Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas

(5 full, beautiful stars)

Heir of Fire

Goodreads | Link To Buy | Sarah's Twitter |

Published: September 11th 2014 (UK) September 2nd (US) I was so lucky to get an early copy at a Sarah J Maas signing!

Synopsis from Goodreads: SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS AHEAD.

Lost and broken, Celaena Sardothien’s only thought is to avenge the savage death of her dearest friend: as the King of Adarlan’s Assassin, she is bound to serve this tyrant, but he will pay for what he did. Any hope Celaena has of destroying the king lies in answers to be found in Wendlyn. Sacrificing his future, Chaol, the Captain of the King’s Guard, has sent Celaena there to protect her, but her darkest demons lay in that same place. If she can overcome them, she will be Adarlan’s biggest threat – and his own toughest enemy. While Celaena learns of her true destiny, and the eyes of Erilea are on Wendlyn, a brutal and beastly force is preparing to take to the skies. Will Celaena find the strength not only to win her own battles, but to fight a war that could pit her loyalties to her own people against those she has grown to love?

Review: 

Before I start the actual review, I have to say that Heir of Fire is honestly one of the best books I have ever read. I ... don't even know where to start. But my 5 stars for this book are some of the most sincere 5 stars I have ever given. Due to the fact that the book isn't actually out yet, I will keep this review as spoiler-free as possible and more of a reaction, as well as breaking it down so that I don't just ramble into one big mess of emotion and sobbing. Holy mother of character and story development.

The plot

As the Throne of Glass series continues, the world opens up and expands, taking the characters in every direction. The plot is absolutely solid and has only gone from strength to strength. Heir of Fire takes the series firmly into the realm of high fantasy and the stakes have never been higher. Sub-plots are intricately woven throughout, taking the book to whole new levels of complicated – in the best way. As the story progresses, the level of planning that has been put into the series is apparent and just mind-blowing. Every time I finish one of the books in the series, I can't believe that things could get any crazier for the characters. Hint: they always can and always will! What I especially love about the series is that no gritty detail is left out. Every gross, gruesome detail is included and, as twisted as this sounds, it makes the books so much more real. Nothing is sugarcoated and, as a reader, that grittiness really appeals to me. It makes the story seem so truthful, nothing is glossed over in Celaena's narration just to uphold feminine ideals that our society perpetuates. Which is pretty badass.

I loved the direction the story took in Heir of Fire, it was different to the first two books but in a good way. It opens the doors for so many new story lines, so many possibilities. Celaena's journey isn't easy and she has to dig deep and face her inner demons if she is ever to be a symbol of hope and a better future. We really see a different side to her in Heir of Fire and begin to truly see her past, and how she is the way she is. She isn't, by any means, perfect, but her struggle is so (ironically) human that it really strikes a chord. The witches, also, were a really interesting and fresh addition, they added to the intensity and foreshadowing of things yet to come. There were also moments of 'OH so that's why that was mentioned 2 books ago' which are some of my favourite moments.

The creatures are the stuff of nightmares and the suffering is deeper, but the hope that is hinted at is so powerful that I hope to eventually see the king of Adarlan tortured. Killing him would be far too kind after what he has done.

Setting

Throne of Glass was very much set in the focus of the glass castle, but Heir of Fire takes the characters all over the continent, and further. Sarah J Maas is incredible at world building, so good that you can almost smell the food and picture the vast scenery, particularly the beautiful forests. Sometimes, I find that setting outshines characters or that characters outshine their setting, but that is not at all the case with Heir of Fire. The characters are their setting, and the setting is the characters. It's beautiful and believable and, if it were a peaceful time, I would be on the first ship over there.  

