it's a douchy emperor. He makes Ismail Ibn Sharif seem like the father of a small family.
Other various 'recycled' themes: star-crossed lovers, Instalove, Mary Sue.

The Mary Sue cliché
At the beginning it really seems like that. God, lemme tell you how pissed of I was.
All my trusted reviewers on GoodReads tell me how awesome this book is and then it's about a Mary Sue.
Karou has blue hair, looks beautiful and mysterious, can draw like hell, speaks dozen of languages and always knows the best comebacks.
It takes a few chapters to understand where all that comes from, what's behind it and to understand that Karou's appearance is not Karou's inner self.
She's lonely and feels like something's missing. She has flaws.
Just as Karou's friends (and Karou herself), you never really know who Karou is and the development to fully understand her comes only slowly. We're on that path with Karou together.


That'll be a minor spoiler but I just have to tell you: I'm so glad that that 'missing part' is not Akiva. Even though we - and Karou - are supposed believe that for a while. Thank you, Laini, thank you.

The only cliché Taylor didn't manage to improve was Akiva. (Just my opinion)
While I was really intrigued by Karou, I felt no emotion at all towards Akiva.
He wasn't created in a manner that made him distinct from other love interests in the genre.
He's an angel, beautiful, with a twisted past, deeply in love, a skilled warrior.
There are other angel boys out there.


Apart from maybe Akiva Taylor writes very good characterizations! Even side-characters such as Zuzana and her boyfriend have a completely developed personality. They are not only there to make the main characters look better.

After finishing the book, I was torn between excitement for the next one but also some kind of disconent.
After getting to know Karou for a whole book and going her path with her, we just have to leave her behind? Some will probably say, she's still Karou. Kind of.
But that's not how I see it.
I'll miss her.
At the same time however, I'm really curious how Taylor continues Karou's change in the next books.

RATING

4 out of 5 stars

Fanart Friday!

Hi, guys!
I'm finally back with another Fanart Friday!
I've got quite a lot of books to catch up upon!

The EliteThis one was done by walkingnorth!


I really like the style of this drawing! Done by hantinexd




The Dream Thieves / Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

I think I posted this in the "The Raven Boys Fanart Friday" already, but it's just too damn gorgeous!
Thanks to thehardsofmyheart!


Next up is a drawing by lizthefangirl



All the following drawings were done by Azeher





Blue and Orla!




Crown of Midnight / Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
The next three drawings were done by compoundbreadd!


All our characters! Yes!


And now some Rowan for you!

Please tell me if you know who drew this!


This one was done by A6A7


I adore this one!! Done by aelin--galathynius


Those last two were drawn by rinmatsuocat but they changed their blogname so I can't link them here - sorry!


Manon!
If anyone knows who drew this please tell me!


Same problem as above: Artist anyone?


I can't wait to read on with the Raven Cylce and the Throne of Glass series!
They are both so addicting!

Franzi

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Hi there, guys!
I hope you've had a gread week so far!

BASICS

Title: The Wrath and the Dawn
Series: The Wrath and the Dawn, book number one
Author: Renee Ahdieh
Release Date: May 12th 2015
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 0399171614
Number of Pages: 388
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Fairytale retelling

SUMMARY

The country Khorasan is ruled by a killer.
His name is Khalid Ibn al-Rashid and he's only 18 years old.
Over the last few weeks he took a new bride every night only to have her executed when morning dawns.
Nobody can believe that the young Shahrazad volunteers to marry that monster. 
She does so with a clever plan on how to stay alive. She wants to take revenge on him for murdering her best friend and the other girls.
But when she gets to know the caliph of Khorasan better, she discovers a broken sould beneath his armor. And then she starts falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

MY OPINION

This novel is primarily a romance inspired by A Thousand and One Nights. I guess we all had good and bad experiences with "romance novels" and we all know how easily writing a romance can go completly wrong.
For one, the asshole. The dark, broody love interest is very common in YA novels.
And it's easy to fall for them. I'm not excluding myself, be assured.
But it's too easy to overdo the 'moody' part of his. Just take Christian Grey as an example. 
He's probably the biggest douche in modern literature but you're supposed to love him anyway. 
And so many do and get a completly wrong idea of how a relationship is supposed to be.
Remember: A lapse of cruelty is not an evidence of kindness.

