Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books

To Sum It Up: Now officially the King of Adarlan’s Champion, Celaena is sent on mission after mission to eliminate his enemies. Every one she completes brings her closer to her freedom from his service, or so she hopes. Celaena’s latest target is possibly involved in a rumored rebel movement against the king, and her investigation into the matter leads to some shocking discoveries not only about his foes but about the king himself as well as those closest to her. Most alarmingly of all, though, is the danger that an uprising poses to revealing a secret about Celaena that no one must ever find out.

Review: Oh. My. God. I have no clue where to start with this review of this absolutely PHENOMENAL sequel to Throne of Glass. I’ve had an amazing run of fantasy reads lately, and Crown of Midnight is the pinnacle of them. I cannot profess my love for this book enough. After I finished it, I couldn’t put it back on my bookshelf because I kept feeling the need to reread my favorite passages (many of which featured Chaol!) over and over again, then over and over again some more. I had a severe addiction to this book that I still find myself battling.

As much as I enjoyed Throne of Glass, I couldn’t quite give it five stars because I felt that Celaena did much more talking about how badass she was than actually showing how badass she was. Well, that is most certainly not a problem in Crown of Midnight. I LOVED Celaena in this book; she unequivocally demonstrates throughout the novel that she is, in fact, one hell of a heroine. I am in awe of this young woman, not only for her unrivaled, formidable fighting skills but also because she’s not afraid to embrace the side of her that loves shopping and devouring the entire contents of a buffet table. I myself am very fond of both of those activities and now feel a certain kinship with Miss Sardothien. Celaena has grown tremendously as a character since Throne of Glass; there are no words to fully capture how much she impressed me this time around.

The dark magic that was seen in the previous book (remember creepy Cain?) returns in an even more chilling and intense form here. I was both rather scared while reading some parts late at night and thrilled by all of the suspense and action. Fortunately, there’s also some comic relief thanks to a new character named Mort. To avoid spoilers, I’ll simply say that Mort is a very unique . . . personality and possesses a knack for igniting Celaena’s temper. Those two have some sidesplitting conversations.

I loved how Sarah J. Maas took the development of all of her characters to spectacular new heights in this novel, Dorian being no exception. What he goes through in this book—it’s such a brilliant plot twist, but I also felt so sorry for him because he couldn’t tell anyone what was going on. It’s amazing what a good soul Dorian is considering how evil is father is. And Dorian’s friendship with Chaol—there’s a certain someone who could come between them, but the two young men don’t allow that to happen. Maas masterfully avoids love triangle clichés here, for which I am extremely grateful.

As for Captain Westfall, he absolutely made me swoon all through Crown of Midnight. SWOON, I say! Chaol won my heart at the end of Throne of Glass, and in this book . . . he made my heart melt. I can’t even string together a coherent paragraph about this man; he’s just—AAAAHHHHH . . . . LOVE. HIM.

Crown of Midnight represents everything you could hope for in a sequel plus so, so much more. Action, romance, magic, and a stunningly realized fantasy world—they’re all here, and oh how they make this book impossible to put down. If you’ve read Throne of Glass but haven’t gotten to this yet, you need to. Right now.

All in All: You will not be disappointed by this sequel in any way. It’s sheer perfection.

The White Queen Recap: Poison and Malmsey Wine

* Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen Episode 7, "Poison and Malmsey Wine."

This week's episode was very George-centric, with George going off the deep end. Like, really far off the deep end. There was also talk of poison every few minutes, hence the title of the episode, though not so many mentions were made of malmsey wine . . . .

Aaaand . . . We're Fast Forwarding Again!

Since it is already Episode 7 of 10 and we've got to get to Bosworth (which, for Richard's sake, I am dreading to the extreme), a leap forward in time was necessary yet again. The episode opens one year after last week's ep left off. Edward is partying hard with his brothers and Thomas Stanley . . . while Elizabeth is giving birth . . . again. George, feeling like the neglected Plantagenet brother, suggests that Edward go to war against France. Guess who George thinks would make an excellent regent of France? That's right—George! He can barely conceal his jealousy of Richard's titles, and he just gets loonier from here.