New Characters

Aedion, Rowan, Manon, and Sorscha (it would feel wrong not to mention Emrys and Luca, too) are the key new characters brought into the story in Heir of Fire. All so vastly different, yet they each shine individually. When I met Sarah J Maas at a signing this month, she told me that I would definitely like Rowan, and she was one hundred percent right. I love him just as much as Celaena, Chaol, and Dorian. He just makes me all warm and fuzzy, which would probably make him scowl to hear. More than any of the other newcomers, I can't even explain all my emotions towards Rowan. I'm going to just love having him around in the series. I won't go into detail because huge spoilers, but readers have A LOT to look forward to in terms of new characters to fall in love with. Aedion adds a whole new, amazing dynamic to Celaena's storyline which has not been revealed until now. Manon is also a new favourite of mine and, despite everything, I would actually love to see a female friendship form between her and Celaena – if they didn't kill each other first. As for Sorscha, I'm going to choose to say nothing, but I love her and everything she is. 

Familiar Characters

Celaena is one of my all time favourite protagonists and she truly shone in Heir of Fire. I seriously just want to rescue her, Chaol, and Dorian, and give them a hot drink and a blanket and tell them to just sleep. They are such wonderful, complicated characters, never inherently wrong or right, and I love the fine balance they all experience between doing the best thing for themselves and doing what is right. Ugh, I just want to hug Dorian and tell him that he is brilliant and kind and forgiving and every bit the king Adarlan needs and then keep him safe forever.

Extras/ Jumbled thoughts

What I really loved, and what truly stands out, is a platonic male/female relationship in Heir of Fire. With barely a suggestion of romance, the friendship is the glue to the book and now, the series. I LOVE this friendship with all my heart. I can't wait to see where that goes and what trials it undergoes, because I'm guessing there will be plenty of trials. Ever hopeful of certain characters being reunited (hopefully soon) this new badass friendship will give a new weight to the strains already on that relationship and I can't wait to see how. Another thing is that usually I hate it when a couple is separated at the end of a book, but I think that Celaena and Chaol needed to take different paths if they are to be together as everything they are, and accepting of that. Vague, I know, but true. SO MUCH I WANT TO SAY BUT SPOILERS!

Summary

I don't even need to talk on and on about the writing because I'm convinced that Sarah J Maas is a (slightly evil) creative genius. Every word, every line, every letter feels necessary to the story. She writes on a level that I can't even hope to aspire to. This book is just a complete masterpiece.

Heir of Fire tore me apart and patched me back together, made me sob and laugh and cringe and want to throw it at a wall repeatedly (SERIOUSLY CHAPTERS 64 & 65? SERIOUSLY?!) but overall, I just want to jump into the book and fight along with all of the characters against the injustices they suffer. I was saying to my friends that I feel like I AM Celaena, I feel like I take on her pain when I read a Throne of Glass book, and that's probably the closest thing to magic in this world. I know I'm singing a lot of praises, but it's really like no other series I've read. One thing I am hoping for, among a million other things, is more female friendships in future books.

Just when you think you can't be shocked by a plot twist, you're TORN APART by a plot twist, which I really should've seen coming by now! Sarah J Maas doesn't hold back and absolutely nobody is safe, which makes me so afraid to love any character but I'm unable to help myself from adoring them. The fandom will be rocked by this instalment in the Throne of Glass series and I just hope that even more readers will discover the books and fall in love as I have. Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight gave me books which I loved, but Heir of Fire gave me a new favourite series. No praise I can give will ever truly express how much I loved this book and the characters within it.

Sarah J Maas is on the rise and I can't think of a lovelier, funnier person or a more deserving, brilliant writer to have that success. I can't wait for the next books in the series and I'll be right there every step of the way, attempting to rattle the stars.

"She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one." 

If you haven't read Throne of Glass, I cannot recommend it enough, if that isn't obvious by now! You won't regret reading it. 

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An Evening with Sarah J Maas & Leigh Bardugo

A bit of a different kind of post from me today!

Yesterday I drove 2 hours to Waterstones in Liverpool to attend a signing and Q & A session with authors Leigh Bardugo (author of The Grisha Trilogy) and Sarah J Maas (author of the Throne of Glass series).

I absolutely LOVE every book of theirs, and when I booked the tickets a month or so ago I went to my sister and said "I've booked two tickets, you're coming with me, READ THESE." Within days she had read the books and she was getting emotional over all the characters with me and demanded to know if anyone died before she finished them.

