Champion (Legend #3) by Marie Lu

First, I would like to say that if you have never read any of the Legend series, then read it RIGHT NOW. You will not regret it and it may turn out to be your favorite series of all time, just like it is mine! Trust me; would I ever steer you wrong? Well… maybe, but definitely not on this!

Being that the Legend Series is my favorite series, it may be surprising that I actually held off on reading Champion by Marie Lu for quite a while. But, being that it is the last book of the series, I didn’t want to read it. I didn’t want the series to end, or face that fact that it was over. And let me tell you, I’m still in shock from finishing it. It made me sob harder than I think I ever have before. It ripped me apart, but I loved every second of it. Honestly, I’m not sure how much I can write about it right now because I am completely emotionally drained, but I shall try!

            Champion picks up where Prodigy left off, but I don’t want to get too into detail, so as not to give too much away to people who haven’t finished Prodigy yet. Basically, it’s about the fight between the Republic and the Colonies, as well as Anden being accepted as the new Elector Primo, Day struggling against his disease, and June working at becoming the next Princeps. And that’s all I’m going to say about that!

            I LOVE JUNE AND DAY. Especially Day <3 font="" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"> They’re so adorable together and they have to be my favorite pair of all time- they’re both beautiful and broken with actual serious problems between them. In most books, it’s some insignificant, stupid little problem that always seems to get in the way of the romance. But, in the Legend series, the problem that gets in their way actually makes sense and is important, so that makes their relationship (and their relationship problems) seem much more realistic. And the fact that they’re trying despite that makes me root for them all the more. GO JUNE AND DAY!!! Separately, the characters are just as loveable as when they are together. Day’s sarcastic way of viewing the world is priceless and I love his personality; he seems like an awesome person to be around, light and funny and good. June, on the other hand, is a little darker, but her personality is also amazing, kind and strong and caring. And let’s just say near the end of the book we get to see June’s badass side again! And just as a little side not, Eden (Day's little brother) is so cute and precious! Love him!!

            As for the story, it honestly started off a little slow, but it was actually quite fitting. In the beginning (when it moved slowly), June is immersed in politics, but by the end (when it moved quickly), she was surrounded by action, in the element that she truly loves. So, it seemed almost symbolic of the way that politics is slow and tedious (to June, anyway), while the fighting is where she really belongs. However, after the first few pages, it quickly picked up and I was fully immersed in the story. I nearly lived and breathed Champion for the past two days. It was heart breaking and fun and amazing. I’m incredibly sad that it’s over and I really wish it weren’t. I now understand why Marie Lu cried while writing it.

            The ending was amazing and terrible at the same time: amazing because it was perfect; terrible because I sobbed my eyes out in a hotel room. The ending was beautifully written and heartbreakingly hopeful; it may not make any sense now, but you’ll understand once you experience it for yourself. So go read it right now if you haven’t!

Now for my last words regarding the Legend series, perhaps ever: Thank you, Marie Lu, for writing these books that will forever be held the closest to my heart and for taking me on June and Day’s journey. Thank you for writing stories that move hearts and pull tears out of our eyes. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!! Until next time!

This book was completely breathtaking and amazing! 5 Smileys!!

White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black

I LOVE reading about cons and how people can pull them off. I’m always impressed to see how clever some people can be, probably because I don’t have a sly, sneaky bone in my body. Sometimes I wish I do but then I think it’s probably a good thing I’m so honest and unable to pull off any awesome cons…

           

            Cassel Sharpe was born the only non-worker in a worker family. Going to a prestigious boarding school, he thinks that he can fit in and pretend that he’s just a normal kid with a normal family. He thinks it’s almost too good to be true until he wakes up nearly naked on the roof of the dormitory, about to fall off. Getting suspended from school is the least of his worries when he continues sleepwalking and the same character shows up every time: a white cat. This white cat is similar to someone he once knew: Lila, childhood friend and murder victim. And Cassel was the murderer. As the daughter of the Zacharovs, the largest crime family in the United States, Cassel and his brothers successfully hid the fact that he supposedly killed her (he has no memory of the actual event, just an image of him standing over her with a knife after it was done). When things spin out of control even further, with his brothers getting him unknowingly involved in some kind of coup, Cassel will discover something about himself and about the cat that he never thought possible. Will he be able to forgive those that betrayed him, even though they are his family, the ones that are supposed to protect him? Will he even live through the ordeal to be able to do so?

