A Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

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.


The Review:

Wow. wha wha wha wow!!
I loved this book. As said when I purchased this book I am not a person who is big on historical fantasy, but this was so good!
So according to the author her inspiration was a twisted take on Cinderella. Now I'm not sure I got that or not, but I did not care.
As far as I am concerned Celaena Sardothien is one of my very favorite YA heroines ( YES I dare to say favorite). When we first meet her she has been imprisoned in these mines, but she does not let that dampen her spirit not one bit. She is quite the lippy little thing which provides a great amount of humor to the story. 
It is here after being escorted by the Captain of the Royal Guard Chaol Westfall, that she meets prince Dorian, who wants her to be his Champion in, what proves to be a deadly, competition to become his fathers, the king, royal assassin. If she wins it means freedom, after 4 years of services that is, but losing means being sent back to the mines. So what does she do, why she accepts the offer of course. Little does she know that darkness surrounds these competitions and something very deadly lurks the halls of the glass castle killing off the competitors one by one. 
Oh, this was such a good story. It never strayed anywhere where I did not want to follow, never one second was I bored wishing myself ahead of the story, there was always something intriguing going on! 
Celaena was such a lovable character, despite her profession. She was just really at the end of the day a girl. A girl who loves parties and dresses, maybe even a little romance as well, but can also fashion a knife with soap and sewing needles. Who is scared of letting people in but does it anyway and above all values her freedom. By the end of the book there is still so much to discover about her and much of the other characters that I cannot wait for book two.
This book also provides a slew of interesting characters: A brooding captain of the guard, a charming prince, a princess from another kingdom, a very suspicious duke, a conniving courtier, and a very dangerous king are just among a very select few. 
I should probably mention something about the romance in this book because it does very much so contain it, I have some very strong opinions about it actually, but it's not what kept the pages turning for me (okay that's a little lie it did keep the pages turning sometimes), I loved the idea of this competition, the tests and trials and how it molded and changed all the characters (some changed for the better, some for the very worse)  and some of their views on what it means to be a honorable person.
I cannot wait for book numbro  2!! I am so happy to give this book a rating....................
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A Review: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

(The Blurb)

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

Okay so two things.
Firstly I would like to say: GUSH!!
Secondly, I am a product of the 90's so when I heard about this book and that it was set in 1996 I figured  I would have ZERO trouble connecting with the story. So very glad that was true. I thoroughly enjoyed The Future of Us. The idea that these two characters could connect to the Internet (dial-up GRRR!) and automatically be logged onto their Facebook page nearly twenty years into the future is such a clever and intriguing idea (especially in today's society where media and technology practically rule). I definitely have to give a round of applause to the authors for their truly original and unique (BRILLIANT!) idea! Now to the characters!
I really liked/loved the protags and their sidekicks. I will say that I think me liked Josh just a smidgen more than Emma. She makes some kind of, if not questionable than at least, selfish choices, but that being said I completely understand her plight.
I mean having access to their futures like that and knowing that any major decision made could somehow shift you entire future leading them to happiness and even sometimes unhappiness, is a lot to take on. The book just begs to asks the question, just like the main characters do, if you could see how your life turns out while your still young, a teenager, would you stay on this path even if it means unhappiness? Would you try to change it even if it affects the people surrounding you? And if you did try to change it should you?
Wow! I just love this story and concept and I definitely recommend this book to readers of young and old (gosh I hate using old how about delicately aged??).

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This book was published October 16, 2012 by Razorbill
The Future of Us @ Amazon.com