Stacking the Shelves #6 and The Sunday Post #3

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. To find out more just follow the link: Sunday Post Meme 

NEWS

This week was the week that I finally took the plunge and bought myself an iPad.

I was really unsure for awhile whether I wanted to buy a Kindle or go the whole hog and get myself an iPad. I also wasn't sure if I would like reading ebooks and that was my main motivation behind possibly purchasing the iPad. In the end I decided to go for it and got myself the iPad Air and I am now completely obsessed with it and even love reading on it. It will be perfect for my next piece of news...

I AM GOING BACK TO SCOTLAND!!!

This time, however, I will be travelling the Highlands and it will be a solo journey. I just booked my flights from Dublin to Iverness today and made sure that I would be there during the Highland Games. I won't be going until after I finished my second work placement in July but I am sooo excited. Look how beautiful Scotland is -

That is pretty much all my personal news for the week, now onto the book related news.

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOG

• Book Review: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

• Waiting on Wednesday: Half Wild by Sally Green

• Book Review: Tithe by Holly Black

• Feature and Follow Friday

• My Weekly Reading Recap in a GIFfy

THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG

• Novella Review: The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

• Top Ten Tuesday

• Waiting on Wednesday

• Book Review: The Furies of Calderon

• Feature and Follow Friday

• Sunday Post + Stacking the Shelves

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK

I read a few books this week, 3 in total and also one graphic novel. If you want to see a quick overview of what I thought of these books through GIFs just follow the link: here.

• Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

• Saga Volume Three by Brian K. Vaughan

• Under my Skin by Shawntelle Madison

• Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

CURRENTLY READING

Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Goodreads Synopsis:
A princess must find her place in a reborn world.
She flees on her wedding day.
She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.
She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.
She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love.

Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Goodreads Synopsis

Things are about to get Wicked in New Orleans.

Twenty-two year old Ivy Morgan isn’t your average college student. She, and others like her, know humans aren’t the only thing trolling the French Quarter for fun… and for food. Her duty to the Order is her life. After all, four years ago, she lost everything at the hands of the creatures she’d sworn to hunt, tearing her world and her heart apart.

Ren Owens is the last person Ivy expected to enter her rigidly controlled life. He’s six feet and three inches of temptation and swoon-inducing charm. With forest-green eyes and a smile that’s surely left a stream of broken hearts in its wake, he has an uncanny, almost unnatural ability to make her yearn for everything he has to offer. But letting him in is as dangerous as hunting the cold-blooded killers stalking the streets. Losing the boy she loved once before had nearly destroyed her, but the sparking tension that grows between them becomes impossible for Ivy to deny. Deep down, she wants… she needs more than what her duty demands of her, what her past has shaped for her.

But as Ivy grows closer to Ren, she realizes she’s not the only one carrying secrets that could shatter the frail bond between them. There’s something he’s not telling her, and one thing is for certain. She’s no longer sure what is more dangerous to her—the ancient beings threatening to take over the town or the man demanding to lay claim to her heart and her soul.

Stacking The Shelves is a meme created by Tynga's Reviews. It is "all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks". If you would like to find out more about this meme click here. 

Well, you saw that I just bought myself an iPad so of course I immediately downloaded the Kindle reading app and then proceeded to buy a few kindle books: in total 9 full books and one sample. Oops.

Physical Books:

I bought the Bane Chronicles for my sister for her birthday and I had just finished the Sea of Monsters and had a 2-hour wait at the train station along with a 1 and a half hour train journey so I bought myself the next book in the series.

If you are interested in any of the books above just click on the picture and you will be brought to their Goodreads page.

If you have a joined in on either of these two memes this week, leave a comment below and I will be sure to check out your post.

My Weekly Reading Recap in a (Gif)fy

I was inspired to create this feature by the wonderful ladies over at The Starry-Eyed Revue where they have a feature that consists of GIF only reviews. They have this feature for certain books such as, ones that they intend to write full reviews of later or just ones that are hard to put into words. You have to go check out their GIF only reviews, they are hilarious and just so entertaining.

