I'M MOVING

     Hello, readers. It's been awhile.

    Let's just pull off the band-aid quickly, okay? I've made a new blog, so if you'd like to (possibly) hear more of my thoughts about books, you'll need to go over there. It's called...

Reading by Firelight

    It's going to be a brand new space, for my new aesthetic personality that's been brewing since I posted last in 2016. If you're interested in following me further you can go to this link, but I guess if you want you could stay here in the past. Who am I to tell you what to do?

    Anyways, many thanks to all of you who have continued to read on here. Even though there was only around two of you a day, it made me feel like I could do this now, in 2025.

See you over there!

~QuothTheRaven

Oh yeah, and I changed my username. Another reason to move, this blog just doesn't fit me anymore. I didn't think you would notice, good for you!

...

Okay, you can go now. Shoo.

Psst. Over here!

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

Beware The Deadly Count Dracula
Jonathan Harker is travelling to Castle Dracula to see the Transylanian noble Count Dracula. He is begged by locals not to go there, because of the eve of St George's Day, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will come full sway. But business must be done, so Jonathan makes his way to the castle - and then his nightmare begins. His beloved wife, Mina, and other lost souls have fallen under the Count's horrifying spell. Dracula must be destroyed...

MY REVIEW

For the longest time, I have been obsessed with reading books that feature vampires. Although it had always been a dream of mine to read the book that has since inspired many others, I had never given it much thought other than it was something that I would get to someday. Thankfully, I took a class that had this book as a required reading, so I was able to achieve one of my dreams earlier than I thought. I'm very glad that I did.

"I bid you welcome."

This book is separated by the journal entries of the main characters; Johnathan Harker, Mina Murray, Lucy Westenra, Dr. Seward, and Dr. Van Helsing, along with newspaper clippings and other logs that give us a full view of what is happening in the world surrounding Dracula.

Nosferatu

However, we don't get a log entry from any of the vampires in the book, including Dracula himself.  This doesn't diminish the book in any way, however, because instead of getting the personal account of Dracula or his wives, we get to see them, interact with them, see the carnage that they leave in their wake, but we never truly understand them at the deepest level. We get plenty of information on what he or his wives do, but we never get why any of those things are done. This covers these characters in a shroud of mystery so that you can never really know what drives them to do the things that they do and say the things that they say.
Despite the old language that the book was written  in, I found myself reading a lot of it durng my free time, wanting to know what Dracula was going to do next and what the rest of the main characters were going to do about it. Like a Shakespearean play, after a while you get so used to the language that they use in the journal entries that you hardly notice how different it is.

Van Helsing "fighting" Dracula with sunlight

One of the things that threw me off at first was the fact that Van Helsing wasn't the young Hugh Jackman-like monster hunter that I had been used to. Instead, he was more of the wise advisor. I did like him as the Gandalf of the group after a while though, being able to research the creature that they were dealing with and how to kill it was very useful.

Dracula dancing with Anna (Van Helsing)

Instead, the role of hero was passed along to what I think is the story's main protagonist; Johnathan Harker. He is pulled into this entire mess when he is hired by the Count to help him find a suitable house in England for the Count to settle into as a second home. Johnathan is faced with a danger that he wasn't expecting, and so he decides to write home to his fiancée, Mina, but the Count is blocking his every move to escape. During his time in castle Dracula, we get a pretty good description of the Count's home, his abilities, and most of all his strange habits. But once again, this only gives us a glimpse of who he actually is, the rest is shrouded in mystery. Many times Van Helsing and their other companions praise Johnathan for his bravery in coming back to fight the thing that he ran away from at castle Dracula, and I often found myself cheering him on.

Renfield and Dracula (Dracula: Dead and Loving It)

Something that was super interesting about the book was Dr. Seward's tortured patient: Renfield. Apparently, he used to be a servant to Dracula, a service that drove him absolutely insane. During one part of the book, he is obsessing about  cats and how much he wants one, and then he starts a never-ending collection of bugs that he traps and then feeds to their predators. I haven't read a lot of books that include the mentally insane (maybe that should change), so the fact that a book as old as this one when they probably didn't talk about such things in "civilized" culture, is pretty cool.

"If ever a look meant death - if looks could kill - we saw it at that moment." -Dracula, Chapter XVI

There is so much more that I could talk about concerning this book, but I afraid that if I do this will start to look and sound like an essay, which is not what I want this to be. This book met all of my expectations as a wonderful depiction of the vampire myth, and it is very deserving to have lasted so long, well-loved by many. So go ahead, go grab it from a nearby shelf and devour its pages and the story that lies in wait inside.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Dublin, Ireland, on November 8, 1847, Bram Stoker published his first literary work, The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland, a handbook in legal administration, in 1879. Turning to fiction later in life, Stoker published his masterpiece, Dracula, in 1897. Deemed a classic horror novel not long after its release, Dracula has continued to garner acclaim for more than a century, inspiring the creation of hundreds of film, theatrical and literary adaptations. In addition to Dracula, Stoker published more than a dozen novels before his death in 1912.
(Read more about Bram Stoker)

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"I only slept a few hours when I went to bed, and feeling that I could not sleep any more, got up. I had hung my shaving-glass by the window, and was just beginning to shave. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, and heard the Count's voice saying to me, 'Good morning.' I started, for it amazed me that I had not seen him, since the reflection of the glass covered the whole room behind me. In starting I had cut myself slightly, but did not notice it at the moment. Having answered the Count's salutation, I turned to the glass again to see how I had been mistaken. This time there could be no error, for the man was close to me, and I could see him over my shoulder. But there was no reflection of him in the mirror! The whole room behind me was displayed; but there was no sign of a man in it, except myself. This was startling, and, coming on the top of so many strange things, was beginning to increase that vague feeling of uneasiness which I always have when the Count is near; but in that instant I saw that the cut had bled a little, and the blood was trickling over my chin. I laid down the razor, turning as I did so half-round to look for some sticking-plaster. When the Count saw my face, his eyes blazed with a sort of demonaic fury, and he suddenly made a grab at my throat. I drew away, and his had touched the string of beads which held the crucifix. It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there."

pages 40-41

(In a bad Transylvanian accent)
Vell, that's all for now.

