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This was my first ever Non-Fiction book, and honestly I was really expecting to be bored at some point in the novel. What happened was, I didn't get bored, at all. This is an amazing non-fiction novel written by one of my favorite authors ever, Stephen King.

I learned a lot of things from him because of this novel. Aside from the knowledge gained about [proper] writing, I also learned about him as a writer, and his life before that. I really liked his life story, it shows how hard it is to become a writer, and it also tells us how much sacrifice he had to make.

I will read this novel again one day. If ever I decide to write and all, this would be a superb reference and/or inspiration. Every writer, aspiring writer, or anyone to be honest should read this novel. An easy 5 stars and an even easier recommendation.

A lot of people rated this book either 4 or 5 stars, but it's more of a 3 for me, or even 2.

The whole book started slow for me, despite all the action. Todd and Viola were the only ones interesting for me. The mayor/president was pretty ok, but he lacked the qualities of a true villain. He was rather weak for me.

The reason why I rated this 3 stars, and not 2, was because the last part was quite interesting. A lot of surprises that would be further resolved in the last book.

I expected a lot more from Patrick Ness... I really liked More Than This and The Knife of Never Letting Go, but this one was a huge let down. Hopefully I'd like Monsters of Men more than I liked this.

I know that this is just probably me, maybe the novel is actually really really good. Let's just put it like this, I didn't like the novel, but that doesn't make the novel bad right away. My genre are Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Crime. I don't really read YA anymore, unlike before. Most YA fail to impress me, so I do have a feeling that most YA readers would actually like this. So if you're a YA reader, don't hesitate to read this.

I also have to mention that I read this right after reading Joe Abercrombie's "The Last Argument of Kings" and I have a feeling that I'm having the so called "book hangover". I really liked TLAOK, and it's a fantasy novel, so I think that contributed to the dislike I felt toward this novel.

I've seen numerous reviews complaining about the ending/the series itself, and I have to strongly disagree with them.

The characters were superb. In fact, I even like the characters more than some of the characters in George R.R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. I liked every character in the First Law Trilogy. They were original and interesting.

But let me talk about this book, and not of the series as a whole.

There were a lot of surprises in the third and last installment of the trilogy. Surprises that I really did not see coming.


Jezal's real parents
Ardee West and Glokta's marriage
Ardee being pregnant with Jezal as the father (the mere fact that she was pregnant was the only shocking part)
Jezal being king of course
Bayaz's deceit (although we all knew this was coming)
Jezal's army winning. I was expecting them to lose... nice one Abercrombie




I only mentioned a few surprises, better read to believe, and be amazed.

All of the characters developed quite well for me. Joe Abercrombie's message is quite clear
People don't change, they stay the same

This book was as eventful as the second one. Full of action and shocking revelations. I couldn't put the book down, but I read at a slower pace just because I didn't want the trilogy to end just yet.

Now to talk about the series as a whole.

Jezal has to be my favorite character ever. More than all of the characters of all the novels I've read combined. I don't know why but he strike me as the most interesting one.
An arrogant asshole who honestly got what he wanted. Despite Glokta's blackmailing Jezal's queen, in technicality, Jezal got everything. A wife, and the throne. The only thing he didn't get, that he really wanted, was Ardee. I was completely disappointed with this, considering I really wanted both of them together. Also add the fact that Ardee is carrying Jezal's baby.

I've also seen numerous reviews regarding how uneventful the first book was. I do have to agree, but it was an introduction to the few greatest characters of all time. The only reason why I loved the trilogy was because of the characters. If it were not for the first book, Jezal wouldn't be my favorite character of all time.

This trilogy has to be one of my favorites. With characters that superb, and the plot was not that bad to be honest. A whole lot of surprises, this is what a fantasy novel should be made of. I know a lot of people would disagree with this review, but for me, I really really liked this trilogy. I already bought Heroes and Red Country, and being in the same setting as this, I'm going to read them soon. Best Served Cold to follow.

A very easy 5 stars for this book, and an easy 5 stars for the trilogy. Joe Abercrombie has been added to my list of favorite authors.

This was a shockingly good read, in a way. Not because it was written by Patrick Ness, because I really like him as a writer, but rather because this is a YA book. I normally don't like YA, and I really try my best to avoid them, but The Knife of Never Letting Go was recommended by a lot of people, so I decided to give it a try.

