Review: The Diviners

Title: The Diviners
Author: Libba Bray
Publication Date: 25 August 2015
ISBN: 031612611X
Pages: 578
Genre: Paranormal Historical Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon|Book Depository



Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

I'm glad I decided to listen to all the hype on booktube about this book. I've been hearing all about it for quite a while and the premise seemed interesting.

One of the first things I noticed about this book was its accuracy to the time. From the descriptions all the way to the speech patterns, it's clear that Libba Bray spent quite a bit of time doing research. From this alone you feel as if you are planted solidly in the 20's. I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Another thing I thought was well written were each of the murders that Evie follows. We, the readers, learn about the murders before Evie does meaning we have details and context that she doesn't. It's interesting to see the levels of speculation that the characters do and their process when you know so much more than them.

The character development was done exceedingly well in this story. We see through two main perspectives- Evie and Memphis- and little bits and pieces of a few of the other characters. I really enjoyed reading through Memphis' eyes because his emotions were very real. I related more closely with him than I did with Evie. One of the other minor characters who I really enjoyed was Theta. Her back story was so unique to this plot and she was an all around interesting character. She was, despite being minor, a round character who showed some growth.

There weren't very many characters that I particularly enjoyed in this book unfortunately. There is no specific reason for why I didn't completely enjoy Evie's character but I just didn't like her. It might be because she was somewhat an attention hog and had a "holier than thou" attitude. Jericho was a wimpy character who doesn't serve much purpose until nearly half way though the book.

However, overall I felt my dislike for some of the more major characters didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. It was well written, historically accurate, with a very interesting plot. Getting to the ending was very intense and learning about the history along the way was really quite amazing. If you're interested in a good, based in historical fact, paranormal book, pick this up. 

Review: The Shadow Society

Title: The Shadow Society
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Publication Date: 16 October 2012
ISBN: 0374349053
Pages: 416
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon|Book Depository



Darcy Jones doesn't remember anything before the day she was abandoned as a child outside a Chicago firehouse. She has never really belonged anywhere—but she couldn't have guessed that she comes from an alternate world where the Great Chicago Fire didn't happen and deadly creatures called Shades terrorize the human population.

Memories begin to haunt Darcy when a new boy arrives at her high school, and he makes her feel both desire and desired in a way she hadn't thought possible. But Conn's interest in her is confusing. It doesn't line up with the way he first looked at her.

As if she were his enemy.

When Conn betrays Darcy, she realizes that she can't rely on anything—not herself, not the laws of nature, and certainly not him. Darcy decides to infiltrate the Shadow Society and uncover the Shades' latest terrorist plot. What she finds out will change her world forever . . .

I picked up this book at the library for the sake of procrastination. I wanted an easy read, something that didn't require me to think too much. And this book fulfilled it's purpose well.

I didn't really like the beginning of the book. It felt very middle- grade, Darcy was whiny and it started out like a very typical, stupid love story. But when Conn betrays Darcy, she does grow up and starts making better decisions. But even with her growth, she doesn't seem to fit the age she was portrayed as (17, if I remember correctly). While I understand that 17 year olds don't make the best decisions, hers were exceptionally poor. Moreover, she was involved in this horrible love triangle with two guys who were equally mentally abusive and manipulative. To make matters worse, instead of walking away from the romance she embraces it. It was irritating.

But I have to give credit to Marie Rutkoski for having very in-depth imagery. This is a novel where you are transported into the world, where you're experiencing what Darcy is experiencing. It's a very well described world. On the same note, she doesn't give much explanation on how everything came to be. For example, I'm not sure how the alternate world got there or how anything at the end came to be (not specifying because spoilers).

Overall, there was a lot of potential here. It was obvious that this was the first time that Marie Rutkoski was writing in the YA genre. If you're looking something that's an easy, no commitment, just okay type of book, feel free to pick this up. Will I be recommending it to any of my friends? Probably not.

California Shooting- The World is a Mess

So I just heard about the mass shooting that occurred in San Bernardino, California. I'm not sure what the specifics are but, according to CNN, 14 were killed and 17 were injured. My heart goes out to all of these people and I send my condolences.

On CNN, after discussing the shooting, they talked about the best way to protect yourself in case there is a mass shooting. And it hit me, this is something that we actually need to have safety precautions for. Mass shooting has its own set of safety precautions. You know how we have safety drills for fires and tornadoes? Safety drills for mass shootings may need to be added to the list. I know we have lock down drills but that's generally for threats outside of the school. This is for imminent shootings. That's terrifying.