'Til we meet again.

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Here are some clips of my favorite depictions of Dracula!:

Dracula Untold (2014)

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Van Helsing (2004)

Hotel Transylvania (2012)

Supernatural S4E5 (2008)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer S5E1 (2000)

Twilight Sucks by Barely Political

{A Blast from the Past} Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

Indiana, 1818. In a one-room cabin nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his mother's bedside.
"My baby boy..." she whispers before dying. Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire. Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, young Lincoln sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.
While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving the Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for almost two hundred years - until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln. Now, using the journal as a guide, Seth reconstructs the true life story of America's greatest president. For the first time ever, he reveals the hidden history behind the Civil War - and uncovers the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of the nation.

MY REVIEW

I read this book first a long while ago in High School, just before the movie graced the screen. I'm sure that I don't need to explain the allure of this book to me, but I will for those of you who haven't read my reviews before. It is a re-written view of the Civil War, one of the most important moments in America's history, has my personal favorite President as the main character, and as I'm sure you'll find when you read the excerpt, beautiful language.

Young Abe (from the movie)

Seth Grahame-Smith created a world like ours in almost every aspect except the fact that this world, and this President Lincoln, is plagued with vampires. And no, I'm not talking about sparkly vampires that would rather date you than eat you alive. There is no vegetarian menu available, so they basically run around drinking from whoever they wish. Abe's own mother was poisoned by vampire's blood, which drove his never-ending hunting and hating of the monsters themselves. I was amazed very often at what this Abraham Lincoln would do to get the job done, how bloody his life was from the day that he killed his first until he was assassinated himself (no, that isn't a spoiler at all, trust me).

Abe and his trusty axe (from the movie)

I really enjoyed the amount of thought that Seth put into the book. When the passages were taken directly from Abe's "secret journal", it felt like an older way of speaking, like someone from the 19th century had taken a time machine to the 21st and written all of it down. I found a hard time pulling myself away from the book, the scenes were filled with so much beautiful/horrible detail that when I pulled myself out to do something else, I was thinking about it instead, and wondering what would happen next. He makes this book so real, from adding in pictures of "vampires" from around that time, to adding his own little twist to supernatural legends of America's past. It feels as if you are living when he was, breathing in the 19th century air, watching America, and Abe, become what they became.

South lawn of the White House under heavy guard, circa 1862. The man on the portico is believed to be a member of Abe's trinity (bodyguards)

Not only did it do all that I mentioned above, it also introduced me to a side of my favorite president that I wasn't aware of; the side that enjoyed writing poetry and reading stacks upon stacks of books, beginning of course with the Christian Bible. I am ashamed to admit that despite him being my favorite president, I knew almost nothing about him other than his famous hat, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the fact that he was assassinated in a theater, so this book taught me a lot about his life. For example, it gave me a pretty accurate look at his life before becoming president; the places he lived, what he did when he wasn't hunting vampires or becoming involved in politics, where he came from, etc. And yes, I checked the facts after reading this book and it is very accurate about who he was. (Without the vamp killing, of course.)

This is a gif of Abe training in the woods with his trusty ax (from the movie).

All in all, if you like supernatural tales filled with action and history, gore and peace, horror and beauty, then what are you waiting for? Pick this up and start on page 1, you won't regret it a bit.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SETH GRAHAME-SMITH is the New York Times bestselling author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. In addition to adapting the screenplay for ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER, Seth also wrote Tim Burton's latest film, Dark Shadows. He lives in Los Angeles.

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"I have no memory of driving it in - I only remember that I did. His laughter ceased and he took an awkward step. His eyes turned black in the space of a single blink, as if inkwells in his pupils had suddenly shattered - the spill contained behind glass. His fangs descended, and I could presently make out a faint blue web beneath his skin. It was true. Until that moment there had been room for doubt. But now I saw it with my own eyes. Now I knew.
Vampires were real.
His arm rose, and his stout little hand instinctively grabbed
the stake. There was no fear in his face yet. Merely a puzzlement,
as if he was attempting to sort out just how such an
object could be attached to his body. He presently lost his
footing and collapsed into a seated position, where he remained
for a moment before falling the rest of the way onto his back. His
hand lost its grip on the stake, and the arm fell to his side.
I walked around him, wondering when he would strike. Wondering when he would laugh at the futility of what I had done and cut me down. As I did, his eyes followed me. They were the only things that moved now. There was fear in them. He was dying... and he was afraid. What little color he had left him now - and rich, dark blood began to run from his nostrils; out the sides of his mouth. A trickle at first... then a flood - running over his cheeks and pooling over his eyes. More blood than I ever thought possible. I could see his soul (if indeed he had such a thing) departing. Bidding an unexpected, frightening farewell to such a long, long life - one undoubtedly filled with happiness, and agony, and struggle, and success. Filled with moments too beautiful to share. Too painful to recall. It was all ending now, and he was so afraid. Afraid of what nothingness awaited him. Or worse, what punishment.
And then he was gone. I expected my eyes to fill with tears. To feel remorse at the sight of what I had done. I admit that I felt nothing. I only wish he had suffered more.
Thomas stood aghast. "Look what you've done," he said after a sickened silence. "You've killed us."
"On the contrary...I've killed him."
"More will come."
Abe had already begun to walk away.
"Then I shall need more stakes.""

pages 59-60

Well, that's all for now!

