Top Ten Tuesday #9: Books People Have Been Telling Me That I MUST Read

Top Ten Tuesday is an weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Each week participants list their Top Ten choices for a weekly theme. This week's theme is: Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling Me That I MUST Read!

Luckily in my blogsphere and online book friend-o-sphere, I have friends who pretty much lay down the law and say, "SARAH. READ THIS."  Or in general someone will have finished up a book and say "READ THIS IT IS SO GOOD."  And anytime I ask for recommendations, they say the EXACT same book every single time.

1.  Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson:  My one friend who I feel is Morgan's biggest fan is absolutely in love with her books and just at the mention of her books she will start to go in all caps saying how much she loves her books or wants me and others to read them.  I've already read Second Chance Summer and Since You've Been Gone and LOVED them, so this would be next best.

2. The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin:  I have read the first book, so this book would be next and my one friend is totally in love with this series and Noah Shaw & of course she has the highest recommendation for this book and for this series.

3. Perfected by Kate Jarvik Birch:  Another friend that I have won't stop talking about this book and how great it is.  Not to mention, she has a selfie of her and the book as her profile picture.  

4.  Nil by Lynne Matson:  I'm pretty sure this was described to me as The Maze Runner meets Lost.  It sounds so interesting and I'm excited to read it, but my TBR list is so so long!

5. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls:  My sophomore English teacher, who I have frequent conversations about books we've read, recommended me this book.  In fact she ordered me to read it.  We have different reading interests, but I won't let her down.  Even though I keep procrastinating reading it.  I'll get on that!

6.  Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout:  My friends have been bingeing this series and now these books are one of the main topics of conversation.  I really like the idea of the series, and I think I'll pick it up soon!

7.  Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher:  I've heard from so many people that this book is everything and I should read it.  That I need to read it.  It looks like something I would love and take to heart, so I'm excited to read it, when I get to it of course.

8.  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Husseini:  Again, my sophomore English teacher, aka my fave teacher, recommended me this book & said it was her favorite.  And from what I've heard about it, I have no doubts about how good the book is, or will be to me.

9.  Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard:  My librarian friend, who happens to be a blogger and booktuber, recommended me this book saying that if I loved The Infernal Devices series, I would love this.  I hope to read it in the near future!

10.  The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau:  Highly recommended by my one friend who loves the series & she loves talking to the author.  I'm not sure if I'll read the book yet, but because it's recommended by this one person, I might give it chance.  MIGHT.

What's your Top Ten?

When You Just Need Some Motivation From Brilliant Books And Authors...

Today was my high school graduation party & it was nice seeing my school friends, church friends, and family all in one place celebrating my accomplishments and sending me off to college.  It's crazy thinking that I'm leaving for college in about 5 days.  THIS FRIDAY.  It seems like just yesterday I entered high school just looking for someone to be my friend.  

One of my very first friends in high school came to celebrate with me, and I'm so glad I got to see her before we both headed off to college.  Now, when you graduate high school, that's when the relative and friends give you loads of money to help you pay for your education cause college education is pretty darn expensive.  And I'm extremely thankful for all their help, love and support throughout the years.  But this one friend, she didn't give me money...she gave me something that I'll never forget, never misplace, and always love...something too meaningful that I'm just so happy she's my friend.  

She gave me a bunch of "College Pick-Me-Up Quotes".  The first card says that, and on the back, she wrote, "When You Just Need Some Motivation From Brilliant Books and Authors."  After reading through all of them, I felt like crying cause it was absolutely thoughtful and it's something I know I'll be taking with me to college.  Here they are, and I hope you find some motivation and inspiration in them too.

"When you need to remind yourself why you're not sleeping and instead learning about the Fall of the Ottoman Empire."

"When your bed is soft and warm but you know you have an 8 AM class to get to."

"When there are many big fish in the sea."

"When the professor is of no help and you need to hit the library instead."

"When you get a college crush ;)"

"When the campus library beckons." 

"When finals cramming is done and/or when you turn 21."   

"When haters gonna hate.

SARAH

determined
intelligent
beautiful"

#MoreSelection: The Selection Series News!

Today was one of the best days ever for many reasons.  

1. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins was finally published today & I have to say this is one of my most anticipated books this year.  I can't wait to read it and have my heart melt.
2. The most iconic scene from Jane Austen's Emma was finally seen on Emma Approved today, and my heart was beating so fast, and I was so scared for what was about to happen.  Never having read Emma, I really didn't know what was going to happen.  But what did happen was the best thing ever.  KnightHouse forever.
3. Waking up this morning, I immediately checked twitter and saw the news in a video posted by Kiera Cass about an unlock campaign to unlock the first three chapters of The Queen & a second Epilogue to The Selection series.  We had to tumble, insta and tweet #MoreSelection in order to get these things.  Also Kiera had some Q & A's throughout the day which you can see on her twitter! (@KieraCass)

Now if you didn't know, The Selection is one of my favorite series, and it's just meant so much to me over the past couple years and I feel so blessed with all the friends I've made and the opportunity to meet Kiera Cass in person.  

photoshopped picture such swag (except for me, Kiera, and my friend Sylvia in the middle)

I thought it was completely over after The One and I was very happy with how it ended.  VERY VERY HAPPY.  So I guess you could imagine how happy I was that the second Epilogue was unlocked.  I really didn't think I could be happier.  BUT IN FACT MY HEART WAS SO HAPPY AND I WAS GUSHING.  My twitter was FILLED with everything related to The Selection.  Every post had #MoreSelection.  I was fangirling with my friends, sending awkward snapchat videos... it was just all around crazy.  If you want to read the first 3 chapters of The Queen and the second Epilogue, go to unlockmoreselection.com and see for yourself!  But of course, wait til you've read the entire series first.  THEN you can come back and read.

After everyone was finished reading and freaking out about the second Epilogue, Kiera dropped a HUGE bomb on us Selectioners.

First she revealed the release date for The Queen which is an Amberly novella, which is scheduled to come out December 2, 2014 on ebook!  She also revealed that she is working on a Marlee novella titled The Favorite which is scheduled to come out March 3, 2015 on ebook!  And of course, these two novellas would be just perfect in The Selection Stories #2 which also comes out March 3, 2015.

But of course that wasn't all.  When Kiera said #MoreSelection, SHE WASN'T KIDDING.  

WE GET TWO MORE BOOKS.  LIKE FULL LENGTH.  OF THE SELECTION SERIES.  As I was watching this video, I screamed and jumped around and I was so so happy I could cry.  My heart was so happy.  And my sanity was officially gone.

The next full length Selection book coming out is titled The Heir and is expected to come out May 5, 2015 (2 DAYS AFTER MY BIRTHDAY).  Of course this date isn't officially official yet, but you can bet I'll be here when the news comes.  According to Kiera, The Heir will be from a different POV.  Hmmmmm... any theories?  I have a few for sure.  

I am very excited for what's to come with The Selection series and am extremely happy to know that this wonderful series is not over.  We have 2 novellas and 2 more books to look forward to.  #MoreSelction, More Feels.

Feature & Follow Friday #7: Suggest a Question!

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

If you wish to follow me, I'm on Bloglovin and GFC!  

This week's question:  

Suggest a question! We need questions of the week for future FFs. Any ideas?

I think a book playlist would be pretty cool, or maybe talk about something related to back to school?  I'm creative but not that creative haha.

Don't forget to link me to your FF post so I can check it out and follow you back! :)

TEA TIME REWIND #71 (2): Book Care!

This is my second time doing a Tea Time Rewind based on this week's Tea Time video hosted by the wonderful Epic Reads.

If you have never heard of Epic Reads, they are the YA community of HarperCollins publishers and they're just really cool and awesome and if you love YA, you'll love Epic Reads.  

So every Wednesday at 3:45 EST, They have this awesome thing called Tea Time where the wonderful hosts, Margot and Aubry, just talk YA books and ask & answer a bunch of questions and it's just a really great way of connecting with other readers and learning about books you probably should read.

Watch this week's video here!

So first on the agenda...
What Am I Reading?

Well, I just recently finished Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas which I absolutely LOVED.  And yesterday, I finished Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn't Fly by P. T. Jones which I really didn't care for.  But the book I am reading right at this moment is Heist Society by Ally Carter.  I'm actually rereading this right now so I can jump into the next two books in the series as soon as I'm done and know what's going on.

