"The queen has returned.
Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…
She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.
She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.
The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world."
"A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!"
"Lost and broken, Celaena Sardothien’s only thought is to avenge the savage death of her dearest friend: as the King of Adarlan’s Assassin, she is bound to serve this tyrant, but he will pay for what he did. Any hope Celaena has of destroying the king lies in answers to be found in Wendlyn. Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King’s Guard, has sent Celaena there to protect her, but her darkest demons lay in that same place. If she can overcome them, she will be Adarlan’s biggest threat – and his own toughest enemy.
While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love?"
Heir of Fire took awhile for me to finish. It was long, and I was really busy with things. It is a good thing I was ahead in my reviews, but I started slipping a few days ago. I manage to keep a good slope, but I think I might slip again.
Anyway, Heir of Fire isn't as good as the previous book in my opinion. Sure, Celaena (crazy name with a very difficult spelling and an unimaginable pronunciation) may had grown in character depth, but I'm still confused about some parts of the book. This, I know for sure: Heir of Fire is definitely better than the first book, which I can't name because I somehow forgot its title. Along with the second book's title.
I'll break it down.
Celaena's ending speech of the book (which is a huge character change from the beginning of Heir of Fire) is remotely similar to the one at the end of the second book. More or less, Celaena ends up stronger and more hopeful to the battle/war ahead. Was that spoilers? Eh... I think not. Most books end up in a somewhat hopeful way. Even the Mark of Athena did that. (Remember Percy and Annabeth about not letting each other go? That was the hopeful part). And I should totally focus more on Celaena, the character and not the ending.
Celaena Sardothien, the character, is bratty. Well, she is most certainly bratty, but I suspect there is a softer side in her. Or a monster. Either way, she uses a mask to hide what is really underneath, and Heir of Fire did a great job of exploring what was underneath all those layers of a bratty, spoiled, rich assassin. And it was amazing.
However, there were some bad parts of the book like the ending. (What? Ending was totally like a repeat, a filler ending reused from previous book. There are some differences, of course). Heir of Fire was told from one, two, three, four, five, six characters. One was Celaena. Two was her former prince, Dorian. Three was Chaol. Four was Rowan. Five was Manon. Six was Celaena's cousin. Oh, and there was a seventh but also minor chapter for another character. Honestly, I'm quite surprised there were so many, but there were a lot of plots going on at the same time. You got Dorian's father. Then Mae (or was it Mab?). Our assassin heroine has a few up her sleeves, and even Dorian's brand new lover seems a bit suspicious.
But I do have to congratulate Ms. Maas for managing to keep it all straight. And yes, it was easy for me to follow along. It was easy but annoying. I couldn't understand why Manon was important other than as the King's weapon. Then there was Rowan. Do I really need a front row seat into his mind? But Choal is a welcome change.
Overall, Heir of Fire could had been better (and cut down), but it wasn't that bad.
Rating: Three out of Five
""A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.
It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."
From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for."
Crown of Midnight is even better than Throne of Glass. Throne of Glass, for me, was sort of terrible. I hated how Celaena was at that time. I hated the writing. I hated the plot. I hated nearly everything except for the prince. You see, I must had been in a terrible mood. I don't know or remember the recent events at that time. I had no intentional of reading the Crown of Midnight, until I found myself in Wisconsin...and without a book (I mean, good YA/very interesting recommendation on hand) to read. So reluctantly, I got my Kindle and read Crown of Midnight. And I love it.
Crown of Midnight is way better than Throne of Glass. I suspect my initial hatred of Throne of Glass was caused by the palpable lack of answers and information. Crown of Midnight sends a ton (bucketful) of information over the reader's head. There is so many reveals that I just kind of gotten used to anything surprising. I wouldn't be surprised if...say Celaena ends up with some douchebag on the street. That is how many surprises there were in this book. So many twists. So many turns. It is just like politics. And I love it.
Did you really think it was Dorian vs. Choal? Well, that wasn't the way I saw it. I was always a supporter of neither groups, because I didn't really liked either of them. I mean, Dorian seemed a little spoiled while Choal is so grumpy. Because Crown of Midnight is told from three POVs (Celaena, Dorian, and Choal), we get to see into a bit of everyone's head. The POV I love the most is Choal. He is probably the most insightful out of the three of them. Celaena comes pretty close. Dorian is the last of the three.
Celaena grows closer to one of those guys (I'm not saying who). While those lovebirds come together, the third watches closely and lets go of Celanea. Hopefully, he will feel like that for the rest of his life. Otherwise, it would be a long life for him, and I hate to see that character suffer. Gosh, I'm just talking in this odd way. I swear I'm only trying to block spoilers from coming through by referring Dorian and Choal as "that guy."
The ending of Crown of Midnight is where everything goes down. Terribly and greatly. It is where everyone's secrets come out. From Dorian's secret to Choal's secret to Celaena's secret. Gosh, there is so many secrets all around. Does it remind me of anything? Politics. That is what this always reminds me of. Politics. It is always politics. Secrets everywhere and insecurities to exploit like crazy.
Anyway, I just can't wait for Heir of Fire. With a bunch of reveals and revelations, it is certainly going to step up Sarah J. Maas' game. We have to see how awesome the rest of the series will be. One thing for sure is that nothing will ever be the same.
Rating: Four out of Five (Some moments of brief hatred)
