Review: Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy
(His Fair Assassin #1)
By Robin LaFevers

Published:  April 3rd 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Read from:  May 14-22, 2012
Number of pages: 549
Source:  HS Library
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Summary: Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Cover Reveal: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass
(Throne of Glass #1)
By Sarah J. Mass

Expected Publication: August 7, 2012 by Bloomsbury USA Children's 
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Summary: After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men—thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the kings council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

My Thoughts

Throne of Glass was one of those book that made it to the top of my to read list the moment I found out about it.   The author's inspiration for the story is pretty awesome!
The following is from sarahjmaas.com

Basically, Throne of Glass (formerly known as Queen of Glass) started because I asked myself: “What if Cinderella was an assassin, and went to the ball not to dance with the prince, but to kill him?”

From there, I wanted to know WHO this Cinderella-is-an-assassin girl was. How had she become an assassin? Who sent her to kill the prince? WHY did they want her to kill the prince? WOULD SHE actually kill the prince? And then I found that the backstory was so huge–why she was sent to the ball in the first place and who hired her–that it needed its own book before Cinderella could even GET to that ill-fated ball! Thus, Celaena Sardothien, the heroine of Throne of Glass, was born.

How cool is that! Now on to the cover, which I must say is fantastic! Celaena looks very much what I would expect a Cinderella inspired assassin to look like, just the right combination of beautiful and deadly.  I'm very much looking forward to reading this one, is it August yet?

Review: Eyes Like Stars

Eyes Like Stars
(Théâtre Illuminata #1)
By Lisa Mantchev

Published: July 7th 2009 by Feiwel & Friends
Read from:  January 29 - February 08, 2012
Number of pages: 352
Source:  Public Library
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Summary: All her world’s a stage. Bertie Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater. She’s not an orphan, but she has no parents. She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own. That is, until now.

Enter Stage Right NATE. Dashing pirate. Will do anything to protect Bertie.

COBWEB, MOTH, MUSTARD SEED, and PEASEBLOSSOM. Four tiny and incredibly annoying fairies. BERTIE’S sidekicks.

ARIEL. Seductive air spirit and Bertie’s weakness. The symbol of impending doom.

BERTIE. Our heroine.

Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the actors of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book — an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family — and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known. Lisa Mantchev has written a debut novel that is dramatic, romantic, and witty, with an irresistible and irreverent cast of characters who are sure to enchant the audience.

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Review: Darker Still

Darker Still
(Magic Most Foul #1)
By Leanna Renee Hiber

Published: November 8th 2011 by Sourcebooks Fire
Read from:  January 3-6, 2012
Number of pages: 317
Source:  HS Library
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Summary: I was obsessed.

It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brushstrokes of color swirled onto the canvas. It was the most exquisite portrait I'd ever seen--everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable...utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.

There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.

I've crossed over into his world within the painting, and I've seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked--bound together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone streets of Manhattan. Unless I can free him soon, things will only get Darker Still.