Song I Played While Reading- Left Behinds by Hardwell
Rating- 4 stars
Synopsis-
In a world without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will be 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. And a princess from a far away land will befriend her. But something evil dwells in the castle- and its 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.
Alright first off, I just wanted to express my outrage at the synopsis up on Goodreads and Barnes and Noble. I took the one up above from the back of the book because the other one is poorly written. It makes Celaena sound like a shallow brat who thinks she's better then everyone. It's not even the whole synopsis, its this one paragraph.
"Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. 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."
I don't know why that pisses me off so much. Like hellooooooo, this book isn't a romance people! Sure it has a love triangle in it but it's so much more then that. And using Chaol's last name like that makes it sound stupid. I'M VERY PROTECTIVE OF THIS BOOK, OKAY? MAKE IT SOUND GOOD OR I'LL HURT SOMEONE.
Okay sorry I needed to get that out of the way.
ANYWAYS, this book. It was awesome. My love for Celaena knows no bounds. She's a smart ass who's words are almost as deadly as the knives she wields. The world building in this was phenomenal, but didn't slow the book down. It was action packed and made my heart pound at some points.
I was able to understand everything (having a pronunciation guide in the back of the book helped OODLES), and it was nice having a narrator who actually appreciated being a girl. She loved wearing makeup and getting her nails done and wearing frilly dresses, but had makeshift daggers hidden in her corset. She knew how to use her beauty to her advantage and wasn't afraid to do it. It was refreshing.
Theres something for everyone in this book, so I highly recommend it! (and can we talk about that cover? GORGEOUS)
*waves to the non-spoilery people* BYE
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I don't think I've ever been so suspicious of so many people in one book. I was bouncing all over the place, going "Cain's weird." to "Eh, no Nehemia could have a secret agenda." to "Alright Kaltain, cool your opium addition, WHAT'RE YOU TRYING TO HIDE?" to "ITS DUKE PERRINGTON HE'S BEHIND ALL OF THIS." Which, technically, wasn't a lie. I didn't even bother wasting my breath on blaming the King cause the state of this entire world is his fault, but we already knew that and didn't need to point out the obvious.
I knew there was something fishy with Perrington's ring, and how him, the King, and Cain all had it. And when he was talking to Kaltain and twisted it around his finger and her headache spiked, that definitely had me giving him the stink eye. I knew Kaltain was an accomplice, wether she knew it herself or not. My issue with Nehemia stemmed from the whole Ansel situation in The Assassins Blade, when Celaena was training at the Red Desert. I thought her father had forced her to come kill all the Champions and to spy on the king, but she was wavering on Celaena cause they were friends. It wouldn't have surprised me if that had happened, but I'm glad Celaena finally has girlfriend she can confide too.
It's interesting how Maas portrays the King in this book because.. there really isn't much to him. He has no name and no description. All we know is that he's this hulking beast that everyone fears. It reminds me of the scene in Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi (spoiler? maybe?) when Juliette meets Anderson for the first time and asks him his name because she hated calling him the Supreme to herself, "as if he's some kind of untouchable entity." This is exactly what's happening here in this story. All this mystery surrounding who he is and what he looks like makes him appear bigger in our minds then he really is. Though I am curious to know what his hair color is, only because I want to be able to picture Hollin, Dorians brother. Dorian mentioned something about getting his mothers looks while Hollin got his fathers (plus theres that weird little tidbit of Dorian having blue eyes when neither of his parents do).
Now, it took me a while to come to my decision on the man candy situation. Team Chaol? Or Team Dorian?
For the first 50 pages I was Team Dorian, only because him and Celaena playfully made little verbal jabs at each other. But then as I read on I switched allegiances, and now I'm officially Team Chaol. He's a better fit for her. They're more alike, both in how they were raised and what they were taught to believe in. Sure he was a little stiff at first, but only because he was doing his job. He's steadfast, while Dorian is still too unaware of just how brutal the world is. Chaol is that hunk that's always waiting in the background, ready to throw himself in front of danger for those he loves. Plus he's all rugged and ripped and WHO DOESNT WANT THAT. Sorry Dorian, maybe if you grew out a little stubble I would like you more.