Then, there is another common problem of romance novels. The female main character.
I've read some books in which the protagonist was terribly frustrating, submissive or immature.
But nobody in the story recognized it. They praised her to the skies and made the reader believe that only if you act like the stereotypical 'little girl' you'd get the boy.

And, lastly, a problem that oh so many books have to deal with: Instalove.
Urrrgh.


Wow, that was hell of an introduction.
Where I wanted to go with all of this:
This book has non of those problems. In that way it's perfect.

There's no Instalove.
Shazi actually hates her husband while he's doing anything in his power to stir up her hatred.
And yeah, he is one of those brooding guys but lemme tell you, he has a heart of gold.
That's something Shahrazad too realizes. And then it get's complicated.
What do you do when you love your best friend's murderer?

Her hate for him doesn't disappear out of the sudden. It's no jump from hate to love within two pages.
It's a development.
And even when she knows she has feelings for him, she doesn't make up excuses for the murders.
She just wants to know why.
This romance was just so well done. So. Well. Done. I loved Shazi and Khalid's interactions. Their dialogue felt so natural and real.
I've never noticed a break in their characters, even if it meant disliking one of our two main characters for a while.
Will you feel conflicted over the fact that Shazi was falling for the murderer of her best friend? YES
Will you believe their feelings? DEFINITELY
Will you root for them? PASSIONATELY

There are wonderful quotes which will make you swoon. (I promise.)

“My soul sees its equal in you.”
“What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?” he whispered.
“If I’m a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan on being destroyed.” The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest.
“No.” His hands dropped to her waist. “Destroy me.”

Oh, Khalid. You beautiful man.

Ahdieh's writing is addictive, sexy, magical and just downright lovely!
That woman has a way with words. She manages to attune her writing style to the atmosphere perfectly. Her descriptions are easy to picture, very poetic and lush.

I adored the stories within the story! It made me really interested in the tales of A Thousand and One Nights!  I can't wait to get my hands on book two!

The side characters were so interesting and had a whole story of their own! I can't wait to see where Despina and Jalal's relationship goes from there!

Even though, the book is set in the real world, there are some fantasy elements woven into the story.
Some people, including Shazi and her father, are able to work with a very mysterious kind of magic.
We didn't get much of an explanation but I hope we do in the next book!


One small issue (if you can call it that), I'd like to adress at the end, is that Shazi had definitely more opportunities to kill Khalid. She could have tried harder at the beginning of their marriage. But, oh well. I'm not complaining about an alive and kicking Khalid.
Also kudos to Renee Ahdieh for putting a glossar and the prologue of The Rose and The Dagger at the end!

RATING

5 out of 5 stars

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Hi there, guys!
I'm back with another review!

BASICS

Title: Last Sacrifice
Series: The Vampire Diaries, sixth and final book
Author: Richelle Mead
Release Date: December 7th 2010
Publisher: Razorbill
ISBN: 1595143068
Number of Pages: 594
Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult, Romance

SUMMARY

This book isn't even worth to spoil you.

MY OPINION

Nah.
Nah.
Nah.


What a disappointment - again.

This book consists out of six hundred pages of soap-opera worthy melodrama.
Many scenes were just there for drama and gasp-effects.
For example, Rose's exaggerated speeches.
a) the one in front of the whole court
Real smooth, Rose, real smooth. Not even considering talking to your friends before you confront the court
b) the one with Adrian
Really, Rose? Was that really necessary?