Then we moved onto the question of the week:
If you were moving, how would you downsize your book collection if you need to?

As I'm going to college, I've been thinking about this a lot.  Of course I'll leave a lot of my books at home, and I'm gonna be bringing some of them to college with me.  But moving specifically, I'm not sure how I would cope with downsizing my book collection.  I am too much of a book hoarder.  I'm the girl with 3 physical copies of Mockingjay, let's be real here.  I might give some to friends who I know would be able to take care of it, or I might give away some of the ARCs I received.  And if there's a book I know I'm never gonna read, there's no reason for me to keep it.  Donating to Half Price Books might be a good option.  But, I'm not at this level right now.  I'm gonna keep being a book hoarder because BOOKS.

Then we have the question inspired by the latest Book Nerd Problems Video!
What book have you and your BFF disagreed on?

Over the years, there have been books I have disagreed on with my friends, but I'll just name a couple that come to mine.

A book I love that my friends don't:

The Summer series by Jenny Han

I LOVE this book series, and was very happy to recommend it to 3 of my friends.  Turns out they didn't like it as much as I did.  This turned into constant group chat arguments about why we like one of the brothers over the other or how extra annoying Belly is.  I mean, my goodreads ratings for all 3 books are 5+ stars each.  My friends rated the series 3 stars.  ONLY 3?  IS YOUR MIND OKAY?  I THINK YOU NEED TO SEE A DOCTOR.  NOT THE DOCTOR WHO FLIES AROUND IN A TARDIS BUT AN ACTUAL DOCTOR THAT GIVES YOU SHOTS AND SUCH.

A book my friends love that I don't:

My Life Next Door & What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Honestly, these books were entertaining and they were cute but it just didn't cut it for me.  I don't know what it was about these books, maybe the constant idea of sex or the fact that in My Life Next Door the first real conversation between Samantha and Jase felt completely unnatural?  And in both books, you think it's happily ever after but then you realize there's about 100 more pages left.  Oh goody!  A new conflict.  I mean the books weren't terrible but would I read another book by Huntley?  Probably not.

And finally...

Book Care Tips

Honestly, I have none.  The Tea Time video pretty much covered those bases.  But one this I suggest that everyone hates...if you have a book that you pretty much treasure, it might be a good idea to keep the dust jacket on.  You wouldn't want any grease on the cover would you?  Or another tip I recommend, specifically for stickers on books...if you don't have Goo Glue but you just want to peel it off that way, first of all be careful.  And if you have strong and long nails, try taking the sticker off like you would but on tights, where you should probably bunch it all together first.  Don't just peel and go, but make sure you don't leave room for error.

And that is all for now.  Until next time, fellow Crumpets!

Book Review: Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn't Fly

Title/ Author:  Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn't Fly by P. T. Jones
Publisher/ Year:  ChiTeen, 2014.
How I Read It:  E-book, courtesy of NetGalley
Why I Read It:  It sounded good & I decided to read it.
Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Summary from Goodreads:  Things Mary doesn’t want to fall into: the river, high school, her mother’s life.
Things Mary does kind of want to fall into: love, the sky.

This is the story of a girl who sees a boy float away one fine day. This is the story of the girl who reaches up for that boy with her hand and with her heart. This is the story of a girl who takes on the army to save a town, who goes toe-to-toe with a mad scientist, who has to fight a plague to save her family. This is the story of a girl who would give anything to get to babysit her baby brother one more time. If she could just find him.

It’s all up in the air for now, though, and falling fast. . . .
Fun, breathlessly exciting, and full of heart, Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn’t Fly is an unforgettable ride.

I'm going to be honest...this book was a huge waste of my time.  I really regret requesting to review it for NetGalley.  There were so many things that disappointed me about this book.  First was the fact that the Goodreads summary really doesn't give the book justice.  I thought this was gonna be a book written beautifully like the way Gayle Forman's writing or Tahereh Mafi's writing is.  The summary is just a tease.  The book, in my opinion, while there were interesting ideas there, it felt poorly written.  I could see the potential, but it just wasn't at all interesting.  From Liv and Mary's texts to each other to the Floating Boy actually literally being called Floating Boy throughout the book (THE BOOK IS LITERALLY THE TITLE).  The summary makes it seem like it's magical or metaphorical.  The book isn't even written in the same style as its summary which is super misleading.  