Make Friends, Margaret

Margaret is one of Elizabeth's ladies, but neither is happy with the arrangement. Margaret gets booted out of Elizabeth's chamber where the queen is having her baby and runs into Stanley, who urges his wife to get chummy with the queen. Margaret is called back, and at first everyone fears that the baby is stillborn until he starts crying in Margaret's arms. Elizabeth believes Margaret has somehow saved him and buries the hatchet with her. That's probably not wise, Elizabeth, as Margaret and Stanley are both plotting to put precioussss Henry Tudor on the the throne.

The Return of the Countess of Warwick

George is quite a busy, busy man this week, not only prompting Edward to pay France a visit but also hatching a plan to swipe the Countess of Warwick's money. Richard acts first and brings her to Anne; mother and daughter proceed to have a rocky reunion.

Everybody Has Kids Now!

Thanks to the time jump, we see that Richard and Anne now have a son, Edward, while George and Isabel have a daughter, Margaret. Isabel is expecting again, and she hopes that she'll give George the son and heir he so desperately wants.

Forget This, I'm Going on Pilgrimage

Elizabeth's brother, Anthony Woodville, thinks Edward is crazy to go riding out to war again. Anthony decides to sit this one out and go on a pilgrimage instead. Hmm . . . it sounds like he and Margaret would get along famously.

Curses!

Now that Elizabeth and Margaret are besties, or so Elizabeth thinks, the queen has Margaret listen in on Anne and Isabel's conversation at court. A hysterical Isabel believes that Elizabeth is responsible for the death of her first child and has cursed her unborn one.

I'll Pay You to Go Away

King Louis of France literally pays Edward for peace. Edward is all too happy to agree to these terms and heads back to England an even richer man. Richard is upset that his brother would just sell out like that, and George is livid that he's not going to be regent of France. To make matters worse, Edward offers some of the newly acquired riches to his brothers to try and smooth over the situation. Not exactly a good idea.

It's Time to Fight Magic with Magic!

George, you bad, bad boy. First you go behind Edward's back and promise Calais to King Louis of France in exchange for an army to take the English throne. Then you hire a sorcerer of your own to battle Elizabeth's witchcraft. This can only end in disaster, obviously.

Bad Mothering

The Countess of Warwick, miffed over the whole house arrest and being stripped of her fortune business, continues being mean to Anne. She tells her daughter that Richard only married her for her money and will end up divorcing her and taking it all.

And Now for the Poison Part

Isabel is absolutely paranoid that Elizabeth is going to kill her, and George only further fuels her anxiety by telling her that Elizabeth poisoned and killed their dog. After giving birth to a son, Isabel becomes ill and dies. Word begins to spread that Elizabeth is responsible, and she wants Edward to do something about George's public accusations of witchcraft against her. Edward won't, so she takes matters into her own hands and summons Anne for an audience. Elizabeth is pretty nasty, calling Anne stupid, and demands to know if Anne thinks she poisoned Isabel. At least Anne got to make up with her mother, who apologized for abandoning her.

It's a Costume Party!

After George escapes Stanley's attempt to arrest him on Edward's orders, the wayward Duke of Clarence crashes a masquerade ball thrown in celebration of Edward's anniversary on the throne. Things get pretty ugly, what with George's mad ranting and having to be forcibly removed from the king's presence.

George Gets Judged

George is charged with treason. Edward acts as prosecutor, and there is no defense for George. Cecily, the Duchess of York, first begs Richard to do something for George and later begs Edward for mercy after George is found guilty. Edward knows about George's deal with Louis and orders his execution. George asks to be drowned in malmsey wine, and, well, his request is accommodated.

Count to Five, Margaret

With George deceased, Edward gives back the title Earl of Richmond to Henry Tudor. Margaret gets her hopes up and asks Stanley if her son will be allowed to return to England, but that is not to be. Stanley reminds her that five people still stand between Henry and the throne.

The Richard Watch

I love the scenes between Richard and Anne; they're by far my favorite couple. The closer we get to the end of the series, the more I worry about how he's going to be portrayed in the upcoming weeks, especially considering how pro-Elizabeth and Margaret the series seems to be to me. We shall see.

Stacking the Shelves (46)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. It's an opportunity for everyone to share the new books that we've acquired.

Another one of my most anticipated fall reads was released this week—Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan. Sadly, I've had zero time to start reading it but hope to over the weekend. I also picked up two other sequels that I've been dying to read: The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson and Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi.