I thought this was such a fantastic idea but I wanted to do it in a slightly different format. At the end of every week, on a Saturday, I will be posting a weekly review of the books I have read. The catch is that I will only be able to use one GIF per book to describe all the FEELS and no words...yes this will be difficult but I also think it will be a lot of fun and a great weekly wrap up. If you would like to join me in this just leave a link below in the comments and I will be sure to check it out.

So, lets get this started.

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan 

Creep.....

Saga Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan

Under my Skin by Shawntelle Madison

Who doesn't love Chloe?

 

Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan 

This one is perfect as he looks just like how I imagine the homeless/sea dude Nereus would look haha

Hope you liked this way of recapping my reading week. Sometimes it is so much easier to understand a person's opinion on a book with just GIFs - no need to read through all my ramblings.

Feature and Follow Friday #4

This meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee , just click on their names and follow the links. The point of this meme is to make new friends and gain new followers. There are a few rules to follow when participating in this meme so just click here to find out more.

Today's feature and follow question is:

Hard print (real thing) or Kindle/Nook, which is your favorite? -SUGGESTED BY: The Realm of Books 

This was the perfect week for this question as I just received my first iPad in the mail. Prior to this I had never read a kindle book and I had pretty negative views towards kindle books and was a hardcore physical book fan. Now, however, I can easily say that I see the benefits in both.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PHYSICAL BOOK VERSUS THE KINDLE BOOK

Physical Book	Kindle Book
Collectable on bookshelf	Accessible immediately after purchase
Easier on the eyes	Highlight and notes option
Doesn't run out of battery	Can read in the dark
Beautiful	Easier to hold

So as you can see each one has its advantages. I don't think I can pick which one I prefer but I do know that if I really love a book I read on my Kindle I will probably buy the physical book so I can keep it on my shelf. I really do love to collect books. I have only been reading Kindle books since Monday but so far I have been reading one kindle book and one physical book at a time. I have bought too many books this week due to my new iPad so stay tuned for my Stacking the Shelves post Saturday! 

I was certainly very anti-Kindle books until I downloaded the app myself so what are your thoughts? Do you prefer the physical book or the kindle book? Leave a link to your post below and I will be sure to check it out.

Book Review: Tithe by Holly Black

    Title: Tithe
    Author: Holly Black
    Publisher: Simon Pulse
    Published: April 1st 2004
    Pages: 331
    Rating: 2.5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. 

There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms - a struggle that could very well mean her death.

REVIEW

I wanted to like this, I really did. I loved Holly Black's The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, I mean LOVED it. Her writing style, characters and plot were so refreshing and everything I wanted from a book. So, I guess you could say I had really high hopes for this book, like, really high. Unfortunately, I didn't like this book all that much. Firstly, I will talk about what I did like. For one, the cover, it's so pretty, but yes do not judge a book by its cover. I also really enjoyed some of the characters in this story, particularly, Kaye. She wasn't your typical YA female character, there was something much more real and gritty about Kaye. The characters in many of the books I read don't really reflect the teenagers of today, Kaye, however, does. She likes to hang out with her friends, she goes to parties, she drinks, she smokes (not all teenagers do these things but lets face quite a few do). She is very different to the lead characters in most YA and in that sense was quite refreshing to read. , also enjoyed how the story really reminded me of my youth, this kind of story would have been something I would have read and loved as a child - minus the twisted, gorey, dark aspects! 

I feel like this story was quite childish, but at the same time not at all child-friendly. Ok, let me explain...Kaye is a normal enough girl, with not too many friends but she does however have fae friends, three little faeries who visit her throughout her childhood. She then meets a mysterious knight who she falls hopelessly in love with (yes, there is insta-love, very disappointed). However, mixed in with this story are a lot of dark details. A knight with an iron band embedded in his forehead with a cloak of thorns who ravages a human boy. Little faeries being pulled apart by monstrous fae, and several more deaths in between. I personally would not have had a problem with the story's darker elements, my problem lay in the more middle-grade like plotline which I didn't find all that interesting.

