Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
5 out of 5 stars

Summary:
Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

My Thoughts:
Wow. Just wow. I'm not sure why it took me this long to finally pick up this book and give it a try. I kept stalling or deciding to read something else. But finally, FINALLY, I picked it up and I'm so thrilled that I did! This is one of the best books I've read in awhile. This isn't really a review. I just had to gush and spill all the feels I have for this book. Even though I've only just read the first book, I can say definitively that this series is shooting up near the top of my all time favorite series...it's THAT good! And the writing, don't even get me started on the brilliance of the writing! I'm in love with this book :)

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary:
After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another.

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

My Thoughts:
 There was so much hype about this book, I finally got around to reading it. Initially, Celaena came off as a spoiled brat. I was waiting for the apparent kick-ass, strong, & brave heroine I've heard so much about. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait too long to see a different side of her! 

Throughout the competition to become the king's champion, we learn just why she's infamously the best assassin in the land, although most people don't even know what this assassin looks like, or that she's just a girl. She's ruthless when it comes to her opponents, even though she has to hold back some. We get a few tidbits about her early life and why she is who she is today, but not everything is revealed...this is the first book in a series, after all. I'm very curious to find out more about Celaena. She has her flaws, some of them are a bit irritating, but overall, I liked her. At the time when I finished reading this, I couldn't purchase the next books...boo! But, I will soon.

Her two love interests, yes, there's a triangle, are very swoonworthy.  I was a little surprised by who she chose first. Although, it being a triangle, she can always change her mind down the line...I'm not giving anything away :) But, there were some really good swoony moments...*sigh* 
I really liked the way she thought, she still had her girly, romantic thoughts, but always kept her focus on her freedom and bettering the lives of her people.

The world building was very good. I love a good high/epic fantasy, but not so high & epic that I need to take notes to remember all the little details & people in the world. There are so many places in the land that can be explored and I hope to get to see more of them in the books to come. 

Oh! One thing that bugged me, but this is just me & my brain...I hate it when I'm not sure how to pronounce a name!! And that happens a lot in fantasy books. It frustrates me! And I know it's all on me, it's not anything bad about the book. But every time I read a name I'm not sure how to pronounce, I want to scream. Is it su-LAY-na or su-LEE-na??? And Chaol, don't even get me started with that one!! I just decided I'd call him Cole and be done with trying to figure it out :)

All in all, I love this book so hard! I cannot wait to read the rest and the prequel books to find out more about Sam...squee! Oh and I liked the original cover better than this new one...not that the new one isn't gorgeous.

Format: Kindle Edition

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Sanctum by Sarah Fine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary:
A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos’s best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, thanks to a farewell ritual gone awry, Lela is standing in paradise, looking upon a vast gated city in the distance—hell. No one willingly walks through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn’t just anyone—she’s determined to save her best friend’s soul, even if it means sacrificing her eternal afterlife.

As Lela struggles to find Nadia, she’s captured by the Guards, enormous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city’s endless streets. Their all-too-human leader, Malachi, is unlike them in every way except one: his deadly efficiency. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his own plan: get her out of the city, even if it means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn’t—the dark city isn’t the worst place Lela could end up, and he will stop at nothing to keep her from that fate.

My Thoughts:
Holy crap on wheat toast! This book is frakkin awesome...so happy I picked it up!

This story is about a lot of things, friendship, loyalty, abandonment, depression, substance abuse, suicide...and all of it is handled very well. Having gone through something like this very recently, not going to hell or dealing with anything supernatural, but having a very good friend dealing with addiction & depression, this book really struck a chord. When someone you love is hurting, there's nothing you won't do to try to help them...and sometimes, people just don't want to be helped.  That's a really hard thing to accept, that someone doesn't want help or doesn't feel they deserve help. I cried a lot while reading this book.

This book...this book cracked my heart open, poured the contents all over the floor & stomped on them...then drop-kicked me in the gut just for good measure...then filled my heart & stitched it up & gave me a bear hug. Five stars is nowhere near enough for this book.

Format: Kindle Edition

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Reckoning by Lili St. Crow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary:
Nobody expected Dru Anderson to survive this long. Not Graves. Not Christophe. Not even Dru. She's battled killer zombies, jealous djamphirs, and bloodthirsty suckers straight out of her worst nightmares. But now that Dru has bloomed into a full-fledged svetocha - rare, beautiful, and toxic to all vampires - the worst is yet to come.

Because getting out alive is going to cost more than she's ever imagined. And in the end, is survival really worth the sacrifice?

DRU ANDERSON'S NOT AFRAID OF THE DARK.
BUT SHE SHOULD BE.


My Thoughts:
I just don't like it when a series I love ends, not at all. And although I'm not ecstatic about the way this series ended, I get it. And it will not detract any stars from my rating. I do wish, however, that there were more books in the series to delve into this new element in the story.

It was mentioned in the other books but really became a part of the story in this last book. Also, this new revelation about Dru's heritage needs to be explored further. AND, of course, I NEED to find out what happens with Dru & Graves!

That's why I think there will be a new series, not exactly a spinoff, but something else with these characters. Maybe a continuation from Graves' perspective?? Do I sound desperately hopeful?? I am :)

Anyway, loved the book and really sad it's the end of the series.

Format: Paperback

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