We live in a world where mass shootings have gotten so common that we need to show safety precautions for them on national television.

I'm not entirely sure why this bothers me so much but it does. I guess the only thing that can be said right now is "be safe to the best of your ability".

Senior Year Update: Thanksgiving (Week 16)

So I'm not going to dedicate a post to Week 13- 15 mostly because I don't remember much about them other. Well I do remember talking with all of my friends and Nikki coming to sit outside with us at lunch (which is practically unheard of). I also remember the bombing in Paris and am sending them well wishes. Also, I send well wishes to Beruit who was bombed on November 12, 2015 and was barely recognized. All I can say is that we live in a world of ridiculous ideals.

Week 16 (11/22-11/28)
Thanksgiving break!! WHOOOO!! Well there is one thing that's raining on my parade. We didn't get to send in the Magazine because someone decided they would start complaining about the resolution of the pics even though I had been working on it for almost 3 weeks!

I went to Boston, MA on Wednesday with my family and it was so awesome! I hung out with my cousins and my CuCu (pronounced shosho, meaning grandmother in Kikuyu). My baby cousin Chris is so adorable. He takes forever to eat but he loves giving hugs and I loved hanging out with him. And his brother was equally awesome. He's grown so much since the last time I saw him. It was so strange seeing him so different and more talkative. I had a good time just hanging out with all of them. We got into the heart of Boston which is so nice. The architecture is so old and beautiful, all of the buildings seem to have their own stories and tidbits of the past. It was absolutely amazing. As was Harvard. The campus is glorious and quieter than I thought it would be, but it was really nice. We didn't do too much exploring but what I did get to see was positively delightful. Enough to make me apply? Probably not. 

I don't think I've ever eaten as much as food as I consumed in those three days. By the time we got home I was absolutely stuffed. But it was so worth, all of it was so good. Chai and chapati for breakfast every morning, who can complain? And the turkey we had on Thanksgiving was phenomenal, so tender and delicious. Great times. Now I really want chai. Not the point, the food was amazing. And when we got back home, we had a Thanksgiving party and some of my mom's friends were over and we danced all night. It was exhausting but the conversation was really nice. Everyone, I hope, had a really god time. I know I did.

All in all, one of my favorite Thanksgiving breaks. It was nice to spend time with my family and just get to chat and catch up. Hopefully, the next time I say everyone from Boston will be very soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Disney Series: Princess Ranking

So recently my friend hsas been asking all of these Disney related questions and she suggested that I make a Disney related series on my blog. So here it is: Part 1- a ranking all of the official Disney Princesses (plus 2 princesses in waiting).

13- Snow White

She walked into a random person's house. And just decided to crash there. It's not like the house was abandoned or anything, it was very much lived in and yet she chose to just enter. On top of all of that, she ate an apple from some RANDOM old lady she didn't know! Didn't anyone ever tell you don't take food from strangers? Erg!

12- Ariel

She thought she needed to change herself to be with a man that she saw once in her life. And on top of that, she was stupid enough to believe that Ursula would play fairly.

11- Elsa

She froze her kingdom. And proceeded to run away. You may ask: why didn't she try to hone her powers early? Answer: she was busy feeling sorry for herself and avoiding her sibling even the lovely rock people never told her to hide away from everyone. She still froze her kingdom though.

10- Cinderella

Far too weak. What was she so afraid of? What would her stepmother have done. She wouldn't have too much claim to the house, if that's the issue. I think I would have liked her more if she had made an attempt to get out of the situation that she was in.

9- Aurora

People seem to conveniently forget she falls in love with a guy that she's met in her dreams. Anyone else thinking hallucinations? Hmmmm? However, she wasn't a terrible princess. Not that she did very much anyway.

8- Rapunzel

How come she was to stupid to figure out how to get out of the tower on her own? How come she didn't realize that her hair was long enough for that? She was just stupid and I didn't like her.

7- Anna

She was too childish. And far too naive to be likable. I don't have any actual reason for disliking her but her character was irksome. 

6- Belle

Not going to lie, the fact that she really loved reading brings me great joy and saved her from being further down the list. However, Stockholm Syndrome is a serious issue with this girl. Just sayin'. On the same token, Stockholm Syndrome isn't necessarily her fault, she saved her father's life in exchange for living her days with one person. So I guess she can't really be faulted too much.

