Review: Angelbound, by Christina Bauer

Release date: December 17, 2013
Publisher: Ink Monster LLC
Format: ebook, 532 pages

Goodreads description:
Eighteen year old Myla Lewis is a girl who loves two things: kicking ass and kicking ass. She’s not your every day quasi-demon, half-demon and half-human, girl. For the past five years, Myla has lived for the days she gets to fight in Purgatory’s arena. When souls want a trial by combat for their right to enter heaven or hell, they go up against her, and she hasn’t lost a battle yet.

But as she starts her senior year at Purgatory High, the arena fights aren’t enough to keep her spirits up anymore. When the demons start to act weird, even for demons, and the King of the Demons, Armageddon, shows up at Myla’s school, she knows that things are changing and it’s not looking good for the quasi-demons. Myla starts to question everything, and doesn’t like the answers she finds. What happened seventeen years ago that turned the quasi-demons into slave labor? Why was her mom always so sad? And why won’t anyone tell her who her father is? Things heat up when Myla meets Lincoln, the High Prince of the Thrax, a super sexy half-human and half-angel demon hunter. But what’s a quasi-demon girl to do when she falls for a demon hunter? It’s a good thing that Myla’s not afraid of breaking a few rules. With a love worth fighting for, Myla’s going to shake up Purgatory.


The following review is based on a copy provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.


Review
I took a chance on Angelbound based on the cover (which is absolutely perfect for the book!) and the description that promised a very kickass heroine. And I’m very happy to say that the book delivers – on both the kickass and the general awesomeness account.

Part of what made the book awesome is that despite the sometimes rather serious and doomy subject matter, there were so many fun, snarky, sarcastic moments! I laughed aloud all the time (also because of the nicknames Myla gave all the ghouls). Myla’s voice came off strong from the first page onwards, and over the course of the book I really felt like I knew this person in whose head I had taken up temporary residence. And it’s not just the book saying she is kickass – we, dear readers, actually get to see her kicking said ass. She’s got spunk, she’s maybe a little too cocky sometimes, but not in an annoying way. She’s also loyal and a good friend. And she’s got an overprotective mother who keeps things from her, such as who her father is, which puts a strain on their relationship.

Next up, I really need to praise the world building. You guys know how I’m a sucker for world building, and Angelbound has plenty to go around. It’s basically a version of purgatory (that’s where the action takes place) but there are also other realms, other creatures, and a very thought-out, well-developed system of powers. Basically, purgatory used to belong to the quasi-demons – people like Myla who are basically human, apart from some demonic traits (like bursts of rage or jealousy, depending on what type of demon you descend from) and, well, tails. I know the tail thing might sound ridiculous, but it really works and I liked how Myla’s sometimes had a mind of its own.
Anyway, purgatory got taken over by a ghoul government and now quasi-demons are not much more than servants. Also, Armageddon, the ruler of hell, has more plans. Things are getting worse for her kind and Myla is among the people who actually might have a chance of stopping him. I’m being deliberately vague here because this is a big book and it’s hard to avoid spoilers. In short, there were some parts of the plot that were a bit predictable but there were enough twists to make up for that, and either way I was always entertained as there was never a dull moment.

Where there’s demons, there are also demon hunters. In this case, they are called thrax. Their culture is very different from Myla’s and in many ways quite medieval. You know, as for the rights of women and the rules of decorum etc. Basically, many of them are stuck-up idiots who think they have it all under control and enjoy looking down their noses at other people. Needless to say, when Myla meets Lincoln, the prince of the thrax, the two don’t exactly hit it off. Him thinking of her as demon spawn and all that. Personally, I really like it when two people start off loathing each other (I wanted to throttle him) and then slowly grow closer, become friends, and maybe more than that. Lincoln really grew on me and I like that Myla didn’t get all mushy over him all of a sudden – they’re equals and they trust in each other’s’ strength. There is no drama for drama’s sake and the romance doesn’t hijack the plot, which is always a plus for me. They also a have a few pretty heated moments, but nothing too graphic. I’d locate the book in the mature YA/possibly NA category.

As for the secondary characters, many of them were pretty fleshed-out and likeable. Some of my favorites were Lincoln’s mother (I always love a fierce queen, especially if she takes me by surprise) and Walker, who is something like Myla’s ghoul guardian and accompanies her to her fights in the arena. I had some mixed feelings about Cissy, Myla’s best friend, but she eventually developed in a direction I found promising.

Overall, Angelbound is a fun read with a world that takes up a few well-known elements but spins them in a way that is new and refreshing. Myla is a great mixture of fierceness and a streak of vulnerability, and I enjoyed both her personal arc as she finds out who she is as well as the romance between her and Lincoln. There are some parts of the book that could have been shortened a bit, but then again that would have taken away from the world building, and I’ve already pointed out how much I loved that.

