The Black Jewels Trilogy

The Black Jewels Trilogy

by Anne Bishop
Series: The Black Jewels Trilogy
Published:  December 2, 2003 by Roc
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Goodreads
My Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪

 Goodreads                        Amazon

Anne Bishop’s critically-acclaimed Black Jewels Trilogy is the saga of a young but still-innocent Queen more powerful than even the High Lord of Hell—and the three sworn enemies determined to win her and gain a prize that could be terriblebeyond imagining…

Daughter of the Blood
The Dark Kingdom is preparing itself for the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy--the arrival of a new Queen, a Witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But this new ruler is young, and very susceptible to influence and corruption; whoever controls her controls the Darkness. And now, three sworn enemies begin a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, magic and betrayal, and the destiny of an entire world is at stake

Heir to the Shadows
Enough time has passed for the young girl Jaenelle, heir to the magical Darkness, for her physical wounds to heal, while amnesia keeps her frightening memories at bay. But with Saetan--a Black-Jewelled Warlord Prince and Jaenelle's foster-father--to protect her, she will continue to grow. Her magic will mature. Her memories will return. And Jaenelle will face her destiny when she remembers Daemon, Saetan's son, who made the ultimate sacrifice for her love...

Queen of the Darkness
Jaenelle Angelline now reigns as Queen-protector of the Shadow Realm. No longer will the corrupt Blood slaughter her people and defile her lands. But where one chapter ends, a final, unseen battle remains to be written, and Jaenelle must unleash the terrible power that is Witch to destroy her enemies once and for all.

Note: This review encompasses the entire trilogy, which includes (in order), Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, and Queen of Darkness.

Waiting on Wednesday 8/26

As we rapidly approach the end of August and therefore the restart of school/ the end of summer, I thought it would be nice to outline a few of the SUPER EXCITING releases coming out in the next few weeks! I will make every attempt to post one of these weekly for the next month so that everyone  has something to look forward to the next week. Sometimes I just need a little anticipation to get me through those rough first weeks at the end of summer!

The highlight of this week is:

Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4)                  

Sarah J. Maas's New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series reaches new heights in this sweeping fourth volume.

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 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.

Amazon                      Goodreads                      Target

Words cannot describe how excited I am for this book! This is my favorite series by my favorite author and I can't wait to see where Celaena ends up next!

This series is a MUST READ! 

On top of all her books being amazing, the author Sarah J. Maas is an amazing and wonderful person too! I hopefully will have the fortune to see her again on her American book tour when she is in PA! (check the bottom of the post if you are interested!)

I definitely recommend preordering the book especially because TARGET HAS SIGNED COPIES FOR PREORDER and Bloomsbury is offering some FREE BUTTONS if you get your proof in by August 30 (learn more about that here).

I will definitely be posting more about this no doubt wonderful book! (Hopefully I will be able to get the review up the day it comes out/remember to do a review)




P.S. (Here are some more details of her North American tour if anyone else is interested!)

The Heart of Betrayal

The Heart of Betrayal

by Mary E. Pearson
Series: The Remnant Chronicles, Book 2
Published: July 7, 2015 by Henry Holt
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Goodreads
My Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪

Goodreads                 Amazon

Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape . . . and even less of being together. 

Desperate to save her life, Lia’s erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komisar that she has a magical gift, and the Komisar's interest in Lia is greater than either Kaden or Lia foresaw. 

Meanwhile, the foundations of Lia's deeply-held beliefs are crumbling beneath her. Nothing is straightforward: there's Rafe, who lied to her, but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom she always believed to be barbarians but whom she now realizes are people who have been terribly brutalized by the kingdoms of Dalbreck and Morrighan. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her very sense of self, Lia will have to make powerful choices that affect her country, her people . . . and her own destiny.

Red Queen

Red Queen
by Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen #1
Published: Feb. 10, 2015 by HarperTeen
Genres: Fantasy/Dystopian, YA
Source: Goodreads 
My Rating: ✪✪✪✪

Goodreads            Amazon

Graceling meets The Selection in debut novelist Victoria Aveyard's sweeping tale of seventeen-year-old Mare, a common girl whose once-latent magical power draws her into the dangerous intrigue of the king's palace. Will her power save her or condemn her?

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.

To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard—a growing Red rebellion—even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction. One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

Revolutionary Road: The Summer Tour

Summer has officially kicked off and the hectic beginning (including moving home from college and helping my dad put in hardwood floors)  has finally started to settle down. Now that I have slightly more time on my hands I can get back to reading and gaming and crafting (hopefully)!!!!