5- Merida

First truthfully strong princess to appear on the list (which isn't at all relevant to this). She was so ready to do whatever it took to not get married, practically unheard of during that time. But she's not higher on the list because she decided to turn her mother into a bear... Yeah, questionable actions.

4- Tiana

She really showed what it takes to change your situation. And she was going to do it without the prince. However, in what world would you actually kiss a frog? They're unhygienic and gross feeling and there is no way that she would have kissed a frog in real life. But she does win some points back because she was so sassy and assertive. I loved her!

3- Jasmine

She was friends with a tiger. I think that says it all. But if it's not enough to convince you, she was also extremely determined to choose her own husband and she fought admirably for her beliefs. Some might argue that she fell in love with a criminal but he was practically starving. And he was pretty clever.

2- Pocahontas

She did what she wanted. She went against all rules of the tribe and she even made an active attempt at getting to know white man's culture. Plus, she had the voice of an angel! 'Colors of the Wind' is definitely one of the best Disney songs ever (so much better than 'Let it Go'). 

1- Mulan

 She fought for her country, not once but twice. She's considered a Disney princess not for marrying into royalty or for being royalty, but because she saved her kingdom. Her main priority wasn't falling in love or changing herself for a man. She saved her kingdom and did so even when Shang was being all pride hurt. Win for women kind all around the world. And all respect has to go to her for being so independent.

What do you guys think? How would you order the princesses and why? Any of mine that you think should have a different rank?

Review: The Book Thief

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Publication Date: 14 March 2006
ISBN: 0375831002 
Pages: 552
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Paperback
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon|Book Depository




It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

I knew I would end up writing a review on a book that I really didn't like at some point, but I didn't expect it to be so soon. It took me two weeks to finish this novel and I had to force myself to finish it.

First off, this novel is amazing in its description of detail and the accuracy in which World War II was portrayed. It doesn't delve in too deep with the specifics of major nights in Germany prior to the start of World War II but I appreciated it. I also enjoyed all of the characters that were introduced, each of them was their own person. Or, at least, I could see their potential to be more than just a flat, one- dimensional character. This again relates back to the intricate descriptions which I appreciated. But that's just about where good things end.

Things were happening, there wasn't a single chapter in which the characters were doing nothing. However, because of the detail provided it felt like everything was moving at a glacial pace. Even though months had passed in the span of four of five pages, it felt as if we were reading about a single day. All of the details made for a very slow story without any climax or anything truthfully interesting. Even the supposed climax wasn't very good because it was so overly detailed.

Moreover, the narrator- Death- was not as interesting a perspective as I thought it would be. I expected Death to be more morbid and he was just average. There was nothing exciting or intriguing about his perspective. The story probably would have been very similar if told from Liesel's neighbor point of view. There was no real value that the story added when told from Death's perspective except for when he was picking up dead bodies. And even that was so detailed it became this mundane thing just happened. And that may have been the intent that Zusak wanted- death being a normal, every day thing- the way it was written made death seem like this boring action. Zusak didn't even really explain how Death managed to watch Liesel for as long as it did without ever coming to take her personally.

Liesel's book thieving happen wasn't even a central idea or major issue in the plot. It didn't really come into play well past the halfway point. And to be honest, I wouldn't count what she did as "stealing" which implies that she was... uninvited.

Overall, I felt that the entire book had the potential to be an interesting plot but failed to reach the bar. Despite my love for description, Zusak utilized far too much and slowed the plot down to a point where the end always felt so far. And he didn't utilize the perspective in a way that could have made the entire plot more striking or though provoking. I would only recommend this book to die-hard historical fiction fans who want a very slow read or who want a book that they can put down often without feeling like their missing something. 

Have you guys read The Book Thief? What did you think?

The Rain

I love thunderstorms. 

The feeling of water snaking down your arm, making rivulets that curve and bend.

The patter against the rooftop in the middle of the night.

The delicate scent of the drenched grass.

The dark clouds looming overhead.

The strange warmth in the air, warm yet able to make you shiver.

The gravely sound of thunder as it runs across the ground.

The scream of the lightening beating the earth, shaking the electrons.

The grating squeak of sneakers against the linoleum floor.

The quieter breaths everyone seems to take.