Seriously I don't even want to talk about how sweet Chaol was when he kneeled down across from her at the final duel and reached out his hand, telling her to get up. I was picturing it in my head and almost cried cause it was so dramatic and beautiful.
Queen Elena is a side I never saw coming in this book. Actually, scratch that, the whole Fae situation was unexpected. With the little creatures putting those white flowers in her tent on her way back to the castle, and then these dreams she has of the first Queen of Adarlan. Celaena is related to her so she's obviously royalty of some kind, though I keep wracking my brain with trying to connect that with her back story. Who were were parents? How were they killed?
"
Celaena stood in the tomb, and she knew she was dreaming. She often visited the tomb in her dreams- to slay the ridderak again, to be trapped inside Elena's sarcophagus, to face a featureless young woman with golden hair and a crown far too heavy for her to bear..."
TIS A MYSTERY AND I WANT TO KNOW NOW.
I can't even describe the anger I felt when we read about Kaltain poisoning Celaenas drink before the dual. Like, BITCH HOW DARE YOU? I'm glad she got thrown into the stupid dungeon. You aren't worthy of Dorian, biotch.
Quotes
- "Young women flocked to them, waving. Dorian winked and grinned. Celaena couldn't help but notice the sharp stares from the same women when they beheld her in the prince's retinue. She knew how she appeared, seated atop a horse like some prize lady being brought to the castle. So Celaena only smiled at them, tossed her hair, and batted her eyelashes at the princes back.
Her arm stung. "What?" she hissed at the Captain of the Guard as he pinched her.
"You look ridiculous," he said through his teeth, smiling at the crowd.
She mirrored his expression. "
They're ridiculous."
"Be quiet and act normally." His breath was hot on her neck.
"I should jump from the horse and run," she said, waving at a young man, who gaped at what he thought was a court lady's attention. "I'd vanish in an instant."
"Yes," he said, "you'd vanish with three arrows buried in your spine."
"Such pleasant talk."" (pg. 40)
(A letter to Dorian from Celaena)
Your Highness-
It has come to my attention that your library isn't a library, but rather a personal collection for only you and your esteem father to enjoy. As many of your million books seem to be present and underused, I must beg you to grant me permission to borrow a few so that they might receive the attention they deserve. Since I am deprived of company and entertainment, this act of kindness is the least someone of your importance could deign to bestow upon a lovely, miserable wretch such as I.
Yours most truly,
Celaena Sardothien
(His response)
My Most True Assassin,
Enclosed are seven books from my personal library that I have recently read and enjoyed immensely. You are, of course, free to read as many of the books in the castle library as you wish, but I command you to read these first so that we might discuss them. I promise they are not dull, for I am not one inclined to sit through pages of nonsense and bloated speech, though perhaps you enjoy works and authors who think very highly of themselves.
Most affectionately,
Dorian Havillard
- "Chaol chuckled at her agitation and pointed his sword at the rack, allowing her to get to her feet. "Pick another- something different. Make it interesting too. Something that will make me sweat, please."
"You'll be sweating when I skin you alive and squish your eyeballs beneath my feet," she muttered, picking up her rapier.
"That's the spirit." (pg. 84)
- ""Your lonely?" He said before he could stop himself.
"Lonely?" She shook her head and finally, after all that coaxing, sat down. He fought the urge to reach across the space between them to see if her hair was as silky as it looked "No, I can survive well enough on my own- if given the proper reading material." (pg. 146)
- "He won every game, yet she hardly noticed. As long as she hit the ball, it resulted in shameless bragging. When she missed- well, even the fires of Hell couldn't compare to the rage that burst from her mouth. He couldn't remember a time when he'd laughed so hard." (pg. 214)
(Image from Barnes and Noble)