One of the things that annoys me about this book is that there was no depth to the characters.  It was all plot and no substance.  I didn't relate to any of the characters and actually found them quite annoying.  The only characters that were fairly intriguing were Floating Boy and Mr. Barron, just because they have some sort of back story that contributes to the plot.  That was pretty much the only thing that kept me reading.  And there were certain hints around the book that revealed some of the questions I had, but it wasn't put together that well, considering I was confused for a majority of the book and felt myself skimming just because I was dying to be done.

Given that most of my review is negative, I will admit that it was entertaining and it had great potential to be a good book, but it just didn't appeal to me, and it's not something I would recommend to my friends.  

Songs That Perfectly Match Books!

This post is inspired by a post I read by Jillian @ Jillian's Books!  Take a look at hers first!  She was really spot on with her choices.  I really love the concept and had me thinking of multiple times I was reading a book and I was either listening to music or it immediately reminded me of a song that completely matched the book.  This is a lot longer than I originally anticipated, but I felt like this post wouldn't be complete without everything in my mind put in this post.  I know for a fact I have to be missing some songs or something, but anyway, here we go!  Sorry Jillian for taking your layout here, but you did an awesome job, I couldn't imagine it a better way.

The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan

Song: Keep Me Alive by Weatherstar

Why it Matches With the Book:  It really just captures a lot of the themes in the book series.  Percy Jackson, as a demigod, literally is just trying to survive, regardless of the obstacles he has to face.  It also kinda highlights his growth throughout the series.  Not to mention, this is a perfect Percabeth song as well.  He and Annabeth make a good team, they rely each other, and they're literally in the adventure together.  

"My eyes they don't see straight, when my world feel down like an earthquake, and I can't stand up cause my knees shake.  Somebody just keep me alive."

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Song:  Almost is Never Enough by Ariana Grande feat. Nathan Sykes

Why it Matches With the Book:  Not only is this song on the City of Bones soundtrack, but it fits too perfectly with Clary and Jace's relationship.  Just the fact that they want to be together and it's difficult to deny it considering the circumstances. 

 "We can deny it as much as we want, but in time our feelings will show."

The Summer I Turned Pretty series by Jenny Han

Song:  Mary's Song (Oh My My My) by Taylor Swift

Why it Matches With the Book:  I love the whole "growing up aspect" of the song and how you see the transgression of the boy and the girl from childhood to adolescence to adulthood & that's exactly what we see in this book between Belly and the two brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah.  I have a specific boy in mind, but for those who haven't read the book yet, I won't spoil you.  

"Well I was sixteen when suddenly, I wasn't that little girl you used to see but your eyes still shined like pretty lights."

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Song:  Children at Play by Kevin Kern

Why it Matches With the Book:  I was listening to the CD "The Best of Kevin Kern" while reading this book for the first time.  This is a piano piece that really just makes me sad, speaks to my heart and gives me the nostalgic feelings of wanting to feel as free as a child.  I listened to this song over and over again especially reading the last few chapters, and I started crying, remembering how much Liesel has grown and how much she has changed throughout the book.  Not to mention Rudy as well, her best friend.  I'm sure this song will touch your heart and make you cry as it did to me.  

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Song:  Change Your Mind by Boyce Avenue

Why it Matches With the Book:  This is literally a summary (a word for word summary) of The Selection and how Maxon didn't give up trying to change America's mind.  He wanted her to give him a chance and see where things would go.  Maxon didn't want America to go just yet.

"Oh you've got me down on my knees.  Oh and in my mind I can see, how perfect everything could be.  But you won't give us a try.  If I could change your mind, how would you want me?"

The One by Kiera Cass

Song:  All About Us by He is We feat. Owl City

Why it Matches With the Book:  There's one scene in this book that made me think directly of this song and it literally just made my heart so much because of the love felt between the two characters and their realization that they truly love each other.  One of my favorite scenes of this book by far and one of my favorite songs for sure.  You can expect this song to be played sometime at my wedding (whenever I get married).

"Cause lovers dance when they're feeling in love, spotlight's shining, it's all about us.  And every heart in the room will melt.  This is a feeling I've never felt.  But, it's all about us."

