David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite! discussion

Who is up for this one? I know Jen is! Start maybe Friday or Saturday?

Bit of drama on getting my books--Amazon delivered them today to my old address!!!

Luckily, Darryl was there in town today, he had to work, so he stopped by the house and grabbed the box! Phew! The house is still vacant I think.

So now I just have to wait for him to get home! Then we can start anytime!!!

Okay so I finally got my books, and I finally started reading! I am 21% of the way in so far (view spoiler)[ lots of action already, I'm loving it! Killing that poor sea creature...GRRR I really love that Alina is so adverse to killing, its nice to see in an MC! I don't know how that Darkling suddenly became more powerful than she... I love how brave Mal is! Not sure what to think of the captain, but something tells me Alina found another ally. (hide spoiler)]

Lest you all think my patience is unflagging and endless -- I admit that I read this on Thursday as I drove from IN to NC.

But hey, it's fresh in my mind! That said - Jenny, (view spoiler)[ I like Stormhund - he's cocky and self-serving, but there's a fair side to him. The killing of the Sea Whip was so sad! Alina and all her waffling around about how this is so inhumane, etc. started getting on my nerves. Mal is so good for her. (hide spoiler)]

LOL, Jen, and here I thought you had been so patient! Haha!

I'm at 60% (view spoiler)[ I am just loving this book!!! The action has slowed somewhat, but I am loving the dynamic between the Prince, Alina and Mal. The politics are interesting as well. I feel like Alina is turning dark, and I think trying to find the firebird is a mistake. I really do love the prince, I think he's hilarious. I feel really bad for Mal, and I'm a little annoyed with Alina that she is putting him through all this. But at the same time, I think she's right that she has to help her people. (hide spoiler)]

Jenny - (view spoiler)[I definitely started getting seriously annoyed with Alina. I get all that inner-dark-lust for power thing and all. But really? Can the girl not just come clean with Mal? I felt like she kept leading me on with her intentions and then doing me wrong with her actions. Mal totally got the shaft. Bad Alina! Bad! I love Nicolai. If I didn't love Mal so much I'd want Nicolai to be with Alina. But all things considered, I'm wondering if I want Alina ruining anyone else. She doesn't deserve Mal and she doesn't want Nicolai. Foolish girl. (hide spoiler)]

21% in. (view spoiler)[So glad to see Stormhund on Alina's side! I really like him so far. Hope he doesn't have us fooled like the Darkling did.

Yes, so sad about the Sea Whip. Alina needs more backbone! She's still a bit too whiny.

Very interesting twist. Loved it! (hide spoiler)]

34% (view spoiler)[ I knew from somewhere that this book gets better when the prince enters. But had no clue that Stormhund was the prince. Wow. Alina's whinyness is a bit annoying.

Is this going to be a love triangle? ;-P (hide spoiler)]

Ooooh!! I have wanted to read with others in so long! I had the book for a while now! Gonna start tomorrow. Hopefully I can catch up before all of u r done!! But how is it??

Az, I'm slowly making my way through! It's good! I haven't had lots of reading time so you can catch up to me I'm sure!

I finished this one already, although I hadn't left my final thoughts! Karen, agree completely with you!

Final thoughts (view spoiler)[ Overall, I loved it and gave it 5 stars. I liked it better than Shadow and Bone, because of the Prince. I also thought the ending was amazing, and I was awestruck by it. I can't wait to read the final book! (hide spoiler)]

Alina (view spoiler)[ She was whiny and making really stupid choices in this one, and I was annoyed by it--but I still like her! I don't like my MCs to be too perfect, its more entertaining when they have to learn and grow, which I think she did by the end. (hide spoiler)]

Mal (view spoiler)[ I was just as annoyed with Mal throughout--I completely understood where he was coming from, but what did he expect??? She is the most powerful Grisha in the land (besides the Darkling). Its not realistic that she could run away from that forever! He was just so needy, and that annoyed me. Although I still like him, and really want to see him and Alina have a happy ever after. (hide spoiler)]

The Prince (view spoiler)[ AMAZING!!! I really loved him, although I don't want him and Alina to end up together. But I think he's a good friend, and just overall an amazing character! My fave character of the series! (hide spoiler)]

The Darkling (view spoiler)[ I was never a big fan of him, although it did fool me in the first book to how evil he really is. We didn't get a lot of him in this book, but what we got--I really don't like him! What a jerk! (hide spoiler)]

I read this a while ago. (view spoiler)[Honestly, I'm not a big Mal fan. He just irritates me. I think I would like Alina with Nicolai, but I don't see that happening. I'm sure she'll end up with Mal, but in this book, I wanted to punch him. It's like how I'm feeling about Simon reading City of Ashes! (hide spoiler)]

I'm about 67% in. I'm addicted to this one now. (view spoiler)[ The Prince really made this story come alive for me. (hide spoiler)]

Me too, Karen!

76% in. (view spoiler)[Is it just me or is Mal turning into a needy co dependent male? He knows Alina is important and busy right now. He's turning me off. I think you said something similar in your Marry, Kiss or Cliff booktube, Jen. In fact, I think you may have cliffed him. Or maybe you just kissed him. You didn't marry him I don't think! ;-P (hide spoiler)]

I cliffed Mal, and yup, that was why!

Finished! I agree with everything you gals said! (view spoiler)[What is so appealing about Alina that Mal, and the Prince seem to be in love with her. The Darkling wants her powers but the other two want her? She's not a favorite MC of mine. I give her points for trying to sacrifice herself to kill the Darkling there at the end. My favorite character is the Prince! (hide spoiler)]

So when does the next book come out? ;-)

Karen wrote: "Finished! I agree with everything you gals said! [spoilers removed]

So when does the next book come out? ;-)"

I am SO with you on waiting for the next book. It needs to hurry up. I am so impatient with sequels; I have no empathy for busy authors. If they didn't want us to bug them and be impatient, they shouldn't have written such an amazing book. It's their own fault.

Karen - (view spoiler)[I tend to agree with you about Alina. I didn't find her annoying as much as the whole plot got annoying there for awhile. She seems to make such stupid decisions out of some kind of altruistic motive. Whatever. She's an idiot. And now she's an ugly idiot. She'd better redeem herself in the final book. (hide spoiler)]

Jenny - (view spoiler)[Oddly, I didn't find Mal to be overly whiny. I just thought he was treated extremely badly by Alina. I guess I tend to give guys the benefit of the doubt when treated badly by idiot girls, i.e. Alex in Delirium. Maybe he didn't make the best decisions, but neither did she. She's all "I've got to save the world!" and I think he's willing to help her do it, even wants her to do it. But he sees what a bad influence being there at the palace is.

The Prince - I absolutely loved him. Not for a love triangle, but just as a regular guy, especially there as the palace was invaded. I hope he is a major figure in the next book.

The Darkling - I love him too. Kind of love him/hate him - but you have to admit, he's probably the most interesting of all the characters! He's at least true to his evil nature. (hide spoiler)]

Overall, I gave it 4 stars but only because the plot tended to drag there in the middle. The ending was fantastic. Look out Leigh Bardugo, I stalk follow you on Twitter.