𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Heir of Fire
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Throne of Glass (Book 3/8)
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Sarah J. Maas
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Young Adult, Fantasy
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: October 3, 2023 @ 8:00 PM
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★☆☆☆
Let's start of by saying that this book didn't have to be 500 pages long. The amount of pages added to this compared to the first two book is absolutely wild and one of the main reasons as to why, in my opinion, is the constant repetition. It was present in the former books but it went nuts in this one, almost in every scene there'd be one. I understand that it's supposed to be an author's way to add emphasis but it only made the story such a slog. It even sounded weird at times, there was one part where the book is trying to describe the temperature of the water that Celeana was in and it goes “It was warm. Not boiling, but warm.” I could say it might have been funny if it weren't for the fact that it made the book unnecessarily lengthy. “The darkness was this and that, and that and this with like those and these.” “The hurt was this and that, and that and this with like those and these.” 😭
This would most likely come off as a personal thing but first part of this book did not need to exist. Celeana meeting Rowan, a fae with ice magic and training with him while they try to make the most out of their toxicity that they throw to each other back and forth could have easily saved this book a good 300 pages or so. Also there are a bunch of new characters which, I never really cared about because I never saw their appeal besides Manon Blackbeak, the last remaining witch. They even added in Sorscha a healer and Dorian's lover only to have her killed in the very end of the book because we got to give the men character development. Fridging of all time.
Chaol was thrown to the side by Celeana because even after their last scene from the second book, even after she told him that she would still choose him no matter what happens, the story keeps on giving these weird implications between her and Rowan. Like, I understand that the feelings we have for people change overtime but the way that Celeana suddenly thought about what she might actually feel about Chaol sounded more like the story will force her to be with Rowan; a man who did everything to break her. We can all have our asshole characters, that I agree with, but he never apologized for his actions. Never once did he try to talk to Celeana about their past b̶l̶o̶o̶d̶y̶ indifferences. Him taking care of her as she was healing doesn't immediately sweep his wrongdoings under a rug. I hope that the series never continues down the path where I fear it's taking, because Heaven forbid another white man releasing all his anger on a woman and then have those atrocities immediately redeemed because he has a sad backstory.
Meanwhile Chaol had one of the best developments so far b̶e̶h̶i̶n̶d̶ C̶e̶l̶e̶a̶n̶a̶ o̶f̶ c̶o̶u̶r̶s̶e̶ he started to question all of what surrounds him, the throne and the kingdom when everything that he had ever done was for it. He pretty much gives off golden retriever vibes, I will absolutely lose it if Celeana ends up with Rowan than Chaol. I also like the way that Celeana is written to have hardships regarding her emotional and mental baggage, it doesn't just go away or gets resolved in an instant where most of the time in Y/A fiction books, the trauma inflicted to a character never seems to have this effort to understand and confront it. At worst, they're just forgotten. So I appreciate Celeana having to deal with the struggles of hurt that she kept locked inside her and having to deal with them in a more natural way, in a way that shows process.
Hopefully, the fourth book won't hurt that much. 🙏🏼 See you then.
ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ
14 Young Adult short stories from bestselling and award-winning authors make a splash in Mermaids Never Drown exploring mermaids like we've never seen them before!
We're loving this early review for ONE WORLD (The Iamos Trilogy, Book 3):
"Readers looking for queer-inclusive, asexual-led SFF will not be disappointed, nor will anyone simply looking for a great story." - RoAnna Sylver, author of CHAMELEON MOON
Nie spodziewałem się za wiele rozpoczynając lekturę i może dlatego ta książka kopnęła mnie między oczy - to topka powieści, które czytałem w tym roku (a przeczytałem więcej niż jedną).
Co prawda, im dalej w las, tym bardziej czuć, że to jednak "młodzieżówka", ale tutaj nie należy tym się kierować - to futurystyczna fantastyka, lekko cyberpunkowa, która nie tylko dostarcza fajną historię, ale też pokazuje, do czego ludzkość może doprowadzić eliminując choroby, wprowadzając wszechwładne AI (które jest tutaj pokazane nawet w pozytywny sposób) i mając pełnię władzy. Polecam gorąco, bo zaskoczeń też jest tutaj sporo.
Piękny przykład, jak bardzo dobra seria YA może stracić na kiepskiej części, będącej w dodatku finałem. Śmiało mogę powiedzieć o tym, że to "fantastyka z szablonu" i tak miałkiej oraz przewidywalnej fabuły dawno nie czytałem. Tak się zdenerwowałem, że bigosu nie nadążam gotować, aby się uspokoić.