I've noticed that a lot of books on my to-read shelf relate to one topic: a revolutionary lower class attempting to overthrow the overbearing upper class. Because of this I have decided to try out a little summer blog event:

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD: THE SUMMER TOUR

In which I will review books that fit within the aforementioned topic range (hopefully one about ever two weeks). While I do love this topic, the repeating storyline can get a bit dull so I will probably be reading other books in-between.

In case you would like to read along with me/are interested in what books are like The Hunger Games, the books I am hoping to review are:

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Red Rising seems unique because it is SciFi/dystopian based (occurring on Mars) rather than the fantasy worlds of both An Ember in the Ashes and Red Queen.

As stated previously, I will attempt to get the reviews up every two weeks but if I do read books in between (which I plan to. I am super excited about The Wrath and the Dawn and The Girl at Midnight) it may be a bit longer!!!

Hope you all tune back in!!! Happy Reading!!!

A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult
Source: Goodreads
Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪

Amazon           Goodreads

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

If you're a follower of the blog, you know by now that Sarah J. Maas is one of my favorite authors EVER. When I found out that she was doing a retelling of one of my favorite fairy tales, Beauty and the Beast, my excitement transcended words!


Having provided for her family for most of her life, Feyre is used to hardship and having to earn everything herself. Although she is jaded, she never loses sight of the natural beauty in the world (even though she has little faith in humanity). Her character was relatable and I easily slipped into her mind as the narrative progressed. Even though the story was a bit predictable (it is, after all, a retelling) I didn't find myself banging my head against my pillow at the leading Lady's stupidity, as I normally do when I can anticipate bad turns. Her story will no doubt grip the reader and have them laughing and sweating along with her as she faces her many trials.

The world-building was immersive as well, providing a peek into the Faerie realm and all of it's courts and politics that draws in the reader and leaves them thirsting for more. The rich history surrounding Fae and human actions provides a violent backdrop to the budding romance of the leading characters, adding an element of the star-crossed variety that makes their relationship all the more riveting.

On the point of relationships, I found that the love story between Feyre and Tamlin rang true in a way that many of the NA books I've read recently fail to (perhaps this is because I'm a classicist and think that Beauty and her Beast stories are the best). And ALL THOSE HOT MEN!!!! Tamlin and Lucien and Rhys OH MY! The Faery men are hotter than tamales on a July afternoon! Don't worry about overly tense love triangles though. Feyre's devotion to her Beast remains steadfast throughout the novel (although some tension is hinted at towards the end due to choices Feyre has to make to help her lover).

While Beauty and the Beast is the most obvious influence to this book, it was also loosely based off of the fairytales of Tamlin and East of the Sun and West of the Moon. If you are familiar with any of these stories, you probably already know what is going to happen in this book. ACOTAR almost is purely a retelling, although the world provides a new setting and the blending of all the tales provides new and exciting challenges for the characters. This book is only the first of a trilogy though, and the ending sets us up for a new and exciting storyline to come. 

I can't wait to see where Maas takes the series!!!!




What to read next? 

If you really enjoy this book and are looking for other Beauty and the Beast retellings, I highly recommend those by Robin McKinley. She currently has three retellings, Beauty, Rose Daughter, and Sunshine (Sunshine is not an outright retelling, but twists the original story into something completely new). Newcomers to Robin McKinley's style of writing may want to stick to the first two. She also has a retelling of Sleeping Beauty which I have never read, Spindle's End.

What's Happening?!?

With the school year winding down, you may want something to look forward to during the stressful weeks to come. Here are some things that I am excited about that are happening soon!

black-ops-3-next-gen.jpg

April 24-26: Call of Duty Double XP weekend

April 26: Call of Duty Black Ops 3: Official Trailer Reveal

These two are for all you gamers out there! Even if you're still moping that its Black Ops 3 instead of World at War 2 (like a few of my friends), you can still get behind the Double XP that's happening.



May 5: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas release


May 12: End of Days (Penryn & the End of Days Series) by Susan Ee

For all of you book lovers out there, these are the two titles being released in May that I am most excited about. As you may have already figured out, I love Sarah J. Maas' other series, Throne of Glass, and am super excited for the release of her new book!
Check it out! (Goodreads           Amazon)

End of Days is the final book of the Penryn and the End of Days Series. I enjoyed the first two books in the series immensely and am anxiously anticipating/dreading the conclusion. Definitely recommend the series to anyone who enjoys Dystopian/Angel fiction!
Check it out! (Goodreads           Amazon)




May 4: Mumford and Sons Wilder Minds release

May 19: Twenty-One Pilots Blurry Face release

These are two albums coming out in May that you might want to give a listen to!


Thanks for reading! Check back soon for more awesome reviews!

Emily