Author: Cinda Williams Chima (Page 2 of 3)

Synopsis:

(...)

A simple, devastating truth concealed by a thousand-year-old lie at last comes to light in this stunning conclusion to the Seven Realms series.

✨ Spoiler free for the whole series ✨

LOOK OUT, FANTASY WRITERS! SEE THIS BOOK?

*pushes The Crimson Crown in your hands*

SEE THIS?

LOOK AT IT! JUST LOOK AT IT!

This is how you end a series : BLOODY. FABULOUS.

WHY? WHAT DO WE READERS WANT?

Alright. I can think of some things :

1) WE ARE OUT FOR BLOOD. SO. We need IN YOUR FACE! moments with the villains and all those who annoyed the hell out of us. Yes, this is MUCH needed. Nothing’s worst than anticlimactic confrontations. Give us GIDDINESS.

2) If you want to give us a romance, PLEASE SLOW DOWN, because the butterflies, here? They would never have had the same impact if not for the wait. My ship made me suffer along the way, but it paid up x1000.

3) NO NEED FOR CARDBOARD PEOPLE. Give us fleshed-out and interesting secondary characters – some we love to hate and other we’d defend with our *fictional* life.

4) We also need EPIC ENDINGS. No Mockingjay “I don’t know if my ship really sailed or what”. No dull as hell temporizing like In The Afterlight (I know, I gave it 5 stars at the time… I wouldn’t now, honestly). The last book should always be the BEST of the series. If you want 600 pages of great battles, though, look elsewhere. This is not what it is about and I’m so glad it isn’t. Alright, it is fairly predictable, but again, I. Don’t. Care. Any book that manages to engross me like this deserves its 5 stars. Now, maybe I’m bewitched, and many readers will argue that nothing really happens and … you know what? Perhaps that’s just the point. It is not so easy to bewitch me, if I dare say.

5) Last but not least, you wouldn’t want us to be disappointed in our main characters now would you? Take 3 stereotypes and call it a hero? Use idiotic misunderstandings to drive them through a painful joke of character development? NOPE. You do NOT want this. Try this instead : give us flawed characters in whom we can believe. Now make them grow. Then again. Then again. Now perhaps, if you’re lucky, you’ll have Raisa and Han – I just freaking LOVE them. Here are characters who know what that means to have a backbone.

Of course The Crimson Crown passed all these tests with flying colors.

Damn, I’m exhausted, I just know that a huge book hangover is coming, but it was so worth it.

Synopsis:

The Gray Wolf Throne is an epic tale of fierce loyalty, unbearable sacrifice, and the heartless hand of fate.

Edit 03/12 : More I think about this third book (and trust me, it’s in my mind A LOT), more I wonder why I didn’t rounded up to 5. Done now – The Gray Wolf Throne and The Crimson Crown were fabulous in their own way and entered my favorites all the same. So 5 stars it is.

“Byrne, we need to do a better job of protecting the queen,” he said. “Before we know it, she’ll be showing off old battle scars to her ladies whenever she’s in her cups. It won’t help our reputations any.”

See? I knew that would come a day I’d admire Raisa. You show them, bloody princess. Watch out, everyone, because this girl ain’t no figurehead. I won’t mention Han’s amazing self (almost) (my fingers are twichtching, trust me), otherwise I would never stop rambling and contrary to popular beliefs, I do sleep.

Sometimes.

BUT I AM SO SO PROUD OF BOTH OF THEM. HENCE THE YELLING. GAH. WHAT A GROWTH.

“I look forward to it,” Han said, displaying his streetlord smile. He tried to ignore the voice in his head – the one that said, Kill him now, Alister. Kill him now before he tries again.”

Of course my lips are sealed because *SPOILERS*, but just know that our characters don’t do dwelling on self-pity. They choose to keep going, to understand the other one without spending pages and pages moping and distrusting. This is so fucking refreshing, I swear. I love them with all my heart.

View Spoiler »Just how many times do you get to see characters that decide to STOP sulking when they’re hurt? I’ll tell you : Almost NEVER. Both Han and Raisa were FANTASTIC after the revelation of Raisa’s real name. I am so so proud. « Hide Spoiler
[Just how many times do you get to see characters that decide to STOP sulking when they’re hurt? I’ll tell you : Almost NEVER. Both Han and Raisa were FANTASTIC after the revelation of Raisa’s real name. I am so so proud. (hide spoiler)]

ALSO, I TRUST NO. ONE.