Have a Happy Halloween!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

 

Watch the trailer for the movie that came out in 2012! (the one on the bottom is more gorey, keep that in mind)

Listen to some tracks from the movie!:

What Do You Hate? by Henry Jackman

Mary Todd by Henry Jackman

Powerless by Linkin Park

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

A LIGHTNING-FAST TALE OF LOYALTY,
LOVE, AND FINDING ONE'S DESTINY.
Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now the Winterians' only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape and rebuild the kingdom ever since.
Orphaned as an infant during Winter's defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee. Training to be a warrior - and desperately in love with her best friend and future king, Mather - she would do anything to help Winter rise to power again. So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore their magic, Meira decides to go after it, only to find herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics - and to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

MY REVIEW

There is one thing that I need to tell all of you before I start this review: (ahem) I love Winter. I love the snow, the ice, the hot cocoa, making snowmen and snow angels, and most of all the peppermint and its cool feeling. I get very excited when I see a single flake of snow falling to the ground. Now that you know that, you understand my beginning interest in this series.

Fan art by rozette28 on tumblr
"Even the strongest blizzard starts with a single snowflake." -Sara Raasch, Snow Like Ashes

Beside all of that, I was really interested in the type of magic that the back of the book described, magic that could heal the wounded, make land rich and fertile, that could make soldiers confident and courageous in the face of battle. We get a lot about them in this book, a lot of history that makes the story inside it even more real, more immersive, and gives you a different look at magic itself. In summary, every kingdom's monarch has a different magical item, or conduit, that is only usable by the royal line's male or female heirs. However, conduits can only be wielded by an heir of the same sex as the first monarch, so if they were male, the conduit would only work if you were male too. I would love to talk about this the entire blog, but I can't tell you much more about it because of spoilers. So, let's take a look at the setting.

A map of Primoria, where the books take place.

In this world, there are two types of kingdoms, the Seasons, which only go through one season (Winter is full of lots of snow and ice, Spring is littered with tons of blooming flowers, etc.), and then there are the Rhythm Kingdoms who, just like us, go through each season every year. In the middle are the Rania Plains, a hot wasteland where everything is hard to grow except for the sun-scorched plants that already live there, which is where we find our main gal at the beginning of the book.

This is a picture of a Chakram, a weapon with origins in India, and Meira's weapon of choice.
It also takes a very special place on the cover of the book.

What I really love about Meira, the main character in this book, is no matter what obstacle she is pushed towards during the book, no matter how many people tell her "you can't do that", she fights back just as fiercely and ends up finding a way to do what she wants, and to be herself. There is a flame of hope in her that is never truly extinguished, which makes her a lot of fun to read. I know that a lot of you were a little thrown out of interest when the back said "desperately in love with her best friend and future king, Mather", but if you aren't into the kind of lovey-dovey books, there is still at least seventy-five percent of the book to enjoy, and their forbidden love doesn't come up too often.
I know that a lot of you will want to know more about Meira's love interest, but I'm afraid that saying any more would lead to unforgivable spoilers, so if you're that interested I'd recommend just reading it.

The next book in the series; Ice Like Fire.

All in all, if you love a book filled to the brim with vivid history, beautiful scenery, awesome magic, and a plot with a lot of twists and turns, what are you waiting for? Pick this up and start the adventure!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then: her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things, and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Snow Like Ashes is her debut book. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures. (Awwww...) She can be found on the web at www.sararaasch.tumblr.com and on twitter at @seesarawrite.

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"The rays of the sun prickle my skin as I stare up into the blue sky, wincing at a particularly sharp stone under my back. This is the fourth time in the last twenty minutes that I've ended up on the ground, watching stalks of prairie grass billow around my head. My lungs heave and sweat beads down my face, so I stay on my back, basking in this moment of peace.
Mather bends into my line of sight, upside down over me, and I hope he attributes the sudden heat in my cheeks to exertion. No matter how many times he puts me on the ground, he never looks anything but handsome. He's the kind of good-looking that makes me physically ache, makes me stumble for chairs when I'm caught unawares. A few pieces of his white Winterian hair dangle by his cheek, the rest of the shoulder-length strands held together by twine. The leather breastplate stretched over his chest highlights the fact that he's spent most of his life using those muscles in combat training, and his arms are lean and uncovered but for brassards. Freckles trail all along his pale face, his neck, his arms, a testament to the blinding sun of Rania Plains.
"Best six out of eleven?" The hopeful note in his voice, as if he honestly believes that I have a chance at beating him, makes me cock an eyebrow.
I groan. "Only if the next six events can be ranged."
Mather chuckles. "I'm under strict orders to get you to win at least one sword match by the time William and the rest return."
I narrow my eyes and try to swallow the longing that rushes at me. Sir left with Greer, Henn, and Dendera on a mission to Spring while the rest of us stayed behind: Mather, the future king (who gets to go on the more dangerous missions because he's been trained since birth in the art of fighting); Alysson, Sir's wife (who has never shown the slightest skill in fighting); Finn, the other able-bodied soldier (Sir's rule - Mather always has to have a capable fighter to back him up); and me, the perpetually in-training orphan girl (who, despite six years of sparring practice , still "isn't good enough" to be trusted with the important assignments).
Yes, I've had to use some of my skills on food-scouting assignments, to fight off the occasional soldier or disgruntled citizen of one of the four Rhythm Kingdoms. But when Sir arranges missions to Spring, missions on which we'll be directly benefiting Winter instead of simply bringing back supplies for the refugees, he always has an excuse for why I can't go: the Spring Kingdom is too dangerous; the mission is too important; can't risk it on a teenage girl."

pages 2-3

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

See which season you are in this Epic Reads quiz!

