Tower of Dawn

Hey it's me,

I'm back. Now you may be wondering, did you fall off the wagon AGAIN, fam? No, no I did not. What had happened was, I was about to read Empire of Storms last weekend, but I started school this week. And I was thinking about how this book ended and how last time I was legit sobbing for a good thirty minutes to an hour. I thought to myself, self, so I really want to start my week sobbing? The answer was an emphatic no. So I said, you know what? I'm going to read Tower of Dawn, the companion book that happens during the same timeline of Empire of Storms, the one you said you'd never reread. Let's read that. And so I did.

Tower of Dawn follows Chaol's adventures in fixing his legs. When Aelin and Dorian were busy being great, destroying the glass castle and the king, Chaol got a spine injury from the king. Dorian, being the best best friend, sent Chaol to Antica, to the god-city, so he could get his legs fixed by the world-renowned healers of the Torre. He brings Nesryn, who is good and sweet and deserves every good thing in this world. She's the newly appointed Captain of the Guard and Chaol's former/current lover in the night. She deserves much better, but I digress. She and Chaol are also on a quest to try and rally support from the Great Khagan, the emperor of the southern continent. And there's also Yrene, the healer tasked with healing Chaol. She doesn't want to, which is quite understandable. He's a dick.

Why did I not want to read this book again? Because I despise Chaol. He's self-righteous and a dick and just horrible overall. He says that no one hates him more than him, but I disagree. The fact that as soon as you find out that the woman you claim to love has magic you hate her pisses me off. THEN. He finds out his best friend, someone he refers to as brother, has magic, and you ignore him. You don't talk to him about it even though he's clearly struggling and even act like you're afraid of him? That pisses me off even more. And he doesn't choose a side until he's forced to. Then grudgingly goes to the other side and claims it's for this entirely new side that you created. There's a word for him, but I can't think of it. Either way, he's kind of the worst. And Yrene is almost as bad. She's blaming this one guy for all her troubles. He comes from a country you hate, all right. And he served a king you hate, okay. But HE'S THE SAME DAMN AGE AS YOU. Chaol did not take his tired 12-year-old self to Fenhallow, drag your mother out to a bonfire and throw her inside it. He was dealing with his dick of a father. And honestly, he was only Captain of the Guard in title. The king never told him anything. None of his real plans, none of his real moves. His only crime is ignorance and passivity.

Nesryn
By:  Morgana0anagrom

Nesryn is lovely. She deserves all the happy, all the freedom, everything. I'm glad for her choice and her man and everything. It took her a little while to choose her bird, but whatever. She moved at her
own time. Love her. No faults.

All right. I have to go watch Shane Dawson's conspiracy video now. Thanks for reading, have a nice day. I'll see you next time with tears and sadness and rage.

Ship: Nesryn and Sartaq

8/10
~Book Panda

Queen of Shadows

Hello revolutionaries,

How goes it? I'm going to school on Sunday and I'm very sad. But it's fine. Because I no longer have to Spanish. And I no longer have to journalize. And I'll be getting free food, courtesy of my new managing editor who has over $2,000 in declining balance. And I have so many books to read. So yay.

I finished Queen of Shadows today, and whew. So many developments, so much happening. Calaena has fully embraced being Aelin. She's back in Rifthold to destroy the king's reign once and for all. But first, she has to go after Arobyn, the King of Assassins, and retrieve what's rightfully hers. Unfortunately, she has to leave Rowan, the love of my life in Wendlyn. Chaol, is an even worse dick, is working with the rebels, being all self-righteous and horrible as usual. Dorian, my sweet prince, has been collared so a Valg prince can invade his body. And Chaol, being a self-righteous bastard, won't free him. Aedion, our temperamental brother and bestie, is being sentenced to death. But we all know Aelin isn't going to tolerate that mess. Oh, and Manon. Manon is Wingleader, but is going through moral issues, which she doesn't know how to handle because of the whole, "witches are unfeeling" bull that's engraved in them. But it's fine. Everything turns out fine. Eventually.