It rained today and everything was so peaceful. I walked outside with a friend to get something from their car and get completely drenched on the way their. And I never completely dried off but it was such a nice feeling. Today was really calming. I read more of The Book Thief and I finally reached halfway. Hopefully a review will pop up by next week. It's not raining right now and I have homework to do, así adios.

Senior Year Update: Week 12

Time for some honesty: I was a little worried about putting this up. I think it came from the pressure to present life like this joyous and constantly fun place when, in reality, it's not always like that. And the reason I'm posting this is because one of the purposes of this blog is to write about my life and how I felt every step of the way regardless of whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.  

~~~~

Week 12 (10/25-10/31)

I don't know why I'm writing this. Nothing good has happened this week. I had a 12-16 page paper to write and I thought it was going to be fine. But Thursday night rolled around and I didn't have enough research for it and was up until 2. It was ridiculousness. Friday was just exhausting because of that. 

I failed a math quiz.

My knee injury continues to persist and I'm scheduled for some physical therapy, which I guess I'm excited for. But I desperately want to get back out on the field and play. And yea, I might complain about having to go practice sometimes but I detest being stuck on the sidelines. I feel like I've become crappy decoration for my team and that I'm just letting them down. It just sucks.

I continued reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. So far I'm not in love with it. In fact I can't even say I'm even enjoying it. But I'll leave all of that for my review after I've finished.

And this weekend I felt more like an outsider than I've felt in a really long time. I felt like the weird kid on the playground who wants to join in with all the fun that everyone else is having but can't because I wasn't invited. And I'm usually okay with that but it feels like it's happening more and more frequently. It's like thinking you have somewhere you belong, at least a little, and having that yanked from you. No warning, no explanation, nothing.

But I guess that crappy feeling got me to talk to someone who understands where I'm coming from. It was nice to vent to someone who was just going to listen without trying to insert their opinion or try to pat me on the head and say "snap out of it". They just let me talk and then we worked through how I was feeling, at least a little. And I got to do the same for them. It was comforting to know that someone was there who understood, even it it was just a little. So I guess something good did happen. 

Random word I just learned: Petrichor (ˈpeˌtrīkôr) a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather

Tag: Zombie Apocalypse Book Tag

A big thanks to Cindy over at Stranger Things Have Happened for tagging me!

What to do: I have 5 books picked at random. Each book will answer two questions. The first name I see when I flip through the book without looking will be in that team.

The five books I chose at random:

Anne of Green Gables

The first person to die: Gilbert Blythe... I am so okay with this. I really hated Gilbert Blythe in the first book, he was such a jerk. If he dies by zombie, I'm fine.

The person you trip to get away from the zombies: Diana Barry... No! Not Diana! I could never do anything so harsh to my bosom friend! *Fling myself onto a bad and weep in Anne-like fashion*

Fahrenheit 451

The first person to turn into a zombie: Mildred Montag... Doesn't she already fit this mold? I just hope she won't try to eat my brains. If she stays the same, I think I'll be okay.

The person that trips YOU to get away from the zombies: Clarisse McClellan... Seriously?!?! Why would you do this, what did I do to you? I think, I'm not like others who don't read. 

Gone With the Wind

The idiot of the team: Rhett Butler... Well if he's the stupidest one on the team, I think I'm pretty safe tonight. Rhett's cunning and smart and he'd find a way to make good with the zombies. Yay to living!

The "brains" of the team: Ashley Wilkes... Truthfully I don't remember much of this man which isn't really a good thing... I might actually die!!

Throne of Glass

The team's medic: Celaena Sardothien.... Forget dying, Celaena'll just patch me up... And she doubles as a weapon herself. Awesome!

The weapons expert: Dorian Havilliard... Never mind, we're gonna die. Why not Chaol?!? Why?!?!

Lexicon 

The brawler: Wil Parke... Yup, still going to die. There is no hope, I can kiss any semblance of humanity good bye. Good bye cruel, zombie filled world!

The Team Captain: Virginia Woolf... HECK YES!!!!! And all is good in the world. No dying tonight. I would have preferred her as my weapons expert but I'm okay with her here. More than okay in fact.





Well that was fun! I'm not really sure I've made it out of the zombie apocalypse alive- unfortunately I'm sure Diana hasn't- but at least my team is interesting. 

I tag all of you who desire to do this. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it immensely.

Senior Year Update: Weeks 8-11

I've been a little lazy about writing these and that's a little disappointing. I'm going to try to fix it but I'm not quite sure how to. Maybe I'll have an answer by the end of the week. Anyhow, here's the past four weeks which I can say have been pretty fantastic.