            “Clever as the devil and twice as pretty,” is the perfect way to describe Cassel Sharpe. I loved seeing him pull cons on people; it was SO AWESOME. He was really smart. I mean I’m pretty smart, but I never would have been able to pull off, or even think of the things that he did. He was truly a con artist at its best... though I’m not really sure that’s a good thing J He was also really funny and I felt really bad for him because his family was so horrible (dead father, mother in jail, horrible brothers) My views on the other characters are mostly pleasant, but I had a lot of hate for Cassel’s brothers. They were complete jerks and overall terrible people. Like super bad. But I think that’s the point.

            Admittedly, it took me a while to really get into this story. The first 120 pages or so were not very exciting, but after that I got pulled into the story really intensely. Once again, the cons were awesome to watch, but that wasn’t all that made this a great story. I thought that I guessed the whole story about 150 pages in, and while everything I guessed was correct, I only guessed a small part of the story. Everything else was a complete surprise. I must say that Holly Black has a really unique style of writing. Usually I don’t really notice anything about the writing of a book that makes it stand out (I’m a plot and character type of girl), but I must say that Black’s writing was really special. At times the writing was funny and kind of awkward, but in a good way. At other times, the writing was so beautiful and eloquent; I especially loved those parts because they were really quotable and just likable.

I’m so super excited for the next book! The ending was AMAZING! Good thing I got all three of the books for Christmas! J

This book was awesome! 4 Smileys!!

Eona by Alison Goodman

I read Eona by Alison Goodman in three days, including one night of reading until the near-dawn hours. Reading a 637-page book in three days is a rather impressive testament, either to my inability to stop reading or the absence of any social life whatsoever, I’m not really sure which J

            Eona has escaped the palace with Ryko and Dela, leaving Ido behind in the attack led by the late emperor’s brother, High Lord Sethon. The commander of all armies and ruthless to the bone, he murdered everyone associated to the emperor in his siege; except Ido. Luckily the Emperor’s son, Kygo, has escaped with his life and has taken refuge with the resistance armies. Eona and her gang go to find them as more and more natural disasters slam the earth due to the loss of the ten other Dragoneyes, which Ido had killed in the attack. What’s worse, every time Eona tries to enter the spirit world, the ten dragons attack her and destroy everything around her. Desperate to learn how to control her power, they free Ido and he begins to teach her, whispering treacherous promises in her ear the whole time, but nevertheless helping her develop her power. Eona’s ancestress, Kinra, the last Mirror Dragoneye, is coming through to her thoughts, telling Eona to steal the Impreial Pearl, and Eona has no idea why; all she knows is that Kinra was executed for treason over 500 years ago. And the worst thing? No one trusts her, not even her closest friends; she has never felt so alone. What will Eona do with her world crumbling around her? Will she follow the path of ultimate power or ultimate sacrifice? There can be no in between.

Ido was definitely my favorite character. Sure, he was ruthless, harsh, and a murderous traitor, but I couldn’t help but like him. Goodman was amazing at demonstrating his overwhelming charm because even I couldn’t help but fall in love with him, at least a little bit (well, after I found out he was only 24, not a creepy 50-year-old like I had previously thought…). Plus, I think I liked him because he was the only one whose actions made sense. Sure, his actions were mostly bad, but they fit in with his character and they were charmingly horrible. Frankly, the rest of the characters frustrated me. I’m not saying the book was bad by any means; I actually quite enjoyed it. But none of the characters trusted each other and all of them seemed to think Eona was this terrible person when she never really did anything to hurt anyone. Like when she healed Ryko: when she SAVED HIS LIFE a bond was formed where she could compel him to do things. She had no idea that would happen. Plus, everyone was begging her to heal him and all she thought would happen was that she would save his life. She only compelled him a total of three or four times times (mostly on the emperor and his own orders) and he was making it seem like she controlled him all the time. He just needed to calm down. The only person that was consistently nice to her (kind of) was Dela. And occasionally Kygo, but he doesn’t even count because half the time he treated her like garbage and the other half like a queen, but I’m not even going to go into that right now… But I did like Kygo when he was nice to her, which was eventually consistent for the last third of the book, but a part of me wanted her to end up with Ido, anyway.

Overall, Goodman’s writing was good because it drew me into the story; I literally could not stop reading! All of the events that occurred were so exciting and I actually stayed up until 4:15 AM reading because I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next! Sure, the characters frustrated and infuriated me, but at least they got me emotionally invested in the story and characters. However, I was surprisingly stoic when two of the kind-of-main characters died… I’m not really sure why… I really liked the ending, but I think that there should have been an afterward that explained how Eona fit into court after all of this happened. There are so many questions left unanswered and they’re not even the kind that I can imagine an answer to because there are so many different possibilities… Whatever, I guess I’ll just imagine the one want to happen and be satisfied with that J

One thing that bothered me A LOT was the repetition of a few key words. For example, “cinnamon,” “vanilla orange,” and “portent,” were used more times than I could count. But the worst example? “Bereft.” I kid you not, that word had to be in there at least 400 times. It was ridiculous. It’s not even like there aren’t any synonyms for that word, either! I can think of at east ten off of the top of my head. Though I did not mention it in my review of Eon, she did the same thing with the same words, as well as “brazier” and “kowtow,” but that’s not what we’re talking about right now…

All in all, a really good book! Though my rantings in this review may not make it seem like it, I actually really enjoyed reading it!!   

