The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 451

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom’s most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful and ruthless Assassin’s Guild, Celaena yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer for hire, Sam.

When Celaena's scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes—and questioning her own allegiance. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies alike, and discovers that she feels far more for Sam than just friendship. But by defying Arobynn’s orders, Celaena risks unimaginable punishment, and with Sam by her side, he is in danger, too. They will have to risk it all if they hope to escape Arobynn’s clutches—and if they fail, they’ll lose not just a chance at freedom, but their lives . . .

A prequel to Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas offers readers a deeper look into the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling—and deadly—world.


My Review

I have read ACOTAR series and people said this should be the next series to read, I have this and TOG and so many folk said to read this first, another said read it 3rd but I read this as my first entry to TOG. Meet Celaena Sardothien, wow she is very self involved and loves herself. She is a very good assassin, one of the best and part of a select few who works for, ruled by their master Arobynn Hamel. He tells them the target/contract and the obey, well in theory. This is my first exposure to her and I wasn't a huge fan, then I liked her, then I didn't and flip flopped about lol.

So these are novellas but they all follow on to each other so it even if you aren't a big novella fan you would enjoy how this goes. We learn about her past, a little insight as to how she is, Sam is also an assassin and has a prickly relationship but then she is so c*cksure and arrogant at times you understand why she rubs folk the wrong way.

As we go through the stories we get more of her personality and actually see a softer side and despite being the way she is she does have a moral compass which warmed me to her for sure. I had goosebumps a few times, an I KNEW IT AHHHHHHH, rage lol. Oh all the stories in this book I think the one across the desert was my fave, it reminded me of an old 80s movie, REMO lol. It has a wee bit of everything, romance, action, murder, heartbreak, betrayal, love, tragedy, personal growth, slavery, abuse, violence to name but a few, prepare yourself, 4.5/5.

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Blueeyed Boy by Joanne Harris

Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 7 days

Pages - 410

Publisher - BlackSwan

Blurb from Goodreads

'Once there was a widow with three sons, and their names were Black, Brown and Blue. Black was the eldest; moody and aggressive. Brown was the middle child; timid and dull. But Blue was his mother's favourite. And he was a murderer.'


My Review

Black, Brown and Blue all boys born to Mrs Green, hard working, bitter, angry, twisted and her boys the product of it. The story centers around Blue, although Black and Brown are discussed in small sections at different parts of the story. The format is online entries to a fiction site run by Blue, restricted and open diary entries by him and another who is linked to Blues past. There are tales of murder, posted by Blue on his fiction website however you pause at parts and think, is this cleverly done as truth posted as fiction posted as truth?

I am in the minority with this book, I really didn't like it to be honest. I found the format off putting and hard to follow at times having to go back and check was this a fiction post, was it a restricted, was it posted for manipulation?

None of the characters are likable, the main characters are linked in one way or another although it takes an age to discover who and why. The synesthesia aspect was really interesting though as I haven't came across that before and it worked well with the back story.

Give it a go, lots of people loved it or really enjoyed it, alas it just was not for me, 2/5 this time. I have read this author before and I would read her again however, if she brought out another from this series, I would not.

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Review - The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Publisher - HarperCollins

Pages - 399

Blurb from Goodreads

THE GIRL WHO WOULDN'T DIE HUNTS THE KILLER WHO SHOULDN'T EXIST.

The future is not as loud as war, but it is relentless. It has a terrible fury all its own."

Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future.

Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens on to other times.

At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of the shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He's the ultimate hunter, vanishing into another time after each murder, untraceable-until one of his victims survives.

Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the ex-homicide reporter, Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on the impossible truth . . .

THE SHINING GIRLS is a masterful twist on the serial killer tale: a violent quantum leap featuring a memorable and appealing heroine in pursuit of a deadly criminal.