It was, however, the inst-love that ruined it altogether for me. It is the one thing I hate in a story. I also wasn't too fond of the character Roiben and had no real interest in him or the romance. The love connection betweeen Kaye and Roiben just wasn't believable, why did Kaye love Roiben? It seems to me it was because she thought he was hot and why Roiben loved Kaye, I have no idea.

In saying all of this I did read the entire book so it wasn't completely awfully it just wasn't what I hoped it would be.

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My Most Anticipated Book of the Coming Months:

    
    Title: Half Wild
    Author: Sally Green
    Publisher: Viking Juvenile
    To be Published: March 24th 2015
    Pages: 400
   

Goodreads Synopsis:

"You will have a powerful Gift, but it’s how you use it that will show you to be good or bad." 

In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, seventeen-year-old Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most powerful and violent witch. Nathan is hunted from all sides: nowhere is safe and no one can be trusted. Now, Nathan has come into his own unique magical Gift, and he's on the run--but the Hunters are close behind, and they will stop at nothing until they have captured Nathan and destroyed his father.

Why I am eagerly anticipating Half Wild:

I absolutely LOVED the first book in this series, Half Bad. I haven't read Half Bad in a while but I remember loving how dark it was and the fact that the book focused on a male witch. It was quite different to other books I have read and the writing style was really enjoyable. I will be reading Half Bad soon and will hopefully have a review up for it, as I never reviewed it the first time I read it.

Have you read Half-Bad? What did you think about and will you be picking up Half Wild? What book are you must excited for?

Book Review: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

    Title: Ruby Red
    Author: Kerstin Gier
    Publisher: Henry Holt
    Published: May 10th 2011
    Pages: 336
    Rating: 1 Star

Goodreads Synopsis:

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era! 

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

 

Before I delve into this review I first want to point something out - I should NEVER have picked up this book. Why you may ask? Well, because this does not even remotely sound like a book I would enjoy. The blurb alone would be evidence enough of that, two particular sentences stand out the most:

 "can spend her time hanging out with her best friend, Lesley, watching movies and talking about boys."

 Oh and it gets worse...

"He's obnoxious, a know-it-all, and possibly the best-looking guy she's seen in any century..."

So, from this blurb you can easily gather that the romance is going to pretty central to the plot and if you have to happen to like that, that is great and you may well just enjoy this book. I, however, HATE plot lines driven by romance so I should have known better than to read this book, but guess what?...I didn't even read the synopsis. I purely bought this book due to all the hype surrounding it, something I did quite a lot when I described the book blogging/booktubing communities.

So that is just pretty much just a disclaimer to say that while I had strong feeling of dislike towards this book it is not because the book promised to be something more, I was just too silly to read the synopsis and know not to read it.

Now, onto the less than glowing review.

One of the worst things about this book, for me, was how it read. Words and sentences did not flow together like they should, their were several typos in the first page alone and it felt like I was reading a book aimed at children rather than young adults in the sheer simplicity of the language. Now, don't get me wrong sometimes simple language is a great deal better than the convoluted overly metaphorical language used by some authors but this was too simplistic. Now I feel a bit harsh commenting on the writing style and language as this is a translated book, so do bear that in mind if you plan on reading it.

It was not only the writing style that appeared to be aimed more towards pre-teens but the plot as well. The protagonist of the story Gwen was supposed to be a sixteen year old girl, but read more as a twelve year old. For example her discussion of "kissing boys"...

"Kissing, said Lesley, ought really to be taught as a school subject...We often discussed what the ideal kiss would be like, and there were any number of films we'd watched over and over again just because of the good kissing scenes in them."

 

 A twelve year old talking like that...okay fair enough but SIXTEEN...no. 

Not only is Gwen really immature but she also really dense. Okay harsh I know but she genuinely knows nothing, and can't even remember a password that she has heard like ten times, 

"The password?" Quark edit bisquitis. Or something like that. "Qua redit nescitis." Well, i'd had it almost right.". 

There are plenty more incidents just like this that make Gwen out to be a total ditz. My favourite line of all had to be this, 

"When we had come in, someone had risen from a chair at the desk , nodded to Mr. George, and left the room without a word. "Was that man mute?" I asked. It was the first thing that came into my head."