Bought:

Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan
The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson
Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

eBooks Bought:

Roar and Liv by Veronica Rossi
Unchained by J. Lynn
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

What did you add to your shelves this week? Please link me up!

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (13): Why I Love the Lego HP Video Games

Harry Potter Moment of the Week is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! A list of upcoming topics can be found here.

This week's topic is:
It's a free week, and I thought it'd be fun to talk about:
Why I Love the Lego Harry Potter Video Games

The first Lego video game title I ever played was Lego Star Wars, based on the six movies, and it's still one of my favorite video games. The attention to detail is amazing, and there's a lot of humor in the game, too. Plus, the Lego versions of the characters are just too cute!

When I found out that there was going to be a Lego Harry Potter, I was ecstatic. I was a tad disappointed that the game was only going to include the story up to Goblet of Fire, but there was a lot of speculation that once all the movies were released, there would be a follow-up game. And the speculation turned out to be true!

Playing these games is incredibly fun because you practically get to live the books/movies—in Lego form! I cannot gush enough about the level of detail; exploring Hogwarts alone can take hours. It's an absolute thrill being able to cast spells, ride a broomstick, and even compete in the Triwizard Tournament! Just about every significant HP moment is brilliantly recreated in the games, which allow you to play as almost any character you can think of.

My cousins/blogging colleagues Ally and Melissa, their brother, and I have spent many, many hours playing Lego HP. Despite being family, we have the worst teamwork EVER, which in the past has caused a lot of arguing, but a lot of laughing as well. Instead of freezing Cornish pixies, someone repeatedly froze a teammate. There was a huge dispute over who would drive the flying car and who would have to ride the little scooter to escape Aragog's children. Need your partner to levitate an object so you can reach an upper level? Yeah, it's going to be a long wait while that person collects stuff on the lower level. What happens when both players want to play as the same character? Argument. And so forth.

Even if you're not much of a video game player, if you love HP, then these games are absolutely worth trying. Even after completing them to 100%, I think they have a very high replay value because, after all, it's Harry Potter!

Trailer Reveal: Welcome to Sugartown by Carmen Jenner

I'm thrilled to be participating in the trailer reveal for Carmen Jenner's Welcome to Sugartown, organized by Xpresso Book Tours! Read on for more info about this New Adult novel and to watch the trailer!

Welcome to Sugartown
By Carmen Jenner
Publication Date: November 3, 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult
Goodreads

Synopsis: Ana Belle never wanted anything more than to hang up her apron, jump on her Vespa and ride off into the sunset, leaving Sugartown in the dust.

Elijah Cade never wanted anything more than a hot meal, a side of hot arse and a soft place to lay his head at night where he could forget about his past.

But you know what they say about wanting: you always want what you can’t have.

Nineteen-year-old virgin Ana is about to discover that’s not quite true because a six foot three, hotter than hell, tattooed, Aussie sex god just rode into town. He’s had a taste of her pie and he wants more—no really, Ana bakes pies for a living, get your mind out of the gutter.

She’d be willing to hand over everything tied up in a big red bow, there’s just one problem; Elijah has secrets dirtier than last week’s underwear. Secrets that won’t just break Ana’s heart, but put her life at risk, too. When those secrets come to light, their relationship is pushed to breaking point.

Add to that a psychotic nympho best friend, an overbearing father, a cuter than humanly possible kid brother, a wanton womanizing cousin, the ex from hell, and more pies than you could poke a … err … stick … at.

And you thought small towns were boring.

Welcome to Sugartown.

*Content Warning. Intended for a mature 18+ audience. Contains explicit sex, oodles of profanity and a crap-tonne of AWKWARD

About Carmen Jenner

Carmen Jenner is a thirty-something author, doctor, pilot and CIA agent. She's also a compulsive, flagrant prevaricator who gets to make things up for a living.

While Sugartown may not technically exist, Carmen grew up in a small Australian town just like it, and just like her characters, she always longed for something more. They didn't have an Elijah Cade, though. If they did, you can be sure she would have never left.

Her debut novel, Welcome to Sugartown, releases November 3, 2013.

Catch up on all the news from the Sugartown Series at: www.welcometosugartown.blogspot.com.au

Keep a look out for the follow up novels in the Sugartown Series:
Enjoy Your Stay (Sugartown #2)
Now Leaving Sugartown (Sugartown #3)

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