The flashes back to things that happened before Myla’s birth also brought variety to the story and will keep you engaged as you try to put the pieces together and figure out what this means for the timeline in the present. I have to point out again how much I liked the varied roles of women in this novel. They fight, they take on political responsibility, they try to make the system work in their favor. There are also other cases, of course, but this was really something I liked and would love to see more often: strong women, and the bonds (instead of just rivalry) between strong women.
In short, if you love fierceness, action, romance, awesome world building, and great humor – go pick up Angelbound. The sequel, Scala will be out in May (so no long pining for the next book), and after that ending, I’m very curious about how Myla’s story will go on!


From what you've heard, what do you think of the book? Do you like heroines who can kick butt?

Teaser Tuesday: Angelbound, by Christina Bauer

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


Hey guys :) It's been ages since I've done a Teaser Tuesday, so I thought I'd mix things up a bit. That, and I just didn't feel like deciding what's on my winter TBR, and it would probably be mostly books I've featured before.


Anyway, here's some info on the book I'm teasing you with today:

Release date: December 17, 2013
Publisher: Ink Monster LLC
Format: ebook, 532 pages

Goodreads description:
Eighteen year old Myla Lewis is a girl who loves two things: kicking ass and kicking ass. She’s not your every day quasi-demon, half-demon and half-human, girl. For the past five years, Myla has lived for the days she gets to fight in Purgatory’s arena. When souls want a trial by combat for their right to enter heaven or hell, they go up against her, and she hasn’t lost a battle yet.

But as she starts her senior year at Purgatory High, the arena fights aren’t enough to keep her spirits up anymore. When the demons start to act weird, even for demons, and the King of the Demons, Armageddon, shows up at Myla’s school, she knows that things are changing and it’s not looking good for the quasi-demons. Myla starts to question everything, and doesn’t like the answers she finds. What happened seventeen years ago that turned the quasi-demons into slave labor? Why was her mom always so sad? And why won’t anyone tell her who her father is? Things heat up when Myla meets Lincoln, the High Prince of the Thrax, a super sexy half-human and half-angel demon hunter. But what’s a quasi-demon girl to do when she falls for a demon hunter? It’s a good thing that Myla’s not afraid of breaking a few rules. With a love worth fighting for, Myla’s going to shake up Purgatory.


The following scene takes place in the arena, just before Myla has to fight an evil soul.

Walker gives my shoulder a squeeze. "Myla was just about to greet her ghoul overlord properly, weren't you, Myla?" Standing next to Sharkie, even Walker looks vertically challenged.
"My bad." I bow extra-low. "Greetings, SKE-12."
His buggy black eyes narrow into slits. Sharkie always knows when I'm making fun of him, and it drives him crazy. "I'll have no mischief from you today."
I bow again, even lower this time. "Yes, I'm fresh out."
Sharkie turns to Walker, his black eyes flaring bright red. "Control her." His gaze swings back to me. "We've an especially evil human soul fighting today. I hope to watch you die at last."
-location 155 of 6902 of my eARC

I'm really enjoying the book so far! There's action, a kickass snarky protagonist, it's fun, and it's got fantastic world building :)
What do you guys think of my teaser, and what book did you pick today?

Review: Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas

Release date: August 2, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Paperback, 404 pages

Description from goodreads:
Meet Celaena Sardothien.
Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?


I borrowed this one from a friend because I wanted to finally read it! I gave it back to her when we met the next day ^^' Great way to start off the year!
A note on the cover: It's perfect! I love the UK cover so much more than the US one. It's way badass, and it includes several small things that are important in the book, like her locket. Also: the back cover shows her from the back, but there she's wearing a ball gown, which makes sense once you've read the book.


Review:
I went into this book with some trepidation. When there was only the cover and no reviews yet, I thought this must be badass and totally awesome. Then the reviews came, and they were very mixed. They worried me. Some people found Celaena extremely arrogant, while others described her as sassy and a strong, kick-ass heroine.

After reading the book, I can see where both sides come from.
In the beginning, we meet Celaena as a slave in the salt mines of Endovier. She’s been in there for a year. The usual time of survival? A month. But Celaena was Adarlan’s best assassin at the age of only 16. She’s been trained by the king of assassins himself, and he didn't go easy on her. Still, life in the mines has scarred her, both physically and mentally, and that becomes clear once the story progresses. I grew to really like Celaena a lot and root for her, but it took a while. At the beginning, she really is as arrogant as everyone said. Full of her abilities. Full of her looks. However, over the course of the novel she grows as a character and changes for the better.