See which Rhythm Kingdom you are in this Epic Reads quiz!

{A Blast from the Past} Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

YOUNG XING XING IS BOUND.

Bound to her late father's second wife and daughter. Bound to a life of servitude as a young girl in ancient China, where a woman is valued less than livestock. Bound to be alone, with no parents to arrange for a suitable husband. Xing Xing spends her days taking care of her half sister, Wei Ping, who cannot walk because of her foot bindings, the painful tradition for girls who are fit to be married. Even so, Xing Xing is content to practice her gift for poetry and calligraphy, and to dream of a life unbound by the laws of family and society.
But all of this is about to change as Stepmother, who has spent nearly all of the family's money, grows desperate to find a husband for Wei Ping. Xing Xing soon realizes that this greed and desperation may threaten not only her memories of the past, but also her dreams of the future.

MY REVIEW

I found this book years ago while I was doing a little bit of book shopping. I was looking though all of the shiny new books when I found this one, and started reading a little bit to decide whether or not I was going to buy it. Before I knew it I was a couple of chapters in and loving the world that the book brought me to. I think that part of me was enchanted by the fact that it was about a part of the world that I don't know much about, and therefore was a door into something that I might find interesting, and another part of me was interested in the subject of foot binding, something that I had never even heard about.

The above picture is of a woman with normally sized feet (left) next to the "trendy" bound feet (right).For those of you who don't know, foot binding is the tradition where women's feet were bound between the ages of four and six. This binding would make the feet smaller, preventing the foot's growth. The bindings would bend the girls' toes underneath her sole, and would wrap around their feet to their ankles. The purpose behind this would be to keep breaking the bones in the foot whenever it got too big, and would be finished in two or three years, after which the feet would be kept in bindings to retain the hoof-like shape. As the legend goes, it first became popular in the tenth century after a dancer had her feet bound like this and danced in front of the emperor on a stage shaped like a lotus flower.
The size of the bound foot even gave it different labels. A three-inch foot (or a "Golden Lotus") was the most desirable for a bride, a four-inch foot (or a "Silver Lotus") was okay too, but having a foot that was five inches or longer (or a "Iron Lotus") was undesirable and hard to find a husband with. Foot binding was made unpopular in 1923.
This trend of finding smaller feet more attractive is not that different from the trend towards small waists in Victorian England.

This is a picture of a "lotus shoe", one that women with bound feet would wear from the 1930s, balanced on top of a normally sized foot.

It was only after I had finished the book for the first time years ago that I realized that it was a re-telling of one of the most popular fairy tales around; Cinderella. All of the clues slipped past my notice; the absence of her father and mother, the presence of a mean stepmother who made her do all of the daily chores, etc. That being said, with or without your notice of what it is, this book is wonderful and well worth your time.
Xing Xing (pronounced Shing Shing) is a wonderful heroine who shows you the inside story of a woman in her time, and the spiritual responsibilities of someone like her. She's just like how you would expect a Cinderella to be; willing to follow orders, gentle, with some animal friends. Through all of her daily troubles she tries to be humble and keep a very close connection with her parent's spirits, which was a little twist in the normal Cinderella character that we see. She even goes out of her way to help keep her stepsister Wei Ping entertained who is stuck in the house until she learns to properly walk with her bound feet, a fact that Xing Xing could not be jealous over.
While Xing Xing's stepmother's name is never mentioned in the book, her character is as interesting as the main character's. She reminds me a bit of Hatsumomo (from Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden) in the way that she does anything that she can to get what she wants; a husband for Wei Ping, and therefore more money for her materialistic lifestyle. She doesn't treat Xing Xing too terribly, but she does make her do all of the chores and chastises her for taking too long doing something. If Xing Xing is doing something for Wei Ping that she wasn't ordered to do, she seems to get more approval from her stepmother, but only until she does something wrong.
Wei Ping herself doesn't do much in the story due to her bound feet, but at one part she does become a pretty good friend to Xing Xing, and even shares in the love of Xing Xing's animal friends, who do a lot more. One of them, a koi with red fins and golden eyes, appears throughout the book as a source of Xing Xing's comfort. She makes better friends with the fish, and even feeds it, hoping that the legend where a fish once turned into a dragon would happen to her fishy companion. At one point, she even moves the fish inside as entertainment for Wei Ping.
All in all, if you're looking for a book isn't too long (only 184 pages, folks!), that gives you a new way to look at the Cinderella story, and a heroine that you can cheer for, then look no further!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Donna Jo Napoli is the acclaimed and award-winning author of many novels - both fantasies and contemporary stories. She won the Golden Kite Award for Stones in Water in 1997. Her novel Zel was named an American Bookseller Association Pick of the List, a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a BCCB Blue Ribbon, and a School Library Journal Best Book, and a number of her other novels have been selected as ALA Best Books. She is head of the linguistics department at Swathmore College in Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and their children.

