#roland maas

[385bookreviews]

1.72.3 Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

SPOILERS

Pages: 418

Time Read: 7 hours and 8 minutes

Overall Rating: ★★★★★ Storyline: ★★★★★ Dialogue: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★★

Genre: YA Fantasy

TWs for the book: Death, murder, violence, blood, grief, gore, injury, torture, slavery, kidnapping, death of a parent, assassination, body horror, confinement, war, genocide, colonization, physical abuse, classism, toxic friendship, misogyny/sexism, su*c*dal thoughts/su*c*de attempt, toxic relationship, gaslighting, animal harm, hunting, minor s*xual content, cursing, stalking, abandonment, mentions of r*pe, panic attacks, self harm, mentions of drug abuse

POV: Third person

Time Period/Location: Rifthold, the capital of Adarlan, in the fictional world of Erilea.

First Line: The shutters swinging in the storm wind were the only sign of her entry.

Celaena Sardothien has been the King's Champion for a couple of months at this point, and has already been on five assassination missions for the King. However, she has faked all of their deaths. The King then gives her a mission in Rifthold to kill Archer Finn, a courtesan she knew from growing up at the Assassin's Keep, as he suspects him to be a part of a rebel plot. Her friendship with Chaol has grown during this time, and she takes him with her to "accidentally" bump into Archer. Chaol is jealous by how closely they bond, and starts to realize his feelings for her. Celaena attempts to go to the library and finds what appears to be a cloaked person standing there, and it growls at her. The Eye of Elena begins to glow, and the creature runs off. She goes down into the tomb to seek answers from Elena, only to discover that the bronze skull knocker on the door can talk, and his name is Mort. He tells her that Elena wants her to find the evil in the castle. Dorian's cousin Roland arrives in the castle, wearing a black ring like Perrington and the King, and Celaena immediately dislikes him, even though he is trying desperately hard to gain Dorian's trust. Celaena and Archer go to dinner, and she tells him that she was sent by the King to assassinate him. Archer pleads for his life, saying he has no involvement in the rebel plots, but that some of his clients do, and that he knows that they want to find Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, the heir to the throne of Terrasen, and use her to overthrow the King of Adarlan. Celaena gives him till the end of the month to get his affairs in order and to give her as much information as possible about the conspirators. He begins by taking her to a ball held by one of his clients, Davis, and she sneaks into his office and discovers a book on Wyrdmarks. In the back, she finds written, "It is only with the eye that one can see rightly." Davis catches her snooping and cuts her with a dagger that was covered in gloriella, a paralytic poison. She manages to kill him and make it back to the castle in time to tell Chaol to give her the antidote. Celaena then involves Nehemia, asking her to teach her to read the Wyrdmarks and help her solve the riddle. They go down to Elena's tomb, and discover that when standing on a constellation of the Stag, a hollowed out eye appeared in the wall. They both looked through it, but discovered nothing. Chaol and Celaena grow closer, and Celaena takes him out for a romantic dinner. She confesses that she hasn't actually been killing her targets, and Chaol is angry but ultimately chooses to be with her, saying he'll leave Rifthold with her one day. They have a lot of s*x over the following week.

Celaena and Nehemia get into a heated argument where Nehemia calls her a coward for refusing to help her plan to overthrow the King. Chaol is then kidnapped, and Celaena is left with a ransom note. She goes to a warehouse and kills 15 men before she is stopped by Archer. He tells her that Nehemia founded their rebel group, and that he had heard that she was going to be interrogated by Chaol and the King that day so they kidnapped him in an attempt to stop it and to show Celaena that Chaol had kept secret the fact that Nehemia's life was threatened. Celaena races back to the castle and finds Nehemia tortured to death. She attacks Chaol, blaming him for her death, and Dorian uses magic to stop her from killing him. Chaol puts her in the dungeons for a few days, where Kaltain tells her that Duke Perrington is taking her to Morath to be his wife, and that Roland will be going with them. When Chaol releases her from the dungeons, she sinks into heavy grief and refuses to speak to anyone. She then deduces that Grave, an assassin from the competition to be Champion, must have killed Nehemia, and she uses the tunnels to sneak out and kill him. She brings his head before the King, accuses the lord that was his sponsor in the competition of hiring him to kill Nehemia, and she gives him a list of the 15 men she killed from Archer's group. She solves the riddle talking about the eye and uses the pommel of King Gavin's sword Damaris to see another riddle written on the inside of the hollowed out eye. It is a map to to finding three powerful objects. She goes to a the carnival being held in honor of Prince Hollin, and speaks to an Ironteeth witch named Baba Yellowlegs. The witch reveals that Dorian came asking her questions about magic, and offers to sell his questions to Celaena but she refuses. She asks her about the riddle and the witch tells her that it speaks of Wyrdkeys, three slivers of rock broken off from the Wyrdgate, the portal between worlds. They are immensely powerful individually, but with all three one can open the Wyrdgate to all sorts of different planets and dimensions. She kills the witch for knowing Dorian's secrets, and her and Dorian grow closer again.

She then investigates catacombs she found beneath the library, using Wyrdmarks to unlock the iron doors. She finds an underground prison, and then the entrance to the giant obsidian clock tower built by the King. She is turning back when she is attacked by the creature from before. Dorian, who had followed her down, runs with her, and he tries to use his magic to seal the door. It doesn't work, so he runs to find the spellbook and they use it to trap and kill the creature. Celaena realizes it has a human heart, and that it must have been human at one point. She believes the King used a Wyrdkey to make it into a monster. She discovers the meaning of the first part of the riddle and discovers the key is gone. Distraught, she grabs the spellbook and uses it to open a portal to contact Nehemia. She succeeds, but Nehemia tells her to never do it again. Just as the portal closes, Archer appears, and reveals that Nehemia showed him the tunnels and he's been spying on her for weeks. Celaena realizes on of the coded notes in Nehemia's room was saying not to trust Archer. She acts like she is on his side and is willing to give him the book and work with him, and he confesses he was the one to order Grave to kill Nehemia. She attacks him once he does, and in their fight they accidentally open a portal to another world. Dorian is warned in a dream by King Gavin that Celaena is in trouble, and he runs to get Chaol and they discover the tunnel. They arrive to see a demon attacking Celaena, Fleetfoot (Celaena's dog) hurt, and Archer chanting out of the spell book. Chaol attacks the demon, Archer flees, and Dorian drags Celaena away. Celaena knocks him out, and sees the demon drag Fleetfoot through the portal and Chaol run after her. Celaena runs into the portal and immediately shifts from a human to a Fae, and attacks the demon with fire magic. They all get to safety and Celaena uses Dorian's magic blood to close the portal. Celaena then hunts down Archer in the tunnels and kills him, bringing his head before the King.

Chaol tells his father he wants to send Celaena away to Wendlyn to assassinate the King and his son, and that if he backs him up he will return to be the Lord of Anielle. His father agrees and they propose the idea to the King. He agrees, and tells Celaena to go to Wendlyn. She is panicked, not knowing how to get out of it, but Elena tells her to go. Before she leaves, she says goodbye to Dorian, and then says goodbye to Chaol at the docks. She tells him about the Wyrdkeys and everything she's learned, and then tells him the date of her parents' death and leaves. He is confused, and researches the date, and realizes that Celaena is actually Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, lost queen of Terrasen, and he just sent her away to the land of her distant Fae relatives.

Storyline: The storyline in this book was a little slow for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Representation: Nehemia is the only POC, and she has herself killed in order to motivate and progress Celaena's character, which is a huge issue I have with this book.

[lia-land]

Empire of Storms

4/5 stars

*Spoilers for Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas.

Aelin’s secret plans are getting tedious and repetitive, to the point where I don’t actually care about her character as much anymore because I know she’ll just pull out some secret plan like always. It was fun at first, but 6 books in, I would enjoy seeing her through the process for these plans instead of just being told about them when needed. All of this made me sort of relieved about how this book ended because for once, she wasn’t saves by some convenient secret plan and now I’m actually excited to read Kingdom of Ash.

The whole reveal to Rolfe that Aelin was Celaena gave me secondhand embarrassment. How Rowan did not get the ick is beyond me. I’m far more invested in Manon and Dorian than anyone else. That was an odd pairing at first but I’m so excited to see where their relationship goes. I felt sad for Manon for a lot of this book, especially her finding out that she killed her half sister. I’m obsessed with Abraxos!!! I’ll be so sad if he dies, but knowing SJM’s style, I don’t think that will happen.

I partially discussed this next point in my review of The Assasin’s Blade, which is that SJM could have made its position in the series so much clearer if she wanted to. Illias and the Silent Assassins appearance was barely explained. It’s not important to the story that Illias and Celaena had a ‘fling,’ but it would have been nice to have more context on the Silent Assassin’s for those who didn’t read AB since it’s not officially been listed as an essential book in the series. This is especially important regarding Ansel of Briarcliff, too. There is so much history there with her and Aelin and the extent of it wasn’t mentioned. I don’t fully understand why they’re back on such friendly terms after the last interaction between her and Aelin. Obviously Aelin needed Ansel’s help and I understand her putting the greater good above her own grudge, but they’e talking like good friends in EoS and I don’t recall reading about why Aelin essentially forgives her and is so trusting all of a sudden. I’d actually love to read about how Ansel became Queen of the Wastes.

As usual, there were a lot of interesting reveals towards the end. The chapter with Nehemia going through the marshes for weeks on her own and wanting to sacrifice herself was beautifully written. I would absolutely read a whole book about her life before coming to Rifthold.

I had a feeling Rowan and Aelin were mates, but I did not see the marriage coming. This is the second secret wedding scene I’d like to demand from SJM as a bonus chapter (iykyk). Lysandra now acting as Aelin is also so twisted and interesting. It’s one of my favorite plot points so far and I can’t wait to see what comes of it in KoA.

I liked Elide in the last book, but didn’t particularly enjoy reading about her in this one. She had Aelin, Manon, and Lorcan fighting over their ‘claim’ to her and I kept waiting for her to stand up for herself and tell them that she will choose. Like, girl, you’ve been ‘owned’ for most of your life… I’ll be very surprised if she doesn’t say something along those lines in KoA. 

I didn’t know how I felt about Aedion until this book. I’ve decided I don’t like him and he’s just very… clingy? I would not be mad if he was killed off at some point soon. I might even dislike him more than Chaol. 

I would appreciate a family tree at the start of these books alongside/instead of a map because it easily gets confusing. When Elena revealed her mother was Mala, I didn’t know that was supposed to be a big reveal because I still have very little idea about what the relationship between her and Aelin and Maeve is. I also didn’t pick up on how Aelin and Dorian and loosely related and I still have no clue about how all that connects. I’m still trying to figure out how Roland fit into things. I’d appreciate a diagram of sorts, but I don’t want to Google a family tree until after the series in case there are spoilers.

I also didn’t do the tandem read so I’ll have to read through about 700 pages of Tower of Dawn before finding out what happens to Aelin which I’m not particularly looking forward to because I truly do not care for Chaol or Nesryn.

Can I just say how HARD it is to avoid spoilers for KoA… My algorithm on insta and TikTok is fully ACOTAR right now so I see the occasional Throne of Glass videos and I’m still so impressed that I’ve been able to avoid things, but we’ll see if I fully get through the next two books without spoilers. My theory as of now is that there will be a time skip at some point in KoA, maybe a few centuries even? I also think Dorian is going to end up evil. I'm excited for the political drama that will come from Dorian and Manon’s relationship.

The last 50 pages or so of this book are 5 stars. Overall, 4.

[waddddle]

2024 TBR

It's the last day of December, and I am still stuck in bed with the flu. Twelve days of lying in bed feeling terrible. The only upside of my bed-bound misery is updating my reading spreadsheet. I bought quite a few books in 2023 and haven't had the time to update my spreadsheet. 

Because of this update I realized that i have 33 unread books on my shelf. That is a lot of books. Leaving these books unread on my shelf forever would be a waste of space, so I have set a goal for myself. Read all the unread books on my bookshelf.

There are 52 weeks in a year. If I were to read one book a week, I would reach my reading goal with ease. To motivate me to read these books I am setting one simple rule: no more buying books until the unread books have been read. Basically just a book-buying-ban. 

So here is a full list of all the unread books on my bookshelf.