We were so excited on the drive there and going into Waterstones, especially because I had called earlier that morning and was told that yes, there would be copies of Heir of Fire available to buy. As soon as I had hung up I was pretty much like this all day:

I feel like I've been waiting for SO LONG for Heir of Fire, especially after THAT ending in Crown of Midnight! I've seen so many people getting early copies and I've been begging some of them to tell me how they got it! So I was beside myself with excitement by the time we got to Waterstones Liverpool yesterday evening. I was originally going to go to the Sarah J Maas singing in Leeds, since it's closer to me, but when I saw that she was doing a talk with Leigh Bardugo, too, I couldn't believe it. It's a fangirls dream.

Anyway, onto the actual event. Both Leigh and Sarah are hilarious, and together they're so entertaining, the audience were laughing for most of the talk as they discussed everything from writing advice to their writing process, and then did quick fire questions of things like chocolate or cheese and dogs or cats. A lot of fandom references were involved, including Sarah mentioning Henry Cavill's abs. So yeah, it was amazing. It was also then that we realised we had been pronouncing 'Chaol' completely wrong, we were saying something like "chay-ol" when in fact it is more like "kay-ol"! 

I was mad with myself for not making notes at the time of what they said because they were so inspiring. On the way home I wrote down what I could remember in my phone notes, so it's not word for word but as close to what I can remember!

A favourite writing quote from each of them:

Leigh Bardugo – "The most important thing to remember is that if you have a story to tell, someone will always want to listen, because people love stories."

Sarah J Maas – "At some stage, people will tell you that you can't do it. People will tell you to be realistic about your expectations, but you shouldn't listen to them."

Sarah also talked about blocking out the inner critic, which she described as the demon on her shoulder, and there were a lot of nodding heads, including mine. Their advice was a lot better than the generic "read a lot of books" advice that a lot of authors give, and it was honestly so helpful. 

Their discussion about female characters was also a real highlight. They both gave their insights into how female characters are torn apart for having traits that male characters are worshipped for – like arrogance and vanity and being self-assured. Yet if they're weak or timid, they're torn apart for not being tough or self-assured enough. But, as Leigh pointed out, the moment people deem a female character to be "too perfect" and good at everything they do, they're called a Mary-Sue, and people will say they need flaws. It's a ridiculous, impossible expectation to meet. 

They have both created such amazing, flawed, dynamic female characters with Celaena Sardothien (Throne of Glass) and Alina Starkov (Shadow and Bone). Both characters have real fears and wants. Celaena can be arrogant and deadly but she loves pretty dresses, and Alina can be timid and scared, but she finds her voice to stand up for herself as her journey progresses. So because of their 'flaws', they're wonderful heroines to read about. As Leigh said, "People say about female characters, like 'WHY CAN'T SHE JUST GET OVER IT? SHE'S SO WHINY' when her whole family has just been killed!"

Once the talk was over, it was time to join the queue for the signing (which, thankfully wasn't too long or tedious, in fact it was more organised than any other singing I've been to!)

I loved that both Sarah and Leigh made such an effort to talk to every single person and ask questions to prompt us when we suddenly lost our voice, even though we had a million things to say! (I had a few favourite quotes I wanted to say I loved from both series but I only remembered as I walked away, both times!) 

I managed to get my hands on a Ruin & Rising tote bag which I absolutely love, and another badge which says 'Amplify' (I got the 'Steel is Earned' one from YALC earlier this year!) I was hugging Heir of Fire to my chest for most of the evening, amazed that I had it in my hands, yay!

Ruin and Rising tote, Grisha badges & Heir of Fire!

Another amazing thing they both did was that they signed the books with a quote relating to each book and I thought that was such a nice touch instead of just my name and then a signature, I'll cherish my copies even more. We told Leigh we are total Mal girls and that we had liked the Darkling briefly to start with not in the last two books. She just laughed and said, "All ships are welcome in this harbour!" Then my sister said a loud spoiler by accident, oops. I also told her I cried for like an hour after finishing Ruin & Rising and she was pretty happy with that! Here are the ones that Leigh  signed (my absolute favourite is 'Make yourself a reckoning'):

                                          

                     'Steel is earned'                   'Impossible. Improbable'           'Make yourself a reckoning.'

