fantasy – Zakiya N. Jamal

Synopsis:

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.

Now, a sixteen year old Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic ― the Red Church. Treachery and trials await her with the Church’s halls, and to fail is to die. But if she survives to initiation, Mia will be inducted among the chosen of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the only thing she desires.

Revenge.

Review

I’d been meaning to read Nevernight for the longest time so when I saw some people on Instagram were doing a readalong for it I decided to sign myself up. If you don’t know what a readalong is it’s basically exactly what it sounds like. Each week we were supposed to read a certain number of chapters then discuss it before moving on. It’s basically an online book club and I’ve liked it a lot so far. As for Nevernight itself, I actually really enjoyed it too. Just not at first.

Before the novel began, the reader is given this one page intro from the Narrator that tells us the hero is currently dying in the heroine’s arms. The heroine is Mia, the protagonist, but of course it’s unknown who the hero is. All we know is the Narrator is not going to sugarcoat this story and he was also in love with Mia. Interesting. This part drew me in but once the story actually began I was bored.

Mia’s journey to get to the Red Church didn’t really interest me and I’ve never been a fan of flashbacks, which a lot of the first third of the book entailed. However, once I got to the real action of the story I was hooked. Mia grew on me by the end but I really liked her friend and fellow acolyte, Tric, and Mia’s shadow friend, Mister Kindly. They were my favorite characters.

The narrator was also enjoyable although I could’ve done without all the footnotes. While some were short and funny, others were so long I just skipped them because they distracted me too much from the story and honestly, I didn’t care about the information they provided.

Despite these minor flaws I will definitely read the sequel because I want to see what happens next in Mia’s story and if the next book starts at about the same pace this book ended at, I know it won’t be a slow beginning like this first book. At least I hope not.

Stars:

Favorite Line:

“Apologies,” Mia frowned, searching the floor as if looking for something. “I appear to have misplaced the fucks I give for what you think…”

Other Reviews

Synopsis:

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire-for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

Purchase From:

Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository

Review

*Warning: There will be spoilers about Heir of Fire in this review. Read at your own risk.*

Queen of Shadows is my favorite book in this series so far. I haven’t read The Assassin’s Blade but I feel confident in saying Queen of Shadows is my absolute favorite. Everything about it was great. There was a lot of action, drama, romance, and there were a lot of twists and secrets revealed. The novel began with Aelin back in Rifthold to start making moves to take back her kingdom and ultimately save the world from the dark clutches of the King of Adarlan. Unfortunately a lot had changed since Aelin was last in Rifthold.

Dorian was under the control of a Valg prince do to the nice little choker his father put on him after Chaol escaped from the castle. Aedion, Aelin’s cousin, was imprisoned in the castle awaiting his execution and people kept disappearing in Rifthold while the rebels in the city tried to save them all. Not to mention the fact that Aelin also needed to pay the Assassin King a visit because he had one of the Wyrdkeys. Needless to say Aelin had a lot of work to do in this novel and as per usual she handled it with a high degree of sass and swagger. Her plans continued to surprise me (and the other characters in this novel) and I never knew what to expect, which made this novel so fun to read.

It was heartbreaking to read the chapters about Dorian and his enslavement. I wanted to cry every time we had one of those chapters but I pushed through. This novel also contained some new characters that I fell in love with, mainly Lysandra and Nesyrn. I love all the bad ass women we get in this series and these two were an amazing addition to the growing cast of characters in these novels. We also learned more about Manon and the witches in this novel but honestly I didn’t really care all that much about them. Although I do love Manon’s wyern, Abraxos. He’s the best.

Like I said I absolutely loved this novel and I think you should buy it immediately if you haven’t already. It’s worth every penny and I’ve already reread it because I have no self-control. Sorry not sorry.

Stars: