The Dark Days Club

Hey. It's been a while.

I tried to read another book that was really boring. Like, I didn't even want to make a review for it. I also started a job, and I have a lot of stuff due all at the same time. College is so much work. But, here are some good points:

• thank you, next freaking slaps
• While We Wait, by Kehlani also slaps

That's all. And I finished a book.

That book is, if you couldn't read the title, The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman (she also wrote the Eon series if her name sounds familiar). This book is about a Lady named Helen who never behaved as normal English ladies should behave. Then, a maid of her family's goes missing and she falls down a supernatural hole. This hole includes the love of my life, but cousin(?), Lord Carlston, superhuman strength, and demon-like possessions. It's a hard hole to navigate in 19th century England, but Helen's got this.

So. Stuff happened in this book. I read this book three years ago, and I remembered almost none of it. It was great. Anyway, I like Helen. She's sharp and sassy. I lowkey wanted her to do the thing at the end though, just to see how changed she'd be. As usual, with my rereads, I couldn't not like Carlston. He's a bit rough around the edges, but I adored him. I still do. Her brother, Andrew, can go home and her uncle can bite rocks. I despise that man with a passion. Ugh. I have so many issues with the past, so reading period pieces is sometimes a struggle for me, but once you throw in magic or fantasy or supernatural stuff and I'm in.

I have other feelings about this book, but I have a lot of things to do, so I gotta go. I'm sorry, please don't be mad at me. Go listen to Kehlani's album. It's really good. I love it so much.

Ship: Helen and William (Carlston), Darby and Quinn
Snake: Uncle Penworth, Andrew (lowkey), Benchley
Sweet: Millicent, Pug, Darby

7/10
~Book Panda

And I Darken—DNF

Hi gamers,

Here's the deal. I've tried to read this book three times. Three. Every time something came up, or my attention wasn't held. At first, I thought it was because of extenuating circumstances, but this is the third time. You know what that means? This ain't happening. This sucks because the covers are dope, and I was ready to get into the nitty-gritty of toxic relationships, but alas, it's not meant to be. Leave a note in the comments and tell me what I'm missing. Just kidding, I'd never make you do that. A lot of people liked this book, and the writing is good, so you should go read it. I just don't really vibe with history writing that doesn't have anything else to distract me from history, like romance or mysteries or magic. Have a lovely day. I'd give you some fanart that I had no context for, but apparently, people don't stan it? Rude.

Kingdom of Ash

Hello,

I'm back. Who wants to analyze why it took me less time to read the thousand-page book than the other regular paged books? No one? Me neither.

So, I finished Kingdom of Ash, the 984-page conclusion to the Throne of Glass series a few hours ago. This book is a whirlwind. With there being a thousand pages, a lot happens. Essentially, Aelin is trying to survive being shrouded in iron and tortured, Rowan and squad are trying to find her, Dorian and Manon are searching for the lost Crochan witches and the third Wyrdkey, Aedion and Lysandra are off to war, with Lysandra masquerading as Aelin, and Chaol and the other people are trying to get to the war front. It's a lot. If you want a fancy summary, go get it.

By: Simsamy

I don't even know what to tell you, tbh. I feel like I'll say too much and then it'll be hella spoiler-y. Best book in the series? Probs. I can tell you this, though. Half my ships fell apart. Then one ship got back together that had no
business being back together at all. And the other ship, I lowkey wish one had died so the dumb petty one could go to their grave knowing that their last words to them were complete lies and yet they said them anyway and be filled with regret forever because they know they thought that they were telling the truth. Honestly. And people died, which makes me very upset. But it's war, so I should have expected it. I didn't though.

I really don't feel qualified to tell you anything else, because I suck and I don't want to ruin the last book for you if you haven't read it. This is, of course, assuming you read, and you're going to read the book, and you actually exist and I'm not just ranting out into the endless void that is the internet. Here's some fanart instead. See you next book.