Prentisstown is a town with no women, and no secrets. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts, therefore you cannot hide any secret from anyone.

I really liked the blurb, it was something new for me, and I had high expectations. I finished this in less than 12 hours, with a lot of breaks.

The novel honestly started super slow for me. I almost didn't reach the middle, but I considered the recommendations, so I decided to keep on reading. It gets better in the middle believe me. I considered Todd as a wimp and a coward at first, but in the end I could consider him as your regular superhero.



Superhero in a way that he had to lose a lot of people. We all see that in superhero movies, Spider-man is a great example.

He lost his dog, his dog that I really liked. And in the end he, I think, didn't get to save Viola, and might I add that Viola has to be one of the worst names I've ever heard. So like I said, he lost some very important people/animals? in his life.



I gave it 4 stars because it had a really slow start for me, the exciting parts weren't evident until the middle, or maybe 60%?

So my advice is to keep on reading, cause it really gets better.

For me the second, or middle book always end up the worst, but Before They Are Hanged proved itself otherwise. I have to say that it's better than the first book, The Blade Itself.

In The Blade Itself, we were just introduced to the amazing characters, and of course the world building just started. The world building, and the characters felt more complete in the second installment of the trilogy. No more introduction of who's who, but rather the characters were in a lot of action in this book. The first book was less violent than this one, and I really have to say that the violence of this book was astounding. In any fantasy novel I always look for action and death, and this one really delivered it well.



In the first book The Dogman seemed boring, but in this one he redeemed himself, and him being the new chief makes me wonder what might happen to his journey.

None of the characters were boring in this book to be honest.

Glokta with his usual humor, and we saw more "evil" of him in this book.

The part of Jezal being hit by a mace was awesome. Who would've guessed that someone of royalty would receive such a harsh destiny.

Logen and Ferro was something I knew was going to happen. I didn't get shocked and all, but I still really liked ther chemistry.

West proved that he has more to show, and he's starting to become one of my favorites.



Once again, an easy 5 stars, and no doubt one of my favorite novels. If you want to read something somewhat heavier, and full of action, then this is the book for you!

This book was amazing. All I ask of the series is to have more action, and I truly got my wish.



The Red Wedding is the most amazing thing that has happened to the whole series as of now. I got really mad at first because Robb became my favorite character, but after a few days of pausing, I realized how amazing the red wedding was. I've seen numerous reviews stating how violent it was, but honestly I want that violence in the series. Being a 1000+ pages book, we need something to keep us going, and The Red Wedding proved to be the solution.

More shocking things happened, like Sansa being married to Tyrion, and then her escape, causing her to be betrayed. I used to hate Sansa, because of her constant complaints about everything, but after she got "captive" of Joffrey, I started to like her. Speaking of Joffrey, I was really glad that he died. This asshole needs to go.

Davos and Arya successfully made me bored again, although I have to say both of them improved, compared to the second book. Arya, in the end, seemed stronger. Makes me want to know what's going to happen to her in the next books.

Jaime and Cersei continues to be my favorite "couple" of the book. I've always wanted forbidden relationships, just like Ardee and Jezal from Joe Abercrombie's The First Law Trilogy. Jaime losing one of his hand was really cool too. I didn't like what happened to them in the end though... but it also makes me want to read the next book and find out what's going to happen to the both of them.

The ending of the epilogue was very, very surprising. The disrespectful shit they did to Robb was fascinating, and who would've thought that Catelyn Stark would still be alive?! I considered Robb to be the twist in the end, but wow, Catelyn was a huge twist for me. Of course no one (of the main characters) know that she's alive... this is going to be very interesting.



Those things being said, this is a novel full of deceit, lies, murder, and incest. One hell of a roller coaster ride reading this. I've heard numerous advice saying that I should stop for a while after this one, and I think I'm going to listen. I do have a really long "to-read" list, and I'm going to go read some other novels first before starting with A Feast of Crows.

An easy 5 stars. I'm going to read this novel again one day to relive that amazing roller coaster ride full of twists and turns. One of the best books of the decade.

I got an advance reading copy from Netgally

I can't thank Netgalley enough for giving me an arc of this amazing novel. I honestly didn't expect that I'd get an arc of this, but wow I'm really glad I did.

I've read Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, and because of that, I had really high expectations with this one.