I don't know why, but there's one thing about Week 8 (9/27-10/3) that I remember really well. That is: learning about sex determination in Drosophila in Genetics. We also had a quiz in Genetics but seriously, out of the entire week sex determination in Drosophila has stuck with me. ...I have issues. In Econ, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was all I thought about. I didn't mind because it's pretty easy and it's somewhat interesting, so nothing to complain about. In Spanish we had to create a fake company and present them to the class like we were on the show Shark Tank (which you should watch if you haven't) and there were some pretty good ones. One of my favorites was having prefabricated homes being built for those who are in areas where natural disasters have occurred. The idea was brilliant because if they're prefabricated, production costs go down and that means more money to go to other houses. So cool! And math has once again turned into a disappointment. We were reviewing stuff that we should have watched the week before and it was obvious that so many people hadn't done their work. It was so frustrating.

Week 9 (10/4-10/10) was Midterm week. Monday was Lit and it was just analyzing this story we had read; I left the class feeling like I had done a good job. Also on Monday, my teacher gave a test in Calc which pissed me off because it's midterm week why not just have your test as part of the freaking midterm?!?!? Moreover, it wasn't like a normal test, it was a two day long thing and I was so done with the whole bloody thing. It wasn't like it was a hard assessment or anything, there were different ways of going about it and I felt she chose poorly. But that's here nor there. 


Tuesday was Spanish and it easy, low stress listening activity. Wednesday I was supposed to have a Genetics test but our teacher decided to push it until the week after. Calc midterm was on Thursday and I thought it was alright, I knew I hadn't failed but I also new there was not a good chance of me having gotten anything above an 85% (I was right by the way). And last but not least was Econ on Friday. I felt like I had done well on it.

Week 10 (10/11-10/17) was a really odd week for seniors and, for me, it didn't really feel like a cohesive week. On Monday we were out of school and I procrastinated on all of my work and scrambled to finish Monday night. But the weekend had been pretty relaxed so I didn't mind the frenzy to the finish. Tuesday was the Genetics midterm which, I felt, was easier than it should have been. Then we had senior breakfast on Wednesday because all the underclassman were taking the PSAT; all the food was really good and it was fun just to talk with friends that I hadn't talked to in a while. And we got to go home at noon which was awesome because I got to catch up on the show Quantico which is pure brilliance. I love it so much, the lies, the secrets, the drama, and all of the mystery brings me great joy.

Thursday and Friday were these weird lull days; nothing really happened in any of my classes. The most interesting part of these two days was starting a new Econ topic (Aggregate Supply and Demand) and prepping for a debate about social media in Spanish.

This past week, Week 11 (10/18-10/24), has been pretty eventful. Over the weekend I had an insane amount of homework to get done and the days were not even close to being long enough. I had Genetics notes to catch up on and a summary- reflection essay on the article The Portrait of a Fly which is about Drosophila and their influence in Genetics. It's actually really interesting and the information was presented nicely.

I also had to finish my research for my Senior Thesis which I didn't get to complete because I was busy writing about an essay about Prospero from The Tempest and how he's a round character. I don't know why, but it was a difficult essay to start and even after doing a couple of edits, I still didn't like what I had. But it just felt like a really busy weekend.

Aside from that, the rest of the week was pretty calm. Classes themselves have been boring excluding Calc. She taught! She stood up in front of class and taught us some stuff and I felt like she did a fantastic job. Unfortunately, the people in my class don't seem to understand the concept of stop speaking so that the teacher can actually teach. Jerks. Oh and Spanish! The debate was super awesome and really funny. I love my class, they're hilarious. It went well, and my team-Social media is bad- lost, which I was okay with. Overall, a pretty decent week.

Review: Queen of Shadows

Title: Crown of Midnight, Throne of Glass #4
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publication Date: 1 September 2015
ISBN: 1619636042
Pages: 656
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Format: Hardover
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon|Book Depository

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 just to see her again. 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.

Celaena's epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena's story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

If you can't tell, I am in love with Sarah J. Maas' writing, so it's sad that it's taken me this long to read this book. But I've finished and I loved it. Sarah J. Maas has once again blown it out of the water and written a story truly worthy of this series.

