Reading Rapunzel : book review

Frost Like Night || ARC Review

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, by Reading Rapunzel

In book review, books

Glass Sword Release Day Celebration || Reading Rapunzel Review and Discussion

*THE REVIEW PORTION WILL HAVE SPOILERS OF RED QUEEN.*

(c’mon guys it’s a sequel, what did you expect?)

THIS REVIEW WILL HAVE NO SPOILERS FOR GLASS SWORD. (AND WILL ONLY INCLUDING INFORMATION THAT HAS BEEN RELEASED FROM THE SCARLET GUARD AND EPIC READS)

ONCE AGAIN: Unavoidable spoilers for Red Queen will be mentioned in this review. If you have not read Red Queen and do not want to be spoiled, please DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW. You have been warned.*

STAY TUNED FOR GIVEAWAY!!

If you haven’t read Red Queen yet, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN GURL?

*Amazon

*Barnes and Noble

Hello there lovelies!

Happy Glass Sword Release day! Today is February 9th and we all know what that means.The day has finally come for my most anticipated read of 2016 to finally hit the shelves! Glass Sword is finally here! I’m so happy for everyone to read it so we can discuss THAT ENDING THOUGH. Sorry about that long spoiler message, I’m really big on not spoiling fantastic stories for fellow readers and you should be too! Tell your friends about great books like Red Queen, wait for them to finish reading, and once you’re done fangirling/crying over that ending, send them over here so we can discuss all they need to know about the sequel Glass Sword! Ahhh!! *I promise no major spoilers for Glass Sword*

Glass Sword
(Dun... Dun.....DUUUNNN!)

SYNOPSIS:

"Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.   The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.  Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.   But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.   Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?"

How did I get my hands on this beauty?

So as you may have guessed, I got an ARC of Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard! ARC stands for an Advanced Reader’s Copy, which basically translates to a free book that has never been released...talk about a book lover’s dream? YES! And for the sequel of one of your favorite books? EVEN BETTER! So when this bad boy showed up at my doorstep the day after christmas, I could not contain my emotions. For a wonderful christmas miracle had been blessed upon me! Since I absolutely adored Red Queen in 2015, Glass Sword was definitely one of my most anticipated reads of 2016. I was EXTREMELY excited to read this book and could not wait for it to hit the shelves. I never imagined being sent a copy prior to the big release date, February 9th. I just quickly want to thank Epic Reads and HarperCollins so much for sending me this gorgeous collector's box (I was on the verge of tears when it arrived) It is literally so beautiful I am still in shock. Now i’ll stop my rambling before I get all emotional (again). Back to the discussion!

My thoughts?

Now on to the most exciting part of this post: What I thought about Glass Sword, the highly anticipated sequel to the debut novel Red Queen by *the queen* Victoria Aveyard… I obviously thought it was amazing. So much action, abilities, feels, and CAL. SO MUCH CAL THAT I ALMOST DIED OF HOTNESS (literally). No words will ever come close to describing how much I loved this book, but you guys already know I’m a big fan. It definitely was not the best book I’ve read, but it was still wonderful. I had missed these characters and this world more than I had remembered. Obviously, I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. Why you may ask? Let’s get into the details.

*To make this a whole lot easier I have decided to compile a list of all the things you need to know about Glass Sword before getting your hands on it:

Glass Sword is slower than Red Queen

Before I elaborate let me just clarify: SLOW IS NOT THE SAME AS BORING. This book is very far from boring. In the beginning of Glass Sword, Mare is on a mission to find people like her, Newbloods, who have Red blood and Silver abilities. Throughout the first half of the book they travel to different parts of Norta in hopes to find the Newbloods from Julian’s list. Things will happen at a slower pace than they did in Red Queen during this portion of the book, but don’t you worry Red Queen fans, there is definitely lots of action! If you’re stuck in the first 150 pages, Keep Reading! It only gets better from here on out.

New Characters! (No major spoilers; Just names)

With Mare searching for the Newbloods of Norta, we were eventually going to meet a whole slew of new characters. When new characters are introduced in a book series I can’t help but get very excited. I can’t wait for you guys to read about the ones who appear in Glass Sword. The only thing I did not like about getting many new characters was the lack of depth to all of them. Not every character is explained in detail, which I expected. (Other than main characters.. duh.) The first couple of newbloods had more dialogue, and were explored better than the later ones. We delve into their stories and got to see where they came from, WHICH I LOVED! But towards the end of the novel, we merely learned the names and abilities of some newbloods. I personally didn’t mind this because I understood that Victoria could not spend the whole book telling newblood backstories (Even though I’d still love to read it!). I liked how she put more effort into the “main newbloods” as I like to call them. These “main newbloods” including Nix, Ada, Cameron, plus many more, were so cool! Reading about their lives after meeting Mare and seeing them discover and explore their abilities was very entertaining for me.