Jedyny plus jest taki, że nie będzie (mam nadzieję) czwartej części, bo mogłaby być gorsza i jeszcze bardziej zatrzeć dobre wrażenie po 1. i 2. tomie. No i nie powiem - cała seria (która jest ogólnie dobra, wręcz bardzo dobra) to dobry prezent z gatunku fantastyki młodzieżowej dla np. 15-latka. Ale jeśli jesteście starsi, to tej młodzieżowości może być tutaj za dużo.
#amreading ON THE COME UP by Angie Thomas, along with continuing MO DU (it’s very long and not really grabbing me) and just started SHA PO LANG by priest (much more to my taste). #youngAdult#danmei
Moim zdaniem najsłabsza część serii, ale nadal świetna i nadal podtrzymuję zdanie, że to jedna z najfajniejszych trylogii fantasy, jakie kiedykolwiek czytałem. Tak, jestem dziecinny.
Jednocześnie mam wątpliwości, czy to faktycznie pozycja dla młodzieży - jeśli już, to dla starszej. A autor chyba trochę za dużo naczytał się erotyków i stwierdził "pa teraz!". Kristoff, kuźwa - gdybym chciał poczytać całe rozdziały o łóżkowych igraszkach, to bym kupił inne, nomen omen, pozycje.
Poza tym to, co zawsze - dużo przesady, humoru, krwi, brutalności, zwrotów akcji, a tutaj dodatkowo finał, który bardzo mocno kojarzy mi się z Sandersonem. Niestety, akurat w tym przypadku nie jest to dobre skojarzenie. Ale i tak polecam.
Can't wait for the release of SUNBOLT by Intisar Khanani? Fill the void with an all-new prequel novella! SHADOW THIEF (The Sunbolt Chronicles, Book 0.5) is releasing on August 29. It will also be included in the print edition of SUNBOLT, releasing on September 19!
Tomorrow Begins Now is a very interesting nonfiction book focusing on how teenagers impacted civil rights and social justice in the United States between the 1950s and 2020s.
Queer Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Filipino folklore in this horror comedy about a high school stage manager who accidentally sells her soul to a demon.
My story, "Of Celestial Calendars and the Escape Velocity of Friendship", is included in a YA/MG anthology officially released today!
"Brave New Girls: Tales Who Engineer and Explore" includes 28 short stories and 2 comics, all featuring tech-savvy girls who use their smarts to save the day. Proceeds will be donated to the Society of Women Engineers scholarship fund.
Today's queer small press release: Timoteo Tong' MM YA Fantasy book: Magic, Monsters, and Me.
Sixteen-year-old Elijah Delomary wants to be a normal boy, riding his skateboard, reading his favorite books, and playing with his familiar, Boxey. His mother expects him to practice magic...
The young adult, apocalyptic K-drama “Duty After School” (방과 후 전쟁활동 파트) recently concluded, and it only received a lot of negative feedback because of the way the live-action adaptation ended the story.
They are turning 20 and still act like 10-year-olds, from a country deeply rooted in hierarchy, respect, education, training.
It had a strong start. I gave it a good score. The last four episodes were delayed. Unfortunately, it went downhill by episode 8, and totally bottomed by the finale episode.
However, I think they painted their late teens in a very bad light, and that is so unfair.
Consider this, in my country (at least back in the 90s, my school years), by Grade 10 (16 years old), we underwent ‘Citizen Army Trainig’ (it still is a military training). We are not at war, but we have to go through that or we won't graduate high school. We didn't complain. And we perfectly understood the importance of hierarchy.
Yet, in this K-drama, kids turning 20 were complaining every episode. They were invaded by aliens, and all they cared about are their vanities and CSAT. They have to be lured with earning bonus points for their CSAT just so they'll go through it!
I am deeply sorry. Even though it is fiction, depicting high school students like that was far too unrealistic. AOUAD did not do that at all, and yet created a very good story!
Oh. I remembered another thing. I seriously can not believe their Commander, having seen how bratty the students are, did not teach and train them about the importance of hierarchy and following orders. He did not even assign hierarchial ranks, all he did was assign a ‘class president’ or an ‘assistant’ who doesn't have much authority.
It was actually a miracle that they survived for weeks after their Commander sacrificed himself.
Wait, was this show supposd to be a comedy?
Just watch AOUAD, or something else. Skip ‘Duty After School’.