So, this story is so good, So good. Aelin has started her secret scheming. Sharing is for suckers, and she ain't no sucker. The people around her are like, but why? But she's doing what she needs to do in order to keep them safe. Let her live. And we meet others, like Elide, another lost child of Terrassen. She's spunky, we stan. And Lyssandra, who is great, even though the first we heard of her was Aelin saying she would kill her if she ever saw her again. But that's fine. It's all fine.

Me knowing what I know, makes me laugh at the Rowan and Aelin. They really out here, pretending they don't feel anything deep for each other. It's cute that they're trying so hard. Chaol can suck an egg and die for all I care. Trash human being. Unfortunately, I think I need to reread Tower of Dawn as well. Before my heart is obliterated in Kingdom of Ash. There are going to be so many feelings. In this book, the feelings are good. Full of hope and warmth and stuff. Weird good feelings. Anyway, book stuff. So good. I'll be honest, I don't know how to talk about this book without spoiling

By: Charlie Bowater

the entire thing. And I don't care much about spoilers anymore, but I can't just spoil the whole entire book. That's rude and ungrateful. Go read it. Feel the feelings.

Ship: Aelin and Rowan

9.5/10
~Book Panda

Heir of Fire

Hey y'all,

It's me. Back from it all. Finishing them books. Living. Getting a bit sad, but it's fine. Everything's fine. Gotta go write like 3,500 words later. But it's fine.

I finished Heir of Fire today and I was so sad.  In this one, our queen, Calaena, is in Wendlyn on a mission from the king. Is she doing this mission? No. She goes to the land of the demi-Fae in order to gain answers to the mystery of the Wyrdkeys and the Wyrdgates. Chaol is out in Ardalan being a whole entire snake, selling information he has no right to, dissing his supposed best friend, all the snake moves. It's sort of okay, because we finally meet Aedion, Calaena/Aelin's cousin. Wait. Did I say that Calaena was the lost heir? She's the queen of Terrassen. Anyway, Aedion. I love him. We meet him and we also meet Manon, the Ironteeth Blackbeak witch clan heir. She's horrible but lovely. The Ironteeth witches are gathering in the Ferian Gap, training to be the King's new aerial fleet. Manon is also out here trying to, you know, survive the clans of bloodthirsty witches that were bred to be nothing but hateful. It's a whirlwind of adventures.

Calaena, my poor dear, is super depressed. And it doesn't help that Rowan, the love of my life, is being an ass. She thinks she's less than dirt, and he's enforcing her incorrect mindset. Unlike the other books, I couldn't fully hate Rowan, because I love him so much. He's wonderful and I love him. But in this book, he's the worst. We don't stan. I also don't like that Calaena is clearly depressed, but no one does anything to help her. Well, I guess kitchen squad tries, but she's unreceptive. Also Rowan's fault, I believe. Rowan is also kind of broken though. Putting two broken people together isn't really a good idea. It doesn't work out the well most of the time.

Chaol. You indecisive dick. No one likes a snake, Chaol, and that's what you are. You can't play all sides. And you can't pick what sides of people you want to like. It's both rude and ungrateful. While he's out here not knowing what he wants, Dorian is suffering. He doesn't know what to do about his growing magic, and instead of helping his brother out, he's like, "lolz, don't wanna know." What kind of brotherhood/best friendship is that? A bad one. Aedion though. Aedion is a lot like Calaena. He did what he had to to survive, and then did what he could to help his people later. But he still feels like crap because of Aelin. She's the same. I love how they're basically twins, even though they're cousins.

Manon. She's a crazy chick. I mean, I love her but she's bloodthirsty and a witch. I like how, when we're introduced to her, she's portrayed as this bad girl, who looks like she can kill you, can actually kill you. What is mercy? she asks. What is kindness? Then she immediately turns around and talks to her pet wyvern, and feels empathy for others. It's so cute.