Shade is back!

Speaking of entertaining..If you have not already read Red Queen: *MAJOR RED QUEEN SPOILER RIGHT HERE*; Shade is back! This is the character I was so desperate to learn about after the ending of Red Queen. As you may know, Mare’s older brother Shade, as we found out at the end of Red Queen, is a member of the Scarlet Guard. After Mare and Cal are saved from the Bowl of Bones and shoved into the Undertrain, Mare was finally reunited with her brother, who was once thought to be dead. Not only is Shade alive, he is also a Newblood. I loved learning about Shade. He was honestly one of my favorite characters, and I loved his connection with Mare. Since Glass Sword had a very dark and emotional tone to it, he has a special way of lightening the mood. Don’t get me wrong- this book has a lot of action and slight romance too, but when a novel is very heavy like this one is, I feel it is always important to have a character like Shade to give the reader a little “relief”.

New Abilities!

I was really happy with all the new abilities Victoria introduced in Glass Sword. Reading about the characters and how they controlled their powers reminded me a lot of Mare in Red Queen. Flying, creating illusions, manipulating sound, and super intelligence are only a few of the powers showcased in this book.

Victoria is the Queen of Cliffhangers and Twists

George R.R. Martin sure taught Victoria well. As you may know, the lovely people at

team Epic Reads posted the first 7 chapters of Glass Sword on their blog! You also may know that chapter 7 just happens to end on a cliffhanger (a reader’s worst nightmare). One thing you need to know before reading Glass Sword is that THERE ARE SEVERAL TWISTS/SURPRISES (almost as bad as a cliffhanger). You thought Maven surprised you in Red Queen? Oh just you wait. Victoria had a lightning bolt full of mischief up her sleeve while writing Glass Sword. And we all know lightning has no mercy.

*Random things I want to mention:*

-We learn a lot about Farley’s character in this book which I really loved. Seeing a different side of her, the more vulnerable and emotional side, was amazing.

-Maven isn’t as present in Glass Sword than he was in Red Queen. Which I was surprisingly sad about? Love me a good Maven scene.

-Cal is still beautiful.

and....

-I love Shade so much in this book.

So my final thoughts?

I highly recommend any fan of Red Queen to pick up Glass Sword. Being able to dive into the kingdom of Norta again made this book ten times better than I thought it would be. The fact that I already knew and loved the cast of characters in this book and the world that Victoria built, made my reading experience very (EXTREMELY) enjoyable. So I would take this into consideration (My love for the first book and the characters in the story) when choosing to read this book. If i’m being honest, if you did not like Red Queen (as much as I did) you most likely won’t like Glass Sword either. The best advice I can give you is to give Glass Sword a shot.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (MY QUEEN)

Victoria Aveyard is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Queen. Victoria was born and raised in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, a small town known only for the worst traffic rotary in the continental United States. She moved to Los Angeles to earn a BFA in screenwriting at the University of Southern California. She currently splits her time between the East and West coasts. As an author and screenwriter, she uses her career as an excuse to read too many books and watch too many movies. She has sold several television pilots and feature-length screenplays. You can visit her online at www.victoriaaveyard.comor on Twitter at @VictoriaAveyard.

GIVEAWAY:

I teamed up with Me, My Shelf, and I and HarperTeen to bring you this awesome Red Queen Giveaway!