Yerba Buena - Nina Lacour

One of Us is back - Karen M. McManus

Paper Towns - John Green

An Abundance of Katherines - John Green

The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green

All I Know Now - Carrie Hope Fletcher

In The Time We Lost - Carrie Hope Fletcher

Pindakaas en Sushi 2 - Roderick Leeuwenhart

Pindakaas en Sushi 3 - Roderick Leeuwenhart

Heartstopper vol. 5 - Alice Oseman

Solitaire - Alice Oseman

Loveless - Alice Oseman

Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburg - Rachel Lippincott

The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood

The Sky is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson

Als het Leven Pijn Doet - René Diekstra

Hoop - Roland van der Vorst

Grote Kleine Dingen - Liane Moriarty

Wild - Charyl Strayed

The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkind Reid

Normal People - Sally Rooney

The Queen and I - Sue Townsend

Bi - Julia Shaw

I am Glad My Mom Died -Janette McCurdy

Howl's Moving Castle - Dianna Wynne Jones

Castle In The Air - Dianna Wynne Jones

Here's To Us - Adam Silvera & Becky Albertelli

More Happy Than Not - Adam Silvera

Five Survive - Holly Jackson

You Will Get Through This Night - Daniel Howell

Legends and Latte's - Travis Baldree

[zaintastic]

Queen of Shadows

This book is breaking my heart again and again! Whenever I hear forgotton names in the worst of places!!!

Dorian...Elide...Kaltain...and now Roland.

People do bad things but nobody deserves THIS...

I never thought I would cry at Roland's death.

[throneofglassravingsandreviews]

List of people Manon has choked

Kaltain Rompier

Chaol Westfall

Asterin Blackbeak

Iskra Yellowlegs

Roland Havilliard

Am I missing any?

[of-foolish-and-wise]

my year in books

read/goal: 50/50

top 10:

How Much of These Hills is Gold, C. Pam Zhang: In my opinion, a contemporary classic. Weaves Chinese myth with stories of the American Gold Rush. Beautiful prose and valuable takeaways re: family, truth, and gender.

A Little Devil in America: Notes on Black Performance, Hanif Abdurraqib: Essay upon essay of mind-plowing poetics and storytelling. Hanif's version of Baldwin's Devil Finds Work. A wide swath of topics from blackface to spades to magic.

Writers & Lovers, Lily King: Came to me at the exact right (or wrong?) time, just when my father passed away. A keenly-observed novel about grief and persona that is something like if Sweetbitter met Normal People.

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel, Alexander Chee: Inspired me to get over myself and just start writing again. The essay on roses absolutely floored me.

Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route, Saidiya Hartman: Hard to stomach, but necessary. Foundational for the way I am thinking about neo-slave narratives and speculative historical fiction.

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness, Kristen Radtke: The minute I read this, I added it to the syllabus for my class on women in isolation. Part graphic novel, part longform essay, part research paper, and wholly extraordinary.

The Sonic Color Line: Race and the Cultural Politics of Listening, Jennifer Lynn Stoever: This one's just for me. The burning core at the center of my reading list and the inspiration and model for my scholarship.

The Street, Ann Petry: Read it because of the book above, but an absolute banger of a book. Devastating ending. Would be extraordinary taught alongside Native Son.

The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin: This book has everything. Polyamory. Earth-bending. An alien creature frozen inside a giant piece of rock in the middle of the ocean. Love this woman, love seeing Blackness-as-default in sci-fi novels.

Fun Home, Alison Bechdel: You read it in high school for a good reason. A true exemplar of the genre and a fascinating way to teach non-chronological storytelling.

rest below the cut

Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab

Brothers & Keepers, John Edgar Wideman

Bunk: The True Story of Hoaxes, Hucksters, Humbug, Plagiarists, Forgeries, and Phonies, Kevin Young

Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo

House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J. Maas

Children of Virtue and Vengeance, Tomi Adeyemi

Emergence of Cinematic Time: Modernity, Contingency, the Archive, Mary Ann Doane

An American Sunrise, Joy Harjo

Nabokov's Favorite Word is Mauve: What the Numbers Reveal About the Classics, Bestsellers, and Our Own Writing, Ben Blatt

Rule of Wolves, Leigh Bardugo

The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan

Savage Preservation: The Ethnographic Origins of Modern Media Technology, Brian Hochman

The Obelisk Gate, N.K. Jemisin

The Stone Sky, N.K. Jemisin

People We Meet on Vacation, Emily Henry

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice & Virtue, Mackenzi Lee

The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Legendborn, Tracy Deonn

Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, Christina Lauren

In Cold Blood, Truman Capote

The Race of Sound: Listening, Timbre, and Vocality in African American Music, Nina Sun Eidsheim

One Last Stop, Casey McQuiston

One to Watch, Kate Stayman-London

Time Binds: Queer Temporalities, Queer Histories, Elizabeth Freeman

Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

Echo and Narcissus: Women's Voices in Classical Hollywood Cinema, Amy Lawrence

An Extraordinary Union, Alyssa Cole

It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover

Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, Safiya Noble

Listening in: Radio and the American Imagination, Susan J. Douglass

How to Fail at Flirting, Denise Williams

The Flat-Share, Beth O'Leary

Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-1952, Michele Hilmes

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, Scott McCloud

The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois

The Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood

The Road Trip, Beth O'Leary

We Ride Upon Sticks, Quan Barry

[thefloorkillrz]

Live at t Veerhuis in Wessem 10 november 2019.

[bookishbratbabe]

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

I am loving this series so far! I love the sense of mystery, the world building, the character development, and of course the magic. You lot have spoiled most of the plot twists and big reveals. I can only imagine how I would have reacted to that ending if I hadn’t already know everything. But even knowing some of the things that will happen or won’t happen, I still really enjoyed this book.

Thoughts and reading reactions below the cut and if you want to more Reed Reads TOG:

Reed Reads The Assassin’s Blade

Reed Reads Throne of Glass

I finished Throne of Glass with several questions like who will the king make Celaena kill? What the are he and Perrington doing with those black rings & the Wyrdmarks? What new information will be revealed by Elena? Is anything more going to happen with Celaena x Dorian? Is something going to happen with Celaena x Chaol? What happened to Celaena in her past that she is hiding or blocking out?

 The synopsis poses many questions as well. Like what more is going on with the rebellion? What mysteries will Celaena uncover within the castle? What tragedy is about to happen in this book and can my poor heart handle it???

Let’s dive in 

Why is everyone just completely oblivious to their surroundings? I mean I get that Celaena is really good at what she does but how do you just not notice wet spots on the floor like that??

Who is Lord Nirall and what did he (and his wife?) do you upset the king?

Okay like Celaena, I’m going to ask... what did Dorian (and Chaol too based on that reaction) expect her to be doing once she became the King’s champion. She’s an assassin, so assassinate she will. 

I’m kind of annoyed & defensive at Dorian’s inner dialogue of “if she can kill people like this, manipulating me to believe she cared about me must have been easy” - she never manipulated his feelings. She liked him and then realized (under what I believe was Perrington’s influence) that being in a relationship would be a bad idea. After everything she’s been through, she does deserve her freedom and he should be understanding of that. But I also still feel sad for him because I know he really loves her.