By: Evilienne

Awesome. A real review. Everything was perfect, as per usual. On Sarah's end, not mine. I'm horrible.
And I'm only going to have time to write about 500-1000 words, but it's okay. Here's some hot fire art. Have a nice day.

Snake: Mother Blackbeak or whatever, Iskra
Heart: Aedion, Rowan

9.5/10
~Book Panda

Crown of Midnight

Hey Champions,

How's it hanging? I missed my self imposed deadline for the parts of the book I'm writing. But it's fine. I extended my deadline to next week. I'm a bit hopeless, but it's fine. Because I finished the book. We really out here, being somewhat great.

Today I finished Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. This one is about Calaena is doing her duties as King's Champion, or so everyone believes. Queen really isn't trying to kill people anymore, at least not at the King's commands. So she's "doing her job" and trying to just ride out her sentence. But then she's tasked with finding the evil again, and best friend Nehemia wants her to take a stand against the tyranny, and her male friends think she's truly a monster, actually enjoying killing people. It's really stressful, but she knows something is going on and she, subsequently, has to figure out what it is.

Wow. How is she so good? Like, Calaena didn't have to go so hard for us, but she did. She did that for us, as did Sarah. Once again, Sarah made me ship something I knew was going to end. Made me care about people I knew weren't going to make it. I did mix up plot points, as I do, but it didn't ruin my experience. Calaena still does no wrong. She could kill Dorian on accident and I'd be like, it's fine, love. You're doing great. Even though Chaol was clearly the new and intended love interest, I still like Dorian better. Probably, again, because I'm in present timeline, but it's fine. Everything about this book is perfection, though it made me self-conscious about my own writing, but I'll keep writing. I'm okay.

By: silviarte

I really don't know what to say. This book is so good, I'm listening to Demi blow, and I'm having a good day. I hope you also have a good day. I'm about to eat some Chick-Fil-A, read the next one, then get working on my deadline. Later, dude.

Ship:??????
Snake: Roland, Archer, King what's-his-face

9/10
~Book Panda

Throne of Glass

Hello Assassins,

It's me, back in a reasonable amount of time with a decent book review. It's been a hot second, but I've found something called consistency. Just kidding, I just love this book. What is this book? Just Throne of Glass by the queen of my life, Sarah J. Maas. I reviewed the ACoTaR trilogy a year and a half ago, back when I warned about spoilers. There's none of that now. Anyway.

Throne of Glass is a riveting story about a bunch of assassins, thieves, mercenaries, and dishonored soldiers competing to become the King or Ardalan's Champion. Calaena, Ardalan's Assassin, is fighting for freedom. She was sent to Endovier, a work camp for her crimes, but if she wins, she'll be free from everything for four years. She has to defeat the other twenty-three Champions, keep her true identity hidden, and battle a darker evil lurking in the castle. Luckily, we meet friends.

So. Calaena? Best character, hands down. She's my favorite. She's sassy but vulnerable. She recognizes her own weakness, but won't let anyone else see it. She reads and loves clothing and music and kills people. Even then, she only kills the people she chooses to, which is why she has a bit of a problem becoming the King's thug. But still, freedom. She's so good, even though she's supposed to be bad. Also, knowing what I know, there are so many little nods at it. Like, when I read the thing, I was soooo shook. But, I was also, like, 12 or 13.

Having been seven years since I read this book, I forgot a lot of the little details, like freaking Dorian falling in love with her? Did not expect nor care for that. Mostly, because, even though I love them in the present timeline, Sarah made me hate them in less than five chapters of this book. I was like, spit on their shoes, girl, when Dorian and Chaol were being grade A dickwads. I always thought it was just Chaol, but no. Dorian wanted a piece of her too. It was wild. I didn't support it, because I have future knowledge.

Ugh. These books are so good. And I don't even know what to talk about because I just want to read the next one. Also, can't do my ship stuff, because even though the book ships them, and I loved them previously, I don't ship anyone present right now.  There's art to make up for it. Anyway, I have books to read and unsolved murders to solve. See ya, love.

