Review: Kings Rising

Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This amazing journey finally came to an end, and I couldn't be feeling more hollow than I am now. I mean, there's no more of the epic story of Damen and Laurent, so what do I do now??

Once again, full 5 stars, and they would be 10 if I could give it ten. This is just amazing, amazing, amazing, and everything in it was perfect. This is the conclusion of their story, as Damen is now [PLEASE DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE SECOND BOOK YET](view spoiler)[acknowledged as King of Akielos (hide spoiler)], he and Laurent must work together to put an end to the Regent and to Damen's brother's treachery. They join forces and must now join two armies, while traveling to Ios, where the Regent and Damen's brother are, facing challenges between the way and, obviously, coming to conclusions about themselves and their relationship.

C. S. Pacat is a complete genius. I can't even find words to describe how clever and intricate the plot is. All the dialogue, all the thinking, everything that is done is always there for a reason. Nothing is left on the loose. Something would happen, and you'd be "wait what" and then an explanation that made perfect sense would come your way and you'd just think "genius". Her amazing creativity is present as always, and delivers us, once more, an amazing continuation to an amazing story.

As we go further and further into their story together, we learn even more about Laurent's past and actually how strong he is, even more than what we did before. I feel so amazed by how strong Laurent can be after what he went through, and it makes me smile and all happy to see him getting down his walls so that Damen can enter. Damen proved to be stoic and completely just, as well all knew Damen was, but what really gripped me to them was their capability for forgiveness, mutual forgiveness.

This is a completely amazing book. If you had some doubts while reading the first book, please do continue on to this one. It's extremely clever and there are no loose ends and everything makes sense. I need to read the short stories right now, but it really does pain me that we won't have more of Laurent and Damen and, of course, the other characters as well. C.S. Pacat is truly amazing, and I can't wait for her to publish more books. Thank you so much for this amazing ride, the Captive Prince trilogy will forever be in my heart.

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Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED THIS SOOOOOO MUCH, I don't think I've ever read a book this fast. Two days! All it took me was two days!!!

Firstly, I hesitated a little before buying this because, well, it's a book with faeries. And honestly, I don't like faeries. But it has such good reviews, and friends recommended it to me saying it's amazing, so I bought it. AND I DON'T REGRET A THING.

Before going further, it's also important to notice that I really am not a romance person. So this came as a surprise for me (maybe I'm getting soft).

This amazing book is about a girl, Feyre, that hunts in order for her family to survive. One day, while hunting, she kills a big wolf so it doesn't steal her dinner. Then, suddenly, on her village, a huge beast, a Fae, comes to revenge the death of his friend. As some sort of treaty, Feyre has to go to live in the Spring Court and leave her family behind. When she gets there, she gets really well treated by the beast, who is, in fact, a High Fae, Tamlin, but not everything's sweet. A blight is threatening the faeries and is about to cross to human territories, and they're not sure how to stop it. Saying more would be to reveal too much of the book. Even though it's a trilogy, this first book has a conclusion.

My favorite character HAD to be Lucian. As amazing as Feyre and Tamlin are, Lucian is the best. That poor, poor guy... and he's the perfect example of how such beautiful creatures can be horrific (not talking about him, by the way). Then, obviously, I have a sweet spot for Rhysand. He's just terrific in the good sense, especially when he says "darling". But talking about characters in a more broad sense, we only really get to know Feyre's feelings because she's the narrator, but what we get to see is that every character has different layers that makes them all believable. I could relate to them, a little bit, but I still could, which is important, and they all felt believable, every single one of them to whom we have some sort of insight.

The story kept me guessing so much! I had to read some parts twice just to make sure I understood correctly. The plot twists were well done and not predictable, and they added such depth to the story! It made me cry several times, from sadness and maybe happiness, and it made me smile broadly when Feyre was happy. It made my heart race several times, from worry.

In all honesty, I don't have anything bad that I can remember to point to this book. It was simply amazing and good. Everything felt right, nothing felt unnecessary, the characters were conveyed right, and there wasn't insta-love!! Honestly, everything felt right, in every sense of the words. It's a trilogy, but this first book came to a conclusion, so there really isn't anything to pinpoint, not even loose ends (that I can remember). Please feel free to disagree with me, but I really can't remember anything bad about it.

