Tag: sarah j maas
December 2016 – Wrap Up
Audiobook Favorites
5 Most Anticipated Releases of 2015
Soon summer will be over and gone for 2015, but don’t be sad! New books are about to be released!!
And today I thought I would share five of my most anticipated releases to come this year. If you find any of them interesting you can click on the cover photo and you will be taken to their Bookdepository page.
Let’s start with the first of the lot:
The Rest of Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd.
Publication date: August 27th, 2015
Pages: 352 (hardback)
Synopsis by the Publisher:Â
What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?
What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.
Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.
Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions.
Why I look forward to it:
I’m not very familiar with Ness’s writing except for his book A Monster Calls (which I loved) but I’ve heard many great things about his work and this one sounded like a different and fun read.
Who doesn’t love an anti-hero story from time to time?
I’m hoping for an original and witty story.
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Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
The fourth book in the Throne of Glass series.
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: September 1st, 2015
Pages: 656 (hardback)
Synopsis by the publisher:
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.
Why I look forward to it:
The Throne of Glass series captured me from the very beginning and the wait for this fourth book has been a long one. I listened to the first three (and the novella collection) on Audible and will do the same with this one. I can’t wait to dive back into this world and see what’s in stall for Celaena Sardothion this time around!
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The Marvels by Brian Selznick
Publisher: Scholastic US
Publication date: September 15th, 2015 (October 1st for some regions)
Pages: 672 (hardback)
Synopsis by the publisher:
In this magnificent reimagining of the form he originated, two stand-alone stories — the first in nearly 400 pages of continuous pictures, the second in prose — together create a beguiling narrative puzzle.
The journey begins on a ship at sea in 1766, with a boy named Billy Marvel. After surviving a shipwreck, he finds work in a London theatre. There, his family flourishes for generations as brilliant actors until 1900, when young Leontes Marvel is banished from the stage.
Nearly a century later, Joseph Jervis runs away from school and seeks refuge with an uncle in London. Albert Nightingale’s strange, beautiful house, with its mysterious portraits and ghostly presences, captivates Joseph and leads him on a search for clues about the house, his family, and the past.
Why I look forward to it:
I’ve never read anything quite like this before. First half graphic novel and second half written novel. This is truly something new for me and I’ve heard great things about Selznick’s writing as well. People who’ve received ARC’s of this one is saying amazing things and I’m curious more than anything.
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Illuminae bu Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
This is the first book in The Illuminae Files series.
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date: October 20th, 2015
Pages: 608 (hardback)
Synopsis by the publisher:
This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.
This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she sworeshe’d never speak to again.
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.
Why I look forward to this:
I love the concept of combining the written story with snippets of documents and pictures so that it feels like you’re a more involved part of the story.
The ARC’s of this one showed up on BookTube a while ago and I was instantly intrigued by this series. I’ve also enjoyed Amie Kaufman’s writing in the Starbound series so far (third book is out December 1st!) and can’t wait how this collaboration goes.
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The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.
Publication date: November 3rd, 2015
Pages: 496 (hardback)
Synopsis by the publisher:
Since his first collection, Nightshift, published thirty-five years ago, Stephen King has dazzled readers with his genius as a writer of short fiction. In this new collection he assembles, for the first time, recent stories that have never been published in a book. He introduces each with a passage about its origins or his motivations for writing it.
There are thrilling connections between stories; themes of morality, the afterlife, guilt, what we would do differently if we could see into the future or correct the mistakes of the past. “Afterlife” is about a man who died of colon cancer and keeps reliving the same life, repeating his mistakes over and over again. Several stories feature characters at the end of life, revisiting their crimes and misdemeanors. Other stories address what happens when someone discovers that he has supernatural powers—the columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries in “Obits;” the old judge in “The Dune” who, as a boy, canoed to a deserted island and saw names written in the sand, the names of people who then died in freak accidents. In “Morality,” King looks at how a marriage and two lives fall apart after the wife and husband enter into what seems, at first, a devil’s pact they can win.
Magnificent, eerie, utterly compelling, these stories comprise one of King’s finest gifts to his constant reader—“I made them especially for you,” says King. “Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth.”
Why I look forward to it:
Stephen King is my auto-buy author. I love his writing and every time he releases a new book I’m instantly excited! I love short fiction and especially King’s collections and this will be an interesting read and a great addition to my Stephen King collection! Can’t wait!
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Now all I have to do is wait…….
What are your most anticipated releases of 2015?
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – REVIEW
A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book in a new adult fantasy trilogy inspired by Beauty and The Beast.Â
Published: May 5th, 2015
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA childrens
Pages: 432 (hardcover)
Audiobook length: 16 hrs, 7 min
Synopsis by the publisher:
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.
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The Writing
After reading (and loving) The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, I had extremely high expectations for the writing in this book. I was not disappointed!
The writing in ACOTAR is just as beautiful, but different as it is written in first person perspective.
Maas has a unique way of building up fantastic fantasy worlds that you can picture with ease even though they are so detailed and well made.
The way she writes about the emotions of the characters is also perfectly done and her writing is poetic and beautiful while it is brutal and real at the same time.
The Characters
Feyre was an interesting character that I really liked from the beginning. She is a strong female protagonist in a world where she had to be a grown up at a young age. But even though she is such a strong character she has her shortcomings which made her an even more relatable character.
Feyre had a lot of character development through this book and I’m really looking forward to seeing how much more is to come in the next two books.
Tamlin was very mysterious at first but definitely a character that charmed me early on and had me invested in the story and the love interest.
Lucien and Rhysand found their ways into my hearts as well!
Needless to say: this book is packed with interesting characters!
The Plot
Beauty and The Beast shone through in the story so many places and I loved it! Fairytale retellings can have a way of becoming somewhat cliché, but not this one.
It had just the right amount of inspired pieces as well as being a truly original story with twists and turns that I did not see coming. It had fantastic build up to the dramatic pieces and the last fifty pages or so really had me at the edge of my seat (almost to the point of nail biting).
I loved the way the story wrapped up in the end!
Thoughts
I loved the story from the very beginning, but for some reason it took me a couple of chapters into it before I was really invested in the story. This could be that I was sort of on my way into a tiny reading slump, but thankfully I found my way back and when I got into this story I was hooked!
This was a refreshing, sexy and unique read! I can’t believe I have to wait a whole year before getting my hands on the next chapter of this epic story.
Oh, and let’s not forget the stunning artwork on the cover! It deserves mentioning! Designer Donna Mark did an amazing job!
I have no doubt that this will be just as much of a success as The Throne of Glass series has become.
Sarah is a brilliant writer and I’ve loved all of her work so far! Her books are future classics in the making!
Want your own copy of ACOTAR? Click on the Amazon or BookDepository logo below:
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Christina de Vries 