We're supposed to love Rose for her kindness and consideration for others but actually she's just a self-absorbed asshole. She always just thinks about what's best for her.
They come first? Horse shit.Tell that to Jill (who you didn't even ask) and Christian (who you didn't even consult with).
She didn't even think about them at that point! Or if she did, she didn't mind ruining her life as long as she could maintain her usual level of boldness and 'badassery'.
I don't she her having any king of character growth which I've read so much about in various reviews. 
Actually, she reaches her lowest low.
Cheating.
And here are some of her thoughts after cheating on Adrian (that's no real spoiler because it was bound to happen sooner or later):

It wasn’t cheating, I decided, thinking of Adrian. It was just enjoying this closeness.
I couldn’t break up with him in a dream. That was almost as bad as a text breakup. Besides, I had a feeling that...well, I’d probably need his help. So much for honor. Soon, I swore. Soon I’ll tell him
She admits not wanting to break up with Adrian because he could be useful?Fuck, Rose, do you think just because you're supposedly a 'warrior goddess' or whatever, you have the right to run around and destroy lives? Speaking of warrior goddess, if I'll ever hear 'warrior god' again, scream. And go berserk.

Rose's complete vocabulary was unfittingly juvenile and reading from her perspective about Dimitri felt like being in a love-crazy teenager's head. Which Rose is, actually.


This book would have been reduced to one sixth of its length if Rose had just told Abe about the letter from Tatiana but, no, she has to do it her way.
And she gave away important information multiple times troughout the book which was too stupid even for Rose because she was talking to a fucking criminal.
Oh, and Rose's grief was like the most ridiculous thing I've ever read about! How long did it last? A total of 10 pages maybe?
There was also a break in canon. Rose was able to communicate with Tatiana's spirit while she was in jail at court. Weren't the court's borders warded with spells which kept the spirits out?
Many characters were simply shoved aside. There was apparently no time for a proper appearance of Eddie or Christian (let alone Mia or Dimitri's family).
Instead we got a whole bunch of unimportant 'Keepers' - what use were they even for?
Except for showing us that Rose is desired by every male on the planet and give Rose some time to brag about other people's life.
I'm just happy this series is over now.
It's very unlikely that I'll start the Bloodlines series. Most reviews I've read stated that it's the same constellation of characters (Sydney - Rose      Jill - Lissa       Eddie - Christian       Adrian - Dimitri) except that Sydney isn't as 'funny' as Rose is.
It's no great loss.

RATING 

1 out of 5 stars

Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Hi there!
Even though this is probably the busiest month of the whole school year, I feel suddenly extremely productive review-writing wise.
Well, I won't complain. I have a shit ton of reviews to work off. Let's get down to business.


BASICS

Title: Spirit Bound
Series: Vampire Academy, book number 5
Author: Richelle Mead
Release Date: May 18th 2010
Publisher: Penguin Razorbill
ISBN: 1595142509
Number of Pages: 489
Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult, Romance

SUMMARY

I won't spoiler you!
But there will be spoilers for the previous book in the next section. Be warned.

MY OPINION

A while before I even read the third book in the series (if I recall correctly) I've read a review on one of the pervious VA books by the Goodreads user Emily May. She wrote that many people have told her that the series' quality will decrease from the forth book on.
Caught up in the awesomeness of the second book, I naturally didn't believe her.
Well.
One is always wiser at the end.
This book was a huge disappointment

I couldn't understand this sudden drop in quality.
My main problem was our beloved main character Rose Hathaway. She was terribly frustrating.
Her actions in ths book are so unplanned, naive and childish. Nothing like her in the previous books where she gained, not directly wisdom, but maturity.
In Spirit Bound she definitely goes back in her character development.

Another thing that really bothered me, was how she treated Adrian. It started which him giving her all the money to fund her trip to Siberia to hunt for Dimitri. This deal meant for Rose: giving Adrian a real chance.
She accepted but she didn't mean it. That can be seen throughout book five (and book six but I'll come to that some other time).