 I’m also kind of questioning if his whiny inner dialogue could be an influence from Perrington as well. 

Is something going on with Chaol and Celaena because he seems way more flirty and possessive than he was in the last book...

Is “debrief” innuendo for something??

So Celaena isn’t actually killing any of the people the king has sent her to kill?? I respect her moral compass in the matter but isn’t it putting a lot of trust/faith in a stranger that they’ll stay hidden/fake dead especially when the lives of people she actually cares about are on the line??

There is definitely some flirtation going on between Celaena and Chaol. And she is clearly jealous of the girls peeping at him when they come back from their run. 

Who is this Roland and why do I already want to kick him in his shins?

Okay Celaena is being a little cold/harsh with Dorian. There’s no need to be like that. 

Celaena seems to know that Arobynn betrayed her and is the reason Sam is dead but she just doesn’t want to admit it to herself. Especially now that she knows Farran and Wesley are both dead. 

What was that thing in the library and why did the amulet react to it??

Talking door knocker? That’s very Alice in Wonderland-y. 

It seems (to me) like Celaena knows she has a bigger purpose/calling/fate - like she’s always know - and is running away from that fate. 

Chaol is jealous of Archer, Dorian is jealous of Chaol. Dorian wants to be with Celaena. Chaol likes Celaena but doesn’t WANT to like her. Celaena seems to like Chaol but doesn’t seem to want to be with anyone, especially not Dorian because of the crown. 

Dorian outright accuses Celaena of using him & manipulating his emotions to become the King’s Champion and I do not understand his logic. HE selected her to be his champion. HE used her to make an impression on his father and the court. All she did was win the contest and a chance for her freedom. He had nothing to do with her position as the King’s champion aside from talking to his father after SHE won the duel. If anyone used anybody, HE used her! 

But the reality of it is, they liked the each other, him more than her and she ended things because a) he’s a Havilliard and b) she wants to be truly free when the 4 years are up. 

As much as I don’t like Kaltain, I feel so sad for her - what is being done to her mind and what was implied about Perrington. 

Chaol acting like an over protective father telling Celaena she can’t go out in the red dress for her dinner with Archer but she’s just like “see you tomorrow byeeee”

So... just read the part about  rebels wanting to put “Aelin Galathynius” on the throne...  I don’t even know all of the details but I’m already so disappointed that I don’t get to read & uncover that bit of plot twist myself. 😩

Celaena is an incredible badass, don’t get me wrong but I feel like some times she’s not as great as she thinks she is. Like tell me why some random, middle aged dude was nearly able to take her down with a poisoned dagger? 

Alright now Chaol is really growing on me and this is getting dangerous for my emotions. 

Dorian is being influenced in some way by Perrington and I demand to know what it is!!

Celaena found some scary thing in the library and now not only is she going looking for it but she’s also going down another spooky secret passageway... 

Spooky glowing eyes 👀

Rena reciting her list as she is being beheaded is maybe the most powerful image I’ve read in these books so far. 

I don’t know why but I just don’t get good vibes from the way the conversation with Nehemia went. I still don’t fully trust her. 

Chaol dancing with Celaena in the garden was a true fairytale moment until he ruined it afterwards when he threatened to throw her in a frozen pond. 😂 

Seriously what the hell is going on with these black rings and why is Roland now involved? And what are they doing to Dorian?!

Why does he seem to have magic? 

Why is the king randomly assigning guards to watch Nehemia? He is lying about the attack on her life, right?

Celaena Sardothien - Adarlan’s Assassin, the King’s Champion, friend of Elena’s ghost - is terrified of witches. I wonder if it’s only because of Ansel’s stories or if it’s because she has her own experience with witches. 

Mort is fucking annoying. He’s like that kid we all knew and hated like “I know something you don’t know” and wouldn’t tell you anything but would only answer yes or no 🙄

How does Nehemia know about the anniversary of Celaena’s parents?

And what exactly does Celaena spend the day doing? Just remember the day she snapped in Endovier? 

Can Celaena and Chaol just kiss already?? (I don’t know why I’m rooting for him when I know he’s not ENDGAME™ but I was rooting for Sam too and I knew what he wasn’t)

Dorian can be a little whiny sometimes but I feel like he would actually make a good king... 🤷🏼‍♀️ I probably shouldn’t even say this because there are still 200+ pages of this and 5 more books after this that he could prove me VERY wrong. 

Chaol’s birthday dinner was so cute!! And it shows Celaena’s kind heart 

Oh, she told him she hasn’t killed anyone! This could end badly. 

He’s going with her 🥺

“The kiss obliterated her” DAMN THATS A GOOD KISS

They are so cute and I’m pretty sure that it’s going to end badly but I keep sitting here, hoping that when their relationship ends, it’s mutual and respectful and not heartbreaking. 

Roland was obviously spying on Dorian with Yellowlegs, right?

I’m not at all surprised that Archer couldn’t be trusted and that he blabbed about Celaena. And really, like, he did the honorable thing but I just have a bad feeling about how this will affect Celaena. 

I can understand both sides of the argument between Celaena and Nehemia but I still, once again, get the sense Nehemia is hiding something or isn’t telling the whole truth. And I just feel like if she was more forthcoming with information Celaena might see her side more or be able to do more to help. I don’t know if that makes sense. 

I just get the creeps from the King... what could he be questioning Nehemia about?? He’s already having her guarded/watched...

Okay. I get that Chaol is feeling the love and distracted by all of the newness of his and Celaena’s relationship but he should not be THAT easily distracted or be caught off guard like that as captain of the guard!!

I really can’t have a repeat of Sam here. I can’t take this anxiety. 

Does it make me a bad person that I kind like reading about Celaena losing her shit and just going full blown deadly assassin on everyone? I just love the mental image 

Archer and Nehemia working together? Not entirely surprised but also why couldn’t either of them just TOLD Celaena without doing all of this. 

Even though I didn’t fully trust Nehemia, I do feel sad for Celaena because I can’t imagine my best friend being brutally murdered like that. 

I understand why Celaena is upset with Chaol and that she’s not fully in her right mind, but I really don’t think Chaol really did anything wrong...

But ooof! But what a beautifully dramatic blow up there. 

I’m finding myself feeling bad for Kaltain again and I don’t want to because I don’t like her. 

I hope all of the slaves revolt and rebel in Calaculla 

I love Celaena’s energy in the council room after finding Grave. 

So Nehemia had the same book as Davis... is it like a code or something?