Gavriel
By: Morgana0anagrom

Ship: Aelin and Rowan, Manon and Dorian, Yrene and Chaol, Nesryn and Sartaq, Elide and Lorcan, Lysandra and Aedion (grudgingly)

10/10
Series: 9.2
~Book Panda

Squad: This is on the inside cover of the book

Empire of Storms

Hello, it is I, sadness,

Welcome. It's been days. Don't remember how many as I couldn't be bothered to check. Anyhow, how has your day or night or week or whatever? I'm a bit down because my Miami dad is leaving for Auburn and this book wreaked me, though not as hard as it did previously, AND they canceled the Australia study-abroad trip so I am no longer going to the Aussie land. I was really excited for that trip and I don't even really want to go anywhere else now. Australia was it. Then I was going to move there in like three years, find a bushman husband, and live my life with three dogs and a dingo, batting away everything that can kill me. But it's fine. I guess I can go next year.

Today I finished—and did not break down because of—Empire of Storms. It was a whirlwind. Basically, all the pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Aelin is mad scheming, but no one knows it. Rowan is worrying about what he has to offer Aelin, when she doesn't want anything but him. Dorian is ruling a castle then trying to learn how to control his magic. Manon is wrestling with following the heart she didn't know she had vs. following orders. Elide is just trying to find Aelin. Aedion is being a grade A dick. And then things feel like they're starting to come together. And then.

Dorian
By:  Morgana0anagrom

I'll try to stay towards the front half of the book, in order to refrain from major major spoilers. Aelin is my queen. She does no wrong. She reminds me a lot of my dad, Marvel franchise Tony Stark. Everyone thinks they're arrogant and selfish and show-offy when in reality, everything they do is for the people they care about and they worry all the time so they hide it behind arrogance or sarcasm or whatever. They're sweethearts and I love them. Leave them alone. Rowan, always a love. I didn't realize that they didn't know until like the end end, and that makes me livid. Dorian. . . I love him. He's one of my favorites and I couldn't tell you why. He's a sweetheart too and he's gone through so much and he shouldn't have but he's doing the best he can, being a secret smart person. I love him. I also love Manon. She really out here, trying to be heartless, and everyone but her knows she isn't. But that's okay. Because next book, I'm almost certain we're going to get some feelings. Hopefully, they'll be the love type feelings, but any feelings would do. Elide, a sweet, wicked Elide. How great are you? The greatest. How's some tiny girl going

Manon and Abraxos
By: SNCINDER

to tame a whole male finally carved from centuries of rage in like three weeks? Only with greatness, that's how. And Lorcan? I think he can be sweet. He'll be sweet as heck in the next one. On my momma. I feel like I'm missing people? Well Aedion and Lysandra were there, but we only really saw Lys when she was being bae and transforming into animals. She's the best best friend though. Any time I saw Aedion, he was being a dick, so he's kind of on my poo list at the moment.

Rereading so far, I do wish there were more gay ships. I understand she started this series a while ago and maybe it was too hard to work that in, but I'd like at least one gay ship. That's not too much to ask at all.

Here's what I need to happen in the final book, because that's the only one I haven't read yet. This will be a true reading experience, though I forgot almost everything that's happened so far in these books. Anyway, here's what I need: no major character deaths, no animal deaths, all the sexy time, all the lovey time, my ships to sail (I'm desperately bailing water out of like four ships right now), Maeve being chopped into teeny tiny pieces, Erawan being chopped into equally tiny pieces, no one dying accept maybe a horse, Nesryn to be the queen of my life, Chaol to hurt himself aagain (lol, not really, but it'd be kind of funny), and for everyone to live. That's about it. The end is nigh, bruh.

Ship: Aelin and Rowan, Lysandra and Aedion, Manon and Dorian, Elide and Lorcan
Burn: Maeve, Erawan, Cairn, Darrow, probably someone else I'm forgetting

9.5/10
~Book Panda

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