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"Xing Xing squatted by the water, silent and unmoving. Her stillness was a prayer.
It was answered: The sun glinted red. Only an instant and it was over, but there could be no doubt; her eyes had not played tricks: A white fish with red fins and golden eyes zipped past and under a lotus leaf. She laughed in delight.
"Lazy One, bring the firewood," came the distant call.
In the past year, "Lazy One" had practically become Xing Xing's household name. She imagined her father's wife holding one hand above her eyes against the sun that was too bright today, it had already burned off the morning fog. She imagined her frowning in impatience, then ducking back into the shadows of the cave. The girl picked up the armful of wood she'd gathered and rushed back along the path. Her hair was tied in two hanging knots that thumped on her shoulders as she ran. Hurry, they drummed, hurry hurry. The cold dirt licked at her feet. Hurry hurry.
But she was wrong. Stepmother had not gone inside. The woman shivered in the chill of spring, arms crossed over her chest. "Get inside, Lazy One." She yanked one of Xing Xing's hair knots as the girl raced past through the open door."

pages 1-2

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

TWO MEN LOVE HER
THE WHOLE LAND FEARS HER
ONLY SHE CAN SAVE THEM ALL
In a world without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass (roll credits) but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will be released from prison to serve as the King's Champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And a princess from a faraway land will befriend her. But something evil dwells in the castle - and it's here to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival - and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

MY REVIEW

I'm sure some of you are salivating over that summary like I was when I first picked this book up, and I am more than happy to say that this book is everything that you would expect and more. The competition was interesting and when the murders started happening the story shot forward and I found myself reading chapter after chapter with no concept of what was going on around me.

A fan's interpretation of Celaena's unforgettable looks.

I immediately fell in love with the main character, Celaena Sardothien. She is witty, flirty, dangerous, and has a past that we only touch on in the first book. Not only that, but she has some qualities that I would describe as feminine, even though she had spent a year breaking her back in Endovier's mines. And to top it all off, no matter what she goes through she can always get back to smiling when the dirty work is done. She is such an interesting character, and to say that she attracts the most interesting people in the palace is an understatement.

A character profile for Dorian Havilliard, or the Prince.

First, let's talk about the Crown Prince. He's set up in the beginning as the spoiled Prince Charming who only wants Celaena to compete for him to go behind his father's back. However, the more you get to know him, the less he fits into the Prince Charming mold. He speaks against his father regularly, has some very awkward moments, and is willing to put aside his duty as a prince to be a better person over all. He is nothing at all like his father, the man who kills people in his sleep (just for fun). To be honest, it's surprising that he didn't come out to be just like his parents.

Here's some pretty good fanart of Dorian and Chaol (the Captain of the Guard) by deesney

Next, we have the Captain of the Guard, who is the one who escorts Celaena from the mines and into the Prince's presence, and then protects everyone else from the assassin's threat. He is very guarded, not only of the people that he is supposed to protect, but also of his own feelings. He tries to keep the Prince away from Celaena's affections because of her dangerous nature, and yet it seems that when he is around our assassin, he lets his thoughts and feelings show more and more. This makes him more and more interesting as you go on.

Some fanart of Celaena and Elena, Celaena's spiritual protection in this book

All in all, if you enjoy a book with witty comebacks, action and suspense, mysteries to be solved, then this is the book for you. Just make sure that you don't have anything too important to do while you read it.. ;)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah J. Maas is the New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series: Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, and Heir of Fire, and the series' prequel The Assassin's Blade. A New York native, Sarah currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and dog.
www.sarahjmaas.com
www.facebook.com/throneofglass
@SJMaas

A LITTLE EXCERPT

""And you're Celaena Sardothien, Adarlan's greatest assassin. Perhaps the greatest assassin in all of Erilea." He studied her tensed body before he raised his dark, well-groomed brows. "You seem a little young." He rested his elbows on his thighs. "I've heard some rather fascinating stories about you. How do you find Endovier after living in such excess in Rifthold?"
Arrogant ass.
"I couldn't be happier," she crooned as her jagged nails cut into her palms.
"After a year, you seem to be more or less alive. I wonder how that's possible when the average life expectancy in these mines is a month."
"Quite a mystery, I'm sure." She batted her eyelashes and readjusted her shackles as if they were lace gloves.
The Crown Prince turned to his captain. "She has somewhat of a tongue, doesn't she? And she doesn't sound like a member of the rabble."
"I should hope not!" Celaena interjected.
"Your Highness," Chaol Westfall snapped at her.
"What?" Celaena asked.
"You will address him as 'Your Highness.' "
Celaena gave him a mocking smile, and then returned her attention to the prince.
Dorian Havilliard, to her surprise, laughed. "You do know that you're now a slave, don't you? Has your sentence taught you nothing?"
Had her arms been unshackled, she would have crossed them. "I don't see how working in a mine can teach you anything beyond how to use a pickax."
"And you never tried to escape?"
A slow, wicked smile spread across her lips. "Once."
The prince's brows rose, and he turned to Captain Westfall. "I wasn't told that."
Celaena glanced over her shoulder at Chaol, who gave his prince an apologetic look. "The Chief Overseer informed me this afternoon that there was one incident. Three months-"
"Four months," she interrupted.
"Four months," Chaol said, "after Sardothien arrived, she attempted to flee."
She waited for the rest of the story, but he was clearly finished. "That's not even the best part!"
"There's a 'best part'?" the Crown Prince said, face caught between a wince and a smile.
Chaol glared at her before speaking. "There's no hope of escaping from Endovier. Your father made sure that each of Endovier's sentries could shoot a squirrel from two hundred paces away. To attempt to flee is suicide."
"But you're alive," the prince said to her.
Celaena's smile faded as the memory struck her. "Yes."
"What happened?" Dorian asked.
Her eyes turned cold and hard. "I snapped."
"That's all you have to offer as an explanation for what you did?" Captain Westfall demanded. "She killed her overseer and twenty-three sentries before they caught her. She was a finger's tip from the wall before the guards knocked her unconscious."
"So?" Dorian said.
Celaena seethed. "So? Do you know how far the wall is from the mines?" He gave her a blank look. She closed her eyes and sighed dramatically. "From my shaft, it was three hundred sixty-three feet. I had someone measure."
"So?" Dorian repeated.
"Captain Westfall, how far do slaves make it from the mines when they try to escape?"
"Three feet," he muttered. "Endovier sentries usually shoot a man down before he moves three feet."
The Crown Prince's silence was not her desired effect. "You knew it was suicide," he said at last, the amusement gone.
Perhaps it had been a bad idea for her to bring up the wall. "Yes," she said.
"But they didn't kill you.""