By: Viktor Fetsch

Snake: Duke Perrington, King what's-his-face, Kaltain, Cain

9/10
~Book Panda

Crystal Blade

Hello friend,

From the time passage, I'm sure you know what happened. I tried to read a book, and that book wasn't read. It took me a while to realize why I wouldn't read that book. To put it simply, she keeps being manipulated by people who are known manipulators and is then surprised that she is being manipulated. I can't deal with stupidity. I already know that Valko is going to be set free because of her and then he's going to do something awful. Then she's going to be all upset, like, I should have known. Yes. You should have. And then she's going to be like, I don't understand why they won't let me help. Well, it's because you're incompetent, but okay. Also, I was right about her being more than an Auraseer. We stan my abilities. One more thing, before I leave. Anton is weirdly affectionate now. In the last book, he was like, I can't give you what you want, even though I love you. And then he was all distant but trying. Three weeks later and that's dead and gone? Can't believe it.

I'm so behind on my reading schedule, but I think I'm going to reread the Throne of Glass series instead. I'm going back to school in a few weeks and I don't want to lug them back to school again. There's seven, they are beautiful, and I also don't feel like crying in public spaces again. So. I'll do throne of glass, catch up on the books that have come out since November, then get to my regularly scheduled program. Idk why I'm telling you this. You don't know my schedule. It just helps to write it down, I guess. Whatever. Have a nice day. See you when I see you.

Burning Glass

Happy New Year and Happy Holidays,

It's been a while. How've you been? For some reason, I thought I was going to be able to finish this book in a decent amount of time while I was reacclimating with my family, the loves of my life. Didn't happen. But I'm back at the top of the year. I got Sims 4 for Christmas, and let me tell you. I've already become a homewrecker solely because I wanted a gay best friend. Everything's fine though. They were each other's beards. Anyway, books.

I finished Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie today. It's about this girl, Sonya, who is an anomaly Auraseer, which is basically an empath on steroids. She's only been in Auraseer school for less than a year and the other chicks don't like her because she can't really do the Auraseer things. Then she ends up being the Royal Auraseer by tragedy and has to navigate the crowds of royals, the prince and the emperor. Eventually, she has to choose who gets her loyalty, who gets betrayed, and which emotions are truly hers. It's a whirlwind of adventures. I think that's everything. It's been a while since I've started this book.

Let's talk ships. At the beginning of this book, I despised Anton, the prince. Like, really hated him. He was rude and ungrateful and not understand him. I wanted him to leave, and I wanted to love the emperor. Then Valko, said emperor, was a creep. He made my stomach feel slimy and I was very uncomfortable. And then she would get caught up in his emotions and I hated it because he's the worst. He's an overgrown child someone gave power to. Then I realized Anton had Trump walls up, and I warmed up to him again. Then we find out some stuff about Anton, and I was hesitant to ship him with Sonya. If magic is so prevalent in this world that there are people who see into the future, then how can I ship something that will inevitably fall apart and not come to fruition. But Kathryn really wanted me to ship it, so here I am, wary but hopeful.

Sonya is a horrible Auraseer. I believe that is because she is not a real Auraseer, but something else. But as an Auraseer, horrible. She doesn't realize when her emotions are no longer her own when it's clear as day to me. It's worrying. Also, I think her origin story is hella shady. She has parents she has no memory of, a brother she has no memory of, and everything she knows about her past was told to her by others. Even how her powers originated was told to her. Shady. This leads me to believe that this is completely false and that she isn't a real Auraseer. All in all, despite how long this book took me to finish, I really enjoyed it. Don't know why it's called Burning Glass, that's a mystery to me, but I'm excited to read the next ones. I'm also ready to set my reading goal low in order to accomplish it. I'm going to Australia over the summer, so I don't trust myself. But also, probs gonna read over 100 books again. I read 138 this year, because I'm just that bitch. Anyway, later dude. Hope your 2019 is wonderful and blessed.

Ship: Pia and Yuri, Anton and Sonya
Ick: Valko

8/10
~Book Panda