Thursday, July 28, 2016

Girls on Fire

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I sped through this book and had a hard time putting it down. The events were kind like watching 48 hours or a crime scene, unsolved mystery, 60 minutes about teenagers all rolled into one. Robin Wasserman wove a tale of dark reality was that was to believe was non-fiction while I as immersed within the pages.

Hannah Dexter aka Dex, and Lacey both live on the fringes of the high school social scene. Did I say fringes... what I meant was that they don't fit in for vastly different reasons. Hannah, because she harbors a lot of feelings of injustice and just doesn't have the right look, and Lacey because she is the new girl in a small town, who brings big city Grunge attire and an extreme obsession with Kurt Cobain (the book is set in the early 90s). Lacey takes Hannah and gives her new confidence as she becomes Dex, the trusty sidekick. A hatred of the ultimate mean girl Nikki bonds them together in a girlhood crush on life and hating anything the "plebs" may deign to do or like.

I can honestly say that on the outside look in, that EVERY one of these characters is despicable in some way. Probably Lacey's mom the most for me, with the small glances we get into her selfish thoughts towards motherhood that made me want to beat the crap out of her. Nikki was a CLOSE CLOSE second, especially with the "sleepover" incident.

There is a lot of harsh realities of small town, overly religion, teenage life on these pages. A lot of topics that parents don't ever want to think about happening to their child or have their child out doing. Unfortunately, we can all hide under the blanket of suburbanite life or we can face the fact that things like this will happen to some kids. I wanted to smother my child and home-school him after reading this.

**Sensitive topics such as drug use, underage drinking, "satanic" rituals, rape, emotional abuse and death do occur in this book so be prepared.

With all of the horrors found within, this is also a book that feels so real it is scary. Such as the author either personally experienced these horrors from some point or was privy to someone who did. The book is written that fantastically that to give it anything less would be a travesty... 5 stars for me.

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Saturday, July 9, 2016

The Assassin's Blade

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

Integral back story into the humanization of the legend that is Celaena Sardothien. These 5 novellas delve into some of the adventures before the Throne of Glass Book 1 and before Endovian mines.
I loved being able to get to know Sam on a more intimate novel. I previously read Books 1 and 2, and it helped explain SO much of the thoughts and feelings that Celaena has had and dealt with. If you didn't hate Arobynn before with slight references you will be hard pressed not to after this and yelling at Celaena to connect the dots!

My 2 favorites were 0.3 The Silent Assassins and 0.4 the Underworld. If you are into the Throne of Glass or thinking about getting started, I HIGHLY recommend this book. the order of the books DO matter and should be read in their designated order for maximum enjoyment. as they build upon and reference points within other stories at time. You will have an even more intense love for Celaena and the intricate world that Sarah J. Maas has so brilliantly created. 5 stars as a combined novella book for me.

My reviews of each individual short stories:

by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord is a delightful short story that occurs before we first encounter Celaena in Throne of Glass. It gives the reader a bit of a backstory for her when she worked in the Assassin's guild and let's us get to know the character of Sam. It was a nice short story and my main complaint is that it ended too quickly. I loved the way that we got to see how Celaena's character shows through even at the height of her cockiness. 4 stars

by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Assasin and the Healer was another great gem to this collection.  It was a fairly short installment that showed the readers a possible character that could pop up later in the series with the Healer.  (I have not read past Crown of Midnight as of yet).  It was a great woman empowering and having Celaena teach self defense.  Very short but sweet.  4 Stars

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The Assassin and the Desert really stood out to me after reading the first two novellas.  My favorite one so far!  The trials and determination that come through on Celaena were inspiring.  It was nice to see a softer side of her with Ansel and to get to know more about the beautiful horses.  I loved the Silent Assassins and the constant comparison with her own guild.  In another life Celaena would have easily led a very happy life among them.  The fighting movements were spectacularly written. 5 stars!

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