A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"I was as unburdened as a piece of dandelion fluff, and he was the wind that stirred me about the world."
I have been experimenting a lot with the New-Adult genre since the past year in search of some good books. The New-Adult just like the Young-Adult is a fascinating genre dealing with people who have grown up physically and socially but in their minds they do not know the differences between acting as a child or a grown-up. These years are very crucial to one's life. So my search has been mostly futile but I have also found a few books that have touched my heart. One among them is the Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover. Now recently I have been reading the Fantasy genre and and I am glad that I found a book like A Court of Thorns and Roses written by the talented Sarah J. Maas, who is famous to us as the creator of the Throne of Glass series.
This book is the modern retelling of the Beauty and the Beast.
Now there is a certain charm to the Beauty and the Beast that none can deny. A handsome prince cursed to be a beast for eternity by an evil enchantress unless broken by a woman who declares her true love for him. A Court of Thorns and Roses follows quite a same plot just that the setting and the characters have been changed. A nineteen year old girl named Feyre is dragged into the world of the faerys known as the Prythian by the High-Lord of the Spring Court, a handsome gallant high-fae named Tamlin who can shape shift into a beast. Feyre is told that she has to spend her entire life in the manor of Tamlin as a punishment for killing one of his own people as a part of the Treaty signed between the faerys and the humans many years ago. Feyre agrees reluctantly because she is the only food-provider of her family who are being crushed by appalling poverty. But when assured by Tamlin that everything has been taken care of she agrees to stay as a prisoner.
Feyre is definitely an avatar of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. But who cares right? Feyre is definitely unique in her own sense. The nineteen year old Feyre has to provide for her older sisters and handicapped father after suffering a huge business loss which brought them crumbling down to the streets. Unlike her middle sister Elain who is a dreamer, Feyre had to face reality at a tender age and take charge as the head. I loved Feyre and definitely appreciate her for her strength. How often do we get where the heroines have a dominant role and are not shadowed by a male lead? I loved Feyre from the starting to the end.
Now the male protagonist Tamlin can make any woman flushed and breathless. His very existence is enough for that. As he is a fae he is definitely handsome, dead sexy and a gentleman. (Oh God!) He is the beast in the story not just because he can shape shift into one but because he is under a curse that is a sickness caused by magic. Only Feyre can save him. What I liked mostly about him was that unlike the initial beast in the Beuty and the Beast who abused Belle, Tamlin is not like that. He is well-behaved and sweet to Feyre and takes care of her. How sweet is that! I am in love with Tamlin. I definitely am. How could I not be after reading the whole story? I love Feyre and Tamlin's relationship and hope they stay together in the future books.
The side characters of the book be it the good ones or the bad ones are also one of a kind. I loved Lucien. He is evil, sarcastic and at the same time he cares for Feyre. It is very much visible in the book that he has a back-story and I am definitely interested in knowing more about him. He could be a potential strong character in the next books.
I am not sure of my feelings about Rhysand. He is so much like Damon from The Vampire Diaries Tv Show. I might have just imagined Ian Somerholder as Rhys. He helped Feyre in the tasks and at the same time taunted her. There is a side to him which is unknown to us at the moment and we will definitely know about it in the next books. I am interested to see how his character grows in the trilogy. I can totally see a love triangle forming in the next books but I don't actually want that to happen but I know that it will.
The plot of the book was amazing and gripping. I read the book in twenty four hours unable to move myself even for the bare necessities. I have heard people often complain that the first half of the book is very slow while the real action begins in the next half. But I prefer to disagree. It was necessary for the first half of the book to be slow or to move in a smooth pace otherwise building the plot would have been difficult. Feyre's journey into the world of the faerys, gaining accomplices, finding love, learning her heart's desire could only lead to the set of events that happens in the next half. I enjoyed each and every page of the book.
My most favourite scene in the book is the part where Tamlin saves a faery of the Summer court who has been stripped off his wings by Amarantha's accomplices. I could have just cried by the way in which Feyre helped the perishing faery. The way she held his hand and Tamlin helped him to pass on from this world to the next. It was beautiful. I think from there Tamlin and Feyre's relationship took a turn.