The novel started really strong, I got hooked right away, only problem is that some parts in the middle were rather boring, and that's the reason why I gave this 4 stars, and not 5. The characters were superb though, and the novel was full of action. Action packed and full of humor too from time to time, what more can you ask for?

I was shocked when I checked the genre and saw that it's listed as YA. After reading the novel, it really seemed more of Fantasy and epic only, just like his other novels. It's not that I'm discouraging people from reading this because of it being YA, I was just shocked, that's all.

This is a very easy recommendation to anyone who wants a good read. You might not want to try out Fantasy because of the gigantic fantasy books out there, but you should give this one a try. Fairly short for a fantasy novel, but the plot didn't seem like it was rushed. Abercrombie truly knows how to write an amazing novel. I might've gotten an arc, but surely I'll still buy myself a copy of this novel nevertheless.

Unwind is not your typical YA book which contains romance, and more romance. In fact, the only reason why I gave up on YA novels is that almost all of them are about romance, especially ya-dystopia novels. Thankfully though, Unwind doesn't fall under ya-dystopia-romance.

[Negative]
The only reason why I gave it 4 stars, and not 5, is because of the characters. I didn't really like them, except for Conner. Aside from him though, I didn't really care what was going to happen to the others. Some of them were quite annoying too.

Some people might find the process of unwinding someone as immoral, but come on, it's a fantasy novel. If you want realistic novels, then go read something else.

[Positive]
This is a great novel, obviously not perfect, but original and good in its own way. Not that I liked the concept of unwinding someone in the moral sense, but I found it fascinating being a premed student. A few jargon here and there of the medical field, I really liked that.

I already have the next book, but I'm not planning on reading it anytime soon. For me the ending could've been better, it wasn't much of a cliffhanger like I was expecting. Despite the problems mentioned above though, I highly recommend reading this. For me, it is something new for once. Better have a good read every now and then.

I can't really review this without spoiling, to be honest. If you haven't read the novel please do not press the spoiler tag, or you'll really regret doing so.





Protect the Diamonds

This talks about the abusive father, the one who rapes his wife and daughter. I think it also pertains to Sophie and the old woman. He protected them all, tok care of them. It was his first "mission".


Survive the Clubs

This one is about Gavin, and his brother. If I remember correctly there were fighting a lot, and it was getting really intense. Ed, the main character, had to be beaten up for the brothers to realize that, well, they are brothers.


Dig Deep Through The Spades

It started off with the poems, the authors, and the funny incident in the library. This part was the least interesting for me. All I got from reading this part was well, sometimes you have to exert effort if you really want to get what you want.


Feel the Hearts

This part was really good, wow. First, with Richie. Richie is my favorite character next to Ed, so a part of the novel that talked about him a lot made me happy. His problem was slightly less severe then Marvs, but a lot more than Audrey's. He needed to want something, he had no ambitions in life, and Ed helped him through that.

Marvs on the other hand, had a huge problem. He has a son. That had to be the second biggest shock of the novel for me. I didn't expect it, although I had no idea what his problem was before the revelation. I couldn't even guess, cause for me nothing really bad was going on with him aside from the ugly old car.

Audrey didn't strike me as attractive. That reason alone lead me to be less concerned of her during the third part of the "hearts". And it's crazy that she loves him yet she wants someone else.


The Joker

The biggest shock or plot twist of the novel! I thought that after the hearts it would be all over, but clearly the author intended to shock everyone with that ending. I was leaning towards the idea of his father planing the whole charade and all, but no. I also thought that maybe it was the bank robber himself, but no, he was just an accessory to it all. They didn't reveal who the man was, and Ed didn't even know who he was, so I guess I didn't really hate on the author for not telling us who he was.

The moral of the novel though is clearly amazing.
And I quote from the novel,

"If a guy like you can stand up and do what you did, then maybe everyone can. Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of."

It is true though, ordinary people deem to be the most helpful in society. And if no one wants to stand up, then what will happen to the world? Someone must, and will be brave enough to speak up and do something about a certain problem in society perhaps.

"I'm not the messenger at all.
I'm the message."

He thought that he was just the messenger, delivering messages to the people "in need", but clearly he was something more. I understood this as Ed being an inspiration to all. To man up and deal with problems. If one decides to be a coward, then one will never succeed in life. That person will never get what he wants, or even worse, what he deserves.

