I am always blown away by Sarah J Maas and her books. Her stories are fun, funny, raw, full of emotion and twists and turns that leave you wondering what will happen next. Most books in the YA genre (though perhaps New Adult genre with some of the raunchy scenes) are predictable and, while some parts of Throne of Glass can be, most of the story is a fun surprise and full of depth. Besides, predictability can be forgiven when the story is written fantastically and you are emotionally invested in the characters.
The main character of Torch Against the Night just keeps me in love with this series. Laia of Serra is a brave girl with the weight of the future resting on her shoulders and, while there is romance throughout the series, a deeper story remains most important. It's not shallow. It moves beyond matters of the heart to the injustices of the world Sabaa has created.
And then there is The Cruel Prince. I know this book has garnered some mixed reactions but I love it. I love the heroine and her fierce bravery and willingness to do what she must to get what she wants in an unfair world. After all she is just a regular girl in a fae land trying to survive. The hero is, well, anything but. He is what is advertised, cruel. He is young and childish and wicked, but perhaps not to the core. The relationship between the two main characters makes for great reading and I can't wait to see what is in store for them.
I adored Strange the Dreamer, enough so that I want to read it a few more times. The main character is so different to what I am used to reading. Not particulary handsome to most with roguish, harsh features but has a personality you could get lost in for a thousand years. Laini Taylor created a guy with an inner beauty that shone throughout the dark times. A man who couldn't understand the cruelty of the world because he had swept himself up in enchanted tales and myths, especially one myth that he felt had to be true. True enough to set out on an adventure to prove it...and found much more than he ever bargained for. |
I am angry at myself for it, but must admit I put off reading Tower of Dawn for a long time. Set within the A Throne of Glass series, it follows one of the supporting characters, Chaol, and what happens to him after a certain injury wrecks him. He is sent to another land to find a healer who can 'fix' him and to find help to fight the war that is slowly building through the series. I was so loyal to Aelin, the heroine of the main story, that the thought of reading an entire book without her sass and humor and wicked plans made me shy away. However, the moment I cracked open the first pages, I couldn't stop reading. Tower of Dawn is stunning, perhaps even more so than the other books. I was destoryed by the emotion, the story, the angst, the pain and the bravery woven in to every chapter. I couldn't put this beauty down. |