January 2016, has been crazy and hectic and wonderful. I decided to start this blog (and all that entails), my job has been crazy, I was hospitalized, and I have 5 family birthdays within 3 weeks.

Crown of Midnight is part two of the Throne of Glass series by author Sarah J. Maas. If you read my review of Throne of Glass, you'd know that I had to race to the library to pick this up because I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Celaena. Putting this into words without spoilers is going to be tough!

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

I think that synopsis sums up things succinctly. Celaena has survived the competition and has become the King's Champion. She's  still living in the castle and has been able to feed her expensive tastes once again. Though she's sent on various missions by the king, she has her own agenda, *obviously*.

In Crown of Midnight, we learn more about Celaena, bits and pieces of her past, small parts of why she's afraid to get close to anyone. We see her relationship with Dorian turn from comfort to true friendship, Choal turns from irritation to infatuation, and Nehemia is still her closest friend and confidant. Celaena's continues to delve deeper into the mystery of what happened to magic in Erilea, the depths of evil the king of Adarlan is capable of, and figuring out what she can do about it. In the midst of this, her world is turned upside down one night by a horrific event that changes things forever.



My heart broke for Celaena. And Choal, and Dorian, and Nehemia. Seeing how far Choal would go to protect Celaena even after what they go through, and how Dorian and Choal grow apart. UGH! OH! AND TALK ABOUT BOMBSHELLS! If you're clever and paying attention to Maas's hints along the way, you might be able to figure it out ahead of time, but there's some serious, life changing facts dropped on you at the end.

Maas continued to surprise me with her ruthlessness when it came to her characters. She pulls no punches and her attention to detail is amazing. Just look at that map of Erilea! I had 50 pages left in Crown of Midnight when I put it down long enough to see which of my closest libraries had a copy of Heir of Fire on the shelf, drove over there, checked it out, and finished this one so I wouldn't waste a minute wondering what happened. I guess I'm lucky I got into the series later than most so I didn't have to wait on a list 20+ long for the next installment!

The story is fast paced and I never felt a dull moment! If you enjoy epic fantasy, bad ass leads (male and female), great writing, and/or love/hate relationships with characters, this series is for you.

"Truth was supposed to work. It was supposed to be hard and fast and freeing, but for the first time in my life, I wondered if telling the truth could make you a liar."

"...deep down we're all liars, Jaycee, but we don't all have the courage to admit it."

"People lie when something they love is at stake...Believe it or not, that's good."

I'd heard a lot about this series on the interwebs and was hesitant to start it, afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype. In November, when Amazon had a 30% off 1 book coupon, I figured, what could it hurt. If I don't like it, I'm only out $6 and I can donate it to my neighborhood Little Lending Library.

It sat on my tbr pile for a few weeks, until right before Christmas. I'd finished my cross stitch Christmas gift and was itching to get back into a book. I was enthralled from page one and only put it down for obligatory family time. I finished it in 4 days and had to make a special trip to the library to pick up Crown of Midnight because I had to know what happened next.

I don't know if I've ever been so glad to be proved wrong and disappointed that I hadn't started reading sooner.

Throne of Glass stars Celaena Sardothien (aka Adarlan's Assassin), 18. She has spent the last year as a slave, doing hard labor in the brutal salt mines of Endovier, serving out a sentence for her crimes. One day she's sprung by the captain of the king's guard, Choal Westfall, and Adarlan's Prince, Dorian, on the condition she be Dorian's champion in a competition to become the King's Assassin.
She is brought back to Rifthold to live in the castle with the other champions over the course of the trial. Things seem to be going okay until one of the champions is murdered. Then another. While trying to win the competition, Celaena is navigating the dangerous world of the palace, discovering dark secrets, and trying to keep herself together.

I'm leaving a lot out to avoid spoilers, but I loved Maas's world building and characters. You learn about the kingdom of Adarlan, how it used to be a land full of magic - that mysteriously disappeared 10 years ago, the corruption of the kingdom, and the minds of those residing there.

Celaena is extremely complex and has lived a hard life in her first 18 years. There are hints about her past throughout the novel so pay attention. She's hard, witty, and fierce, but she's also an 18 year old girl with fears and anxiety.

Choal and Dorian are both easily taken with her, as is usually the case with female heroins, but it's not some cheesy teenage romance that I typically roll my eyes at in YA.

Basically, I say if you like fantasy, magic, and/or strong female characters, you'll enjoy.

This is the first post in my new book/craft blog. I have big hopes and plans for this thing, so here's goes nothing!

My goal for this blog is to write fairly short and concise reviews for the books I read. To tell you about the books I'm excited for, the covers I love, and other bookish things to my heart's content. I've challenged myself to read 100 books this year and I hope to write a review for at least half. I've read 4 since January 1st, so I'm already behind.

I tend to ready mostly young adult and fantasy, but I enjoy murder/mystery, literature, historical fiction, and a ton of other genres as well. I go through books like the world is ending - reading a physical book, an e-book, and listening to an audiobook all at the same time. You'd think it would be easy to get stories mixed up, reading more than one book at a time, but I think the different mediums help to keep them separate in my head. Plus, I can't drive and read at the same time (well, I can, but the police don't take too kindly to it) so I use my time wisely by listening to audiobooks during my commute. I also carry a book on me at all times. Yes, I'm one of those - and I am not ashamed.


I'm also into crafty things like cross stitch, sewing, knitting, crochet, etc. I'll probably post about these things too while I'm at it. I've recently undertaken a huge cross stitch project that you will probably see a lot of during its progression. It doesn't seem like it, but this baby will be nearly 20" x 24" when it's done. Yikes.

I am a huge Harry Potter nerd (if you couldn't tell from the above), and a fan of most things geeky and sci-fi - think Firefly, Star Trek, Supernatural, Buffy, comics... I'm sure you get the picture. I currently live in California with my husband, our four cats, and our dog. I work full time and squeeze in reading whenever I can. Be my friend on Good Reads! Follow me on twitter or instagram.

If you've read this far, I thank you, and hope you will join me for the rest of this journey!