Can't Wait Wednesday: The Language of Thorns

I'm switching over from Waiting on Wednesday's to Can't Wait Wednesday, a meme hosted by Wishful Endings. The idea is basically the same, but it looks like the official hosts of Breaking the Spine have shut down the meme so it's time to move on.

Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns.
Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid's voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy's bidding but only for a terrible price.
Inspired by myth, fairy tale, and folklore, #1 New York Times–bestselling author Leigh Bardugo has crafted a deliciously atmospheric collection of short stories filled with betrayals, revenge, sacrifice, and love.
Perfect for new readers and dedicated fans, these tales will transport you to lands both familiar and strange—to a fully realized world of dangerous magic that millions have visited through the novels of the Grishaverse.
This collection of six stories includes three brand-new tales, all of them lavishly illustrated with art that changes with each turn of the page, culminating in six stunning full-spread illustrations as rich in detail as the stories themselves.

Why I'm Waiting

I haven't finished Crooked Kingdom yet, but I loved Six of Crows and the Grisha Trilogy. Basically, I love anything Leigh Bardugo touches! And this one is going to just look absolutely stunning on my shelf, on top of being an amazing read.

The Language of Thorns releases September 27th, 2017. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Warbringer

Waiting on Wednesday was created by Breaking the Spine

The highly anticipated coming-of-age story for the world's greatest super hero: WONDER WOMAN by the # 1 New York Times bestselling author LEIGH BARDUGO.
She will become one of the world's greatest heroes: WONDER WOMAN. But first she is Diana, Princess of the Amazons. And her fight is just beginning. . . .
Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mere mortal. Even worse, Alia Keralis is no ordinary girl and with this single brave act, Diana may have doomed the world.
Alia just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn't know she is being hunted. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer—a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery.
Together, Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. If they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.

Why I'm Waiting

First of all, Leigh Bardugo is a goddess and anything she writes is gold. Second of all, Wonder Woman is just amazing. Third of all, this cover and this title! I'm so stoked for this one.

Wonder Woman: Warbringer releases August 29th, 2017, and you can preorder it here.

5 Star Book Review: Ruin and Rising (The Grisha Trilogy, #3)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

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Edition: Hardcover

Goodreads

Related Reviews: Shadow and Bone - Siege and Storm

Rating: 5 Stars

There won't be any spoilers in this review, so worry not.

Because of college I've both been in a reading slump and a reviewing slump, which is why this review is so late coming. It should have been out ages ago, and I actually promised to have it out by now so I'm sorry that I didn't have it out before now. I'm not just sorry because I disappointed people curious to see my thoughts, but because now the details for this book are blurry and they get blurrier every day.

Ruin and Rising is the phenomenal finale to the Grisha Trilogy, which I fell in love with last winter. After finishing Siege and Storm I didn't really think I could handle the feelz that this one would bring, and I didn't want to say goodbye to these characters, particularly Nikolai. Of course, there is Six of Crows (which I have read) and now Crooked Kingdom (which I need to read) that will take me back to this world and have just as amazing characters within them, but they aren't the same ones from the Grisha trilogy so it's still hard to say goodbye.

And say goodbye I did. I know the ending is either hated or liked, but honestly, I loved it. I had no idea how the series was going to end but I thought Bardugo did it perfectly. It hit all the emotional points and wrapped up stories the way they should have been wrapped up. And, yes, I do approve of who Alina ended up with. As much as I loved the other two "options" this was the one I was rooting for the whole time because it was what Alina needed the whole time and clearly the one that made her happiest.

Besides the ending, the whole book was fantastic. There's a twist in the middle that I called from book one, but it was still well played and worked into the story beautifully. I'm always taken off guard by how brutal these books can get, but at the time time they do it in such an enchanting way that as gruesome as it is I can't look away from the page. 

As always, the world building is what gets me the most. I want to live in Ravka! Or maybe a peaceful version if there is one. There's just so much atmosphere in these books that I can't get enough of it. I would find myself daydreaming about the setting, which is absolutely amazing. For those of you who want to learn to write setting well, the Grisha trilogy is a great teacher.

TL;DR This book did not disappoint. I know ti split fans, but I approved of all the choices, including the final ship, and had a hard time saying goodbye to these characters I'd grown very attached to.

5 Star Book Review: Siege and Storm

Author: Leigh Bardugo

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Edition: Paperback

Buy Links: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository

Goodreads

Related Reviews: Shadow and Bone

Rating: 5 Stars

There will be SPOILERS for the first book in the series in this post.

OHMYGOD NIKOLAI

Siege and Storm takes place a short time after Shadow and Bone ended, with Alina and Mal seeking solace and protection across the sea.  When the Darkling comes and disrupts that peace in order to gain more power for Alina in the form of a sea dragon she and Mal barely escape with the help of a very interesting privateer who is more than he seems.

OHMYGOD NIKOLAI

Can that be the entire review?  Okay, maybe not, but just FYI, Nikolai is my newest favorite fictional character and is a precious baby I will protect.