Ugh so many riddles and puzzles. Don’t get me wrong I like puzzles but Celaena must feel like she is trying to put together a puzzle but she doesn’t know what the final image is, she doesn’t have all the pieces. The pieces she does have are face down without her knowledge and none of them seem to fit together

Dorian is the worst at sneaking and being inconspicuous. 😹

As much as I like seeing the badass Assassin Celaena come out occasionally, it’s nice to see her becoming more herself again. 

Does Chaol know who Celaena really is?? I know I’m not supposed to know but I do know... did Nehemia know?

Ugh, I don’t even want to write my reading reactions at this point. I just want to binge read the rest of this book & no one is even going to read my reading reactions anyway 😩

At this point I did binge read the rest of the book just some final wrap up thoughts/questions on the last 100 pages of the book:

That fight with Yellowlegs was intense and slightly unexpected.

Mort’s reaction to Celaena killing Yellowlegs scares me for future retaliation from the other iron teeth witches. 

When Chaol found Celaena’s will and she left everything to him, Chaol wasn’t the only one sobbing. 

For someone so clever & talented, Celaena can be a real dummy sometimes. Using the Wyrdmarks to unlock the iron door and traveling deeper and deeper into the labyrinth maybe wasn’t the smartest move but then when she sees the door that was destroyed and she just keeps unlocking more doors, like girl WHY???

At least, I kind of know what was up with the clock tower now. 

But yeah that thing was pretty creepy and even creepier? Knowing that the king and Perrington played a part in creating it. Are there more in the other locked doors?

I’m glad that Dorian can be open with Celaena about his magic, even if it’s never been intentional that he shared it with her.   

I’m pretty scared of whatever is going on with the wings being heard in the Ferian Gap... 

If the King knew about the tomb and the passageways, why did he let Celaena have those rooms??? Did he think that she wouldn’t find it or is it just a plot hole?

And again, Celaena can be so stupid sometimes. Opening the portal is a terrible idea. I get that she is grieving and I understand she is trying to solve Elena’s quest but she really should know better. 

I didn’t like or trust Archer and so while I’m not surprised that he was a snake, I am a little surprised that he was so treacherous and that he was responsible for Nehemia’s death.

After fighting that demon, I hope Celaena learned her lesson messing with the portals... but I doubt it.

For all the spoilers I knew going into this series, I didn’t know that Celaena was Fae so that was a nice little surprise. 

I can’t believe that Celaena was even considering letting Archer go after what he did to Nehemia...

It’s funny to me how Celaena and Chaol both keep their secrets and make sacrifices for one another and they both just kind of get the other into more shit instead of helping.

And then that ending, that big reveal that Celaena is Aelin Galathynis...

Obviously I knew that going into the series but I didn’t know that Aelin was “the lost Queen of Terrasen” until Archer mentioned it earlier in the book

I can only imagine what my reaction would have been had I not known that bit - or like reading this book in 2013 when it first came out and being left with that cliffhanger. 

But I love that she was able to trust Chaol with that (even though she, 20 pages ago, just told Chaol that she didn’t trust him anymore) when it is such a MAJOR secret

I do have some questions now going into the next book like how is Celaena going to manage killing (or not killing) the King and Prince of Wendlyn? What will Chaol do with the knowledge of who Celaena really is? Will Chaol find the other Wyrdkeys? Will Dorian learn to control his magic? What are the King and Perrington doing with the Wyrdkeys and what are they stirring up with the Ferian Gap? And what will Celaena do once she is in Wendlyn, the last stronghold of the Fae?

[bibliobethblog]

Hello everyone and happy Monday! Today it’s #alphastack day, started by the lovely @puellalegit ⁣ ⁣ Today I’m sharing ten books starting with the letter H:⁣ ⁣ Human Acts - Han Kang⁣ Home Fire - Kamila Shamsie⁣ Home - Marilynne Robinson ⁣ Headstrong- Rachel Swaby⁣ How We Disappeared - Jing Jing Lee⁣ How I Rescued My Brain - David Roland⁣ Heir Of Fire - Sarah J. Maas ⁣ How We Fight For Our Lives - Saeed Jones ⁣ Hurt - Tabitha Suzuma ⁣ Hame - Annalena McAfee⁣ ⁣ I’ve only read one of these H books and that’s Heir Of Fire, part of the Throne Of Glass series. However, I do hope to be reading a few more of these very soon!⁣ ⁣ Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below. Have a great week everyone 🤗😘⁣ ⁣ #bookstagram #booklover #bookworm #bookstagrammer #bookstagramchallenge #tbrpile #humanacts #hankang #homefire #kamilashamsie #home #marilynnerobinson #headstrong #rachelswaby #howwedisappeared #jingjinglee #howirescuedmybrain #davidroland #heiroffire #sarahjmaas #throneofglassseries #howwefightforourlives #saeedjones #hurt #tabithasuzuma #hame #annalenamcafee https://www.instagram.com/p/CC3_MMrAulW/?igshid=p036tcgpag7i

[bohemian-marina]

WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED WITH ROLAND IN QUEEN OF SHADOWS. 

[rokhal]

Books About Murderers

I’ve been researching murder and businesses that employ lots and lots of murderers. Cheery. Here are some reviews and recommendations:

Confessions of a Sociopath by M. E. Thomas

Not a murderer, but as Ms. Thomas points out, sociopathy as a trait entails a lack of internal barriers to violence. Plus, the sociopathic murderer is such a common trope that it’s important to understand the perspective. According to Ms. Thomas, sociopathy is a cluster of traits that includes a reduced ability to experience fear or to learn from previous unpleasant experiences. Her exploits include suddenly stopping in front of cars while riding her bicycle to freak them out, and throwing out all her knives because she never figured out how to stop cutting her fingers while cooking. Useful foundation but no actual murders, two stars.

Wolf Boys: Two American Teenagers and Mexico’s Most Dangerous Drug Cartel by Dan Slater

A bonus in this one: there are actually three killers profiled here, the two teenagers trained at a cartel summer camp to become sicarios, and their boss, Miguel Treviño, who hired them to take out a list of forty targets in Laredo. Shockingly, sending teenagers to assassinate forty people on American soil isn’t the wisest way to maintain a low profile, and law enforcement did catch the sicarios, and, eventually, Mr. Treviño. Miguel Treviño was more Extra(tm) than most comic book villains. Absolutely horrifying look at how the Cartels act almost as sovereign nations, and a nuanced look into the psychology of two different killers, one to whom it came very naturally, and one who didn’t exactly have scruples but had to drug himself to live with himself anyway. Multipurpose, great overview to the cocaine cartel phenomenon and those caught up in it; five stars.