I NEED THE SECOND BOOK, especially since I was spoiled some time ago about something so now I reaaaaaally need to know how it happens. Also, people say the second book is the best, so I really can't wait to read it. If this one was just so amazing for me, imagine the second! Sarah J. Maas, you just got a fan here, and I can't wait to read your other books.

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Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED THIS SOOOOOO MUCH, I don't think I've ever read a book this fast. Two days! All it took me was two days!!!

Firstly, I hesitated a little before buying this because, well, it's a book with faeries. And honestly, I don't like faeries. But it has such good reviews, and friends recommended it to me saying it's amazing, so I bought it. AND I DON'T REGRET A THING.

This amazing book is about a girl, Feyre, that hunts in order for her family to survive. One day, while hunting, she kills a big wolf so it doesn't steal her dinner. Then, suddenly, on her village, a huge beast, a Fae, comes to revenge the death of his friend. As some sort of treaty, Feyre has to go to live in the Spring Court and leave her family behind. When she gets there, she gets really well treated by the beast, who is, in fact, a High Fae, Tamlin, but not everything's sweet. A blight is threatening the faeries and is about to cross to human territories, and they're not sure how to stop it. Saying more would be to reveal too much of the book. Even though it's a trilogy, this first book has a conclusion.

My favorite character HAD to be Lucian. As amazing as Feyre and Tamlin are, Lucian is the best. That poor, poor guy... and he's the perfect example of how such beautiful creatures can be horrific (not talking about him, by the way). Then, obviously, I have a sweet spot for Rhysand. He's just terrific in the good sense, especially when he says "darling". But talking about characters in a more broad sense, we only really get to know Feyre's feelings because she's the narrator, but what we get to see is that every character has different layers that makes them all believable. I could relate to them, a little bit, but I still could, which is important, and they all felt believable, every single one of them to whom we have some sort of insight.

The story kept me guessing so much! I had to read some parts twice just to make sure I understood correctly. The plot twists were well done and not predictable, and they added such depth to the story! It made me cry several times, from sadness and maybe happiness, and it made me smile broadly when Feyre was happy. It made my heart race several times, from worry.

In all honesty, I don't have anything bad that I can remember to point to this book. It was simply amazing and good. Everything felt right, nothing felt unnecessary, the characters were conveyed right, and there wasn't insta-love!! Honestly, everything felt right, in every sense of the words. It's a trilogy, but this first book came to a conclusion, so there really isn't anything to pinpoint, not even loose ends (that I can remember). Please feel free to disagree with me, but I really can't remember anything bad about it.

I NEED THE SECOND BOOK, especially since I was spoiled some time ago about something so now I reaaaaaally need to know how it happens. Also, people say the second book is the best, so I really can't wait to read it. If this one was just so amazing for me, imagine the second! Sarah J. Maas, you just got a fan here, and I can't wait to read your other books.

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Review: Laços de Sangue

Laços de Sangue by Pamela Freeman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a really pleasant surprise! I had it in my bookshelf for some time now and didn't manage to read more than half of it, then I'd drop it, and I don't remember why. But this time, I finally finished it!

This is the story of several people that live in different domains, but we have our three (sort of three) main characters: Bramble, literally a free spirit; Ash, a boy who's training to be a "security guard"; and Saker, the one we least know about but is some kind of wizard. What do they have in common? They are Travelers, people who are cast aside by the "new" people, the people of Acton. The three of them are guided by their blood and, consequently, by the Gods and other superior powers.

This story was slow but a really good surprise. It's completely different from the other fantasy romances I've read, so so different, and it stood out in a good way because of it. I really loved the fact that the characters interact with the Gods and the ghosts, but don't get me wrong, these ghosts have nothing to do with the ghosts in other stories, not is this a horror story. With this said, the worldbuilding IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, it's so amazing, it's honestly the strong point of this book, but the characters are so strong as well, it's wonderful. The characters seemed completely realistic and you could relate to them in several levels. As much as I like Bramble and relate somewhat to her, Ash still managed to be my favorite. I found that I could relate a lot to his feelings and his emotions, more so than with Bramble. The emotions the characters feel are extremely well written, that it doesn't exactly get boring although it has very little action. What I also really liked were the small chapters, written in first person, of others characters that Bramble and Ash would encounter on their separate journeys, as it gave us some background for that characters even if they didn't appear ever again. Maybe they'll show up in book two.