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Song:  Company by Rickie Lee Jones

Why It Matches With the Book:  First of all, if you haven't read Allegiant yet, go ahead and skip this one.  This is for your own good.  Are you gone yet?  Okay.  So, typically I wouldn't pair a song like this with this book.  It's not even an action packed song.  It's actually a slower sadder song.  Right after I finished this book, it was 2 am, the day of the Allegiant Tour.  I couldn't fall asleep for 2 more hours cause I was crying & so I turned on my 8tracks radio and this song came on.  It reminded me too much of the book.  Especially the last 40 or so pages.  Well, here.

"I'll see you in another life now, baby.  I'll free you in my dreams.  But when I reach across the galaxy, I will miss your company."

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Song:  Turning Page by Sleeping At Last

Why It Matches With the Book:  The pace of the song and its words I feel take you to back to the series and how much all these characters have grown plus the extent of their love for each other.  It perfectly matches that essence and like Will's words, the lyrics are poetry.

"I've waited a hundred years.  I'd wait a million more for you.  Nothing prepared me for, what the privilege of being yours would do."

If I Stay series by Gayle Forman

Song:  Older by Birdy

Why It Matches With the Book:   Mixed with Gayle's writing, this song is absolutely perfect.  It reflects Mia and Adam's journey throughout the duology and their love for each other as well as the obstacles along the way.  Regardless of everything that has happened, and even while apart, they still love each other, but sometimes you can control what happens...it just does and there's nothing you can do but be strong.

"And I wish, that we were strangers, strange enough to go unnoticed from this crowd.  And I wish that we were closer, close enough for me to hold you when your lonely nights become too long to bear."

Let me know if you agree or disagree or just any thoughts you have!  I'd love to hear it.

Top Ten Tuesday #8: To Read or Not to Read?

Top Ten Tuesday is an weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Each week participants list their Top Ten choices for a weekly theme. This week's theme is: Top Ten Books I'm Not Sure I Want to Read!

I have two different lists:  Books I will probably never pick up or need serious convincing to pick up and books that are on my TBR that I really need opinions on!

Books I Might Not Pick Up

1.  Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.  While it seems like the first book is all the buzz, the next books in the series are kinda drags on?  To be honest, I've heard too many mixed reviews about this book for me to be interested in reading it.

2. Evermore by Alyson Noel.  The synopsis makes it look like an interesting read that will be sure to capture my attention, my friends' goodreads reviews say otherwise.

3.  Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L.  James.  Never ever will I read these kinds of books.  I don't care if there is a movie coming out.  No one can make me even think of reading this. 

4. The rest of The Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.  The first book was good!  But I tried reading the next book and it was just too boring.  Come to think of it, I'm not really sure I want to read the rest.  I'm just not that interested in that really.

5.  The Island of Excess Love by Francesca Lia Block.  I received an ARC of this book, but after reading the first in its series, which didn't excite me at all, I'm pretty sure that reading this would be a waste of my time.

6.  The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith.  Yes, I own the books, but too much Vampire drama for my taste.  Maybe one day I'll read it.  But then again, there's other books I could be reading right now.

7. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan.  I just really don't think I would like this book.  Plus, there's a lot of mixed reviews from my friends on goodreads.

8.  Marked  by P.C.  Cast & Kristin Cast.  Too many negative reviews for me to be interested.  Sorry.

9.  Panic by Lauren Oliver.  I hear the book is great but it's missing depth.  I like depth in characters and backstories and plot & from what I hear, there is a lack of that.

10.  Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.  Tried reading this once before and was bored out of my mind.  But then again I own 5 books in the series so I guess you never know.

Books I Need Opinions On

1.  Landline by Rainbow Rowell.  I know you guys will hate me for this one, but honestly I can't get into NA or Adult these days.  Sometimes there's exceptions and this is most likely one because Rainbow wrote one of my all time favorite books.

2.  The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings.  The author seems so sweet and my friends have given awesome reviews, but I need some extra advice!

3.  I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore.  I was told that this was a Full Fathom Five book and there have been mixed reviews, but I still really want to read it.  Worth it?

4.  Leviathan by Scott Westerfield.  I don't really like the Uglies series and I'm wondering if all of Scott's writing is similar to that.  I've heard nothing but praise about this book but I'm pretty skeptical.