Confessions of a Cartel Hitman by Martin Corona

A rather disillusioning look into the mind of a two-bit thug of medium talent, no ambition, no scruples, a rather shaky ability to distinguish fantasy from reality, and plenty of self-pity. One thing about killers: they have an inner life just like anyone else. They just don’t respect others’ inner lives too well. Mr. Corona moves from gig to gig, eventually drifting into the service of the cocaine cartels. Aimless. Goes to show that killing people for money is not generally something that people with a strong sense of purpose will do. Frustrating, reminds me of Catcher In The Rye; three stars.

Enter The Past Tense: My Life As A CIA Assassin by Roland Haas

Now we’re talking. Some guys, when they write a memoir, I ask myself, “Does he really think I am that stupid? Does he seriously not know how messed up that situation he just described is? Does his editor not know how disturbing that was?” It’s a tell for...unscrupulous authors. A mark of authenticity, if you will. Mr. Haas carries out assassinations for the CIA overseas; between the assignments, he makes his living as best he can, being extremely bright but bereft of common sense or any capacity for long-term planning. Between Mr. Haas unscrupulousness and his editor’s Rah-Rah-Murrica naivete, this book is an unintentionally revealing trainwreck of step-by-step murders, infidelity, completely avoidable personal financial disasters, letting the Hells Angels sell him a motorcycle on credit and then steal his highly successful fitness center out from under him, alcoholism, and, of course, our old friend self-pity. Five stars.

Underboss by Peter Maas

Peter Maas assembles this book rather uncritically from interviews with mob witness Sammy Gravano, aka Sammy The Bull. It functions more as Mr. Gravano’s memoir than as journalism, paints him in a heroic light. It’s an outstanding inside view of the Sicilian/Italian mafia in New York. Full of amusing incidents, like that time Sammy Gravano accidentally opened a legit clothing store that marketed its legally purchased goods as stolen to suggest it had bargain prices, then had to close his highly profitable store because he couldn’t figure out any better way to stop his business partner from embezzling than shooting him, and that wasn’t an option. Less murder than business, but fascinating, four stars.

Anything by Ann Rule

Ann Rule has made a long career in true crime: researching, interviewing, and tastefully dramatizing crime cases from all over the US, mostly in the 70′s, 80′s, and 90′s. Most of these are domestic violence, but there are also serial killers, property disputes, etc. Pick a random book. If there’s no useful scenario, pick another one. Endless choices.

[futuremaasai-blog]

Part 2: Interesting findings at the library about the MAASAI

-Amongst Maasai there is age set system which defines the relations among men and also between men and women. Age sets are groups of people born in the same generation. Members share the same life events, such as circumcision and marriage.

-Future of the Maasai: uncertain. The Tanzanian government criticises them for ‘holding the country back’. They are banned from wearing their distinctive rubega/shukaon public transport and in order to attend school the children are forced to remove their jewellery, dress in Western-style clothes and boys need to have off their long hair.

-The Maasai have lost their areas to commercial farmer and wildlife conservation. Squeezed into this bottleneck of depleted herds and land, the Now 40-50% of the Maasai trade meat for beans and maize, only 50% living purely on the traditional diet of milk, blood and meat. 

-> Unfortunately, when farming fails, members of the family come back into the towns in search of paid work. Men; nightwatchmen, women; petty trading, beer brewing and increasingly, prostitution.

- Maasai beads: 9 main colors: black (god/rain), blue (water), Dark blue (god in the sky), gold (ground water), green (life/spring), orange (rainbow), red (warrior/blood/bravery), white (milk/peace), yellow (sun)

-> The colours carry meaning, the combinations are randomly selected, mainly for beauty. It’ s often possible to tell the age of some necklaces according to the fashionable arrangement of colours that vary from year to year.

- The Maasai are in fact relatively recent arrivals to the area. Their language is Maa. It is suggested that the Maasai started to migrate southward from the lower Nile area in the 15thcentury. They arrived in their present territory in the 17th/18thcentury, forcefully displacing earlier inhabitants. The Maasai territory reached its greatest extent in the mid 19thcentury. Over the 1880s-90s, the Maasai were hit by a series of disasters linked to the arrival of Europeans (rinderpest and smallpox epidemics exacerbated by a severe drought and a bloody secession dispute), and much of their former territory was recolonised by tribes whom they had displaced a century earlier. During the colonial era, they lost another 50% of their land to game reserves and settler farms. 

- The Maasai are monotheists who belief in a single deity with a dualist nature: 1. The benevolent Engai Narok (Black God), 2. Vengeful Engai Nanyokie (Red God). They believe that Engai, who resides in the volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai, made them the rightful owners of all the cattle in the world.Today, the Maasai co-exist peacefully with their non-Maasai compatriots, but while their tolerance for their neighbours’ idiosyncrasies has increased in recent decades, they show little interest in changing their own lifestyle. 

- Maasai girls are permitted to marry as soon as they have been initiated, but warriors must wait until their age-set has graduated to elder status (15 years later). This arrangement ties in with the polygamousnature of the Maasai culture; in days past, most elders would have acquired between 3-10 wives by the time they reached old age. Marriages are generally arranged. Marriage is evidently viewed as straightforward, child-producing business arrangement: it is normal for married men and women to have sleeping partners other than their spouse, provided that those partners are of an appropriate age-set. Should a woman become pregnant by another lover, the prestige attached to having many children outweighs any minor concerns about infidelity, and the husband will still bring up the child as his own. By contrast, although sex before marriage is condoned, an unmarried girl who falls pregnant brings disgrace on her family, and in former times would have been fed to the hyenas. 

- Cattle are sacred to the Masai and are central to their life and religion. Often their favourite animals mean more to them than the most beautiful of women. 

- The cattle are rounded up to extract blood. The warriors’ favourite drink is fresh cattle blood half-diluted with milk. They believe this nutrition gives them especial strength. 

HAIRSTYLES:

- The characteristic hairstyle of a Masai man is worn for nine years. After that time, his head is shaven at a great ceremony. He is then no longer a member of the warrior caste but is numbered among the elders and may father a family. 

-The helmet hairstyle using red mud is like a beauty pack for the hair. The oil it contains makes the hair soft so that it can be plaited better. A hairstyle of this kind is worn for about 2 weeks. 

-Unlike the warriors, the Masai girls and women are shaven-headed. 

-When a Masai is made a warrior, which is an honour, he lets his hair grow and has it braided into fine plaits by other warriors. The women never dress the warriors’ hair. 