One winner will get a RED QUEEN Prize pack from HarperTeen, which includes:

 - 1 Physical Copy of CRUEL CROWN (0.1 & 0.2 Red Queen) 

- 1 Red Queen foam sword that reads “Kneel or Bleed”

 - 1 Scarlet Guard scarf 

*Must be 13+ To Enter | Ships in US only |  See Terms & Conditions for full contest rules before entering some restrictions apply*

***It's easy to enter just click the link below!***

***a Rafflecopter giveaway***

Ok everyone, you are now ready to embark on the journey to find the NewBloods in Glass Sword. Good luck…

p.s: hit me up when you get to the end so we can scream together

We will Rise Red as the Dawn

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, by Reading Rapunzel

In book blog, book review

2015 Reads: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi || Reading Rapunzel Review

Goodreads Review: October 2015
Rapunzel's Rating: 3.75/5

Shatter Me: First novel in the Shatter Me
Trilogy by Tahereh Mafi

I went into "Shatter me" by Tahereh Mafi with some prior knowledge on the plot and even more on it's generous amounts of praise from the YA community. Everyone believed this series was worth while. Although I came across many 4-5 star reviews, as always, I decided to check this book out for myself. Let me tell you, the hype is definitely justified. We follow a girl named Juliette who lives in a post-apocalyptic world. She has been locked up in an asylum by "The Reestablishment", a dystopian government that has promised to "reestablish" the broken society, for almost a year. She was thrown into a cell due to an unexplainable power that she wields. Juliette's touch is deadly, and she is feared. The story begins to take off when one day she gets a cell-mate named Adam. We get to experience Juliette's deepest thoughts and feelings firsthand in a unique writing style made up of crossed out lines.

I decided to give this book 3.75 stars. Even though this is low, I want you guys to hear me out. A readers feelings towards this book will rely on your preferences in a good story. Do you like plot? D you like characters? Do you like Romance? Do you like Love Triangles? (no). Personally, If I give a book a 4/5 star rating or higher, you could assume that book included:

-Character depth or reliability

-Interesting/captivating plot and decent execution

-Twists, unexpected events, and so on.

-Magic or any element that makes the book unique

Shatter Me Series:
Shatter Me, Unravel Me, Ignite Me

So please listen to me when I say "Shatter Me" IS TOTALLY WORTH THE READ. I will admit, Tahereh kept me interested throughout the duration of the novel and, the plot was nothing short of genius. Mafi, effortlessly created this world were a girl can kill a man with the simple touch of her bare skin... doesn't that scream intriguing? And talk about girl power to the extreme! Of course I had to read this series eventually!
Now why did I give this book 3 stars? Although I loved the storyline and the book was fantastic... the characters were just okay. In order for a book to completely blow me away, I must absolutely fall in love with at least one character (what can I say? I'm a character kind of gal). In "Shatter me" the characters were good, but not 5 star worthy. Our main character, Juliette, is obviously hard to relate to.. She's been isolated for almost a year! Although this is true, I found it extremely fascinating to read from her point of view. As for Adam, I'm not going to lie in the slightest:

I DID enjoy his character. I loved that he was sweet, kind, and protective of Juliette. I saw everything expected of a typical love interest in Adam, and ultimately his personality wasn't too bad.

I definitely had mixed emotions about Warner, one of the leaders of the Reestablishment. Sometimes I loved him, and sometimes I hated him. I'm very intrigued by his intentions and I would love to find out about his early life/parents (which isn't discussed in detail.)

I really did like Kenji, a soldier for the Reestablishment. He had a great way of lightening up the book with a bit of humor.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Over all, I feel the characters could have been improved. I'm really hoping for some character development and world building in the next installment! If you are not big on characters, you will most likely rate this book higher than I did.

Something I really enjoyed was the unique writing style that Tahereh Mafi created for the voice of Juliet. Throughout the book you can find thoughts, ideas, and dialogue crossed out by Juliette herself. Although some may find this annoying, I really loved it! It was very cool to see into Juliette's thought process while reading.

If you have trouble getting into slow books, this series might not be for you. Most of the best scenes (in my opinion) are towards the middle and the end of the book. I believe getting through the slower parts of the book are absolutely worth it in the end. The book was honestly entertaining and I hope that in the following books, (which i'm super excited to read) there will be plenty of action in early chapters. Overall, I enjoyed this book and do plan on continuing the series. (I've already bought the whole series lol). I would defiantly recommend this book to all of you reading this, so don't let my 3 star (almost 4!) rating confuse you!

~Have you read Shatter Me? What was your favorite part? Let me know in the comments down below!

Want to check out the "Shatter Me" series by Tahereh Mafi? Find it here:
Goodreads

-Rapunzel xx

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, by Reading Rapunzel

In all the bright places, book review

2015 Reads: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven || Reading Rapunzel Review

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, by Reading Rapunzel

In book blog, book lover

Merry Christmas! || Reading Rapunzel Update

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, by Reading Rapunzel

In an ember in the ashes, author

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabba Tahir Review

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabba Tahir is a YA fantasy novel filled to the brim with exquisite characters, exceptional writing, and a compelling plot. Although the excessive amount of praise for this book was extremely intimidating, I was very releaved when it met-exceeded-all of my expectations.