pages 9-11

Well, that's all for now!

See you next year!

~Sea-Solo

Happy Halloween!

Hello!

I don't know about everywhere else in the world, but here in America, we get a little crazy around this time of year.

Why?

Well, the leaves are changing, it's finally sweater weather (in some places), the stores are filled with pumpkin spice everything (and I mean everything), and, last but not least...

IT'S HALLOWEEN TIME, BABY!

Here's a little history of Halloween for those of you not in the know:

1. Originates in the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in) where the veil between the land of the living and the land of the dead was blurred.

2. Celts sacrificed animals and crops to the Gods, wore costumes, and tried to tell each other's fortunes.

3. the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups as well as the Native Americans meshed, an American version of Halloween was born.

4. Involved fortune-telling, ghost stories, mischief, sharing stories of the dead, and harvest celebrations

5. Irish immigrants spread the holiday and introduced dressing in costumes and going from door to door asking for money and candy (Trick-or-Treat!)

6. Irish also brought over the tradition of carving faces into pumpkins (large turnips and potatoes were originally used in Ireland) to scare off evil spirits (Jack-O-Lanterns!)

This is my favorite time of the year, and so I've prepared a list of movies that you can watch to commemorate today, which I'm going to put down below (not in any particular order).

Hope you have a lovely Halloween!

1. Beetlejuice

Rated PG

2. Edward Scissorhands

Rated PG-13

3. Van Helsing

Rated PG-13

4. Dark Shadows

Rated PG-13

5. Corpse Bride

Rated PG

6. Addams Family Values

Rated PG-13

7. Young Frankenstein

Rated PG

8. Interview with the Vampire

Rated R

9. Ghostbusters

Rated PG

10. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Rated R

11. Hocus Pocus

Rated PG

12. It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Rated G

13. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Rated PG

P.S. If you would like some spooky books to read, check out my October Reads list here!

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

   I HAVE A CURSE.   
I HAVE A GIFT.
   I'M A MONSTER.   
I'M MORE THAN HUMAN.
   MY TOUCH IS LETHAL.   
MY TOUCH IS POWER.
   I AM THEIR WEAPON.   
I WILL FIGHT BACK.

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time - and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.
In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a riveting dystopian world, a thrilling superhero story, and an unforgettable heroine.

MY REVIEW

I picked up this book because I got to read a piece of the first chapter, which I have put down below in the EXCERPT section, and I liked the character and the way that she described things, the way that she saw the world.
Man, was I in for a good one.
Not only is this book gripping (it had me reading pages while I waited for food, when I had free time, right before bed, etc.), but the romance scenes actually made me blush.
That's right, I said blush.
The moment that I stepped into Juliette's world, I was hooked. Juliette was such a likable character, she didn't want anyone to touch her because of what it did to them, no matter how she herself felt while being touched. She made a line in the sand, and she fought tooth and nail for that rule to be kept.
And the other main character, the boy she finds herself stuck in a cell with, is actually a great compliment to Juliette, and has a couple of surprises that I wasn't ready for. Not going to tell you what the surprises were because... Well, you know. But in the end he really does care for Juliette, no matter how messed up she was inside. It was cute. It was very easy to fall in love with the characters. And the plot kept my head spinning, wondering what was going to happen next.
I know you're probably asking yourself: What could possibly happen in a little cell between two people who've never met? Actually, a lot. In the cell, you find out more about each of the characters, why they are in the cell in the first place.
Also, I've never seen a writer who uses the book as a literal journal, with lines crossed out like this, but that is what this author does. And when she does, you can get little glimpses of what Juliette is really thinking, despite how she acts. This especially happens when her and her cellmate meet, there's a lot of confessions real thought put in the book. It's certainly a lot more interesting saying "I wanted to trust him I didn't trust him." than "I wanted to trust him, but I didn't." You know?
All in all, if you're in the mood for a book that will keep you up in the night, with characters that are as interesting as they are lovable, and with a fun writing style, then this book is the one for you.