Oh, but of course he is mute because what other explanation could there possibly be...

   

 Gwen's best friend isn't much better(again, more twelve than sixteen), she was the most flat and pointless character. She had no personality except to be the friend who googled everything and finds out loads of information and is soooo excited for her friend. Booooring.

There was not one character in this story that I actually liked. Gideon was, of course, the most beautiful specimen to ever grace the earth and also a complete chauvinist along with every other male in the story. Every character was just so unoriginal - you had the crazy great aunt, the snobby aunt, the self-righteous cousin, the worried mother, the excited friend and the handsome love interest...need I say more.

Aside from all of that, the most annoying thing about this book was the complete and utter lack of a plot line. I mean, nothing happened...NOTHING. After 100 pages in I thought, okay something is going to happen now...nope...200...nope...then towards the end something happens...just nothing exciting.

I am not even going to discuss the romance...

I want to finish on a positive note so I will say I liked the idea of time-travel... 

I will not be continuing this series for very obvious reasons...

Stacking the Shelves #5 and the Sunday Post #2

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. To find out more just follow the link: Sunday Post Meme 

I had a very quiet week this week. Now that I am back to Uni I pretty much spend my weekdays reading, attempting to study (but in reality I just get distracted by youtube videos) and blogging, which really isn't the worst way to spend my days, except that I haven't left the house since Monday! I only have college one day a week and I then only work weekends so my weekdays end up being pretty boring. I am currently working on (well SUPPOSED to be working on) my Masters thesis proposal, a Marketing plan and a Management essay...as someone who has a background in English and History, the Marketing and Management modules I have this semester are quite difficult and I am really delaying getting started on my assignments. Next week I will be better.

In other news my Uncle came over to our house just yesterday to show off his new puppy and I just have to share these photos with you guys:

Is he not the cutest?

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOG

• Graphic Novel Review: Saga Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

• Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Ten Fictional Crushes

• Book Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

• Book Review: Golden Son by Pierce Brown

• Feature and Follow Friday

• My Weekly Reading Recap in a GIFfy

THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG

• Book Review: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

• Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Would Love to Read with My Bookclub

• Waiting on Wednesday

• Book Review: Tithe by Holly Black

• Feature and Follow Friday

• Sunday Post + Stacking the Shelves

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK

This week I really did not get much read as one of the books I read/currently reading is 781 pages. I put down last week that I read Ruby Red but I didn't actually finish until Monday as it was painfully boring to read and I just could not finish it Sunday. I have read 1 full book, 1 graphic novel and I am 600 pages through with another book.

• Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

• Saga Volume Two by Brian K. Vaughan

• The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (600+ pages read so far)

FAVOURITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"A man was not defined by his flaws, but how he overcame them." ― Brandon Sanderson, The Well of Ascension

Stacking The Shelves is a meme created by Tynga's Reviews. It is "all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks". If you would like to find out more about this meme click here. 

So, I had absolutely no excuse for buying these books other than the fact that I was bored and wandered into a Waterstones...bad idea. I have three Graphic novels and three books and one novella to share with you today, so here they are:

If you are interested in any of the books above just click on the picture and you will be brought to their Goodreads page.

If you have a joined in on either of these two memes this week, leave a comment below and I will be sure to check out your post.

Weekly Reading Recap in a (GIF)fy #2

I was inspired to create this feature by the wonderful ladies over at The Starry-Eyed Revue where they have a feature that consists of GIF only reviews. They have this feature for certain books such as, ones that they intend to write full reviews of later or just ones that are hard to put into words. You have to go check out their GIF only reviews, they are hilarious and just so entertaining.

I thought this was such a fantastic idea but I wanted to do it in a slightly different format. At the end of every week, on a Saturday, I will be posting a weekly review of the books I have read. The catch is that I will only be able to use one GIF per book to describe all the FEELS and no words...yes this will be difficult but I also think it will be a lot of fun and a great weekly wrap up. If you would like to join me in this just leave a link below in the comments and I will be sure to check it out.

So, lets get this started.

Tuesday 20th January:

   

Title: Ruby Red
Author: Kerstin Gier    

Goodreads Synopsis:

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era! 

