REVIEW: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass #2)
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Source: Netgalley via publisher
Rating: 5/5 stars
Get it: Amazon | B&N

An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt.
But her heart never wavers.

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

My Review

There are very few books that I know will be epic before I even start and Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas wasn’t just that, it was phenomenally epic. I can barely begin to explain how I thought and felt about this book. It just simply took my breath away. 



Can Celaena get any more badass? Well, apparently in this sequel she can! This time around, I really got to see Celaena in action. She really lives up and possibly surpasses her title as Adarlan’s Assassin. She was never just a simple girl with fighting skills, but a girl who was beautifully dangerous and deadly in every way. She was a girl who was relentless, sometimes ruthless, and daring to boot. I really got to see Celaena at her highest and at her very lowest in this book. Her ability to hone in and focus on her craft was absolutely chilling. We definitely see the old snarky, fierce Celaena, but also the good hearted and compassionate Celaena as well. Either way, I adored her. 

Between Chaol and Dorian, there was definitely more page time for Chaol. At least on the romance side of it all. It was too cute to see Chaol worry so much about Celaena. And I just loved their playfulness with each other. It was so different from their hostility in Throne of Glass and to see them now with tension and passion definitely had me swooning. While I wasn’t entirely convinced on Chaol and Celaena in the first book, Maas totally makes me understand the connection and understanding between them in this book. I am a firm Team Dorian fan for life, but Maas made me love Chaol more than I ever thought I could that I realized I wouldn’t mind if Celaena really did end up with either man. Dorian fans shouldn’t be disappointed because there was enough of him to go around in this book. His charm and sweetness that I originally fell for was still there. 

To say that I was impressed by Maas in the creation of this sequel is an understatement. I was mind blown by the creativeness, the action, and the heartbreak that Maas put into this stunning novel. I liked that each character had their own issues to deal with: Celaena and her missions, Chaol’s struggle with loyalty to the king vs. his feelings for Celaena and Dorian with his discovery about himself. Even better, they all showed growth and even more potential in the future books to come. There was definitely a lot more insight to everything that was happening with more magic I hoped for in the first novel. There was Fae, witches and creepy inhumane things lurking in the library stacks that was just fantastically awesome if you asked me. The Wyrdmarks, the king's true plans, rising rebel movements, secret passages, riddles, betrayal, death and more death were also heavily intertwined into the story to truly make this book more than entertaining. What I really loved about Crown of Midnight was the unpredictability. I never knew exactly what was going to happen next so everything seemed to put me on edge. This made the twists and turns even more shockingly surprising. And don’t even get me started on the explosive mind blowing what-the-effery-just-happened-right-now kind of ending. That revelation along with everything else Maas intricately spun into this book brought this series way up high on my favorite lists for sure! 


In a world full of treacherous people with ulterior motives, Celaena plays a dangerous game in Crown of Midnight and each calculated or spontaneous move is a risk that is both thrilling and heart stopping. Maas gives a sequel better the first novel that is so spine-tinglingly good, I’m running in circles for the book three!

*Thanks to Bloomsbury USA Children's Books for sending a copy for review purposes

I was not compensated for my opinion

REVIEW: Send Me A Sign by Tiffany Schmidt

Title: Send Me a Sign
Author: Tiffany Schmidt - Website | Twitter | Facebook
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Published: October 2, 2012
Format: egalley via Netgalley* 384 pages
Rating: 5/5
Get it: Amazon || B&N || The Book Depository

Mia is always looking for signs. A sign that she should get serious with her soccer-captain boyfriend. A sign that she’ll get the grades to make it into an Ivy-league school. One sign she didn’t expect to look for was: “Will I survive cancer?” It’s a question her friends would never understand, prompting Mia to keep her illness a secret. The only one who knows is her lifelong best friend, Gyver, who is poised to be so much more. Mia is determined to survive, but when you have so much going your way, there is so much more to lose. From debut author Tiffany Schmidt comes a heart-wrenching and ultimately uplifting story of one girl’s search for signs of life in the face of death.

My thoughts, feelings, and reactions.

Send Me a Sign begins with a teenage girl who discovers news that nearly shatters the life she once knew right before her eyes. Cancer is something we all face whether it be from the people around us or in ourselves and we all know it’s a tough thing to overcome. In Send Me a Sign, Tiffany Schmidt creates a beautiful and refreshing novel that allows us to experience someone literally dealing with life and death and the consequences of secrecy. 

Mia believes in signs. Before deciding on any big decision, she feels she needs some kind of sign to move forward. When Mia finds out she has leukemia, she continues to look for signs whether to tell her friends or whether she will live or die. In the midst of this, Mia is afraid people will pity her or run away from her because of her illness. Throughout the book, Mia struggles with acceptance, alienation, and wanting to live a normal life. No matter how strong and brave Mia appeared to be, deep down she was terrified and barely holding on. Keeping up pretenses of being healthy was just slowly killing away Mia’s spirit and strength and it hurt so much to see her slowly give up. Mia tried her very hardest to keep her parents happy and even when she nearly crumbled, I always thought Mia was a good person who was just scared for herself. 

The romance in Send Me a Sign was one that certainly touched my heart. I loved how Schmidt was able to make me fall in love with both of the love interests. My heart swelled and raced and broke for both and I won’t be surprised if other readers have a hard time choosing as well. Ryan, who starts off as a player, later shows his true feelings. He becomes the ever faithful and devoted boyfriend that Mia could ever want. He stays with Mia even after knowing about her illness. While I loved Ryan and deeply ached for him, I could not help but adore and love Gyver even more. Gyver was Mia’s best friend from childhood and they’ve always been close. He was sweet, charming, smart and super cute. He was always supportive of Mia, but he never sugar coated his feelings and always told Mia what he felt and thought straight up. Mia cared for both Ryan and Gyver, but only one really captured her heart and seeing her have to choose and lose one was very hard to read. It was difficult because both guys were just wonderful and either one would have been perfect for Mia. 


The writing in Send Me a Sign is incredible. Schmidt’s writing really shows depth and power. She was able to really touch me in ways I don’t think I ever thought I could be touched. Just a few pages in and I was already feeling all kinds of heart wrenching emotions. Schmidt really sets the pace beautifully, building up to end that really got me sucked into the perspective of someone struggling with cancer. It became vivid and descriptive and really intense, I could not stop myself from reading. I really loved how Schmidt brought in the fear of death, of giving up, losing hope and then believing and fighting for life. She really weaves in Mia’s superstitions into the story very well. Not only does this book tackle cancer, but it also tackles relationships, friendships and family. 

Overall, Send Me a Sign was fantastic novel about the belief in fighting back, the meaning of communication and learning what you really want in life. It’s a book that will definitely capture the hearts of many and more. 

*Thanks to Bloomsbury Children's Books for sending me a copy for review