This story, told from two alternating perspectives, is set in an era similar to ancient Rome. Ever since the defeat of the Scholars, the Martial Empire rules over the land and its people.

Brutal soldiers, called Masks,

guard the empire and help maintain order.

After the death of her parents long ago, Laia leads a difficult life as a Scholar. Working alongside her grandparents and her brother, she practices to one day become a healer.

Elias is a soldier at Blackliff Academy. He has trained since early childhood to be skilled, strong, and ruthless-A Mask.

When several Masks raid Laia's home to arrest her brother for suspected treason, she is distraught and helpless. In order to save her brother, she must become a slave.

Meanwhile at Blackliff Academy, Elias' well anticipated graduation approaches. He begins to realize he desperately desires freedom from those who forced him into cruelty. Helpless, he makes a plan to escape the academy.

An Ember in the Ashes follows these two characters as their stories unravel.

I don't actually think anyone will ever understand how much I cherished this book, like honestly it was so good. Believe me when I tell you, this is absolutely worth the read!!

Also, Sabaa Tahir is amazing! I tweet her all the time and she is incredibly lovely and sweet. Not only is this true, but her writing blew me away! She is so so talented which easily explains why I loved every second of this book.

As you may know, characters are personally very important to me. I tend to be quite skeptical about my feelings towards them when starting a new novel. With An Ember in the Ashes, this was not at all a problem. Sabaa truly did such a phenomenal job at creating Elias and Laia.

Elias will make you swoon!! He was very mysterious and intriguing. It was especially exciting to learn about his early life, relationship with Helen (fellow Mask in training), and his feelings towards his mother. As for Laia, she had a unique tone to her prose that made her special in my eyes. I devoured her chapters almost instantly, and I'm 99.9% sure that I could read thousands of pages in her point of view. Not only is her value of family incredibly inspiring, she was even willing to sacrifice herself into slavery if it ment saving her brother, Darin. Throughout the entire book, Laia repeatedly reminds herself of her goal: save Darin, save Darin, save Darin. I'm extremely impressed with Sabaa's ability to instill so much love into one character. *Slow claps for the mastermind that is, Sabaa Tahir*

Also, Helen was such a badass, and I loved everything about her. I don't even think it is necessary to elaborate.

So many heart wrenching moments towards the end of this book, I actually screamed at some parts (one time at school, which in fact was quite embarrassing. I blame Sabaa). Imagine someone taking their bare hand, sticking it deep in your chest, clutching your heart, and ripping it right out; that's how this book will make you feel (Don't worry, it's a good heart ache).

I'm very pleased and extremely proud to say that I found one of my new favorite books and an author that inspires me to write half (probably way less) as well as she can (If I'm lucky). I am absolutely excited for the next installment of the trilogy.

If by any chance this gets to Sabaa, I want her to know that I am forever thankful. Thank you for writing such an amazing piece of art I was truly blessed by this book. You must have magical writing powers I swear!! This novel is well deserving of every single star I gave it.(5..... duh!)

"You have a soul. It's damaged, but it's there. Don't let them take that's from you"

"You are an ember in the ashes. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it."

Go read An Ember in the Ashes and let me know what you think!!

-Rapunzel xx

Links

-Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20427215-rapunzel

-Twitter: https://twitter.com/readingrapunzel

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, by Reading Rapunzel

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Reading Rapunzel

Frost Like Night || ARC Review

Glass Sword Release Day Celebration || Reading Rapunzel Review and Discussion

2015 Reads: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi || Reading Rapunzel Review

2015 Reads: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven || Reading Rapunzel Review

Merry Christmas! || Reading Rapunzel Update

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabba Tahir Review

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Reading Rapunzel

Frost Like Night || ARC Review

Glass Sword Release Day Celebration || Reading Rapunzel Review and Discussion

2015 Reads: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi || Reading Rapunzel Review

2015 Reads: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven || Reading Rapunzel Review

Merry Christmas! || Reading Rapunzel Update

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabba Tahir Review

About Me

Twitter

Instagram

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Add Me ON

recent posts

Blog Archive

Labels

Bookstagram

Tumblr

Popular Posts

Physical Copy or Ebook?

Most Anticipated Reads 2016

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