Mini Reviews - Throne of Glass & Cinder

Throne of Glass
by Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass
Publication: Bloomsbury on August 7, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 406 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Magic, Fiction

Jacket copy: 

When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle.  She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom.  If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the King's Champion and be released from prison.

Her name is Celaena Sardothien.  The Crown Prince will provoke her.  The Captain of the Guard will protect her.  And a princess from a foreign land will become the one thing Celaena never thought she'd have again: a friend.

But something evil dwells in the castle - and it's there to kill.  When her competitors start dying, horribly, one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival - and a desperate quest to root out the source of evil before it destroys her world.

This was the very first Sarah J. Maas book I've read.  I honestly don't know how I went so long without reading Throne of Glass, one of the book blogosphere's greatest loves.  Prior to reading, I had only heard good things about Sarah J. Maas and her writing, so I entered the Throne of Glass realm with fingers crossed for a good read that wouldn't disappoint.

And it didn't!  Throne of Glass was a book filled with excitement and thrill, and that for the most part, kept readers on their toes.

My favorite part of the book?

Celaena Sardothein herself.  I totally appreciated how different Celaena was from other main characters.  After reading a lot of similar books with similar characters and plots in the genre, everything just begins to blur together.  Sarah J. Maas created a character, Celaena, who really stands out above the rest.  Celaena is an assassin.  She's such a kick-ass main character with loads of personality and wit, one that I loved to read about.  Celaena was strong, fierce, and independent - qualities we all try to strive for.

And though there was that love triangle we've come to slightly despise over the years, it thankfully wasn't written terribly.  There was no annoying drama or cheating - nothing like that.  This book focuses on Celaena's relationship with The Crown Prince, Dorian, for most of the story, but begins to shift more in favor of The Captain of the Guard, Chaol, towards the end.  (This love triangle totally reminded me of The Selection, though.)

All in all, Throne of Glass lived up to its praise!

Cinder
by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles
Publication: Feiwel and Friends on January 3, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 387 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fairy Tales, Romance

Jacket copy:

Even in the future, the story begins with Once Upon a Time . . .

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing.  A deadly plague ravages the population.  From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move.  No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl . . .

Sixteen-year-old Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg.  She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past and is reviled by her stepmother.  But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction.  Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.  Because there is something unusual about Cinder, something that others would kill for.

Cinder, the first book in The Lunar Chronicles, is a book practically everyone has both read and raved about.

However, before I get into the review, I have to apologize if you're a fan, because I've taken up the unpopular opinion here.

Unfortunately, Cinder just wasn't for me.  Cyborgs and lunar people sound interesting and all, but I didn't enjoy the story Marissa Meyer pieced together.  Prior to reading, I heard it took a few chapters to really get immersed in the book, but it took me, honestly, the entire book.  The ending was pretty much the only part that interested me.

What bothered me most about this book was the "jaw dropper."  Like all other readers, I want to actually be surprised.  Just because Cinder is a fairy tale retelling, it doesn't mean the entire plot has to be see through.  And . . . it was.  Only a couple chapters into the book, I honestly read this one sentence and knew exactly what the jaw dropper was.  That was just disappointing for me.  Knowing the jaw dropper only a handful of pages in really inhibited me from being able to enjoy the story.

I still stoically read on until the end, and fortunately, the story improved.  However, even though Cinder was able to leave off on an exciting note, I don't think I'll be continuing on with the series.