5.  The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.  I've heard bad and good things and I'm not sure what to believe.

6. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.  Same as the previous.

7.  The Clique series by Lisi Harrison.  I've already read the first who knows how many books from this series.  Is it even worth it?

8.  Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.  It's adult fiction, but it seems super interesting.  Good reviews all around, but would a YA lover love it? 

9.  The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.  I was recommended this book once.  Read part of it, didn't like it, but I heard it gets better?

10.  Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken.  Of course I want to read this, cause I like The Darkest Minds but I have some doubts...

Let me know!  And link me to your TTT as well!

Book Review: Throne of Glass

Title/ Author:  Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Publisher/ Year:  Bloomsbury USA Childrens, 2012 (new cover in 2013).
How I Read It:  Hardback (Library)
Why I Read It:  I needed something different from contemporary, and people have recommended me this, and all my friends have rated this book either 4 or 5 stars on goodreads.
Rating: 5+++ stars out of 5

This is the first book in its series and I'm excited to know that there's 3 other books out there plus novellas for me to read after this one.  HOLY GEEBUS THIS WAS GOOD.

Summary from Goodreads:  
In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. 

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass--and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

First of all, I would like to give a standing ovation to Sarah J. Maas for not only writing such a well thought through book with high fantasy and action and romance, but for also writing a book that I have a strong feeling will be one of my favorite series.  This book had everything and much more.  I tried reading this before, back during the school year, but I found myself bored with it, and I was getting worried because AP testing was coming up soon.  This summer, I kept seeing this book everywhere and I knew I needed to give it another chance.  Frankly, that was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  At first, I found this book intimidating because of the size of the page compared to the size of the text but after reading and reading and reading, I was hooked & I actually spent 8 hours nonstop (besides bathroom breaks and eating) reading and finishing this book.  

Celaena Sardothien has to be one of my favorite characters ever.  Not only is she the world's greatest assassin, who if you look bad-a** up in the dictionary, you would see her picture there, but she's also a girl & she never loses sight of who she truly is.  She is literally a strong independent woman who don't need no man.  Just the depth of her character and backstory just really make her character alive and in fact humanizes her and made her feel real.  Also it helps that she's a huge bookworm.  As a feminist, it was refreshing having a female protagonist beat out all these other guys as if it was nothing, but still retain the fact that she is a girl and wants to go to balls and dress up and look nice.

The world building overall was just fantastic.  THERE IS A FREAKING MAP OF THE WORLD IN THE BOOK.  I didn't even realize until after I'd finished but I'm sure glad I noticed it before I returned it to the library.  It really just made what I was picturing in my head much more alive.  Just reading about Terrasen, Endovier, Adarlan, the White Fang Mountains, and Eyllwe, you know what the heck is so important about these places and its significance throughout the book.  The way they were described and the way the characters talked about them, whether they lived in these places or not, you got the gist of what it was like, and it put a better picture in my head.  Kudos to Sarah on this one.  This is one of the few series I've read where the world building is just so on point.  LOVE IT.

Now the plot was amazing and didn't drag like I thought it would.  It was well paced and the plot itself with all the action and fantasy made this story A++.  The idea of the competition to be the King's Champion and the different tests Celaena went through was really entertaining to read.    I loved the villain and the mystery with Elena and the mystery with Nehemia.  These characters were well done and were a great addition to the story, cause you didn't know who was killing the Champions or what was going on with all the magic (even when it's pretty much taboo in this world).  

When it comes to the romance in the book, it wasn't overdone and never overshadowed the action aspects of the book.  Dorian and Chaol are interesting characters and they couldn't be anymore different, yet they're in love with Celaena.  One is more bold and the other more reserved, but both compliment her and I'm really excited to see how the romance plays out in the next books in the series.  These characters have their depths too and it always made me smile when they had their own breakthroughs, and even showed a sign that they were happy or feeling something, especially with Chaol.  UGH I LOVE CHAOL.  Anyway, both their roles in the book are extremely significant (and not just because Dorian is the Prince of Adarlan or Chaol the Captain of the Guard).  I feel like their roles in the book are tested so much and that's really what makes a great book.

I could just ramble on more, but I just love this book so much that my thoughts are all jumbled.  I'm so glad I read this book, and I hope you do too!