Those who followed my updates on Goodreads already know which example I'll use to show my dislike for the way Rose is treating Adrian.
About 30% in the story, Rose tells Adrian after he follows her to Las Vegas: "There are boundaries you've got to respect!"
Look who's talking, Rose. Using your "boyfriend's" money to break a convicted criminal (who tortured your best friend!) out of prison and then going to Vegas with said criminal without telling your boyfriend, all in order to get back your first boyfriend, isn't really regarded as 'respecting the boundaries either'.
Just sayin', Rose.

I really felt sorry for Adrian.
He loves her and tries so hard to convince her to give him a chance  but whenever someone just thinks 'Dimitri', Rose conveniently forgets about him.

Rose doesn't even start to think about the consequences of her actions! There's a) the heartbroken Adrian or b) the runaway criminal. Rose seems to don't give a shit.

The main thing that made Rose and the whole book so frustrating for me is that Rose is a Teller.
She tells us all about her best traits, how much she loves Dimitri, how deep their mutual love is and how selfless she is. But she or rather Richelle Mead never shows us all those things.
And that makes Rose the most unreliable narrator of the whole series.

She says she values her friends but she doesn't actually give a shit about Eddie and that his whole future is at stake for her stupidity. Or about Lissa's mental state when she forces her to help Victor getting out of prison.
Rose just demands more and more

When I took notes for this review, I wrote down 'I hope the next book will be on the same level of quality as the first three were' and I can tell you, no. It wasn't as bad as Spirit Bound but it wasn't as good as the first three books in the series either. But I'll talk about that another time.

RATING

2 out of 5 stars

End of Days by Susan Ee

Hi there, guys!
What's up?
I'm back with another review but read on with caution! It's the last book in the trilogy and this review will contain big spoilers!

BASICS

Title: End of Days
Series: Penryn and the End of Days, 
             book number 3
Author: Susan Ee
Release Date: May 12th 2015
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 1444778552
Number of Pages: 435
Genre: Dystopian, Paranormal, Young
             Adult
 

SUMMARY

My lips are sealed. Duh.

MY OPINION

All in all, I would say this was an okay book. I definitely had higher expectations but I woulnd't consider it badly written. It was supposed to be a roller coaster ride of emotions. I hoped that this book would be an epic, earth shattering conclusion and that it would drown me in feels. What I got was ,like, a puddle of lukewarm feels. Not even up to your ankles.

I wanted to feel the feelings I've felt reading Angelfall. The first book captured you in its story you were with the characters, engrossed in their problems.
End of Days made me feel like a bystander who couldn't care less. I've never felt particulary concerned about the main characters.

So, let's talk about them. If you're a really enthusiastic Penryn x Raffe shipper, you'll get your money's worth. But.
Firstly, I see why people think that this one scene roughly 10% in the story is hot but basically, she molested him. As you can imagine I wasn't fond of that.
And while I was happy that they could be together in the end, the ending felt forced to me. Everything was pushed into place and how is the idiom? if it doesn't fit, she uses a bigger hammer.
Isn't it convenient that the Nephilim-problem was just made up? Oh yeah, angels believed in Nephilim for thousands of years but actually, that's total bullshit. And Raffe seems to have known for the whole time. 

After the dark and gory themes in Angelfall and World After I hoped that the final ending would be dark too (even if that would have included the death of a main character) but what we got was the complete opposite. Everything was "perfect", Raffe chose to give up his most beloved belongings. It was cheesy to say the least. And no big tragic death occured which I had felt sure would happen. (I'm not counting Obi because I didn't give a fuck about him in any of the books.)

Even though I wasn't as fond of the main characters in this installment as in the last ones, I did enjoy Paige.
The Mom on the other side, who was definitely one of my favourite characters in the earlier books,  lost the creepiness she portrayed in book one and two.
Actually, the whole setting lost its creepiness.
That's what I've missed. Anyways, back to Paige. I felt so sorry for her.
Even though Penryn has always told us how much she loves Paige, after discovering what a 'monster' her little sister became, Penryn isn't so sure about the loving part. At least, she has a hard time accepting who Paige is now. But that doesn't mean Penryn should neglect her sister.
The fact that Paige's situation is somewhat placed aside in favour of the romance didn't help.