There’s another side to her: she’s lost it all. After a year in the mines, he body is skin and bones; she is no longer clothed in silks and jewels but in rags. She had everything, and she lost it all in one night. She cannot fully remember what happened, all that the reader knows is that she was betrayed by her own kind. Behind all her swagger, she is also vulnerable, and she tries her best not to be. She cannot afford mistakes if she is to survive what she’s been offered by Dorian, the crown prince of Adarlan: a chance to fight to be the king’s champion. If she beats her contestants, she will have to serve for four years. After that? Freedom. And Celaena’s desire for freedom, her joy at something as simple as sunlight on her skin and fresh clothes to wear, was among the parts that made me like her.

Another redeeming feature? Her thirst for knowledge. She’s not just some badass fighter, she also loves to read! I didn’t expect that. She is very angry at the king for outlawing magic in Adarlan, and for burning so many libraries and the thousands of years of knowledge and wisdom stored in them. She hates the very man she will have to serve if she wins, because he is responsible for the fall of her homeland and the death of her parents. She feels like a traitor. But she wants freedom no matter the cost. Once she arrives at the court of Adarlan and the first part with all the dresses etc. was over and her actual training for the fights began, I liked the whole book a lot better. Celaena can actually back up her big mouth, and I loved her in full assassin mode. She can be cruel, but she doesn’t necessarily like to be.

I feel like I’m rambling quite a bit here… the book just had a lot of layers and aspects, loads of backstory, and great world building! And it’s hard to talk about any one thing without including the others as they’re gradually revealed.
But let’s talk about guys for a bit… there’s a bit of a love triangle forming, and I can’t pick sides. On the one hand there’s Dorian: Prince, rich, pretty, desired by nearly every lady at court and aware of it. I didn’t expect to like him, but I did! I enjoyed his banter with Celaena and how they shared a passion for books. I didn’t expect him to be kind, to have vision for a different future for Adarlan than the one his father intended. I liked to see him and Celaena grow closer over time, yet thought it foolish.
Then there’s Chaol, captain of the guard. He’s Celaena’s mentor, he doesn’t take any of her bullshit. He trains her. He makes her go beyond her limits. He helps her regain her shape, try to reign in her temper and use her head. I really liked him too. He has the hardened edge of a fighter, but he’s still kind and caring. More realistic than Dorian, maybe a better fit? I’m not sure. All I can say is that I’m not usually a fan of love triangles, but I liked how it was done here. Oh, and of course I’m not going to tell how things pan out between the three of them ;)
I just have to mention a third boy, though he never was a love interest: Nox the thief! I really really liked him and the friendship he had with Celaena! I hope he makes an appearance in the sequel…

We meet many other characters in the book, some I loved, some I hated, but all more complex than they appear at first. There are quite a lot of subplots to the main one of Celaena having to beat the other candidates. There’s rebellion, slavery, friendship, jealousy, duty, betrayal, mystery, magic. The world building is fantastic, and I loved that there was a map at the beginning of the book! Places, dress, manner, customs… it was like mixture of medieval and Victorian. I liked that Celaena could be both a deadly weapon and a girl.

Oh, and another thing? There are so many YA books where there’s the heroine, and she’s fairly pretty and likeable, and any other female character is either a bitch or a non-threatening friend. Well, not here!! There’s princess Nehemia, and she’s just as strong and determined as Celaena! The two bond and I really loved their friendly relationship. They recognized each other as strong without making a rivalry out of it. Also, she’s a non-white person and I think she will play an important role in the sequel, so yay for some diversity! The issue of her ethnicity was dealt with well in the book, in my opinion.

So in the end, what’s my view of Throne of Glass? I enjoyed it a lot. It was complex, compelling, full of mystery and magic. Once some of the subplots are introduced, I was kept guessing. It was hard to put down. It had a heroine I eventually grew to like, root for and respect. It had two great love interests, amazing world building, and a nice mixture of blood and humor. I am definitely going to read the prequels (already read the first one) as well as impatiently waiting for the sequel, and I hope Sarah J. Maas will deliver! The set-up is in place, now let the big plot I’ve glimpsed come crashing down!

A few minor things: Celaena’s initial arrogance and the constant focus on her looks. I’m all for girls being confident in their bodies but I’m not sure this was the best way to handle the issue. Another point was that for a long time, we are simply told how awesome an assassin Celaena is or see her plotting stuff in her mind. I would have liked to actually see her in action sooner, but I understand that it would have been difficult to build a flashback like that into the book. I’m counting on the prequels.

Overall: a really enjoyable, hard to put down read with a unique world and great characters! I have so many theories I cannot talk about now and hope we’ll know a bit more about the sequel soon. Fans of High Fantasy, assassins, and kickass heroines will love this one! Those daunted by blood and action and more out for a fluffy romantic read with nice scenery and no political aspects should look elsewhere.

Have you read Throne of Glass? What was your take on it, and what do you think of my review? Sorry for making it so long >.< I just had so many thoughts...