throne of glass – J. E. H U N T E R

Okay, same old blurb here: If you haven’t read any of the Throne of Glass series, you’ll probably want to skip this post. If you have read TOG, but haven’t had time to finish Empire of Storms yet, read this at your own discretion. I try not to be too spoiler-y, but sometimes a little bit of information you don’t want to know might just leak out.

I’m going to start by saying that the more I read of Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass world, the more my relationship with it becomes love-hate. I love the world, I love the fast-pace action and the surprising characters and the relationships, and how—thanks to Maas’s rather different writing style—there are constant surprises. But there are a few things I’m beginning to hate. Like who Aelin is with… But, I guess not everyone falls in love with the same person. Right?

I don’t think this is the strongest book in the TOG world. My favourite is still Crown of Midnight. What I didn’t like so much about Empire of Storms is that I felt like Aelin is getting away with way too much. I mean, if I knew someone who talked back that much to almost absolutely everyone around her, I don’t know if I would really want to be her friend. And it makes me wonder if that’s why, as the books go on, there are less and less Aelin scenes.

For a few books now, my favourite character has been Manon, who is more evil by nature, so maybe she can get away with more because she isn’t supposed to be this kind of holier-than-thou character, which I feel Aelin is. The good thing is that Aelin’s attitude is kind of pointed out. Like people know Aelin is a bit… much. But like I said, it’s a love hate. I love how strong Aelin is, I love that she likes to do everything on her own. I think Sarah J. Maas’s world is so engrossing partly because of this. I think few writers can pull heartstrings like she does and keep you coming back for more (instead of slamming the book shut in disgust and refusing to read on).

I also didn’t really like all the extra S-E-X scenes in this book. I also felt it was a bit much, plus it broke with the style of the previous four books. I don’t think it was needed. TOG already has a huge fan base. I don’t think the style change was necessary, and it did not need to be that descriptive, especially for something shelved as Teen. I mean, when will Amazon and the brick-and-mortor stores put together those New Adult categories already?

But, even with all the bits I didn’t like, I will read on. I need to know what happens. I’m just not sure I’m going to agree with it.

4/5 Stars

JEH

An Essay on Heartbreaking Beauty in Young Adult Fiction

I’ve read a lot of young adult fiction, and it all seems full of love intestests who are “heartbreakingly”, “painfully”, or “achingly” beautiful. If you’ve read a book with one of the above descriptions, please raise your hand.

Yep. That’s what I thought. It’s all around. And it’s overdone.

I’ll be the first to admit that when I was attempting to write my first young adult novel, everyone in it was beautiful. The girls had long, flowing hair and smooth skin, the boys were chisled and handsome. And then I took my manuscript to a professional writer and she said point blank: “Not everyone’s beautiful.”

And I realised, this is true. Not everyone is beautiful. In fact, most people aren’t. When I thought about all the boys I dated when I was in high school, they definately were’t heartbreakingly beautiful (no offense, ex-boyfriends of mine). Was a heartbreakingly beautiful boyfriend something that I wanted? Maybe—but only because I thought it would show every girl in my homeroom that I was better than them. That it would somehow prove that I was also beautiful and amazing and awesome. But what I actually wanted was to be wanted. To be loved. So why do amazingly beautiful, flawless people exist in young adult fiction? And do we need them?

My answer is no. We don’t. I mean, I don’t necessarily want a hero that’s hard on the eyes here. But I want someone with substance. And I think the problem with writing a young adult hero that is “painfully beautiful” is that it doesn’t translate on the page. For one, I have a difficult time imagining such a beautiful person, and if I do, they all look like Ian Summerhalder. But I don’t want to imagine every hero to look the same. I want my hero to be unique from story to story. I want to love someone for more than their looks. I want to love someone because they refuse to eat pizza with their hands, or make sure every cat they come across on the street has a home, or calls their grandmother every Sunday, or spends every dime they have bailing me out of jail, or wrecking their favourite pair of jeans because I’ve just gotten stuck in quick sand. I want a voice that sends shiver up my spine and a touch that lights me on cold fire and an intelligent mind that challenges me when I’m behaving like vicious, stuck-up, prideful cat.

Is it possible that characters in popular young adult fiction are beautiful because we all want to be beautiful? Maybe. But I don’t need books that make me feel bad about myself, thank you. We’re all pretty enough. I’m pretty enough. A hero with a sharp brow or an average face is pretty enough, too.

I think, in the end, that this is why I loved Peeta so much in the Hunger Games, because he was normal. And maybe why I liked Bella in Twilight—because she was average and shy and somewhat awkward (though I think she is more “beautiful” after her transition, which we didn’t really need because we already loved her at this point)(also, don’t get me started on the beauty of the vampires). I should point out that I only find such “achingly” beautiful characters in Young Adult books of certain genres. It’s pretty rare to come across a “painfully” beautiful hero in a young adult book of realistic fiction. So ask yourself, why is that? It’s because it isn’t real. It’s fiction. Keep that in mind as a reader, all these beautiful people—they’re works of art. They aren’t real. And YOU, real YOU, are beautiful enough.

And for all the writers out there, branch out! Don’t rely on the physical description of your character to interest your reader. Dig deeper. Make a regular Joe a magnetic soul, and make me fall in love with someone who truly feels, acts—and looks—real.

JEH

J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Broken Tide, the first two books of the series can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016, after Dead Water and Doomed Seas, two Novellas featuring Caesar.

Tag: throne of glass

YA Book Review: Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

Don’t Write Me Beautiful…