Still, what I really liked the most was how this mimicked history and real life, with the invader/invaded type of relationship between "races", and how some were considered superior and the others were seen as low by society. This was really well explained and written throughout the book, and gave it even more "essence".

But sometimes, just sometimes, it would get slightly boring reading the story of a different character that barely had anything to do with the story. Also, the back and forth between POV's sometimes made me slightly angry because I want to know what happens next to Bramble, not Ash, and vice-versa. As it has little action, it can get somewhat boring, but it never makes you really drop the book forever. I'm pretty sure I dropped it before for external reasons and not because of the book itself, as I wanted to come back for it for a long long time. I really liked the ending, but I must also warn you (and I don't know if this is a spoiler so I'll mark it as such, but don't worry, I don't say anything about the fate of the characters nor how it ended) that (view spoiler)[ it doesn't have a cliffhanger nor a climax (hide spoiler)], but mainly because this is the first book of a trilogy so it was a very good way to introduce the characters and the world, so it was a perfect way to build up the story.

All in all, this is a really different and amazing fantasy story, that grabs elements that make it seem completely different from anything ever written. It's perfectly written, world and character wise, and I could relate to the characters completely, although the pace was just slightly too slow for me, and it doesn't have much action (but IT DOES have action). But I also believe this was the buildup for the second book, and so that one will have more action. Not that that means that it will be better, because the essence of this book is in the details. May the second book be available in a book store near me, I'll buy it.

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Review: Laços de Sangue

Laços de Sangue by Pamela Freeman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a really pleasant surprise! I had it in my bookshelf for some time now and didn't manage to read more than half of it, then I'd drop it, and I don't remember why. But this time, I finally finished it!

This is the story of several people that live in different domains, but we have our three (sort of three) main characters: Bramble, literally a free spirit; Ash, a boy who's training to be a "security guard"; and Saker, the one we least know about but is some kind of wizard. What do they have in common? They are Travelers, people who are cast aside by the "new" people, the people of Acton. The three of them are guided by their blood and, consequently, by the Gods and other superior powers.

This story was slow but a really good surprise. It's completely different from the other fantasy romances I've read, so so different, and it stood out in a good way because of it. I really loved the fact that the characters interact with the Gods and the ghosts, but don't get me wrong, these ghosts have nothing to do with the ghosts in other stories, not is this a horror story. With this said, the worldbuilding IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, it's so amazing, it's honestly the strong point of this book, but the characters are so strong as well, it's wonderful. The characters seemed completely realistic and you could relate to them in several levels. As much as I like Bramble and relate somewhat to her, Ash still managed to be my favorite. I found that I could relate a lot to his feelings and his emotions, more so than with Bramble. The emotions the characters feel are extremely well written, that it doesn't exactly get boring although it has very little action. What I also really liked were the small chapters, written in first person, of others characters that Bramble and Ash would encounter on their separate journeys, as it gave us some background for that characters even if they didn't appear ever again. Maybe they'll show up in book two.

But sometimes, just sometimes, it would get slightly boring reading the story of a different character that barely had anything to do with the story. Also, the back and forth between POV's sometimes made me slightly angry because I want to know what happens next to Bramble, not Ash, and vice-versa. As it has little action, it can get somewhat boring, but it never makes you really drop the book forever. I'm pretty sure I dropped it before for external reasons and not because of the book itself, as I wanted to come back for it for a long long time. I really liked the ending, but I must also warn you (and I don't know if this is a spoiler so I'll mark it as such, but don't worry, I don't say anything about the fate of the characters nor how it ended) that (view spoiler)[ it doesn't have a cliffhanger nor a climax (hide spoiler)], but mainly because this is the first book of a trilogy so it was a very good way to introduce the characters and the world, so it was a perfect way to build up the story.

All in all, this is a really different and amazing fantasy story, that grabs elements that make it seem completely different from anything ever written. It's perfectly written, world and character wise, and I could relate to the characters completely, although the pace was just slightly too slow for me, and it doesn't have much action (but IT DOES have action). But I also believe this was the buildup for the second book, and so that one will have more action. Not that that means that it will be better, because the essence of this book is in the details. May the second book be available in a book store near me, I'll buy it.

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Review: Lover Eternal

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this so much! It's sooooo sweet, and it entertained me very much!