Do you remember the scene in which Doc tells Penryn that her sister is in pain? The little girl was cut and stitched like a rag doll, and Penryn never took the time to give her anything for the pain.
While Paige would do anything for her sister (like starving herself to death), Penryn couldn't even acknowledge her sister's pain.

Then there were the scenes in the Pit with those big, fiery dudes. Those seemed to ridiculous to come from Susan Ee's imagination. It didn't fit the entire setting of the series. A leash with heads? Seriously? It may have added some gore but picturing it was so absurd.
And why did they all have the same hair and eye colour? And why is it even possible that they can jump through Beliel into the damn pit? So, so many unanswered questions.
While reading End of Days I hoped for some more information on the Pit and its original civilisation, but oh, well.
Many things that were important to dwell on were just rushed over or poked at.

It's a satisfying read but not more.
I still love Angelfall and World After. Those were dark, gritty, fast paced and emotions were running high. I'll try my best to not let End of Days ruin the great experience the first two books had been.

RATING

3 out of 5 stars

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Hi, guys!
I'm back with another review for you!

BASICS
Title: Blue Lily, Lily Blue
Series: The Raven Cycle, book number 3
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: October 21st 2014
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN: 0545424968
Number of Pages: 391
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal

SUMMARY
It's really tricky to summarize Blue Lily, Lily Blue without spoiling any of you, so I'll just copy the Goodreads "summary" because I think they did quite a good job:

There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up.
Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.
The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel.

MY OPINION

“Friendship of the unshakeable kind. Friendship you could swear on. That could be busted nearly to breaking and come back stronger than before.”
Even though so much is going on in this series, from murder to love to some weird Welsh king, I do think that the main theme is friendship. Those five teenagers are welded together and nothing will rip them apart. Not even death.
They make fun of each other, they fight a lot but they love each other unconditionally.
There are moments where they hate each other and moments where they would die for each other.
The friendship between Gansey, Blue, Ronan, Adam and Noah gives me life.


Blue Lily, Lily Blue is totally one of my favourite books in 2015, hell, one of my favourite books of all time.
Maggie Stiefvater is a brilliant author. Apart from being a hilarious and kind person, she can write like hell. You'll get sucked in the story so deep, it will never let you go again.
There's not a single day where I don't think about The Raven Cycle.
Maggie Stiefvater managed it through these three books to change my view on nature completely.
When I'm outside, it seems like, I'm looking closer at things than before.
It made nature more beautiful for me and there's this longing for Blue, Gansey, the Raven boys and their Welsh king.
I wish the last book would come out sooner but on the other hand I don't want this series to end and to have to say goodbye to all the characters I came to love.

Maggie has the talent to write unbelievably deep characters. They all have their flaws and tics and it's up to you if you love them or hate them.
I have to start with Blue because she's definitely one of my favourite protagonists of all time. Maybe even the favourite. She's herself, even if that means not fitting in, and doesn't care what people'll think of her. Her whole life she's been the one who's not special. While every other woman at 300 Fox Way was in some way a psychic, she had to stay in the background and watch.  However, Blue has some kind of ability of her own: She can make magical energy stronger and thus is very useful to her psychic relatives/housemates.

Blue never grew tired of being particularly needed, but sometimes she wished "needed" felt less like a synonym for "useful."

She's a big feminist and won't back down. And she's so sassy and has brilliant comebacks!
Here are some of her lines:

“Right, sure. Because there's no girls in politics! I have no interest. Voting? What? I forgot my apron. I think I ought to be in the kitchen right now, actually. My rolling pin-”

 “Then Maura made something with butter and Calla made something with bacon and Blue steamed broccoli in self-defense.”