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

I will have a full review on this book coming in the next couple of days, but I think this GIF sums up my feelings quite nicely:

This is GIF perfection

Wednesday 21st January:

Title: Saga Volume Two
Author: Brian K. Vaughan    

Goodreads Synopsis:

From award-winning writer BRIAN K. VAUGHAN (Pride of Baghdad, Ex Machina) and critically acclaimed artist FIONA STAPLES (Mystery Society, Done to Death), SAGA is sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the universe. Thanks to her star-crossed parents Marko and Alana, newborn baby Hazel has already survived lethal assassins, rampaging armies, and horrific monsters, but in the cold vastness of outer space, the little girl encounters her strangest adventure yet... grandparents.

I will let the Weasley twins take over from here:

Currently Reading: 

   

Title: Mistborn Series Book Two: The Well of Ascension
Author: Brandon Sanderson    

Goodreads Synopsis:

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era! 

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

I had two very differing opinions on this book and as it is easily the length of two books I am allowing myself to break my opinion into two, one for the first quarter of the book and one for the nesxt two quarters (I am currently on page 600).

For the first at least 200 pages I was like:

But now I'm like...

I don't know yet how I will feel about this one but I am sure you will find out in next weeks Reading Recap in GIFfy.

Hope you liked this way of recapping my reading week. Sometimes it is so much easier to understand a person's opinion on a book with just GIFs - no need to read through all my ramblings.

Feature and Follow Friday #3

This meme is hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee , just click on their names and follow the links. The point of this meme is to make new friends and gain new followers. There are a few rules to follow when participating in this meme so just click here to find out more.

Today's feature and follow question is:

DO YOU POST YOUR REVIEWS ANYWHERE BESIDES YOUR BLOG? WHERE ELSE DO YOU POST YOUR REVIEWS? -SUGGESTED BY: A Great Read 

Before, when I first started blogging, I used to post my reviews on Goodreads, Amazon and, of course, my blog. Since coming back to my blog I haven't yet posted any of my reviews to Amazon but I ALWAYS post reviews to Goodreads. I actually post my reviews there first. After I read a book, I give myself a day or two, but certainly no more as I have a brain like a sieve and would forget everything, then I go to Goodreads and write up my review and post it. I then may go straight to my blog and create a post on my review and schedule it or save it, but I usually wait awhile to put it on my blog. 

I am currently ahead of my self with reviews and have several ready to be posted including: Tithe by Holly Black, Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier, The Assassin and the Pirate Lord by Sarah J. Maas and will hopefully have Saga Volume Two ready also. This is great for me at the moment as I am currently reading Brandon Sanderson's Well of Ascension which is 781 pages long, so, as you can imagine I will be reading it for awhile. Having several reviews ready though means there wont be a huge gap between reviews on my blog. I like to have between 2-3 (preferably 3) reviews up a week.

I recently have slowly started adding my reviews to Edelweiss. I have never actually requested ARC as I feel my blog is too new and I am quite happy reading the books on my TBR shelf at the moment, but, if the time comes when I do want to request an ARC I think it would be a good idea for publishers to be able to see my reviews on the site.

So that was a long winded response, wouldn't be like me to go off on a tangent...As I side-note I love to discuss books with people on Goodreads so if you wish to friend me there just click here. 

If you have taken part in this meme do leave a link to your post below and I will be sure to check it out...If not just let me know in the comments where you post reviews and what your process is when you write them, I would love to know.

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Book Review and Discussion: Golden Son by Pierce Brown *Spoiler-Free*

    Title: Golden Son (Red Rising #2)
    Author: Pierce Brown
    Publisher: Del Ray (Random House)
    Published: January 6th 2014
    Pages: 464
    Rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown’s genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. 

Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within. 

A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart, Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown’s continuing status as one of fiction’s most exciting new voices.

Just know that writing this review was not easy. Again, I have gone off on one of my usual rambles so apologies for the length. It also spoiler free as always.

