Eljay
Okay, I am so overwhelmed cause so much has happened in this book and I felt so many emotions that I didn't expect to feel. SJM played with my heart and I was so upset 🙄
Regardless, I love the world SJM has built for this series and it really grew on me on this book. I have to admit I was not really that into it with ACOTAR but this one just really drew me in. I have grown to love the characters and finding out the reasons behind their actions in ACOTAR was a surprise to be honest, and I truly enjoyed it. The Inner Circle truly is more than just court politics, they are family and I adore the relationship they have with each other. Seeing how other courts were, I can see just how pain and suffering can either open your eyes to desire change or remain closed because of fear.
I do want to talk about the relationship between Feyre and Rhysand. It was really fun to see Feyre go through the changes and see her realise all that was really going on and get stronger and love herself more. She knows when to yield and when to use her strengths to protect the people she loves, no matter putting herself at risk because it is all worth it for her. It made me realise how much I love strong female characters who wants to make a destiny of their own instead of subject to someone else's definition of them. It makes me anticipate how she will be handling things in ACOWAR! Rhysand was such a sweetheart and I just love how he empowers Feyre to decide for herself no matter how worried he is. His pushing her to be her own person and even training her so she can realise her own strengths really speaks loudly of his love for her (something that someone else failed to do 🙄). I want to see more of how he will handle the trials he will continue to face where Feyre and Velaris is concerned on the next book!
It may not be a literary masterpiece and the writing style may have bugged me here and there - but the world, the characters, the experience? It was such a fun book to be immersed in!
Overall, I truly enjoyed this book and love it with all my heart 😢❤️️
(except you Tamlin, the wraiths can drown you for all I care...)
This book is so different from the movie! I love this more, I gotta say.
Yet again, it's the same teenage romance with their ups and downs. I don't want to go into detail but these side characters played their part and at times I got scared they would be more than that but whew I'm glad they weren't lol
I wasn't blown away by this book but it's just such an easy read that I think I would definitely re-read it when I get bored.
I really enjoyed this book! At first I could not see the chemistry between Tamlin and Feyre, but I have grown to love these characters! Also, Lucien is a darling - oath or no oath.
I didn't expect to like Sarah J Maas's writing style. I enojyed the trial part which was unexpected. I usually don't care for the action scenes, they usually just go over my head and I tend to skim, but this time I read each and every word.
Overall, I really love this book and am excited to get the next one!!!
How do I even begin? Hmm..
Okay, it was a great ride and I am glad to finish this monster of a book... It was a great adventure going back to Forks and reliving my most fantasised and most loved series when I was 14. It was very nostalgic, I'll give it that.
The story is the same but we now have Edward's POV and we get to spend more time with his family as well. This I truly loved. If I were to be honest, I got so bored with the parts where it was just him and his thoughts going wild (and repetitive). I prefered the parts where he was with someone else other than Bella - those were very fun to read. I was glad to see that we get given the backstories of his family. It was all very interesting and I enjoyed even the little conflicts they had. Hearing their thoughts instead of the coldness that they exhibited in Twilight, was all very enjoyable and I love that I got to read about them a lot more than I thought I would.
It was fascinating to see Bella through Edward's eyes, too. At first, when he started describing Bella as selfless I started to think - is he talking about the same Bella that I know? Because Bella certainly is not selfless. But then I realised that just like any other guy in love, of course, Edward will see the good more than the bad. So it was pretty fascinating to see Bella as how Edward sees her. Her guardedness was also pretty interesting to read and I can see why Edward got frustrated not being able to read her mind.
Now, I already knew this when I re-read Twilight, but I can see all the more now how problematic Edward was. His obssessiveness was too much for me and add to that how he invalidates her feelings just because she hasn't lived as long as he had. Maybe it's because I was no longer that 14 year old me, and have had more experience in relationships, but this kind of man (or vampire I guess) just raises red flags all over. I legit had to tab red flags on the parts where he was being problematic and there were A LOT. I also didn't like how he kept calling Bella “fragile” every single time he observes her. I get she is clumsy but there is no need to repeat it over and over as if he's telling the reader she can't do anything on her own. At least she had her merits at times where she stands up to him, although ultimately just surrenders to him anyways when she gets “dazzled”.
I got to say though, the part where Bella leaves Forks and says those painful things to Charlie? I full on cried. I just couldn't handle Charlie hearing all of that and it made me so sad because I knew Bella didn't want to say those things, too!
Overall, I did enjoy this more than I did my Twilight reread so I will give it 3 stars.
I have watched the movie before I read the book and I have to say I really do prefer the book over the movie.