My Review

I don't think I opened this appreciating it was a time travel book so I was really confused for a good bit of it. Reading other reviews I don't think it sounds like it was clearly highlighted although I read it on the kindle and very rarely these days do I read the blurb. Harper Curtis is our killer, the book opens with him in the 1930s visiting one of his future victims. He calls them his shining girls and always goes back to meet them when they are children and visits again to murder them as adults in the future. The book bounces between the 1930s and the 1990s, there are a few characters and each chapter has their name at the top so you know who it is about. Kirby should be dead, she is one of the shining girls who Curtis took care of, or so he thought. A game of cat and mouse begins when he realizes she is still alive and Kirby knows, despite details not making any logical sense, that her would be killer is out there and she means to stop him.

This book took a while to get to grips with, it was interesting enough although the time and character jumps took a bit of getting used to and sorting through. Once I realized what was going on I got on a lot better with the story. Harper is driven to contact and then later, through time gaps, kill them as they are the shining girls and have to die. Anyone who gets in his way is also in peril however they are his main focus. He isn't a particularly crafty killer, barring the fact he can time travel but the murders themselves are hideously brutal and gorey.

I think the idea for this book is a really good one, I read one by Joe Hill that was a similar theme, chosen ones to die and time travel however this one needs something more. I think had there been an explanation up front of why they are chosen and everything that follows after then the book would have, for me, been much more enjoyable. I don't like when I have to come up with the hows and whys, I know some readers do, I also don't like to be left with questions and hanging. That said, the way the characters and events are linked is done well which is why the rating for this one is 3/5. I had never read her before and whilst I would try her work again, I won't be rushing out to buy them all up. I believe she has a new one coming out in July, 2014 so will keep an eye on the reviews for that one.

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R.M.L - Was by Geoff Ryman

Was by Geoff Ryman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 5 days

Blurb From Goodreads

This haunting, magical, wildly original novel explores the lives of several characters entwined by The Wizard of Oz--both the novel written by L. Frank Baum and the iconic, strangely resonant 1939 film. It is the story of the "real" Dorothy Gale, an orphan living a hardscrabble life with abusive relatives on a Kansas frontier settlement, and of the kindly substitute teacher who decides to write the story of the life she ought to have had. Was is also the story of Judy Garland and her unhappy fame. It's about Jonathan, an actor now dying of AIDS, whose intense attachment to Oz dates back to his troubled childhood. And it's the story of Jonathan's therapist, whose work at an asylum also unwittingly intersects the path of the Yellow Brick Road.
From the Great Plains to glittering Hollywood, Was traverses the American landscape to reveal the whirling funnel cloud at the core of our personal and cultural fantasies. It is a powerful, moving story about survival, and about the power of human imagination to transcend the bleakest circumstances.

My Review

I think it is safe to say this is the first book I have read like this. We all (or most of us) know the story of the wizard of Oz and this is a tale with some of the characters and the basic information as a back drop. The story splits into 3 main parts, that of Dorothy, Judy Garland and Jonathan. The characters and dates split off into different chapters and go back and forth and will paint you a picture that is very different to the Oz we know, or make you think of it in a different way.

I must admit, I loved some of this book and I struggled with some of it. The bits I liked where fabulous and even after a few days since finishing it - I am still thinking about it. The bits I didn't like were mostly things I was confused on and found some of the time changing and so many characters a bit much for my brain to comprehend, at times. However the story is really good and evokes a host of emotions as you follow the characters lives.

I was captured mostly with the Dorothy and Jonathan side of the story and if I am honest there is a few characters I felt I wouldn't have missed had they been dropped out but that said I am biased because I wanted it to be all Dorothy & Jonathan. I think for those coming in with Oz in mind you need to keep an open mind as this is only some of the characters and not the story of Oz and some of it is a fair bit darker.

I loved that at the end the author has taken the time out to shed some light on what parts are real and the where and how he got his information. This cleared a lot up for me and I am sure a lot of other readers will appreciate it too.

I would definitely read more by this author and for a first attempt I am giving a 3/5, it might not be your cup of tea but then again you might just love it!

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