What can I say that hasn't been said already? There isn't much worldbuilding nor many characters, only enough to know what happens in the Brotherhood worlds. You get to know a little bit of each brother, and I just loved how it went back and forth between Mary, Rhage, John and even sometimes Zsadist and Bella. There's only one thing I didn't like that much, and it was that Mr O's scenes always seemed pretty boring to me, especially when they happened in the middle of an important moment for Rhage and Mary. I mean, I know it's made to keep you on edge but come ooooooooon I just want to skip it and go read what happens to the lovely main characters, but I never skipped it (and I'm proud). This also leads me to a very sweet surprise for me. I got myself more entertained with Bella and Zsadist than with Mary and Rhage by the last part of the book, maybe because we had so much of them on the book. Rhage is the sweetest vampire ever! Hollywood and with all the bad boy vibes but he's just so... innocent? Innocent is not the right word, but he's just so cute so akdhadkahf. Mary is so strong, I love her, and I usually don't like the female main character of vampire romances because of obvious reasons. But Mary is so indepented, just so strong, for all she went through! She's awesome, and Rhage is awesome, and they're so good together.

The strong point of this book is, obviously, the dialogue. You don't have much character development except for the main characters, and there's not much going on besides them and the work of the Omega. All in all, this is a very good read, even with all the erotica it has, it just adds to their relationship even more. I really want to read the third, especially because I think it's about Zsadist and Bella and I can't wait.

If you're wondering why I only gave it four stars, it was mainly because of how I just wanted to skip some parts, and because of how sometimes I got bored of Mary and Rhage. But then right way the next scene was of someone else's POV, so it always made me come back to the book.

I'm so sorry for this review and because of how scattered around it is, but I literally just finished reading this and am so excited, I wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did.

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Review: Prince's Gambit

Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

FIVE FULL STARS FROM ME! Why? Because this is awesome.

Let's start with the obvious. This is a completely character-driven story, and so the characters have to be exceptional, which they are. All characters have a purpose to be in this story, and they keep on propelling our main character's story forward. Laurent is as cold and brilliant as ever, but this time you actually see another side of him, a human side. And Laurent is so human it almost hurts. The cold layer around him is being shattered, by Damen, and we get to see it. Also, we can also see the extents he's willing to go just to make his plans work. Damen, on the other hand, is finally given the spotlight. Before, it was always Laurent who shined, who was the most intelligent, smart and bright one. But here, Damen finally shows us why he was fit be a king himself. He's falling in love, hard, but that doesn't keep him from displaying his brilliant mind. Seeing his emotions and his internal conflict make us ache for him and it gets ourselves conflicted as well. As for the side characters, the Regent keeps on being the Regent, Gouvard keeps on being Gouvard, and Jord keeps on being Jord. But poor Jord... I can honestly say he's the third most important character in this story, at least from a certain point of view. Jord is in the middle of everything, and that's why he's probably the one who suffers the most.

But don't get me wrong, we DO get world building in this one. Just enough to understand what's going on, and it never feels lacking. C.S. Pacat has a way of telling stories where you get completely enthralled and almost forget how little you know of the world. But you don't need to know anything else for this to work out.

Also, I saw some negative reviews of people saying this book was full of sex? I have to disagree. As the world of Captive Prince, you'll obviously read sex, but it's mostly for the first part of the book. All of the sex scenes and mentions of it are still important to the plot, they have a way in the plot that doesn't make them feel unnecessary. They're there for a reason, just like in the first book they were there to show how the Veretian court functioned. This time, it's not to show us how the court works, but to show us the emotions of the characters, and one mention of it even to save Laurent and Damen while making them laugh about it (I laughed too). I must also be honest, I am under the impression that Captive Prince was a lot more sexual than Prince's Gambit.

Once again, C.S. Pacat has completely won me over and I can't wait, I really can't wait to read the third, especially after that ending. EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE, EVERYONE IS GOING TO SUFFER, AND WE WILL SUFFER ALONG WITH THEM, AND I DON'T THINK MY HEART WILL BE ABLE TO HANDLE IT (it won't even be able to handle the wait). This one ended in such a plot twist, with such a revelation that we all knew that was coming, just like Damen, but we don't know what's going to happen, once again just like Damen. Also, for everything I just explained above, for all the politics and movement in the plot, I think I actually like this one more than the first, but they're both so so so good. C.S. Pacat, I adore you for creating this awesome world with awesome characters that shows politics in a way that is nowhere close to be boring, and that makes us feel real emotion, even when we're just reading. I honestly love this series, and will read it a lot more times.

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