This was an easy read and enjoyable. It reminded me a lot about high school (and made me wish I could go back to when life was so simple and I had no bills to pay lol), and it was a good break after reading emotionally exhausting books.
I wouldn't say it's my favourite (although I like to re-watch the movie then and again), but it was a simple read that got me really excited for the next book.
So yeah, I don't really have much to say cause it's a typical teenage love story really.
Now, on to the next book!
I am upset. I knew it was coming but it still upset me. I have way too many emotions gah...
Anyways on to the review. When I started this book, I didn't know about the controversies surrounding the series and the author. Not until I noticed some parallels between Harry Potter, which is not Jace and Clary, who were thought to be Draco and Ginny from a fanfic or something. That was not even concerning to me to be honest. But the idea about Valentine and his ideals and the way he was actually alive (although it may be different with the way it had proceeded), the name bugged me and I was just wondering why it had to be so close to Voldemort's name 😂
But anyways, that is all what I have to say about that issue, now onto the next.
I actually enjoyed this book and I found myself looking forward to the next chapter and what is going to happen, until..... I started seeing hints that Jace was actually Clary's brother..... like.... why you gotta rip my heart out like this. I had an inkling okay, that this was gonna happen from hearing all about it in booktube etc... but still... seeing it unfold in front of me.... that sucked...
Now, incest is bad. Truly it is. But being exposed to telenovelas when I was younger, and kdramas too actually, it's not really as appalling as it is to me as it would have been if I weren't subjected to these tropes when I was younger. I repeat though, INCEST BAD. Okay. All I am saying is that - if I had not known that the author had already used this trope once on a fanfic (properly named The Mortal Instruments 🙄), then I wouldn't have been as disturbed.... sigh... I feel like I'm going nowhere with this review...
So yes, I did enjoy the book (especially the vampire hotel scene that was major creepy and epic!) and the characters were all really fun to read and I would love to see more of them. Yes, besides the fact that I was disturbed by the aforementioned issues above, this book still makes me want to know more about what would happen next, and that to me is a good enough book.
I just love the friendship between Suzume and Nekota, they are adorable and real!
I think in this volume the conflict starts to bubble and I can't wait to (re)read the next volumes!
Also, I still cannot pick between Mamura and Shishio.
I used to have MAmura as wallpaper everywhere but now I'm kind of into Shishio????
OH. MY. GOODNESS.
I don't know where to begin. I am in pain, I don't know how to explain it.
So firstly, what I did love about it is that the characters are flawed. You say she is the Bitch Queen and expect her to be the unbeatable heroine but no, she is as flawed as you and me. But she is committed to her “duty” and so she pushes through no matter what danger she faces. And I love her for that. The author did not make her a glorified heroine but someone who has faults. For the other characters as well, they are all flawed (except I guess for Khine or is that just me putting him on a pedestal because I loved him lol) like Talyien, and I really loved that.
Now, I had to tab so many pages because the places and the names were all sooo hard to remember and I got confused many times not gonna lie. There were also times that I got bored with the telling instead of showing which would probably be the reason why I am only giving this 4 out of 5 stars.
Nonetheless, this book gave me waaaay to many feelings and I wish it's September so I can get the second book as well.
This book is just... it's painful. It felt like it carved something inside of me and made me realise that this is not just a story. That this is something that is a reality for other people. The way Sadie's trauma haunted her and the way she pushed through was unbelievably brave that I just wanted to give her a hug and let her know that it's fine 😢 This book is a great read but I definitely did not know it was gonna take that road. A road I never wanted to go down to. My fault I never read any of the reviews but I pushed through out of curiosity I guess.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the book. And I am sad that this series is finished... It did leave me feel a little empty and I stopped for a few minutes before the last chapter trying to make it last longer than I know it will 😭 😭 😭
However, I feel like this last book didn't live up to my expectations? I don't know. It just felt like nothing happened on the first half and the rest of the action was just toward the end... I just wish there was more to it than Jude finding a way out of the situation she was in for the first book...
All that said, I will be waiting for the new book coming out later this year, but until then, I shall cradle Cardan and Jude in my heart and just imagine them ruling together hand in hand 😭 ❤️
I have no words. This book made me feel so many emotions. It felt like I went through all of it with them. I laughed, I cried, I hurt, I rejoiced. But at the end of it all, I felt the emptiness they felt as the story came to a close.
I felt like the ending was just right, and I was glad to have been through everything and to have witnessed friendships so true, outweighing all the betrayals and loss.
Man am I glad to have finished this book...
I really tried... I honestly tried for the sake of my thirteen year old self who swore by this series.....
