darkdawn – Cosmic Lattes and Books

Book Review: Darkdawn

Author: Jay Kristoff
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Page Count: 478
Date Started: 9/3/2019
Date Finished: 9/8/2019
Spoilers? YES. Steer clear if you don’t want to be spoiled

A Brief Description

This is the third book in the Nevernight Chronicles series. There WILL be spoilers ahead. Tread with caution, gentlefriends.

A ruthless young assassin’s journey for revenge comes to a stunning end in the conclusion of this acclaimed epic fantasy trilogy.

The Republic of Itreya is in chaos. Mia Corvere has assassinated Cardinal Duomo and rumors of Consul Scaeva’s death ripple through the street of Godsgrave like wildfire. But buried beneath those same streets, deep in the ancient city’s bones, lies a secret that will change the Republic forever.

Mia and her brother Jonnen must journey through the depths of the ancient metropolis. Their quest will take them through the Godsgrave underdark, across the Sea of Swords, back to the library of the Quiet Mountain and the poisoned blades of Mia’s old mentors, and at last the fabled Crown of the Moon. There, Mia will at last discover the origins of the darkin, and learn the destiny that lies in store for her and her world. But with the three suns now in descent, and Truedark on the horizon, will she survive?

Goodreads || Amazon

What doesn’t kill me had better fucking run
Jay Kristoff
pg 97

My Review

Wow wow wow wow. What a conclusion! I loved this. First of all, the cover for this book is beautiful. When I opened the package I was surprised to find that I had received a signed first edition! Now, on to my review: I cried, I smiled and laughed, and cried some more. I knew that characters would die, but each death gutted me more than the last. I hadn’t realized how attached I had gotten to each and every single one of the characters in Mia’s circle. There was some major character development that both Mia and her brother Jonnen underwent. I love how their relationship blossomed from hatred, to tolerance, to love. While I hated Jonnens’ character at first, I grew to love him as time went on. I loved the relation that formed with Eclipse and I was devastated with Eclipse’s conclusion. I think it was the death I cried the most on after Ashlinn’s of course. There were many plot twists that had me on the edge of my seat and craving more. When I wasn’t reading this book, I was THINKING about reading this book. The pacing was pretty good, and it felt logical. Also, I was not expecting Mercurio to be the narrator! I was expecting someone like Mister Kindly, but imagine my surprise, when instead it’s Mercurio (who I still loved by the way). I loved the action and fight sequences in this as they felt high stakes and well orchestrated. The quotes that stood out to me in this book were about empowerment an coping with loss. I loved every second of this book. I cannot recommend this series enough, and I know for a fact that this series will be a treasured favorite and I will re-read it many times.

Blessings and curses fall on the wicked and the just alike. Fair is a fairy tale. Nothing’s claimed by those who don’t want it, and nothing’s kept by those who won’t fight for it. So let’s fight. Fuck the gods. Fuck it all. Let’s take the world by the throat and make it gives us what we want.
Jay Kristoff

One thing I will say about this is that the ending of the book…. will be very controversial to some. I liked the closure that we were given and the way that everything was wrapped up, but I realize that others may not feel this way. What did you think of Darkdawn? Did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Let’s discuss below! As always, have a wonderful day, and happy reading! 🙂

~Cam

September: To Be Read

September, oh September! Oh how I love September. Whilst I live in Florida, and the weather never changes, I still love September. September is peak hurricane season (Dorian is about to hit, so I’ll have plenty of candlelight reading time). Even so, I feel like the weather starts to lighten up just the slightest bit. It (usually) rains less and it starts to get the slightest bit less humid. School is back in session so I have less time to read, but I want to be a little ambitious this month. While I probably won’t have the time to get to everything, here’s a list of some of things I’m going to try to get to:

The Well of Ascension- Brandon Sanderson

The Greatest Show on Earth- Richard Dawkins

What will you be planning to read in September? Are you reading any of the books I’m reading? Have you read any of the books I’m reading? Let’s discuss, and remember, as always, to keep reading 🙂

~Cam

Book Review: Godsgrave

Author: Jay Kristoff
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 419
Date Started: August 13
Date Finished: August 23

A Brief Description

Keep in mind that since this is the second book in a series, there may be spoilers for the first book in the following description.

Mia Corvere has found her place as a Blade in the Red Church, but many disagree with her right to be there. She is no closer to ending Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo, or avenging her familia. After a confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church.

It is then announced that Scaeva and Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave Mia defies the Church and sells her to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end the ones who took everything from her. In the arena, Mia finds allies, rivals and more questions for her affinity for the shadows. Conspiracies continue to unfold and as the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between loyalty and revenge. She will uncover a secret that could change the face of her world as she knows it.

Goodreads || Amazon (US)

That’s Fear talking. Never listen to him. Fear is a coward.
Jay Kristoff
pg 95

Initial Thoughts

Since this is the second book in a series, I’m going to say that this is going to a spoiler-filled for anything that happened in book one and that you should tread with caution. While my initial thoughts won’t be spoiler-y the rest of my review will be. Okay, I’m excited to read this. I was delightfully surprised by Nevernight. Having read another of Jay Kristoff’s works and not enjoying it, I was worried I wouldn’t like it. I couldn’t put the book down. Going into Godsgrave was no different. This second book in the series had the same high-octane pace that the first one had and there were a lot of unexpected twists and turns. I read this book very quickly and thought about it very frequently. When I wasn’t reading it, I wanted to be. Overall, I enjoyed this book even more than Nevernight. I’m going to go more in depth into my thoughts below.

The heavens grant us only one life, but through books, we live a thousand.
Jay Kristoff
pg 65

The very first book (or the first 12 chapters) of Godsgrave had flashbacks between the past and the present. In the past, Mia, finally a Blade in the Red Church, being told that she is unable to kill Scaeva and Duomo, her whole reason for joining the Red Church to begin with. To add to this, Mia comes face to face with an old enemy, Ash, where she learns that the Red Church is not all that it seems. In the present it tells the story of how Mia lets herself caught by slavers to sell herself to a gladiatorial collegium for the opportunity to compete in the grandest games in all of Godsgrave to end Scaeva and Duomo once and for all. I don’t mind the flashbacks, as I believed that this added some backstory and explained a few questions I had, but at the same time, I felt that it took me out of the story a little bit as well. I found myself having to go back to the end of the previous snippet to remember what had happened last in that time period.

The second and third book both took place after Mia had been purchased by Leona, widow of Remus, the justicus that Mia murdered in the previous book and the successor of her father. She is brought to Crow’s Nest, the home that she vacationed in as a child. Here, surrounded by a new cast of characters that I came to love, Mia fights for her right to fight in the magni. The winner of the magni would be crowned by Scaeva, and blessed by Cardinal Duomo, and declared a free man/woman. This would have been her chance to kill them both in one strike. Of course, things don’t go as planned.

For starters, I want to talk about some of the characters we were introduced to: I loved them all. Some of them took some warming up to, Sidonious (Sid) for example, but once I was in love, that was it. All of these characters are so morally gray and have such a complex history that you can’t help it. Mia, though she is ruthless and dark and twisty, you cannot say that she doesn’t care for those she loves.

The last 50 or so pages of this book had me hooked and gasping constantly. With the treachery that wasn’t really treachery, the death that wasn’t really a death, the reveal of Mia’s true parentage and the return of two previously thought dead characters, I was breathless by the end. I think it’s safe to say that this book may have blown me away. I can’t wait to have Darkdawn in my hands come September 3rd.

Better to run than die on your knees.
Jay Kristoff
pg 357