SO GOOD!! 4 Smileys!!   

   

Eon by Alison Goodman

Eon by Alison Goodman has been on my to-read list for a long time. I got it three days ago as a pre-Christmas present and I read all 531 pages of that hefty book in only three days, even with all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. I think that is a testament to how un-put-down-able Eon was!

            Born and raised as a slave on a salt farm, Eona would do anything to escape that hell. When a previous Dragoneye, one of eleven (previously twelve) people that can control the celestial dragons, comes to her and offers her a new life, she is more than excited to accept. However, she has to completely erase Eona, the sixteen-year-old girl, and become Eon, a twelve-year-old boy, so that she can enter to be one of the twelve candidates fir Dragoneye for the year of the Rat dragon (girl’s aren’t allowed to participate). There’s something special about Eon: she can see all eleven of the dragons, when the average person cannot see any. Even a Dragoneye can see only his dragon. However, when she enters the arena, the Rat Dragon does not pick her; but the Mirror Dragon does. Known as the ruler of all dragons, the Mirror Dragon had disappeared five hundred years earlier and no one knows why. Now, why has the Mirror Dragon reappeared, and chosen Eon of all people? As Eon is thrown into court life with a dangerous rebellion beginning, she struggles to keep her most precious secret: the secret of her gender. What’s worse, she can’t call her dragon, and therefore can’t use her powers. Will they begin to suspect Eon of her true identity? And what will happen if she can’t use her powers to stop the darker forces at work from rising against the Emperor?

            My favorite characters were Eon, Lady Della, and Ryko. And, strangely, Lord Ido (the bad guy…). Eon was really brave in the way she threw herself in the middle of the court when she knew she would be killed if she were found out, and I think it’d be pretty hard to hide the fact that I’m a girl, but maybe that’s just me… She was a likable character, but there were times when I was mentally screaming at her for being dumb and not figuring out things that were obvious to me, but maybe it’s just because I was an observer rather than actually living it. Lady Della was physically a boy, but she had the spirit of a girl, so she served in the king’s harem as a concubine. She was seriously hilarious and I can picture her perfectly in my mind; she was Eon’s first ally in the court and she was so sweet. Ryko was Lady Della and Eon’s bodyguard and his interactions with Lady Della were adorable and really comical. They were the only ones that lightened the mood of the book, along with a few appearances of Prince Kygo. I’m not really sure why I liked Lord Ido. He was crazy and evil, but at the end of the book I couldn’t help but like him at least a little bit. And now that I’ve been finished the book for about an hour, I just get the feeling that I like him… I don’t really know why though…

            One of the things that I appreciated most about Eon was the message that it sent about women. In Eon’s world only men had any honor or respect. The highest-ranking position a woman could have was a royal concubine, which is basically a fancy prostitute for the king. However, they accepted Eon as a boy, saying that he was their only hope, that he was honorable and brave. (*mini spoiler alert*)Upon finding out that she is actually a girl, even her closest allies say that she has no honor or respect, and that she could not possibly be their hope. Just with a switch in gender, everyone’s opinion changed drastically. However, by the end of the book she proves them all wrong and they all see women with a new light. This book is a perfect example for the fact that gender and personality seem to have a lot in common when they actually don’t. Gender doesn’t determine personality, and personality doesn’t determine gender. It was nice to see a character prove that women can be just as brave and honorable, if not more so, than any man.

            The writing was also very intriguing. It was written in first point-of-view with Eona as the narrator and I love stories where girls pretend to be boys or vice versa (like “She’s the Man” J), so it was really interesting to read a story from the point-of-view of someone masquerading as a another gender. The style also engaged me in the story and I felt like I was actually there. However, there were some times when the story was a bit confusing and I had to read the same section a few times before I really understood it, but luckily these were few and far between. It also fell into a little bit of a lull in the middle, but it quickly picked up again, and as you can tell that small part didn’t stop me from reading! Lastly, this book was based off of Chinese and Japanese culture, both of which I find absolutely fascinating, so it was awesome reading about a world based off of those two cultures!

This book was awesome!! 4 Smileys!!