[Adam:]“How do you feel about helicopters?"
                 There was a long pause. "How do you mean? Ethically?"
                "As a mode of transportation."
                "Faster than camels, but less sustainable.” 

“Blue tried not to look at Gansey's boat shoes; she felt better about him as a person if she pretended he wasn't wearing them.”


“Haven’t you heard of being hung, drawn, and quartered?”
Blue asked, “Is it as painful as conversations with Ronan?”
 Then there's Blue and Gansey's relationship. It's so heartbreaking, I can't even. Make full sentences anymore.
Sometimes Stiefvater throws a tiny morsel at you and you get overrun by feels.
And don't even get me started on their midnight phone calls. They give me life and kill me at the same time.




Let's talk about Gansey, too! He's so brilliantly written! At the beginning you felt with Blue and disliked Gansey a bit for his careless remarks. He can be quite condescending and 'stupid about money' (Adam). His family has always been rich and he never even thought that other people have to work hard to afford a living. You could say he's careless about money.
But Gansey has a heart of gold and is fiercly loyal to his friends.

This was why Adam could forgive that shallow, glossy version of Gansey he'd first met. Because of his money and his good family name, because of his handsome smile and his easy laugh, because he liked people (and despite his fears to the contrary) they liked him back, Gansey could've had any and all of the friends that he wanted. Instead, he had chosen the three of them, three guys who should've, for three different reasons, been friendless.

I adore him quite a bit. (Even though he wears Topsiders.)
He tries to learn from his mistakes and he doesn't want to offend anyone anymore.

Adam still scares me and he's actually the character I like the least.
I do see that he has a terrible past and always has to give and give and give but there were some scenes (especially the one with Blue) which confirmed my opinion of him.
Anyhow I hope that his burden will become lighter soon! He endured his for too long!
And I hope that Ronan's crush on Adam will evolve into something more. It would be cute. And Adam deserves some love in his life - so does Ronan.

We also get a new character in this installment!
A man who's called Colin Greenmantle and those of you who have read The Dream Thieves already know who he is and how high he is ranked on the bastard scale.
Anyway, we get to know him and his wife Piper (who's actually quite hilarious).



I physically NEED The Raven King right now. Why do we have to wait for so long?
I NEED ANSWERS.




RATING
5 out of 5 stars


Here are some drawings by Maggie Stiefvater herself!

Gansey:






Adam:


Blue:


Henry Cheng:


Calla, Persephone, Maura and 'a new person':


'Person I can't name without giving away too much information':

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Hi, guys!

BASICS

Title: Heir of Fire
Series: Throne of Glass Series, #3
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Release Date: September 2^nd 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children
ISBN: 1619630656
Number of Pages: 562
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

SUMMARY

Due being book three in a series, I can't tell you much about Heir of Fire, except for this: Celaena's off to Wendlyn to assassinate the royal family on the king's orders. Dorian and Chaol being all passive (agressive) with each other. Lots of new characters are introduced - yay!

MY OPINION
Honestly, I can just repeat everything I've said in my Crown of Midnight review, except that I could dive into the story right away.

Lemme tell you, this book was amazing.
It's definitely my favourite in the series so far.
Sarah J. Maas writing improved so much over the course of the three books!
It sucked me completely into the world of Celaena, Dorian and all our beloved ones. 
So, if you didn't like Maas' writing style in Throne of Glass, I recommend you to read on because it keeps getting better and better! I can't wait to get my hands on Queen of Shadows (Not even three months from now)!
In Heir of Fire we get to see Wendlyn for the very first time! It's really cool, even though I'm still slightly confused about the history of Wendlyn and the Fae.