This may be written for Young-Adults, but clearly the message of the novel applies to all. When a person has a huge problem in life, sometimes they just need someone to help them realize that being a coward wouldn't help at all, or if they don't need someone, then they need the hear the message from somewhere, because once the person realizes that he could do something about it, all he needs it motivation to actually pursue the elimination of that problem.



The novel for me had a slow start, but clearly everything else made up for it. I've heard that most people stopped from the part where I almost did, but I'm really glad I didn't. This novel was truly good, and I might need to read this again soon, just to relive that amazing plot. Might I add that this novel is fairly original for me. I haven't read anything like this before, and that ending really is the best. I can't say that it was an easy five stars, considering I almost gave it just one, but bear with the first few chapters and you will not regret it.

This novel has to be one of my favorites. I only give 5 stars to novels that I could consider as one of my favorites. Merely entertaining me would lead to 4 stars, but this novel really delivered what a fantasy novel should.

The characters are superb. There are three main characters, Logen, Jezal, and Glokta. If I were to choose who my favorite is, I'd have to say Jezal (or maybe Glokta, actually maybe Logen).



His constant complaining of fencing practice didn't annoy me at all, it was rather hilarious. He reminded me of myself, a very stubborn lad. Another thing that made him my favorite was his "secret" relationship with Ardee. Ardee West has to be my second favorite character in this novel. Despite being a minor character, her story was very interesting to me. Glokta and Logen are very good characters too, in fact, almost all the characters were really interesting. And the fact that it's troubling me to rank them all makes this novel really good. One of the main criteria for a fantasy novel to be good is that readers should love the characters. And also, the part/s of the competition really entertained me a lot. I knew he was going to win, in a way, but the way that he did was a shock to me. I didn't know magic was going to be involved, and I was very pleased that it did

Glokta struck me as a humorous character. He complains a lot. I cannot even describe the frequency of his complaining, and all of those times made me laugh a lot. Humorous nature aside, he is also an excellent inquisitor. For me his ways are very good, and it shows results. Despite the ways being immoral, what's important in the novel was getting answers.

What I really liked about Logen was the action parts of the novel. It makes him standout from the other characters(aside from Jezal).
Once again, almost all of the characters are amazing, and I may have ranked Jezal number one, and Ardee as number two, but honestly Glokta has to be my number one too, the same goes for Logen. To make things short, all the characters are pretty awesome, so go read this piece of treasure and get your mind blown, cause surely mine did.

I can't wait to know what's going to happen to everyone. It's not much of a cliffhanger to be honest, but it still made me want to read the next two novels, and so I will very soon. Jezal and Glokta being reassigned was a bit of a twist in the end, I really liked that. Hopefully Jezal and Ardee will still be having their forbidden relationship.






Easy five stars, and it just made my favorites list. An amazing first novel of a trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, certainly a must read for fantasy readers out there looking for action and the usual things a good fantasy novel should have.

Life does not have to go how you think it will, not even when you are very sure what is going to happen.

That quote from the book has to be the main idea of the plot, and also what I realized this novel offers in the end. While reading the novel I stumbled upon moments where I expected obvious and cliche things to happen, but Patrick Ness managed to surprise me. I thought I figured out everything, but in the end I was wrong, and you don't really find that easily among most young-adult novels. The story is fairly original for me, and right from the start I wanted to know what's happening to Seth, the main character.

Patrick Ness really caught my attention with the blurb of the novel. There were a lot of shocking revelations that really made me want to finish the book in one sitting. This is a very good example of a novel that would make you ask the question, "What is the meaning of life?".

I did my best not to spoil anything, and hopefully I didn't. To sum things up, I recommend you go to the nearest bookstore or order this online and read it right away. Interesting world building plus a plot that would really make you love this novel.
Did Patrick Ness give out an open-ending, or will there be another novel? The ending really made me want to ask for a sequel.

I'm not even sure which one I liked better, the first book or this one...
I have to say though that this one had a lot more action, and I also have to say that most of the characters I loved during book one, I kind of started to hate in this book.

The next few chapters will be about the characters, and it will contain a few spoilers. I decided to give out a warning rather that hide it in a spoiler tag


Sansa
Everyone hated Sansa in the first book, you can add me to the list, but I really liked her in this one. She's not the spoiled princess that she was during the first book considering she is held captive of the King we all hate. Without her constant whining of Arya, I learned to love her, she has to be one of my favorites now.

