Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Reading Level: Ages 13 and up
Hardcover: 432 Pages
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Narration: Third Person: Celaena
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Challenge: Paranormal
Source: Netgalley

The Throne of Glass Series:
Book One: Throne of Glass
Book Two: Crown of Midnight
Book Three: Untitled (2014)
Book Four: Untitled
Book Five: Untitled
Book Six: Untitled

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Author's
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Goodreads Synopsis:

An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt.

But her heart never wavers.

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice. 

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

My Review:

I read Crown of Midnight quite a while ago and decided to put off the review until we were closer to the release date. Unfortunately, since all this time has passed, I've forgotten some of the details. Suffice to say, I won't be waiting this long to write a review ever again. xD However, even after all this time, Crown of Midnight still holds a candle above all the other novels I've read this year, even surpassing Siege and Storm, a book that I wrote a nearly hysterical review on earlier in the year. For some reason, when I first read Throne of Glass, I marked it off as an alright read...nothing special or even close to remarkable. But after reading it over again, my views have definitely changed, kind of the same case that Angelfall by Susan Ee was for me. Since I loved Throne of Glass oh so much and reread it over and over again like a bajillion times, I had super high expectations for it's sequel. I was ecstatic when it didn't suffer from "second book syndrome" like many trilogies do nowadays and that it went above and beyond my original expectations.

In this novel, Celaena Sardothien was as bad-ass as ever. She knows how to fend for herself and hates it when she has to rely on others for support. She is, by far, the most independent and fierce heroine I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. However, even though she's definitely more courageous and brave than most, she still has her weaknesses. For one thing, she still hasn't gotten over her arrogance, although some light is shined on why she's so confident of herself to begin with. And even though she has a fierce, no BS, mess-with-me-and-I'll-slit-your-throat sort of persona, she's still as vulnerable as any other girl when it comes to matters of the heart. And Holy Crap, the secret that's revealed about her? Mind-Blown. I had speculated about it and even guessed it near the beginning, but immediately wrote it off as impossible, something I shouldn't have been so quick to do.

The romance was a bit confusing. If you've been keeping up with this series, you'd know that there are two love interests, Dorian, the prince and current heir to the throne, and Chaol, the head of the Guard. From the beginning I knew who I wanted her to pick and had no doubt as to who it would be, but now? Not so sure. Dorian....he's growing on me a bit. He's gone through a lot of character development, and although he's still a bit dependent on others to protect him, he's grown a backbone, can stand up for himself, and fights for what he believes in. With Dorian growing up before our very eyes and after what transpired between Chaol and Celaena, I'm not too sure which direction the last installment is going to take. Heck, I'm not even too sure if I know which side I'm on anymore.

This novel never had a dull moment! Every page was filled to the brim with nail-biting and seat-clinging suspense. The action scenes were marvelously written and I felt as if I was watching everything unfold before my very eyes. I was constantly gasping at every little detail and awed by all the amazing secrets that were revealed. We get a lot more history and world building in this one, something that was definitely needed and beautifully done.

Overall, Crown of Midnight definitely did not disappoint or suffer from "second book syndrome." If you came up to me today and asked me whether I liked this novel or it's predecessor better....I would say sort of. Both novels are amazing, but in there own special ways. I wouldn't be able to choose between them. If you've already read Throne of Glass and loved it, this is definitely one book you do NOT want to miss. If you haven't heard of this series yet or have been putting it off for a later date, STOP PROCRASTINATING AND START THIS SERIES NOW!

*An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review.

Cover- 3/5
Not really into this new cover scheme.
Trailer- 3/5
Heroine- 5/5
Comedy- 6/5
Action- 6/5
Romance- 4.5/5
A bit confusing
Writing- 5/5
Overall- 6/5

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The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

Paperback: 400 Pages
Release Date: October 23, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Genre: Faery/Fantasy
Source: Netgalley

The Iron Fey Series
Book One: The Iron King
Book Two: The Iron Daughter
Book Three: The Iron Queen
Book Four: The Iron Knight

The Call of the Forgotten:
Book Five: The Lost Prince

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Author's
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Amazon Summary:

Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.That is Ethan Chase's unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he'd dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister's world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

My Review:

I really wanted to enjoy this novel as much as I enjoyed The Iron Fey series, but I just couldn't. The Iron Fey series had so many exceptional characters! Ash, with his icy tension and swoon worthy good looks, Puck with his mischievous pranks and hilarious comebacks, and Meghan who had a heart of gold.The Iron Fey contained one of the few love triangles that I felt truly worked. To be honest, I've never been a fan of spinoff series, so I wasn't too ecstatic to read this one. Even Vampire Academy, which is one of the more impressively written vampire series out there, continued with a spinoff series that I didn't enjoy nearly as much as the original.

Old Characters: (Just to jog your memory a bit :)
*Contains Spoilers for people who haven't read the Iron Fey Series*
We see the return of many old characters from the previous books. Here are a few of them:

Meghan: The protagonist of the Iron Fey novels started out shy and unconfident, but throughout the series she's evolved into an admirable character to be feared. She is the first Iron Queen in history, and wields both power over Summer and Iron magic. In The Lost Prince, Meghan is still the character that we all know and love, but she has also grown wiser and learned to be harsher as Queen over time. She now emits a aura of power that tells others that she's not to be trifled with.

