Crown of Midnight & Fangirl End of Summer Giveaway

Mary, Rainbow and Me (Jenn). Mary made shirts for all of us!

Hi everyone! Hope you all are enjoying your summer as it comes to a close. Our summer has been filled with trips to the beach, potlucks, Vegas, the  Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z concert, The Color Run, a Dodger game, Roman Holiday at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, trips to Disneyland, books galore, author events (We finally met Rainbow Rowell at Book Soup in West Hollywood), and of course movies!


Did you all see The Mortal Instruments?! We met the cast on their last mall tour stop at the Americana at Brand, it was crazy! Fans were dressed up in their shadowhunter gear and waited in the sun for hours just to get a glimpse cast, some lucky fans received wristbands and were able to meet the cast. I totally missed work for the event and it was worth it.

So yes, our summer was pretty amazing and we look forward to the rest of the year, not to mention my husband's and my vacation to Boston and New York in just two short weeks!

As we close in on summer and head into fall, we'd like to host a giveaway for you. I asked Mary what was her favorite August read and OF COURSE it was Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, just like mine, if we could use one word to describe it, it would be epic. Read Mary's review here. And just like twinsies, our favorite upcoming release is Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Fangirl is so magical, Rainbow is magical, and our full review will post on Tuesday.

Good luck and happy reading!

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Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Heartbreaking romance and heart-stopping action, Sarah J. Maas's stunning sophomore installment in the Throne of Glass series held nothing back as more secrets are uncovered, loyalties are tested, and betrayals abound.  This was definitely not a filler book.  Maas has written a breathtaking sequel that doesn't just live up to the first book, it rivals it.  I LOVED book one, but this… THIS!! I was in lurve!! It satisfied so many of my questions and fulfilled seeds planted in the debut.  I was a riveted, wide-eyed, sweaty-palmed, gasp-induced reader glued to every word, clinging to every sentence, repeating the paragraphs of the scenes I wanted to linger in (you'll want to stay in them too. Trust!).  I was obviously a very satisfied little girl.  And that's what this book reduced me to- a hope-filled, teary-eyed little girl (tears for all sorts of feels- happiness, grief, frustration, intense humor, anger, all of it!).  I love books with lots of feels and this one has them in abundance.  I tip my hat to you Sarah J. Maas! You've done it again!  I am literally shaking my head in awe and appreciation.  Please continue to steal my heart, shatter it, and rearrange the pieces to accommodate more feels. Rinse. Repeat.

The reader returns to find Celaena Sardothien (love this girl!!), now the King's Champion, coming back from one of several missions that the King of Adarlan has sent her on to eliminate his enemies.  While pretending to be loyal to the King, Celaena hides her true agenda.  But now the King has ordered her to kill a rebel leader, someone Celaena knows from the past, and this mission tests her true loyalties and who she can really trust.  Let me just tell you that while this book is not lacking in action (super thrilling, suspenseful action), Crown of Midnight did not fail to deliver some heavy romance!! Steamy, blush-inducing romance. Thank you for that, Sarah Maas!! I knew I could count on you.  But don't for one second think that that was all this book had to keep me fascinated, even though it definitely would've been enough.  Nope! The plot thickens and secrets unravel.  Storylines are expanded on and the character growth was a pleasure to read.  It's hard to say why I loved this book without giving anything away.  Just trust me when I say you will not be disappointed.  I definitely wasn't.  It more than lived up to my high expectations.  I am so happy to take part in this series as a reader and I can't wait to devour more installments.  Love, love, loved!

Review by Mary Munar.

Side note from Jenn. I am 70% into Crown of Midnight and my heart! It's so good, I can't even handle it. The story, the CHARACTERS everything is amazing so far. I don't ever want this series to end.  

Picture taken by Jose Valencia on
August 18, 2012,
at Vroman's for the Throne of Glass Event.

Author: Sarah J. Maas - follow her on Twitter.
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Series: Yes
Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 432 pages 

Read our Review!

Review: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

The Bone Season is a fantastic original.  Samantha Shannon has written an impressive first book and I look forward to reading more from this debut author.  Her writing was captivating and the world she created was complex and fascinating.  It was like learning a new language (don't worry, there's a glossary!), but once I understood what was going on, I was completely engrossed with the story, which was fresh and exciting.  It pushed all the right buttons and pulled all the right heartstrings.

Paige Mahoney is a clairvoyant in a world where clairvoyance is a crime.  Working for the syndicate, the criminal underworld, Paige uses her gift as a dreamwalker to spy for her boss Jaxon Hall.  When an accident leads to her arrest, Paige is taken to Sheol I only to find out that instead of a government prison, Sheol I is actually a city ruled by a race called the Rephaim who have been around for centuries and use voyants as soldiers.  Paige is assigned to Warden, her Rephaite keeper who will be responsible for housing and training her.  But as Paige realizes that Nashira, the Rephaim blood-sovereign (super scary lady), wants something more from her, she plots to escape back home to her syndicate gang and her life of crime that she feels so safe in. 

I loved Paige as a heroine.  She's proud but caring.  She's loyal and clever and incredibly strong.  I felt like I got along really well with her personality.  Her actions and dialogue never frustrated me and I trusted her instincts and motives.   Her vulnerability only endeared me to her more.  Paige is someone I could definitely connect with and I enjoyed spending time with and getting to know her.  I also really liked Warden's character.  He was definitely a difficult puzzle to solve and his calm exterior made it difficult for me to read him, but with each act of kindness and new piece of information that I found out about him, the more invested I became.  I began rooting for both characters who seemed to want opposite things.  Their dynamic was interesting and the way they progressed was intriguing.  Two words - tension and knife.

With all the hype going around about this book, I had high expectations and I am pleased to reveal that I was not disappointed.  It wasn't a fast read but I was very happy taking my time with it.  The Bone Season is an inventive story that reminded me what I love about fantasy - exploring new worlds and embracing other people's imaginations - the closest I'll ever come to dreamwalking.  

 

Review by @MaryMunar

 

Add The Bone Season on Goodreads and enter their giveaway, it ends in a couple of days.

Author: Samantha Shannon - follow her on Twitter.
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: August 20, 2013
Series: Yes
Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 480 pages 

Review: Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance. Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for. (Summary as found on Amazon)