Even without Googling it I know that the story has not finished because there are definitely some questions I need the answers to. Looking forward to read A Court of Mist and Fury which releases on the 3rd of May, 2016. I have already pre-ordered the book and can't wait for it to arrive. 5/5 stars to this incredible story.
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The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
'That's right', he said. 'Humans don't exist on the same level as the immortals. They can't even be hurt by our weapons. But you, Percy - you are part god, part human. You live in both worlds. You can be harmed by both, and you can affect both. That's what makes heroes so special. You carry the hopes of humanity into the realm of the eternal. Monsters never die. They are reborn from the chaos and barbarism that is always bubbling underneath civilization, the very stuff that makes Kronos stronger. They must be defeated again and again, kept at bay. Heroes embody that struggle. You fight the battles humanity must win, every generation, in order to stay human. Do you understand?'
'I . . . I don't know.'
That is what is the speciality of our mighty demi-god Percy Jackson, you can never drop a book once you start reading of his adventures. Cheers to Rick Riordan for cooking up such a world entangled with Greek mythology, friendship, family, heroism, love and life. I guess it is pretty obvious that I loved The Sea Of Monsters. How can I not love it? It is fresh, witty, sarcastic and gripping from cover to cover.
I am liking the direction the story is taking. A Prophecy by the Oracle is soon going to seal the fate of Olympus (which happens to be hanging above The Empire State Building) and the Titan Lord Kronos. Kronos is desperate to regain his body to destroy Olympus and the Western Civilization as we know of it. In his visions he is using Luke, the estranged son of Hermes who is angry on the gods for abandoning their mortal children. He is not even aware of the fact that the vicious Titan Lord does not care about anyone and will chuck out Luke from the scene once his wishes have come true.
Kronos plays his cards and the Golden Fleece once lost in history is revived by Percy, Annabeth, Tyson (Percy's half brother a.k. a Cyclops) and Clarisse and is used to heal the tree of Thalia, who had died protecting her fellow campers. But unknowingly the Golden Fleece works its magic and Thalia, the daughter of Zeus is reincarnated. Now two players have been introduced as baits in the game. Two children of the Big Three, now what happens next is for the readers to find out.
There is no use going into details about the adventures of the campers of Half-Blood Camp in this book. It is for each and every Percy Jackson lover to find out. I am mesmerized by Percy's half-brother and a Cyclops Tyson. I am interested to find out what role he is destined to be playing in the rest of the books. I am sure he will be coming back soon. Another thing which I liked was that the old animosity in between the Gods for stupid reasons are being resolved by their 21st Century children. They are learning to fight as a team especially Percy (son of Poseidon), Annabeth (daughter of Athena) and Clarisse (daughter of Ares).
I am looking forward to read The Titan's Curse soon enough as I need to know what happens next like just at this moment.
P.S. I would die to have a teacher like Chiron but alas I have never met one like him yet.
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The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Safety from what? Who's after me?"
Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."
What happens one day when you wake up and learn that all that you have known to be true in your life is exactly the opposite of the reality?
That is what happened with Harry Potter when a touch of magic and a big burly half-giant named Hagrid changed his mundane life. The things that never made sense suddenly started to make sense. This is what created a generation of Harry Potter fans. Well Percy Jackson is somewhat similar but with a little twist.
Unlike Harry who is just a wizard Percy Jackson is a demi-god commonly known as a half-blood. But Percy had no idea about it. He has always considered himself to be weird. He is dyslexic with ADHD (later which turns out to be are his special powers prone to each and every half-blood) and he has been changing schools forever as something funny always happens in his schools which he is unable to explain. He lives with his mother Sally who is the most kindest woman on Earth and her husband Smelly Gabe who can't stand Percy and abuses his mom. The feeling's mutual. Percy is frustrated with how his life has turned out to be and blames his unknown father for abandoning his mother and him. Suddenly one day a Fury (yeah you heard that right) sent by the Greek god of the death Hades changes his life.
He is suddenly shipped off to a special place for kids like him called Camp Half Blood. A summer camp for the offspring of the twelve Olympian gods and mortal humans who are trained by none other than Chiron, the centaur. It turns out that Percy is the son of one of the big threes and it is none other than Poseiden, the sea-god. There Percy makes friends a satyr named Grover and Athena's daughter Annabeth Chase and together they go on a trust to retrieve Zeus's master-bolt. It is their first quest and a whole lot a events take place.