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"My eyes open to 2 eyes 2 lips 2 ears 2 eyebrows.
I stifle a scream my urgency to run the crippling horror gripping my limbs.
"You're a b-b-b-b--"
"And you're a girl." He cocks an eyebrow. He leans away from my face. He grins but he's not smiling and I want to cry, my eyes desperate, terrified, darting toward the door I'd tried to open so many times I'd lost count. They locked me in with a boy. A boy.
Dear God.
They're trying to kill me.
They've done it on purpose.
To torture me, to torment me, to keep me from sleeping through the night ever again. His arms are tatted up, half sleeves up to his elbows. His eyebrow is missing a ring they must've confiscated. Dark blue eyes dark brown hair sharp jawline strong lean frame. Gorgeous Dangerous. Terrifying. Horrible.
He laughs and I fall off my bed and scuttle into the corner.
He sizes up the meager pillow on the spare bed they shoved into the empty space this morning, the skimpy mattress and threadbare blanket hardly big enough to support his upper half. He glances at my bed. Glances at his bed.
Shoves them both together with one hand. Uses his foot to push the two metal frames to his side of the room. Stretches out across the two mattresses, grabbing my pillow to fluff up under his neck. I've begun to shake.
I bite my lip and try to bury myself in the dark corner.
He's stolen my bed my blanket my pillow.
I will have nothing but the floor.
I will never fight back because I'm too petrified too paralyzed too paranoid.
"So you're - what? Insane? Is that why you're here?"
I'm not insane.
He props himself up enough to see my face. He laughs again. "I'm not going to hurt you."
I want to believe him I don't believe him.
"What's your name?" he asks.
None of your business. What's your name?
I hear his irritated exhalation of breath. I hear him turn over on the bed that used to be half mine. I stay awake all night. My knees curled up to my chin, my arms wrapped tight around my small frame, my long brown hair the only curtain between us.
I will not sleep.
I cannot sleep.
I cannot hear those screams again."

pages 3-4

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Listen to this song that really captures the feeling of loneliness that Juliette wrestles with in the book!

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

MARE BARROW'S WORLD IS DIVIDED BY BLOOD - 
those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own - an ability she didn't know she had. Except... her blood is Red.
To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard - the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, putting prince against prince - and Mare against her own heart.
From debut author Victoria Aveyard comes a lush, vivid fantasy series where loyalty and desire can tear you apart and the only certainty is betrayal.

MY REVIEW

As you can imagine, when describing this book to others, you sort of have a hard time doing so. There are just too many elements to this story, just enough plot twists in it that sometimes you just end up saying "You just have to read it and figure it out." I figured out a way to describe this book in the simplest way possible, however. I describe it as a mix between Cinderella and X-Men. Now this isn't a perfect description because the people with powers aren't in hiding, but rule the entire government, and Mare's family doesn't hate her, only wish that she would find another way to make money other than stealing, but it allows for the person that you are talking to to get the basics of the story to ask more questions.

This is the cover of the next book in this series. Can't wait to read it! :)

Now that I've gone through the very basics of the story, let's talk about it. Despite my anti-romantic tendencies, the romance in this book didn't bother me at all. When Mare and a stranger met while she was stealing from him, at first glance I shipped them. (Meaning: to endorse a romantic relationship, for those of you less internet-savvy.) I sort of guessed who he was in the beginning, but I'm not going to tell you so that you can figure it out... ;)

This is a map of the kingdom where this story takes place. As you can see, it is set in a futuristic North America.

The whole point of this book, in my eyes, is that while Mare is in the palace, you and her get to discover who she can trust, and who she really can't. I had sort of figured out the main betrayal in the beginning, but I stayed around to see what that person would do. This is the mark of really good writing, because if you couldn't piece together the pieces on your own, or if the person (let's say) who committed the murder was nowhere on the suspect list in the first place, that would just make the reader really frustrated with you as a writer. A good writer, however, leaves little clues for both you, the reader, to figure out along with the character.

"Their blood is a threat, a warning, a promise. We are not the same and never will be."

Another thing - in front of the millions of cameras, in front of the Reds and all of the Silvers, Mare has to hide who she really is so that she isn't killed. A Red has never been seen with any kind of power, so the King and Queen force her to act as a Silver should. Her normal, comfortable clothes are replaced with silk and jewels, her conversation turned polite. Her skin is painted white to hide her Red identity, her hair pulled into fancy up-dos instead of just hanging around her face. A lot of us don't think about just how much work actually goes into being a royal, but this book makes it very clear that it is no walk in the park. Not even being born into it makes it easy.

"I see a world on the edge of a blade. Without balance, it will fall."

Now, there is a little love triangle (or at some point, a love square, where Mare has to pick between three guys), but it didn't bother me as much as it did in books like Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The romance in this book isn't the main focus. Like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Mare is mostly just focused on surviving, or saving other Reds from the Silvers, which makes her a lot more interesting.

"I'm an accident. I'm a lie. And my life depends on maintaining the illusion."

Along with that, there is a resistance group who call themselves the Scarlet Guard, who are the first to try and fight back for the Red's enslavement to the uncaring Silvers. No one has ever done this before because the Silvers are terrifying. What hope would any of us have against someone with superhuman strength, or who can control the elements that are around you? Knowing all of that, they still fight back, and that makes them suicidal or brave, depending on your mindset. There is a secret, however, that could tip the balance in their favor, but you'll have to read the book to figure that out...

"Spoilers"

All in all, this book is amazing. There are plot twists that you will never see coming, characters that you will instantly distrust, fall in love with, and hate. There are quotes in this book that are really powerful, but I'm afraid that giving them to you would lead to spoilers, and we can't have that.

The question is this: When you are stuck between a rock and a hard place, between saving the helpless and silent, or saving yourself, would you rise, red as the dawn?