And the books signed by Sarah J Maas! We showed her a hilarious Henry Cavill page on my sisters phone that we follow and she nearly choked in surprise (sorry about that) and we decided Henry Cavill can play everyone, ever. Sarah said the films can be like Orphan Black but with Henry Cavill! playing everyone. I'd be so down for that! Haha! She said Henry could totally play a new character called Rowan in Heir of Fire with some make-up and costume, so I'm excited to meet him, as well as the other new characters! 

She also told me she liked my Deathly Hallows necklace and I signed her book, which is such a cool idea. Everyone she meets writes a little note in a hardback copy of Throne of Glass on the pages! I think I was shaking, I was nervous, so I can only make a good guess about what I actually wrote, and it's probably really messy. Anyway, the books!

              

                      'Rattle the stars'                      'Henry Cavill 4eva!' (yes!)            'Light up the darkness'

I just want to thank Leigh and Sarah so much for the effort they both put in with their fans, it made such a great change from some other signings I've been to in the past where authors glance up for a second after you've queued for four+ hours! My sister and I were going on and on about it on the way home and annoying the hell out of our parents. It was definitely the best author event and signing I've ever been to, so thank you as well to Liverpool Waterstones for the organisation involved. The queuing didn't take too long and it was just beyond words to meet two of my favourite authors in one night.

I also bought Isla & The Happily Ever After, another book I've been dying to read and I've already started Heir of Fire and it is amazing so far (of course!) If you haven't read Leigh and Sarah's books I could not recommend them more and if you're thinking of going to a signing of theirs, definitely do!

Isla and the Happily Ever After & Heir of Fire

A Kiss In The Dark by Cat Clarke

(4 Stars)

A Kiss In The Dark 

Goodreads | Link To Buy | Cat's Twitter |

Published: April 3rd 2014

Synopsis: When Alex meets Kate the attraction is instant. Alex is funny, good-looking, and a little shy – everything that Kate wants in a boyfriend. Alex can’t help falling for Kate, who is pretty, charming and maybe just a little naive… But one of them is hiding a secret, and as their love blossoms, it threatens to ruin not just their relationship, but their lives.

Review: 

This review might be slightly vague because I don't want to accidentally spoil the book. If you're unfamiliar with Cat Clarke's books (which I recommend you change immediately) you won't know that there comes a certain point in each book where you literally feel like you're watching a car crash happening with an awful sick fascination, unable to look away and cringing the whole time. A Kiss In The Dark was not an exception to this, and it was brilliant.

Many authors shy away from the grittiness that Cat Clarke puts in her books and I only wish I'd had them when I was a bit younger, when I was eager to find YA books that would not lie to me or sugarcoat the teenage experience. One of the things I absolutely love about Clarke's books is that they are so unbelievably real that it's unsettling – especially for British teenagers. 

A Kiss In The Dark was unlike anything I've ever read in YA. I'm not the hugest reader of Contemporary, but when I do read it it's usually quite fluffy and everything-ends-well. That's another thing about Cat Clarke's books, you literally have no idea how it will end. I can't even tell myself 'there's always a happy ending!' because there's not. I get a kind of adrenaline rush reaching those last pages, knowing it could all continue to fall apart, hoping that somehow there will be some kind of happiness at the end.

The topics dealt with in A Kiss In The Dark are not commonly written about, and they should be. I was at YALC this year where I attended the panel called I'm Too Sexy For This Book, where four authors  – Cat Clarke, Non Pratt, Beth Reekles & James Dawson – discussed issues of sex in YA books among other issues and, as well as it being absolutely hilarious, it was really inspiring to see that there are authors who will not shy away from real issues that teenagers deal with everyday. It was one of my favourite panels of the weekend!

I know this was a weirdly vague review but I don't want to say too much. All I will say is that if you're a fan of gritty stories, teenagers  in love, serious issues and some moments that will make you grin at paper, I'd recommend A Kiss In The Dark completely! It was nothing that I thought it would be but I finished it feeling sad, happy, and content with the ending. A Kiss In The Dark is a complete must-read for Cat Clarke fans, and basically everyone else in the world!

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