Well, that was brilliant. Don't know why I waited so long to read it. I am glad that I finally picked up the series. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is brilliant, gripping and a page turner. I was so consumed in the adventures of Percy, Annabeth and Grover that it was hard enough to put down the book for bare necessities. The world Rick Riordan has built is just going to get better, bigger and a whole lot more adventurous. Can't wait to pick up the other books.
I loved Percy. He is cool, intelligent, a kindred spirit which Poseidon claims to just run in the family. He loves his mother, Sally and can make quick decisions at times of problems. He is not the one to just blindly sacrifice himself. He assess the pros and cons of a situation and makes the right choice. He is not reckless. Like in the scene where he has only three pearls from Poseidon but there are four people to save. He realizes that his mother would never be happy if Percy was left behind in the underworld because that would mean a war among the gods and the destruction of mankind. He takes the right decision and saves Annabeth, Grover and himself.
Annabeth is everything the daughter of Athena, the Greek goddess of knowledge and warfare can expected to be. Loved her so much. The other characters of the story were interesting as well. It was fun to see all the ancient Greek mythological characters in present day US fully adapted to the US lifestyle. After all the gods need a change too. The story is not yet finished and I can bet that it gets interesting and gripping.
I can't wait to get my hands on The Sea of Monsters.
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Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"...I told him a story of two people. Two people who shouldn't have met, and who didn't like each other much when they did, but who found they were the only two people in the world who could possibly have understood each other."
Why is 5 stars the highest? Haven't we all heard the saying that "the sky is the limit"... This is another 10 star book for me. It is not because I am being emotional but because this book is so good.
A favourite Booktuber of mine recommended it on her channel saying that soon this book is going to be transformed into a movie starring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke (who doesn't love Finnick Odair and Daenerys Targareyan?) So I looked it up on Goodreads. I wouldn't lie and say that I was too intrigued to read it but after watching the trailer decided to give it a try. Thank goodness that I did so. Otherwise I would never have known such a fantastic book it is. (I tend to 'mostly' hate book-to-movie adaptations.)
This book is everything I could ever want it to be. It is humorous, satirical, witty, romantic, mysterious. Every effing thing. Both the lead characters Will Traynor and Louisa Clark are extremely witty and intelligent characters. The dialogues between them are not boring but dynamical. Two of the best characters I have ever read.
When Louisa's character was first introduced in the book and she said that there were 180 steps from her home to the bus stop I had this faint recognition in my mind of this girl being sad with her life (the usual heroines). But when I learnt more about her life I realized that she was not sad just ignorant about what the world could offer. Hell I wanted her to live. And it turned out so did her employer Will Traynor. Will's character was a very strong one but I found him to be stubborn a few times. But who am I to judge? I could never possibly imagine what his life could be like. I did not want him to die. I wanted him to live. I wanted Louisa and Will's relationship to somehow work out as it always did in some cliché romance novel. But then I realized what was the use of giving false hope to a reader when the reality was far from the truth. A piece of literature tends to become great only when it able to touch the lives of people. Not just give them a temporary satisfaction. A false hope of a happily ever after. When we know somewhere deep in our mind that is not possible.
I am still contradicted over Will's decision to die. I am hugely debated over death. A reality which I neither like to think or talk about. I know it that what Will did was not right but I also feel what he did was right. After all nobody can understand what we go through every day not even some perfect soul-mate. We come alone, fight alone, die alone. So our decisions should always involve our own priorities. I am not saying that we should not think about others. Or suicide is right. It is the most disgusting thing ever. But Will had a serious reason to consider it. Everybody felt that they wanted to hold on to him. They wanted him to survive but I know from my own experience that the pain subsides. It just does. In fact part of yourself is relaxed that it is finally over.
I liked Camilla Traynor's character. Her POV (which was unexpected) helped me to understand what is was like to be helpless. My heart goes out to her. I wish her all the best.
Me Before You just like The Fault In Our Stars (I am not even debating it) touched my heart. Even when they deal with huge topics they are books not of death but of living. As we just have one life and very very limited time.
I don't think I will read After You but I am definitely looking forward to the movie.
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