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"All I see is purple as I fall, the lightning shield rising up to meet me. It hisses with electricity, singeing the air. I barely have time to understand, but I know the veined purple glass will cook me alive, electrocuting me in my red uniform. I bet the Silvers will only care about waiting for someone to clean me off.
My head bangs against the shield, and I see stars. No, not stars. Sparks. The shield does its job, lighting me up with bolts of electricity. My uniform burns, scorched and smoking, and I expect to see my skin do the same. My corpse will smell wonderful. But, somehow, I don't feel a thing. I must be in so much pain that I cannot feel it.
But - I can feel it. I feel the heat of the sparks, running up and down my body, setting every nerve on fire. It isn't a bad feeling though. In fact I feel, well, alive. Like I've been living my whole life blind and now I've opened my eyes. Something moves beneath my skin, but it's not the sparks. I look at my hands, my arms, marveling at the lightning as it glides over me. Cloth burns away, charred black by the heat, but my skin doesn't change. The shield keeps trying to kill me, but it can't.
Everything is wrong.
I am alive."

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Watch the music video for a song that was based off of this book!:

Listen to two songs that Victoria Aveyard say remind her most of Mare!:

Take this quiz by team Epic Reads to see what power you would have! (If you were a Silver)

Listen to Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen playlist from Spotify!
(She also has one for Glass Sword, the next book!)

Sword Art Online: Aincrad vol. 1 by Reki Kawahara

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

READ THE NOVEL THAT IGNITED THE PHENOMENON!
In the year 2022, gamers rejoice as Sword Art Online - a VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) like no other - debuts, allowing players to take full advantage of the ultimate in gaming technology: NerveGear, a system that allows users to completely immerse themselves in a wholly realistic gaming experience. But when the game goes live, the elation of the players quickly turns to horror as they discover that, for all of its amazing features, SAO is missing one of the most basic functions of any MMORPG - a log-out button. Now trapped in the virtual world of Aincrad, their bodies held captive by NerveGear in the real world, users are issued a chilling ultimatum: conquer all one hundred floors of Aincrad to regain your freedom. But in the warped world of SAO, "Game Over" means certain death - both virtual and real...

MY REVIEW

Since I was a little girl. I've always been into MMORPGs like Runescape, Star Trek Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, among many others. When I was in middle school, I suddenly got into a new (to me) genre of TV: anime. And it was only a couple of months ago that I stumbled upon a show that melded my two favorite things into one beautifully told story. That was Sword Art Online.

Now, I know what you're thinking: that sounds just like Spy Kids 3, and that was one of the worst things that was part of my childhood/life. No way I'm checking this out! Well, dear reader, I am very (I repeat; VERY) happy that it is nothing like that mashup of actors and bad scenes that was Spy Kids 3. It's very easy to like the introverted, awkward character that is Kirito, and the determined, powerful girl that is Asuna.

"It's just a video game, right?"

When we're playing video games, whether it is on XBox, Playstation, Wii (okay, maybe not Wii...), or PC, it is impossible sometimes to count the amount of times that you've died. But in this world, there are no second chances, which is SO terrifying! If I played Tomb Raider like this, I would be dead in no time! (Though playing it with NerveGear would be the coolest!) And since everyone's real faces and body are downloaded into the game, you know what people really look like in the real world. No dudes playing as girls, no more super hot babes everywhere you look (let's admit it, we all do it...), everyone simply looks, well, normal.

Why would I want to look like myself if I could look like Lara Croft? -sips tea- or a super badass chick?

In all seriousness, this book really made me think about video games, and whether or not the relationships we have in them with random strangers are real or not. I think that, in reality, they are real. I might not have ever met that person in real life, and maybe we will never talk to each other irl (in real life), but that doesn't mean that they're meaningless either. When you finish a series and almost feel like you lost a good friend in finishing it, the feelings that you have are real, even if the characters themselves aren't. And, in a way, you grow with the characters as well. You go where they go, you feel what they feel, that sort of thing.

Whoa, sorry, I sort of got really deep there...

"Hey, say something... Are you lagging?"

In conclusion, if you've watched the anime or not, this book is definitely something that you should have on your bookshelf. It's funny, it's sad, and it's characters will have you question a lot, and that makes one good story.

Let's do it! :D

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"An impossibly huge castle of rock and iron, floating in an endless expanse of sky.
That is the entirety of this world.
A tireless, month-long survey by a team of fanatical experts found that the base floor of the fortress was more than six miles in diameter, just large enough to fit the entire Setagay ward of Tokyo inside. And considering the one hundred floors stacked one on top of the other, the sheer vastness of the structure beggared the imagination. It was impossible to estimate the total amount of data it all represented.
Inside the castle were several bustling cities, countless smaller towns and villages, forests, plains, and lakes. Only one staircase connected each floor to those adjacent it, and these staircases were located within dangerous mazes filled with monsters. It was difficult just finding them, much less reaching them, but once someone had cleared the stairs and arrived at a major city the next floor up, a teleport gate linking the two floors would open in every city below, allowing all players instantaneous travel among the various levels of the castle.
It was thus that, over two long years, its inhabitants slowly but steadily conquered this giant fortress. The current human frontier is the seventy-seventh floor.
The castle's name is Aincrad, a floating world of blade and battle with about six thousand human beings trapped within. Otherwise known as -
Sword Art Online."

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Watch a trailer for the anime!:

Look at the page for a video game that is currently being developed;
Age of Aincrad!