I felt way too many feelings reading this book and most of them were of rage and disgust.
Bella is (overly)described as a pale girl who never really fit in due to her subdued personality, BUT guess what - boys still find her interesting. The thing that really made me cringe was that she only ever really paid attention to Edward not anyone else. Towards the end it seems as if she wanted to protect Charlie by leaving Forks, but we all know her first thought was “this would blow the Cullens' cover”... Like okay she probably has less attachment to her dad than Edward because of the separation/divorce of her parents. But come on... really though?
Now Edward is the epitomy of all the boys who give you mixed signals saying they don't want a relationship but flirt with you to the ends of the earth. As soon as they see things are getting more serious than they can commit to, they gap... Or they tell you that they did warn you to stay away... Although given the circumstances (him being a vampire) I guess I can actually see why he would act like that (I'm really trying here...). I don't know if the attachment he feels for Bella is out of love or because she's his “favourite flavour”
I mean I guess because Edward is hot (which she mentions at least once per page in case we forget), his creepiness and stalker tendencies can be excused? I don't know.
Also why is she always belatedly realising things?? Like, girl are you that disconnected with reality? And who even “downward spirals in misery” if they don't see their crush in the lunchroom? Also how can she love him if she doesn't even know much (or anything at all) about him? Is it just me finding all these very weird?
I honestly feel like I just ruined my own childhood by re-reading this book.... and now I'm just sad...
The only reason I'm not giving this a one star is to give my thirteen year old self a little bit of dignity....
Giving this 3.5 as it was veeeery interesting and did not bore me but at the same time I wasn't in love with it.
Cardan having a tail was something I had to mentally prepare myself for though, thinking it would be mentioned a lot throughout the chapters. Surprisingly, it didn't so no biggie really lol
I am starting the next book right now because I'm just so curious what's going to happen next!
All that said, am I the only one thinking Jude could have had a better name? Don't know, it just sounds so plain compared to her sisters'? Idk....
Finally finished this one! Tried to read it as I drifted in and out of sleep while getting over fever...
I enjoyed this one much more than Shadow and Bone. I'm actually very excited to read Ruin and Rising but also kind of sad that it's the last book....
Alina did grow on me, and I do like her more than I did before. She did annoy me here and there as usual, especially when she wanted to kiss Nikolai after she and Mal broke up. She's the character who never wants to be a “no one”. She didn't want to stop being a grisha because if she did go with Mal and just live as how they did back in Cofton, she would feel useless again, like some kind of burden Mal needs to take care of. She needs the independence and confidence her power gives her as a grisha. Although sometimes she would say she wants to be back in Cofton, but can't because she knew they can't run forever, I feel like she'll be craving to use her power again and again after a while. I did notice character development where she actually did start deciding for herself (and others) instead of being dragged around like in the last book.
Mal, well, I still love Mal despite his insecurities. I feel like they are quite valid, although I do wish he would really consider how Alina feels instead of just pushing the I-don't-belong-here line on her and making her feel guilty more than she already is.
Nikolai was adorable to me, and yes the humour, too. I'm very excited to read King of Scars (I intend to read the Six of Crows duology first) to see more of him. He makes such an interesting character and it made me stop to think if I knew anyone who can be that versatile to the environment they're in. He's just adorable that's all I can say.
The Darkling..... I don't know why but my heart sort of broke while Alina was summoning the Darkling's power to create the nichevo'ya... When I saw him (well in my mind) lying on the floor dying I kind of wanted to cry... Idk why but I am sort of hoping I guess that there would be some hope to take away the darkness from his heart 😭 but then again that's not how it goes... evil does tend to eat you slowly until you're no longer who you once were...
I feel like this is the longest review I wrote and it's not even half of what I want to say. Overall, I FELT A LOT OF FEELINGS AND VERY MUCH ENJOYED THIS ADVENTURE YET AGAIN. Periodt.
This book was such an emotional roller coaster...
I loved the writing and the author was good at showing and not telling. The whole journey throughout the years was well done and it displayed the reality of realising how different life is in high school and in university.
It's honestly a good book but I don't think it's a book that I would be re-reading. Probably because it was too emotionally exhausting to go through 😭 Reminded me of why I don't read books much of this theme.
Re-reading this as I finally obtained a physical copy finally! I remember I had to wait for ages for it to be translated to english chapter after chapter when it was first published.
Definitely my favourite shoujo manga of all time! I truly adore Io Sakisaka, and her other work Strobe Edge is also a 5 star read for me!
This volume sets a reader up with the characters and the way they interact with each other. Can't wait to read the rest of the volumes!