I actually really like all the characters in this book.  For you Mal haters out there, I don't hate him, but he's very "meh" to me (I know how the series ends relationship-wise but will refrain my thoughts until the final book).  Other than that I adore everyone.  Alina is one of those rare narrators who is absolutely absorbing in every sense of the word and the world around me falls away when I'm looking through her eyes.  I credit this magic to Leigh Bardugo's own magic, which still seeps off the page as I was reading.

Like with Shadow and Bone, the world of Ravka is fantastic.  I wish I lived there, honestly!  And the myth building in this one was fantastic.  I loved how she explored the legends of the world and how realistic they all felt.  Sometimes I forget, too, how bloody her writing can be and how dangerous this world is, but the climax of this book was mind blowing and amazing!

After finishing this one I immediately wanted to start Ruin and Rising, but alas, I must wait a bit so as not to cause a massive book hangover.  Soon, though, because these books are addictive and probably some of my all time favorites.

Book Review: Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

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Edition: Hardcover

Buy Links: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository

Goodreads

Related: Shadow and Bone

Rating: 4 Stars

This is one of the most hyped books in the bookish community, and I can definitely see why.  It's got an awesome plot, fantastic characters, and beautiful writing. But I did have a few problems with it that led to me not rating it five stars.

Six of Crows follows several perspectives, most notably Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, and Mattias.  After being hired by a merchant to steal a man with secrets out of an impenetrable foreign city for an ungodly sum of money, they begin a heist that would make any good spy movie proud.

While I loved the characters and the plot, I thought both relied too heavily on flashbacks, which, while very interesting, weren't as interesting as the plot itself.  I wish less time had been spent on these flashbacks, honestly.  It also took me a while to really get to know most of the characters.  Which is fine, but it just felt a little impersonal for the first third of the book when I wanted to connect with someone.  My favorite character was easily Nina.  She's awesome, and I relate to her very well.  She's a little bit of the person I'd like to be, if I'm being honest.

It may sound a little as if I'm bashing this book, but it really was good, and there's little I can say that hasn't been said by the million other people who've read it :)  It deserves the hype it's getting right now.  Plus, it's an absolutely gorgeous book and I can't wait to see how it looks on my shelves at home.  If you're still not sure if this book is for you, if you liked The Bone Season/The Mime Order than you'll probably like this one.  This reminded me of that one quite a bit.

Waiting On Wednesday: Crooked Kingdom

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of magic in the Grisha world.

Why I'm Waiting

I finished Six of Crows and, while not completely murdered by that cliff-hanger, I am anticipating this book very much.  I'm glad it's only a duet because I want to know how everyone's storylines end.

Crooked Kingdom releases on September 22nd, 2016 

Friday 56: Shadow and Bone

Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice.  Click here to join in on the fun.

Rules: Grab a book, any book.

Turn to page 56, or 56% in your eReader.

Find a sentence, or a few, and post it.

This week I'm spotlighting Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, a book that I took far too long to get to.

Here's the description taken from Goodreads:

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.

From page 56 of Shadow and Bone:

"We'll only stop to change horses.  If we stop before then, you'll know something is wrong."

Book Review: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Trilogy, #1)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

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Edition: Paperback

Buy Links: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository

Goodreads Link

Rating: 4 Stars

I have had a copy of Shadow and Bone since it came out in paperback.  Which is a crazy long time.  And not once did I bother to pick it up to even try the first page.  I would glance at it on my shelf, think how pretty it looked, and then say I would get to it later.  Well, the fates aligned and I picked it up completely on a whim.  I had no inclination of starting this book for a while still, but after all but deciding I would go to Book Con and seeing the author would be there, and also waiting for a book to arrive in the mail, I couldn't stop myself.  And do you know how fast I read this one?  24 hours.  Right after Cress.  So, yeah, it was crazy addicting, and I'm so glad to have been bitten by the reading bug again.

Shadow and Bone takes place in a fantasy world based off of Russia.  It follows Alina, a mapmaker for the First Army.  When she and her regiment cross the Unsea, a dark place that exists because of twisted magic, she learns she is one of the Grisha- those who have magic (of a sort; it's called "Small Science").  And not just any Grisha, but a Sun Summoner.  She's whisked off to court where she must learn to master her powers in order to save her world.

I will admit that this book started off slow.  I wasn't completely sold until she arrived at court, around chapter six.  It wasn't a bad story before then, but it was a bit cliched and the setting hadn't had time to cement itself.  Once things got going, though, it was all I could do to put it down and go to sleep.  I even managed to dream about this book in the hours between reading!  The plot moves quickly, and there wasn't anything unnecessary.  Every plot development advanced the story, and it could have been a trilogy all on its own, with the amount of things that happen.

The strongest aspect of the story is the setting.  Gorgeous!  And I mean it practically comes off the page.  It's a subtle world-building that relies on a few phrases, people's general idea of a romantic version of historical Russia, and a taste of magic in the writing.  Every once in a while I stumble into a book with a location I actually want to visit, and Ravka is one of those places.

As for the writing and characters, at first neither really stood out.  Once the ball got rolling, though, neither disappointed.  I look forward to continuing this series, and plan to pick up the rest of the trilogy very soon.