Empire of Storms

Throne of Glass book 5
by Sarah J. Maas
Hennepin County Library hardcover 689 pages
genre: YA fantasy

Arg! Once again, I read a book in this series even though I do NOT love her writing style. And once again, I want to read the next book in the series to find out what happens!

Don't like:

• how the characters don't seem consistent in their own storylines from one book to another
• assumptions / jumps being made . . . or perhaps I'm not reading carefully enough to follow nuances
• choppy plot development
• references to long-dead rulers, various gods, etc. Who ARE these people?!
• overdone sex scenes . . . but if I were a sixteen-year-old, these probably would have been my favorite parts

Like:
Obviously, the characters have some resonance with me as a reader, since I want to find out what happens to them. Elide, Aelin, Rowan, Manon, Dorian, Chaol . . . and so many others.
I like how the battles turned out. And I like Aelin's sauciness.

Queen of Shadows (book 4 of Throne of Glass)

by Sarah Maas
Hennepin County Library hardcover 645 pages
genre: YA fantasy

I retain my love/hate relationship with this series. (I have book five on hold . . . ) I feel as though the author *changes* the characters from one book to another. Their motivations, feelings toward themselves and others, etc.

But I am still fascinated by the story line and am looking forward to seeing how it all ends. At one point in this story, I thought, "the evil characters and their power are too great. There's no way this can end well." Hmmm.

My favorite moments - Manon and Elide, Lysandra and Evangeline, . . . some of the unexpected parts would be spoilers, so I'll just leave it at that.

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2)

by Sarah Maas
Hennepin County Library paperback 418 pages
genre: YA fantasy

I don't like reading series books out of order! When I read book one in this series, I wasn't super impressed. Then last summer, book three was on a reading list . . . or part of the YAC program . . . or something. So I read book three. Again, I didn't love it, but definitely got drawn into the story. I will have to read book four to find out what happens! (With my luck, it's going to be a ten book series . . . )

I'm not sure why I *still* don't totally love the protagonist, a kick-butt heroine who happens to be an assassin. It is because I'm not sure how to pronounce her name? ("Celaena" . . . "Selena"?) I definitely get drawn into the stories. I put on the car light so I could keep reading on our way up to the lake!

I'm glad that it filled in my gap of what happened with Nehemia, Chaol, Dorian, Asher, and even Sam (I barely remember book one at all.). I have book four on hold at the library!

Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3)

by Sarah J. Maas
YAC hardcover 569 pages
genre: fantasy adventure

I read this because none of my Young Adult Choices readers wanted to read book three in a series that they hadn't read books one and two of . . . and since I had read book one, I "got" the characters and storyline to enough of a degree to tackle this one. I read it a little at a time each day over lunch, then finally brought it home last weekend to finish it.

Liked:
- characters, especially Rowan
- mystery / what will happen next
- Celaena's growth as an individual and her ability to handle her powers
- the writing is much better than in book one. She has developed as an author!

Disliked:
- three different story lines, especially with the witches. Since I didn't read book two, I may have missed some major plot developments
- after 569 pages, I want to know the outcome! There will be at least one more book . . .

Throne of Glass

by Sarah J. Maas
Hennepin County Library hardcover 404 pages
genre: fantasy adventure romance

Ceaena Sardothien is an 18-year-old deadly assassin who has been in the prison hell-hole of Endovier. Crown Prince Dorian and Captain of the Guard Chaol come there to invite her to compete to be the king's Champion. The king - who has murdered her people, sent her to prison, and has the power of life and death over her.

At times, this book bugged me with its amateurish feel. I finished it in two days, however, because I wanted to know which guy she would end up with, who was the source of the evil, what Princess Nehemia was up to . . .

Again, I'm not in the mood to blog tonight. I enjoyed the book and am curious about what the author is working on for a sequel. Not going to be a highly recommended by me, though. It just wasn't stunning enough.