Tyrion
I hated Tyrion in the first book, despite all the love he received there. Although in this book, he is my favorite character. He really redeemed himself. His feud with his sister has to be my favorite part/s of the book. And him almost dying in the end really made me nervous. This imp has to be the best character in this book, if someone disagrees then let that person be eaten by Ghost.

Jon
In my review of book one, I stated out that Jon was my favorite, although in this book I have to say that I kind of lost interest in his chapters. For me he had a slow pace in this book, and the mere fact that I'm not fond of "The Night Watch" might contributed to me not liking him that much in this book.
If you've read the book, you should remember his scene with Ygritte. That scene for me was his most important one, and George R. R. Martin kind of ruined it for me. I wanted him to kill her. Jon needs the thrill, the suspense that the other characters are getting. I know him not killing her contributed a lot in the end, but still, for me I would start to like Jon as much as I did during the first book if he did kill Ygritte. Also his last chapter felt a little boring for me too, not much suspense, and I'm not really anticipating that much for the next book. I have to say though that my favorite direwolf of all is Ghost.

Bran
I have mix reactions of Bran in this book. There were chapters wherein I hated him so much, but there were also chapters that I really liked. I would consider him neutral here, but I have to say I really liked him during the first book.

Daenerys
A few good chapters, but also a few bad ones.

Catelyn
She really redeemed herself in this book. I saw her dark side, and that really made me look forward to every chapter of hers. George R. R. Martin did leave us with a cliffhanger though. I can't wait to read the next book to find out if she killed Jaime or not.

Arya
She has to be the biggest let down in this book. I really liked her during the first, in fact, I anticipated every chapter of hers in the first book, but I really hated her here. No thrill, and nothing to look forward to.

Theon
A really good addition to the list of characters. I really liked his chapters, never was there a dull moment. His arrogant remarks made him more interesting than most of the main characters.

Davos
He has to be the worst character in the book, ever. Even worse than Joffrey. Every, and I mean every, chapter of his made me bored. Bored to the point that I started questioning George R. R. Martin's intention of adding Davos' voice in the first place.


I really hated Davos, but that aside this has to be one of my favorite books out there. It also took me a while to finish reading this, but it is a fantasy novel, its main mission is to take over my life.

Wow, first things first this book was very long. I even thought I'd be bored in the middle and end up not finishing this, but I didn't get bored, and I finished it happily.

For a fantasy book to be good, for me, it needs 2 elements. One, a very good world building, and the second is very good characters. Either one of the two missing and the novel wouldn't turn out as good as A Game of Thrones.

I have to point out how much I loved the characters, and I also have to add how attached I am to almost everyone. I've heard numerous warnings telling me that I shouldn't be, but how could one be not? George R. R. Martin has truly written a novel that we will never forget.

My favorite character has to be Jon. He may be the bastard, but I don't know why I like him the best. My least favorite is Daenerys. At first I thought she would be a useless character, but in the end I realized how important she was to the story. That ending made me want to read the second book right away.

To sum it up, and before I spoil anything, this is a book any fantasy reader should read. Very good world building, and characters you would love till the end. Yes, the book may be very lengthy, but in the end you'll be asking for more, and thankfully, there are 4 more available as of right now. Don't be discouraged because of all the hype this book has received, I know how hype mostly leads to disappointment, but believe me when I say you will not regret reading A Game of Thrones.

Finished it in one sitting. It had a shallow plot, something obviously meant for children or teens younger than 18.

I have to press the issue again regarding books that really not scary but they are considered as horror. This book didn't scare me at all, but like I said, it was meant for children- young adult, although I have to say anyone who is over 13 wouldn't consider this horror. Not even the part where the "freaks" were described could be considered scary. It had a very predictable plot but I don't know why I finished it in one sitting. Regardless of the shallow plot it still made me wonder what could happen next now that Darren has been turned into a vampire

I would recommend this to the younger audience, or someone who really wants a fast read that would neither leave you with satisfaction nor hate. I decided to give it 2 stars. The book was just okay for me, but maybe I should've read this years ago, because my genre preference has obviously changed.

This novel really had potential, but for me it wasn't well executed. I didn't like the characters enough to care for them in the story. It's not that bad of a novel, but my expectations were really high.

I really liked this one. A lot of twists in the end, and I didn't find it cliche. It seemed like a fast read because of James Patterson's writing. Very short chapters which I find unique and appealing.