(except Han but that’s only because he’s not giving me any choice) (really) (that boy is wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFUL!)

These books keep getting better and better, and really, I wonder why I still feel astonished at the FEELS FEST that was The Gray Wolf Throne with all the heartbreak, political schemes, and a slow-burn romance that’s driving me INSANE in the best way possible. I honestly don’t know if the plot is more focused on the romance or if I am starving for more and building it up in my head, but I think that’s the latter.

View Spoiler »I fell in love with Han in book 1, but really, even if it wasn’t the case, I would not be able to resist now. The loyalty, the understanding, the respect, the freaking adorableness – I love EVERYTHING in this ship. EVERYTHING. « Hide Spoiler
[I fell in love with Han in book 1, but really, even if it wasn’t the case, I would not be able to resist now. The loyalty, the understanding, the respect, the freaking adorableness – I love EVERYTHING in this ship. EVERYTHING. (hide spoiler)]

Still predictable and tropey?
Perhaps, I still don’t give a damn one way or another.
Now, this is rare.

I should have known better. Watch me, showing no restraint and binge-reading them one after another. My my. I need a plan after book 4.

Real review to come. Maybe. Someday. Don’t hold your breath, though.

PS. The wolf in my pict was taken here.

Synopsis:

Haunted by the loss of his mother and sister, Han Alister journeys south to begin his schooling at Mystwerk House in Oden’s Ford. But leaving the Fells doesn’t mean that danger isn't far behind. Han is hunted every step of the way by the Bayars, a powerful wizarding family set on reclaiming the amulet Han stole from them. And Mystwerk House has dangers of its own. There, Han meets Crow, a mysterious wizard who agrees to tutor Han in the darker parts of sorcery—but the bargain they make is one Han may regret.

Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna runs from a forced marriage in the Fells, accompanied by her friend Amon and his triple of cadets. Now, the safest place for Raisa is Wein House, the military academy at Oden's Ford. If Raisa can pass as a regular student, Wein House will offer both sanctuary and the education Raisa needs to succeed as the next Gray Wolf queen.

Everything changes when Han and Raisa’s paths cross, in this epic tale of uncertain friendships, cut-throat politics, and the irresistible power of attraction.

Let’s be real, okay? If I didn’t have to get up in 5 hours, I would dive in The Gray Wolf Throne RIGHT NOW.

“You couldn’t keep your mouth shut? I’m calling you Glitterhair from now on. Or Talksalot.”

I don’t know what is it with these books that keep me captivated and compelled to read more and more and more. The characters’ growth is fantastic, my boy Han fascinating, the plot way more surprising but it still contains several tropes that I usually don’t like – including an heroine who “loves” several boys, BUT for once in a way that I can accept and understand, and without the constant change of mind that drives me nuts. Also, is this really love? She’s confused and unsure, and that makes her more believable than ever. Raisa might be flawed, but she keeps going whatever happens and doesn’t let heartbreak go in her way. The girl has goals, and boys aren’t going to change them.

Don’t be afraid, though : the story does NOT focus on the romance at all, and the characters have responsibilities way more important than falling in love. Think betrayals, clans, wizard’s rivalries, old charms… What’s not to love?

Moreover, the secondary characters are fleshed-out and their actions do have impact on the story – Dancer, Kat, Micah, Fiona, Amon – they all add something interesting and none of them is wasted. Also, HAN. Just give me a break, okay? The guy is wicked and adorable at the same time, how can I resist? Torn between his thirst for power and revenge and the deals he made, our Han Alister evolves into someone I loved to follow. But above everything else, I love that none of the characters is either good or bad. GREY EVERYWHERE, I tell you.

The plot keeps thickening and promises a hell lot of action in the next two books, with all the threads linking together and the menace on all the characters’ heads more and more present.

Anyway, off to bed I go, after these ramblings that may or may not be morphed into a real review tomorrow depending on my ability to restrain myself from reading book 3 (= closed to none). Oh hell. I’m addicted.