***Beware of spoilers!****

Being thrown back into the chaotic world of Aelin was such an amazing feeling. I really missed being part of all the deceit and fighting that is Throne of Glass. I was so angry with Chaol throughout this entire book. Don't get me wrong, I loved him deeply at one point. But he's become someone whose done wrong and instead of feeling bad for what he's done, he's playing the victim and I despise him for it. I also think it's a little out of character for him but he's a pretty decent psuedo-villain. However, his actions are completely understandable. He really does believe that Dorion is still within his own body even though everyone has abandoned him. For that, I do have to give him props for holding on to his beliefs. And I also think it's fantastic that he's finally stopped believing that he can't do anything because of "duty". He's grown immensely as a character but I still don't really like him.

Dorion. There's so much here that I can't say without giving up the story but getting his perspective was eye opening and intriguing. Seeing from the perspective of someone who has no control of their body was fascinating. And there were so many conflicting thoughts from Aelin and Chaol about whether he was still there and I loved it all. And the little tidbits that Arobynn kept hinting at throughout all of this conflict was intense. This just increased my hatred for Arobynn as a character but increased my respect for him as a villian. He's the perfect villian to hate and he's also not the only one that we can hate.

Can we all just take a moment to enjoy Manon and her part in Heir of Fire before I get any further. I'm not going to lie, I was probably more interested in her story line than I was in Celaena and Dorion's life in the previous book. And my interest only continued in this book. In this novel, her point of view offered insights into the inner workings of the king's plans and into the ways of the witches. Her dynamic and that of the clan was different from any supernatural being that I've ever seen; the hierarchy is very strict and more important than in any other society. I loved it. I kinda want to see a book with just her, maybe a novella of just her story. She's just an awesome character all around and seeing her change and understanding her, and the other witches, influence in the story is a nice change from any other book I've seen.

There were so many surprises and plot twists that by the end of the book, everything you thought you knew isn't true. It was glorious to read, especially in the second half where things where things were getting more into the actual war against the king. But that does't mean that the first half is boring or anything. In fact, seeing Aelin developing rebuilding relationships with Lysandra, Arobynn, and even Chaol was interesting. It wasn't the usual action- packed story line that Sarah J. Maas usually employs but seeing the difference between "Celaena" and "Aelin" was something to be appreciated.

I don't have too much criticism for this novel. I would have enjoyed more of Dorian's point of view, it couldn't have harmed the plot in anyway. And I also think that the Chaol of the past changed a lot more than was necessary but it might also just be that I've stopped feeling much for him (Rowena is where it's at!). Honestly, if you haven't read this series you should stop reading this and go read the series. It's beautifully written with a compelling plot and dynamic characters. 

Books I'm Ashamed I Haven't Read

There are many many books out there that I haven't read and many more that I will never get the joy of reading. But there are books that everyone seems to have read, everyone but me. And here is my list.

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

I know, I know. This is a classic must read and I can't bring myself to finish it. I've started it at least three times in the past and have never made it very far. I feel the heaps of shame and hear the judgmental gasps. And to all the book gods, I give my most sincere apologies.

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë

I have no excuse for why I haven't read this one. The premise is immensely interesting and I'm sure I'll love it. I just haven't gotten around to reading it. Hopefully I'll get around to it by the end of the school year.

Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austin

This is another book that I've started multiple times and still can't finish. It features my favorite type of female protagonist- strong and sassy- so I have no reason for not finishing. My excuse: whenever I start, life seems to get really busy. 

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

I'm actually really excited to read this book. Everyone I've talked to has nothing but amazing things to say about it. I'm not really sure why I haven't read, I've seen it around everywhere but never reached for it. It's narrated by Death, enough said. If you haven't read it, do better than me and go read it immediately.

Moby Dick

Herman Melville

I'm actually not ashamed I haven't read this one. I'm more ashamed that I have absolutely no interest in reading. None. Zip. Zero. People say that it's this amazing piece of American literature but I don't care.

1984

George Orwell

I love the idea of this book, Big Brother watching everything you do, it's one of my favorite types of literature and yet, I've never even opened it. I hadn't heard about this book until three years ago, but when I did, I knew I wanted to read it. There isn't even any form of excuse I can offer, I just haven't started it.