We get a lot of characters to talk about, so let's just give every one his or her own section. CELAENA SARDOTHIEN

In Heir of Fire we get to see Celaena at her lowest lows.
She's fallen into a state of deep depression.
She feels terribly guilty and everything she had locked up for all those years crashes down on her.
It was my problem with Celaena in Throne of Glass that she seemed quite shallow or "raw" but you can't say that about her in the third book!
Her character becomes more complex and makes a huge step regarding character development!
If you compare Very-First-Chapter-Celaena and Last-Chapter-Celaena - it's like there are worlds between them.
And Maas managed to let this development, Celaena's realisations, come so slowly but still fast enough to not be boring.








ROWAN WHITETHORN

He's my favourite male protagonist from the series at the moment.
I just love Celaena's and his relationship.
They are closer (not in a romantic/sexual way) than Dorian and Celaena or even Chaol and Celaena.
They've gone through everything together and seen each other at moments of deep depression.
They developed from a state of mutual dislike and ridicule to a relationship so deep, I had tears in my eyes while reading the last chapters.
Rowan, I love you.
I'll support those two as friends, as a couple, hell, I'll support the shit out of them as long as they're together!
He helped her accept her and see the big picture (even though he was an ass at muliple times but we all love him anyway) and I don't think anybody else (we've met) deserves her.
She can't be a hundred percent honest to Chaol and he cant accept who she is and Dorian, well, I would spoil you, so I just shut up.
Just lemme tell you: Rowan's ma man.


MANON BLACKBEAK
I've already mentioned her in my first Tag-post! I chose her as my favourite morally ambiguous character!
She's such a badass, I loved every chapter of her. She's actually a character you are not supposed to like but you just can't help yourself.
She's a cruel, rutheless, blood-drinking girl who was raised by an even crueler society.
But she can definitely kick ass. And we love her for that.
Thanks to her chapters we get to know the culture of the Irontheet Witches and the king's plans with them.
I'm so excited to see what Manon will do in the next installment!









AEDION ASHRYVER





At first, I wasn't sure what to think of him.
He seemed like the king's lap dog and a big ass traitor but when I saw his true, hidden self, the devotion to his queen, my heart shattered into tiny little pieces.
Please, let him meet his Queen again!



















SORSCHA

I've heard that some people don't like Sorscha and honestly, I can't understand why. I love her.
She's a healer at the castle - actually she's the healer who has always helped Celaena and her friends after some dangerous confrontations but wasn't ever really looked at. But now she get's her own POV!
She's extremely shy, absolutely gentle and utterly in love with Prince Dorian.
Ever since she came to the Glass Castle she had a crush on him but was convinced that it was one-sided love. Well, she was convinced of that until Heir of Fire came along *wink*


CHAOL WESTFALL

Please, don't kill me when I say this but I really did not like Chaol in this installment.
I've started to have some issues with him in Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire only proved that I was right .
I really see that he had good intentions but what he did was still pretty douchy of him. There's no other word, I'm sorry. You just don't treat your best friend like shit, Chaol.
And don't get me started on his problem with Celaena's honesty.
I see where this suspicion is coming from but that changes nothing about the fact that I just wanted so slap him and scream: 'Get it together, mate!' in his face.
He was quite frustrating in Heir of Fire.










And last but not least:
DORIAN HAVILLIARD

Mother of god, look at this drawing!
It's gorgeous!

Dorian is my baby and nobody is allowed to touch him without my permission. Especially not Sarah J. Maas.
I just want to tuck him into some really really soft blankets and hug him until he's happy again.
Really, reading about him wakes my motherly instincts!
I loved reading about him, how he discovers his magic and how he falls in love again - oh, those two are too sweet.










After reading the third installment in the Throne of Glass series, I cannot not recommend it to you!
The first book may be a bit though to get through, in my opinion, but this series just gets better and better!
To sum up this review:





RATING
5 out of 5 stars!


Stay funky!
Franzi




Sources:
Celaena and Sorscha: walkingnorth
Rowan: ttauriel
Manon: Heilow
Aedion: omupied
Chaol: compoundbreadd
Dorian: cosmic-frequencies