-Only a hunter who has killed a lion with a spear, unassisted by any other huntsman, may wear the lion’s mane on his head. (see image)

SYMBOLS:

Shields: express art and culture. Markings on a shield convey the status and honor of its owner. (source; safari-center.com).

Beads: Maasai beadwork represents the whole of Maasai culture embodying beauty, strength, tradition, marriage, warriorhood, marital status, age set, social situation and their deep devotion and love for their cattle. In modern times, Maasai beads make many beautiful functional items. 

ORIGIN OF MAASAI:

-One of the recent theories which is not true suggests that Maasai were offshoot of Mark Anthony s army. And indeed the swords, shields, sandals, togas and helmet styled hairdos give them an ancient Roman soldier likeness.

-Current thinking suggests that they are a mixture of Nilotics, who lived in the Nile river basin and the Cushites of North Africa, with whom they share Hamitic practises such as male age grouping and ritual circumcision.

INTERESTING FACTS:

-The Maasai calendar includes more than thirty different tribal ceremonies, among them circumcision.

-During ceremonies cettle motives are being found everywhere. This shows that indeed those aniamls have huge importance in their life.

- The movement of the heads and shoulders in Maasai dancing seems to mimic the movement of cows.

- The leather bags in which women stored their ornaments were shaped like cattle horns

- They know 30+ words to describe a cow

- Laibon, the high priest and leader of a Masai group, to whom magical powers are attributed. He is identifiable by the white mark on his forehead. 

- Quote from the book one of Maasai people said: The first thing you learn from your father is that the cow is the basis of your life. You believe this with all your heart. If you loose that feeling, you loose the sence of your life.

- Different whistles to let the cows know if you have found water or grass

- Beads originally were made out of: sticks, shells, seeds, dried grasses and other natural materials. When the colonization started, the original methods were being replaced with glass.

(source:) BOOKS:

Africa, Leni Riefenstahl

Northern Tanzania Safari Guide

The African experience, Roland Oliver

Living Tribes, Colin Prior

[imfavebooks]

Books to read this summer!

Booklovers will know that summer is an amazing time to get back to reading all those books that you didn’t have time for the rest of the year. Simply because work, school or other responsibilities got in the way. 

Well, now is the time to make up for lost time! Here are the books I am going to read this summer and maybe you will like them too:

1. Red Sparrow - Jason Matthews

I think most of you will already know about the movie that has come out with Jennifer Lawrence called Red Sparrow. What I did not know is that it’s a book as well. Naturally, I must read the book first before watching the movie.

For everyone who does not know about this movie/book, it is about State intelligence officer Dominika Egorova. Against her will she is trained to become a ‘sparrow’, a seductress in the service of the bureaucracy of post-Soviet intelligence. She has gotten an assignment. To operate against Nathanel Nash, a CIA-officer who happens to deal with Russian Intelligence. When the two spies collide will it end in a war between spies or in an exciting romance?

  2. Throne of Glass – Sarah J. Maas

Most of the fantasy lovers out there will probably already have read this. I haven’t, yet. But I sure am excited to read it!

The book is about an assassin named Celaena Sardothien. She wants to win her freedom from the ferocious king ruling from his throne of glass. She must defeat twenty-three killers, warriors and thieves in a game to see who is the greatest assassin in the king’s land. Will she win her freedom and be released from prison? When her competitors start dying, Celaena needs to fight for survival rather then freedom.

 3. Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk

I think we all know the film where Brad Pitt plays a guy who sells soap and beats some other guys in a basement. It has been a long time that this book has been on my bookshelf unread. Too long, some might say.

You follow Jack, an insurance inspector who suffers from insomnia. He wants to escape his boring life. Trying to do so, he meets Tyler, a soap selling charismatic man who has a bizarre way of living life.  Being, that self-improvement is not the way to go. In his rule book it says that self-destruction is the key to the value of life. Together they organize the so called ‘Fight clubs’ where ordinary regular guys beat the crap out of each other with their bare hands. Will this end well?

 4. The hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy – Douglas Adams

This book makes me very excited for summer. I have wanted to read this for a while now.

Arthur Dent’s house gets demolished which does not sound fun at all. But, when the earth follows, the story really begins. The earth has made way for a hyperspace bypass and Arthur is hurtling trough space with his best friend who has just announced to be an alien. The only thing to focus on is this book with two words on it – DON’T PANIC –.

 5. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger– Stephen King

Don’t hate me but this will be my first Stephen King book. I know. Incredible.

The Gunslinger is now a movie as well. Therefore, people might already know this story. Just in case: the last gunslinger named Roland is looking for the man in black in a world similar to the old west. He stumbles on Jake Chambers, a young boy, and together they continue the quest for the man in black and saving the dark tower.

[sinoeurovoices]

Die Chinesische Regierung ist nicht die oberste Behörde irgendeiner Religion!

Die Chinesische Regierung ist nicht die oberste Behörde irgendeiner Religion!

Roland Kuehne is a Protetant pastor and teacher at the Rhein-Maas-Vocational College, Kempen, Germany. He presented this speech at the Uyghur-Chinese non-governmental international online Conference on 25.4.2021. Wie Sie alle wissen, bin ich Pfarrer der Evangelischen Kirche und ein Kämpfer für die Menschenrechte. Deshalb wende ich mich aus religiöser und menschenrechtlicher Perspektive an die…

[aingealbites]

Because I have so many of these saved, imma just do a quote dump!

"Well, who wants to be hated? Though I'd rather be hated than invisible. But it makes no difference."

- Celaena Sardothien, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 146

"Not that the thought of something wicked dwelling in the castle SCARED her or anything. No. It wasn't that at all. Celaena huffed. She'd focus on becoming King's Champion. And then, if she won, she'd go about finding this evil. Maybe."

- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 194

"When she wasn't cursing or sputtering, they spoke of the books they'd both read, and as she jabbered on and on, he felt as if she hadn't spoken a word in years and was afraid she'd suddenly go mute again."

- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 214

He grinned. "I meed a moment to think of a good one." She rolled her eyes, but sat down. After a few seconds, he asked, "Why do you like music so much?"

She made a face. "You said nothing sensitive!"

"Is it THAT prying? How different is that from asking why you like to read?"

"No, no. That question is fine." She let out long breath through her nose and stared at the table. "I like music," she said slowly, "because when I hear it, I... I lose myself within myself, if that makes sense. I become empty and full all at once, and I can feel the whole earth roiling around me. When I play, I'm not... for once, I'm not destroying. I'm creating." She chewed on her lip. "I used to want to be a healer. Back when I was... Back before this became my profession, when I was almost too young to remember, I wanted to be a healer." She shrugged. "Music reminds me of that feeling." She laughed under her breath. "I've never told anyone that," she admitted, then saw his smile.

