Review: Heir of Fire – Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #3

SYNOPSIS: She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.

Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth…a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever.

Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed. – via Goodreads

So picking up after Crown of Midnight, the story shifts with Celaena to Wendlyn, and it is here that the tone of the books change completely. Up until thus far, they have been getting better and better, and here Maas finds the meat of the story. We have moved on from setup to actually starting to get into what will come, wars that will rage, and building the champions who will be required.

Celaena wallows a little in this one, but never too much or too long to become annoying and whiny. I really, really loved Rowan, slated to train her and take her to Doranelle. He is prickly but there is a lot going on for him, and he is a character that creeps under your skin, and ultimately becomes an absolute favourite. I loved the interactions between him and Celaena, and how their relationship grows. They are perfectly suited for one another. Prince Rowan for life! I

Then there is the case of Dorian and Chaol, still back in Adarlan. Dorian I wish I could read more about. He has these crazy powers and they are just hanging around. I want to know more, and I want to know it now! The whole thing with him and Sorscha though… I didn’t like it. I don’t feel she was his equal, and I don’t mean status wise, I mean strength of character wise. I am so horrified about what happened nearing the end for him, and I am worried about what it could all mean. Chaol, though, as much as I used to back him for Celaena, as established by the end of the last book, I don’t think they fit anymore. I feel Celaena outgrew him, and that he does not accept all parts of her. I appreciate that he is trying to work with the rebels, but I really don’t like how he picks and chooses here and there. I am so in agreement with Dorian about how Chaol can’t pick and choose his love and loyalty to parts of her. When she sailed to Wendlyn, I didn’t think they would remain an item. The King of Adarlan is scheming, and there is so much that could be coming from this. The man is a freaking tyrant!

We also have loads of new characters that are introduced in this book, and slowly but surely we learn more about their stories, and start to see how they could potentially slot in. Aedion is a character that you take to rather quickly. Cousin to Aelin Galathynius, he has endured some awful things and has so much potential to become so much. Then there is Manon Blackbeak and the Ironteeth witch covens, and holy goodness, they are freaking brutal and hardcore. So dark and unforgiving, wow.

Heir of Fire is slow to start, and there are rather large gaps/periods between characters. That being said, you get just enough to tide you over between characters, and enjoy enough about what you are reading between characters that you are fine, so you aren’t slugging through chunks you would rather not be assed with. Anyway, as you can tell, I am a fan of these books. There is so much that is going on and so many characters and I just love this adventure. I can talk so much about this. I need more Rowan, I need more Celaena getting stronger, I need more Aedion and I want to meet his Bane, and I need more Dorian and his magic. I just need MORE!

Review: Warm Bodies – Isaac Marion

Warm Bodies #1

R is not your usual zombie – something is different about him. R misses things like words and conversation and the ability to read. This is certainly not how the Dead think and operate, but R is different. One day when out “hunting” with another pack of zombies, they fall upon a group of the Living who are on a Salvage mission. While a bloodbath ensues, R murders Perry Kelvin and takes his brain. The brain is the one thing that gives the Dead some memories of the victim’s brain they are consuming – their version of dreaming. While he is savouring Perry’s memories, he sees the romance between Perry and a girl named Julie Grigio “Cabernet”, who happens to be on the salvage mission. Something is triggered in R, and he protects Julie, and takes her back to the airport R and his fellow dead call home.

Julie is initially really freaked out, but soon realises that R is a little different. While he struggles to say much, he can string a word or two together from time to time, enough to tell her that he will keep her safe. Julie grudgingly accepts this, and tries to find a way to live at the airport until R returns her to her father. R finds that he is rather attracted to Julie, something that does not even make sense to him, seeing as he is Dead and she is Living. R is also hiding the knowledge, buried deep away, that it was he who killed Perry. He doesn’t think that Julie will react too well with this.

R and Julie develop a friendship together. One day, this friendship is almost disrupted when Julie attempts to leave the airport and is cornered by a group of the Dead, who are intent on eating her. R saves her, and the Dead seem to allow this. The Boneys, some strange and bizarre leaders of the Dead, are not happy, and make it clear that whatever is going on between R and Julie will not change anything. R is noticing some changes in himself, and realises that he is stringing more words together in a coherent sentence, and is expressing things more than his Dead mind ever allowed. He attributes this to Julie. Eating more of Perry’s brain gives R more of his memories, but it also seems to be making Perry a part of him. R is definitely changing, and he isn’t the only one. It seems that he and Julie have set something in motion, though neither is sure what, or what they will do with it.

What is generating the change in R? Will it affect the other Dead? Is this deadly plague coming full circle? What have he and Julie done, and how will it affect the apocalyptic world the Earth has become? Are they a cure? Is R just weird? Is Julie just too hopeful? Is it just Perry’s brain that R is consuming that is leading him to believe that he loves her, and that he can protect her?

I recently watched Warm Bodies and had no idea that it was based on a book, until Cara of Silver Screen Serenade asked if I knew that. I said no (obviously), but offered to give it a test run and see what I thought. Warm Bodies was quite a fast read, I will give it that, and not a bad one while we are at it. There were things that I did not like about the book (some characters weren’t really that well developed) and the plot was a little slow sometimes, but overall it was definitely not a bad read. I loved the pictures at the start of all the chapters (yes, I know that has nothing to do with the content, but it is worth noting cause it looked really cool). R was still great in here, very entertaining. The humour that was sprinkled throughout this was enjoyable, too. I was not a particular fan of Julie. She had her moments, but there was also something about her that set my teeth on edge, so that naturally put me off of her a little bit. Perry was such a broken and damaged individual. I liked the way that Marion worked Perry into the story without him actually being a character, but more of like… a moral compass and/or voice in R’s head. One thing that annoyed the hell out of me was the lack of question marks. Half the times those were questions, not statements. It means it closes with a “?” – just saying. I would love to call it a minor thing, but it really wasn’t for me. I think the writing style was just a little off. Marion certainly provided another outlook to the zombie myth that there is, and I actually had a pretty good time with it. R’s thoughts were interesting to read, and I absolutely adored the way he communicated with snippets of music, it was lovely. I must admit that the first half was more entertaining for me than the second half, which seems to be a common complaint here. However, it is pretty sweet. As much as I enjoyed this, I cannot see myself rushing to read it again, but I can say it is worth the read if you don’t have anything else that needs your immediate attention.