Ash: Ash is the only son of Queen Mab, Ruler of the Winter Court, left breathing. He and Meghan fell in love, which was quite scandalous because in the Nevernever it is forbidden for faerys of opposite realms to be together. Ash gave up his title as the Winter Prince, traveled to the end of the world, and became human just to be with the girl he loved (Awwww!). Even though he is now human, he still possesses winter magic and is as deadly with a sword as he ever was. 

Puck: Ahhhh Puck! *Happy Sighs* Puck is the well known Robin Goodfellow in Shakespeare's, A Midsummer's Night Dream. If you don't remember him, which of course you should because I don't think it's even humanly possible to forget him, always carries this happy and sometimes downright scary attitude. He's obviously a troublemaker and loves sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. Because of that, he's one of my favorite characters of all time, and so awesome that I actually squealed and flapped my arms up and down when he made a sudden appearance in The Lost Prince.

Grimalkin: So happy to see that the furball is back! For those of you who don't remember this picky feline, Grimalkin is a large grey cat who led both Meghan and Ethan through the Nevernever when they first arrived. He kind of sets everything into place so that everything works out the way it should. Alot of people think that he's a too convenient source of information, but I never had that problem with him. Grim is the only other character, besides Puck, who made me laugh in The Lost Prince. 

New Characters: (Oh boy, here we go.)

Ethan: *Frustrated Sigh* Ethan annoyed me....alot. In the first series, he was so incredibly adorable, you know the type of adorable when you wanna squish someones cheeks. As he grew up through the years, he could see the fey around him, and in return they were irresistibly drawn to him. He's had a really hard life growing up, and I understand why he acts jerkish sometimes and why he has this don't piss with me attitude, just to keep the people around him safe. But to blame your sister for everything wrong that's ever happened to you? That's just not cool. Throughout the whole novel he always thought the same things. Why did Meghan get dragged into the fey world? Why did she abandon her family? Does she even care or think about us anymore? I just wanted to jump into the book, slap him and say, "Your the one that dragged her into the fey world in the first place! She could've given up on you and cut her losses but instead she trampled through the whole Nevernever to save you. She sacrificed so much for you, and you have the audacity to blame her for your troubles?!" Sorry about the rant right there but I just got so angry at him. Maybe it's because I'm more used to Meghan's POV and I get defensive when someone bad mouths her or maybe it's just because I don't understand where Ethan's coming from. Either way, I just couldn't enjoy his character at all.

Kenzie: Kenzie was a decent character. In the beginning, she was more persistent than the average person would be, but I held no grudges against her for that. She acted strong and confident when she was dragged into the Nevernever, even though she was freaking out on the inside. I admired the way that she stood up for herself, and the way that she wasn't afraid to fight if it was necessary. Near the ending....I didn't see that coming at all! That realization helped me understand her better and put reasons behind some of the more questionable things she did.

Keirnan: Ahhhhh, well if you've read The Iron Knight, you should've known right away who he was. If you haven't, skip the next two sentences. Meghan and Ash's firstborn and the Legendary Iron Prince! He has the power to manipulate Winter, Summer, and Iron magic, which is a humongo deal in the Nevernever. When I first came across Keirnan in The Lost Prince, he reminded me a bit of Puck. The mischievous and the To-Hell-With-It attitude, ring any bells? As the story progresses, you see that he has a little bit of all the older main characters in him. Keirnan wasn't as awesome as any of the old characters, but he was still my favorite out of the new ones.

If you've read the entire Iron Fey series, the twists and turns in The Lost Prince will seem pretty obvious to you. I was never shocked by what happened or what was going to happen, with the exception of the thing involving Kenzie. But even though none of it was surprising, I was never bored with it and never had the distinct need to put it down. That's the one thing that I love about all of Julie's books. She has this epic style of writing, that leaves you hanging on every single word, no matter if you like it or not. The worldbuilding was awe-inspiring as well. I've never been not amazed by the world Julie weaves and all of the beautiful creatures in it. She includes just the right amount of detail, so that your not wondering what the scene looks like or bored with all the descriptive words either.

The romance, was ehhhh. Kenzie and Ethan didn't have one of those dreaded Insta-Love moments, but it was close enough. I never had that urge to fan myself when they were about to kiss like I did with Ash and Meghan. For those of you who hold love triangles in disdain, you'll probably enjoy this romance better. But in my opinion, they fell in love a little too fast.

Even though The Lost Prince is a spinoff series, you don't necessarily have to read the first four books. However, I still strongly suggest that you read them in order, because although this is really Ethan's story, Julie doesn't explain the old characters in detail, because she expects you to already know them. Overall, The Lost Prince is filled with action packed scenes and amazing world building. Actually, it was a fairly entertaining read. The only problem I had with the novel were the characters themselves. Some I liked more then others but I never truly connected to them on the level I connected to Ash, Meghan, and Puck. I found myself more interested in what the older characters were doing, rather then focusing on what the protagonist was doing. I'll still read the next book in this series just to find out what happens to Meghan, but unless Ethan changes his thought process, I won't be chomping at the bit to read them.

Hero/Heroine- 2.5/5
Romance- 2.5/5
Action- 4.5/5
Comedy- 3/5 (Those three stars are mainly Puck's doing.) xD
Overall- 3/5

*A ebook was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review*

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