"Don't mock me."

He shook his head, wiping the smile from his lips. "I'm not mocking you-I'm just..."

"Unused to hearing people speak from the heart?"

"Well, yes."

- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 230

"What's the point in having a mind if you don't use it to make judgements?"

"What's the point in having a heart if you don't use it to spare others of the harsh judgements of your mind?"

- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 231

"It was a holiday to feast on the fruits of the harvest and those of the flesh."

- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 259

"I understand why you have such ease when killing my kind. And I don't blame you for it."

- Dorian Havilliard, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 260

Chaol watched Dorian dip Celaena, watched the way her lips widened in a smile and her eyes burst with light as the Crown Prince said something. Even with the mask on, Chaol could see the happiness written across her face. "Is HE with her?" Ortho asked.

"The Lady Lillian belongs to herself, and no one else."

"So she's not with him?"

"No."

Ortho shrugged. "That's strange."

"Why?" Chaol had the sudden urge to strangle him.

"Because it looks like he's in love with her," he said, and walked away.

- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 297

"He had lept from the cliff. He could only wait for the net."

- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 301

"In the garden, the Captain of the Guard stared up at the young woman's balcony, watching as she waltzed alone, lost in her dreams. But he knew that her thoughts weren't of him. She stopped and stared upward. Even from a distance, he could see the blush upon her cheeks. She seemed young-no, new. It made his chest ache. Still, he watched, watched until she sighed and went inside. She never bothered to look below."

- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 301

"We all bear scars, Dorian. Mine just happen to be more visible than most..."

- Celaena Sardothien, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 305

"With eager faces, they waited for blood."

- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 343

"My name is Celaena Sardothien, but it makes no difference if my name's Celaena or Lillian or Bitch, because I'd still beat you, no matter what you call me."

- Celaena Sardothien, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 352

"You could rattle the stars. You could do anything, if only you dared..."

- Elena, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, page 399

"The best lies were always mixed with truth."

- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, page 14

"Forgotten. The same way legend had reduced the fierce warrior princess to nothing more than a damsel in a tower, whom Gavin had rescued."

- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, page 51

"It is YOUR fate, and YOUR responsibility."

"There is no such thing as fate," Celaena hissed.

"Says the girl who was saved from the ridderak because SOME force compelled her down here on Samhuinn, to see Damaris and learn it was here."

Celaena took a step closer to the door. "Says the girl who spent a year in Endovier. Says the girl who knows that the gods care no more for our lives than we care for an insect beneath our feet." She glared into Mort's gleaming face. "Come to think of it, I can't quite recall WHY I should bother helping Erilea, when the gods so clearly don't bother to help us, either."

- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, page 52

"Don't you understand? It's already too late. It's been too late for YEARS now. Where was Elena ten years ago, when there was a whole host of heroes that she could have had her pick of? Where were she and her ridiculous quests when the world truly needed them - when Terrasen's heroes were cut down or hunted and executed by Adarlan's armies? Where was she when the kingdoms fell, one by one, to the king? The world is already in ruin, and I won't be sent on some fool's errand."

- Celaena Sardothien, Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, page 53

"Wyrd damn me, I might be a whore, but I'm not a TRAITOR."

- Archer Finn, Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, page 84

Hours later, the King of Adarlan stood at the back of the dungeon chamber as his secret guards dragged Rena Goldsmith forward. The butcher's block at the center of the room was already soaked with blood. Her companion's headless corpse lay a few feet away, his blood trickling toward the drain in the floor.

Perrington and Roland stood silent beside the king, watching, waiting.

The guards shoved the singer to her knees before the stained stone. One of them grabbed a fistful of her red-gold hair and yanked, forcing her to look at the king as he stepped forward.

"It's punishable by death to speak of or to encourage magic. It is an affront to the gods, and an affront to me that you sang such a song in my hall."

Rena Goldsmith just stared at him, her eyes bright. She hadn't struggled when his men grabbed her after the performance or even screamed when they'd beheaded her companion. As if she'd been expecting this.

"Any last words?"

A queer, calm rage settled over her lined face, and she lifted her chin. "I have worked for ten years to become famous enough to gain an invitation to this castle. Ten years, so I could come here to sing the songs of magic that you tried to wipe out. So I could sing those songs, and YOU would know that we are still here--that you may outlaw magic, that you may slaughter thousands, but we who keep the old ways still remember."

Behind him, Roland snorted.

"Enough," the king said, and snapped his fingers.

The guards shoved her head down on the block.

"My daughter was sixteen," she went on. Tears ran over the bridge of her nose and onto the block, but her voice remained strong and loud. "Sixteen, when you burned her. Her name was Kaleen, and she had eyes like thunderclouds. I still hear her voice in my dreams."

The King jerked his chin to the executioner, who stepped forward.

"My sister was thirty-six. Her name was Liessa, and she had two boys who were her joy."

The executioner raised his ax.

"My neighbour and his wife were seventy. Their names were Jon and Estrel. They were killed because they daredvtry to protect my daughter when your men came for her.

Rena Gildsmith was still reciting her list of the dead when the ax fell.

- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, page 119

"If they wanted Adarlan's Assassin, they'd get her. And wyrd help them when she arrived."

- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, page 215

"Enough! We have enough enemies as it is! There are worse things out there to face!"

Celaena slowly turned to him, her face splattered with blood and eyes blazing bright. "No, there aren't," she said. "Because I'm here now."

- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, page 223

[cleo-queen-of-pirates]

2017 TBR list

Thanks @brightbeautifulthings for tagging me!

I'm reading 3 series at the moment so will be continuing those:

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

The Keeping Place by Isobelle Carmody

Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas

I still have 150+ books on my immediate tbr after that. Might get to these first:

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

Stargate by Dean Devlin & Roland Emmerich

A Woman of Cairo by Noel Barber

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Middlemarch by George Eliot

The Iron Tree by Cecelia Dart-Thornton

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein

Plus there are so so many more on my wishlist to buy such as Starbound Series, A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue and The Abyss Surrounds Us.

I tag (only of you want to): @bitofbookishness , @sanderelizabeth , @anassarhenisch , @booksandsweettea , @readingbeauty16 , @lilymaidofgallifrey , @cinnasbooks , @onceuponabookblr , @banginbookblog , @paper-stardust