Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Rating: Five stars
Series: Throne of Glass #2
Date published: August 15, 2013
Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis from Goodreads:

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

Fantasy Friday: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Today I want to spotlight Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I loved this series and I especially loved the characters and the humor. I'm pretty sure it's also the only series where I've been okay with a love triangle.

Synopsis:

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.
The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them...

Buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.com/1481456024

Fantasy Friday: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Fantasy Friday is a day to spotlight any fantasy book and for my very first Fantasy Friday, I'd like to spotlight my very first Leigh Bardugo read.

Here's the blurb:

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Kaz's crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

Six of Crows completely blew me out of the water. I loved the description, but I didn't feel like it really prepared me for just how great it was going to be. The writing was fantastic and so was the world-building. The characters felt so real and I loved their interactions with each other. The plot is an interesting one; a love a good story of a heist and this is one of them. I think the one thing that surprised me the most was how little romance there was and wonderful that choice was. I actually like that there's only a hint of romance in the novel. It's refreshing and means more characters are focused on instead of just the two main ones. Six of Crows is a must read and I really can't wait for the next book in the series.