The Plot:

Right up until the end of this book I was planning on giving this book a 4.5, half a star lower than Red Rising. Red Rising was action-packed, like non-stop, edge of your seat, scheming, fighting, fleeing, butchering and murdering, hiding in dead horses bellies action. So you know the good kind. Golden Son was a lot slower to get into the action, but when it did it was fantastic, I just wish there was more of the fighting rather than moments leading up to the fight. This is by no means to say that the action was lacking, it just wasn't as strong as the first book. My favourite action scene by far was the Iron Rain, there was something so beautiful yet so tragic about it. Oh, and if you thought you left the plot twists in Red Rising, get ready for plot twist after plot twist that you will NEVER see coming.

That leads me onto the Writing:

Brown's writing is just absolutely beautiful. The Iron Rain scene alone is proof of his talent. While this book and Red Rising were not all that long, they did take me quite a long time to read them; they were a slow read. To some this would sound as if I wasn't enjoying it and it was a struggle to read but it was quite the opposite. It is so beautifully written that I wanted to absorb every word on the page. So much is condensed into so few pages, you may only read a couple of pages but you take so much more away from those few pages then you would from reading several chapters of most books. One of many quotes that stood out to me was this:

"Then comes a gravPit, which pulls them back toward the source of the explosion like a vacuum collecting flies; and then comes the third - pure kinetics - to destroy armor and bone and flesh, blowing the warriors outward, into the air, scattering their pieces in the low gravity like breath scatters the seeds of a dandelion."

I am not normal a huge fan of metaphors as it is so easily to overdo them and many are haphazardly thrown in among the narrative. Brown, however, uses them beautifully.

The terminology in this book is still as complex as Red Rising and, at times, utterly baffling. However, Brown's descriptive techniques are utterly compelling and have you absorbed right into the story. You feel what Darrow feels, his pain, his happiness, his fear, everything is so vivid.

The Characters:

Oh boy, just when you think you know a character, Brown flips everything around. TRUST NO BITCH (I refer to man and woman cause hey sexism is for losers). One thing I will say about Brown is that he really does know how to create great, unique and vividly real characters.

Darrow:

Darrow is not the most lovable character but I think, as a person with the weight of the world on his shoulders, he is a great leader, but certainly incredibly flawed. Just like I did in Red Rising I found myself *facepalming* some of Darrow's decisions. Darrow continues to develop in this story and it is clear how his relationships with other characters in the story has shaped into the person he is.

Mustang:

I didn't really like Mustang in Red Rising, I felt there was something really lacking in her characterization and I just couldn't warm to her, or feel really anything for her. As this story progressed I felt myself enjoying her character a great deal more. The turning point in my attitude toward her came after this statement:

"He said he always had his eye on me." She reaches into her pocket, pulls something out, and drops it onto the floor. "So I took one of his."

Okay Mustang, I like you now.

Sevro:

Ya, I still love him, even with his bionic eye, that's true love people. BUT, I have to say, I think Sevro's character has immatured (not a word, but it is now kay?) rather than grown. In Red Rising I loved him because he was a fearsome warrior and leader of the Howler's. He was clever and sneaky but also full of banter. In Golden Son he is ALL banter and jokes. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE that about Sevro. I still swoon every time I see his name. Sevro is bae. No but really, his character had some serious, WHUUUT moments and you learn a lot more about his past in this book. I just wish I saw more of the wolfish warrior from Red Rising though.

World-Building:

And I thought the world-building in Red Rising was good... Brown surpassed himself in Golden Son. We learn more and more about the world but what I loved most about the world-building was not how vivid, unique and compelling it was, but how we learn about it so naturally. Bulks of information aren't shoved into our faces, Brown cleverly shows us the world bit-by-bit through the eyes of Darrow, he is as clueless about the world outside the mines as the reader is. The more contact he has with the colours of society the more we, as the reader, learn about them. I learnt so much more about the other colours, especially the Blues and Obsidians. We are not immediately told Obsidians are this and the Stained are this, we find this information out slowly as we meet each of these new characters. Everyone knows the importance of showing, not telling, in descriptive writing, but not everyone can do it as well as Brown. 

The Ending:

I am not going to spoil this for anyone so I will instead leave you with a GIF expressing my feelings on that ending: