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Leticia Guerrero _etizia_uel — I can only describe this book as more boring than a text book. Ugh.

Omnia Abdelfattah _mnia_bdelfattah — *A Clash of Kings reading journal* The idea here is writing my impressions on each chapter as I go, so I can look back on it afterwards and wonder and my naiveté. ------------------------------ APPENDICES Halfway through the Prologue I looked at the appendices and they deserve a section of their own, they're amazing! An incredible amount of up-to-date details with no spoilers about the Kings and Houses of Westeros. 5 Kings! That really pumped me up to start the novel, I had only counted 4 and forgot that Daenerys was Queen too. Also love the titles: -The King in the Iron Throne (Joffrey Baratheon) -The King in the Narrow Sea (Stannis Baratheon) -The King in Highgarden (Renly Baratheon) -The King in the North (Robb Stark) -The Queen Across the Water (Daenerys Targaryen) Another thing I liked are the new crests, mainly the variations of the Baratheon deer that the three southern kings adopted: The Baratheon Deer vs the Lannister Lion for Joffrey, the Baratheon Deer in a flaming heart (of the Lord of Light!) for Stannis, and Robert's Baratheon Deer on a field for Renly. The new section on the Night's Watch is really nice too. ------------------------------ PROLOGUE We start off with Maester Cressen as our temporary protagonist and thank god for that, I really couldn't stand the old man. The prologue was really slow for me, and though all the right elements were there (mainly Stannis Baratheon, badass extraordinaire) having Maester Cressen as our POV really ruined it for me. I couldn't stand having this old guy who couldn't even walk as the beginning of the novel. Thank god he died. Lady Melisandre is interesting, but I'm not sure what to make of her yet. Oh, and the book starts off with that mysterious comet, wonder what that is. My bet's on something to do with Daenerys's dragons. Other details: it was nice to hear about Steffon Baratheon, Robert's dad. And I couldn't stand the stupid buffoon, Patchface. ------------------------------ CHAPTER 1: ARYA Interesting start, I thought I wouldn't like starting with Arya but it was a nice chapter. Her ass-whooping of Hot Pie was great, as was seeing Gendry with them (though I had been spoiled that part by the HBO series) I love to read about each character's perceptions of the red comet: Gendry the Bull calls it "The Red Sword" because it looked like a new sword hot from the forge, and Arya saw it as Ice, red with her father's blood after his beheading. CHAPTER 2: SANSA Now it really picks up! I was annoyed by a Sansa chapter, not exactly my favorites, but being back at King's Landing with The Asshole King, Joffrey, was great. He seems more childish than in the last book. In King's Landing, the comet is known as King Joffrey's Comet according to Ser Arys of the Kingsguard (yeah, right) and Dragon's Tail according to what Sansa heard. Sansa continues her climb towards becoming an interesting character... she's defying Joffrey more and more, even if mostly in her head. I was also surprised by her thinking that she wouldn't mind having married Tommen instead of Joffrey. The Tourney was nothing special, and I liked that because that brat Joff didn't deserve a good one. And then... ho ho! NOW the awesome begins! Tyrion Lannister, the Imp, enters the Red Keep with his savage horde and Bronn at his side. This was so unexpected, I thought we'd have some Tyrion chapters on the road! But I'm so glad we get right to the dwarf putting things in order in King's Landing. He's definitely my favorite character, and he's so corteous to Sansa, really nice to her for a change... and she distrusts him, goddammit. I understand why, but still, dammit. CHAPTER 3: TYRION Finest chapter yet, full of Tyrion's wit, brilliant as ever. Cersei: "You" Tyrion: "I can see where Joffrey learned his courtesies" Hahahaha my first laugh-out-loud moment of the book! This chapter was brilliant, there's just so much to talk about that I really won't, it'd just be redundant. Tyrion chastising Cersei about all the stupidities Joffrey committed since becoming King is incredible, and it's heartbreaking to hear that Eddard was supposed to be allowed to take the black and join Jon until that fucking.. asshole... Joffrey did what he did. Great to see Littlefinger (dying to see his discussion with Tyrion about the Valyrian dagger) and Varys (still the same tricky bastard, locating Tyrion's inn so soon) again. Shae... still the same old whore, not really sure what to make of her. Shae: "What will you do now that you're Hand of the King?" Tyrion: "Something Cersei will never expect, I'll do... justice" BRILLIANT! CHAPTER 4: BRAN Not terribly engaging, a slow one as usual for Bran chapters. It's weird to see the two Walder Freys at Winterfell, I feel for Bran, they really are annoying out-of-place brats. Glad Shaggydog bit one of them. Also, Osha's opinion about what the comet is is VERY interesting: "Blood and fire, boy, and nothing sweet". "Fire and Blood" are the Targaryen words, and add to that Old Nan's "Dragons. It be dragons, boy" and I can't doubt it has something to do with Dany's dragons (which I really want to see, dammit!! Where's my Daenerys chapter?!) though I can't imagine what. It ends on a very interesting note though: Bran and Rickon become their direwolves when they dream? What!? CHAPTER 5: ARYA We get our first hint that Nymeria's still out there, and a better look at the chained-up criminals to take the black: Biter, Rorge (I still can't picture a man with a hole where his nose should be, or how he's still alive after that) and... Jaqen H'ghar. Thanks for that, Martin. You couldn't have made his name more unpronounceable if you had tried. Anyway, he seems like a cool guy, and I like his accent (very Syrio-ish as Arya remarks, though Jaqen's is worse... man, I hope Syrio is still alive. Meryn is still alive and well so Syrio either escaped or... died. And "The First Sword of Braavos does not run". Damn you, Syrio! You better be alive somehow!) Then some gold cloaks come looking for Gendry... wonder why. How did they find out he's Robert's bastard? And why should they care anyway? I thought bastards didn't have any royal claims so he's not a threat to Joffrey. And it's great to see Arya and Gendry's friendship flowering. CHAPTER 6: JON Back at the Wall! All's as grim as always, but more hurried too, since the Watch is getting ready for a badass expedition beyond the Wall led by the Old Bear Mormont himself. Sam's still a coward, Jon's still Jon. Martin's mini-recaps of things for people who haven't read the last book in a while are specially noticeable in this chapter. I liked Donal Noye's analogy of the Baratheon trio to different steels, Robert was the true steel, Stannis is pure iron, and Renly is copper; so fitting. And about Robert: "Robert was never the same after he put on that crown. Some men are like swords, made for fighting. Hang them up and they go to rust". Loved it! And then there was Targaryen History 101 with Professor Jeor Mormont, I loved this scene! Big exposition about the Targaryen line as it relates to Maester Aemon, and the revelation that he was offered to be King but quietly declined. And the end of the chapter, with Mormont comparing Aemon to Jon, and how Jon's brother will be pampered as the King in the North while nobody will care about Jon, was just great. Mormont: "What will you do? Bastard as you are?" Jon: "Be troubled, and keep my vows" CHAPTER 7: CATELYN Robb has to be a fool to think Cersei will accept those terms, especially the part about keeping Jaime. Yeah, right. Still, it was a pretty badass declaration. So in Riverrun, the comet is seen as an omen of victory - red fish tail over blue, the Tully colors, interesting comparison. Robb's an asshole about not wanting to trade Jaime for Arya and Sansa... though he's unknowingly doing the right thing, because the actual deal is Jaime for Sansa, and that's not a good one. Still, I liked Catelyn calling him out on that. That crown's really got to his head already. The story of Harrenhal was nice, I didn't think a King of Pyke had built it, and I didn't picture it as a haunted place. And an alliance between the King in the North and the King in Highgarden? Things start to get interesting! CHAPTER 8: TYRION Tyrion's on a roll sending men to the Night's Watch! I thought he wouldn't really care but he sees opportunities here and there that he uses to send men to them instead of killing them, I love that. Janos Slynt was an idiot, it's good to see him go, he had no place in the council... and it's really interesting to see an alliance of sorts between Tyrion and Varys, they make a really odd couple. It's good to see Tyrion isn't fooled though. So Cersei is the one going after Gendry, and all of Robert's bastards apparently: the gold cloaks killed the whore's daughter Ned had visited in the last book. Even if they don't pose a threat to Joffrey, it seems she's just doing it out of hatred for her dead husband. Probably the best moment was Varys's answer to the riddle about power. Varys: "Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less." Tyrion: "So power is a mummer's trick?" Varys: "A shadow on the wall, yet shadows can kill. And oft-times a very small man can cast a very large shadow." I'm also really curious about who Varys was before, he almost told Tyrion. CHAPTER 9: ARYA This one was reeeally boring. Basically, the Night's Watch recruits keep moving north; and Arya's reunion with Nymeria seems imminent. Not a lot else happened in this one. CHAPTER 10: DAVOS Our first new POV chapter! Davos Seaworth, an ex-smuggler we had already met on the prologue. I really like Davos because of a rare trait he has: he truly cares about his family. The way he talks about his wife ("a good-natured plump woman with sagging breasts and a kindly smile, the best woman in the world") and his sons is really heartwarming. Davos is a keeper. This was a long one. We start off with Stannis's burning of the Seven, that guy is batshit insane! Those were priceless relics! All for an epic fail trying to get the flaming sword Lightbringer, and instead getting a blackened piece of wood. That must have been embarrasing. Yet he clings onto the Lord of Light because Lady Melisandre is his only hope of getting the throne, through the fear she inspires on people. "A frightened man is a beaten man", very true. Then we meet Salladhor Saan, the Lysene pirate and self-styled Prince of the Narrow Sea. I like this guy, so laid-back and careless. We need more guys like this, who aren't so grim all the time! Wonder what's the deal with that gargoyle Davos pats in the head and says "Luck" to on his way in and out of the inn? Then Stannis asks Davos to make his declaration letter known all across the northern shores, while his sons do the same in the southern shores and the Free Cities across the Narrow Sea. Here we also find out Davos can't read, and that was a little heartbreaking, I really feel for him! And he's so proud his sons have learned their letters, d'aw Another detail: The clarification that Thoros of Myr's often mentioned flaming sword mas just a gimmick and not a truly magical flaming sword like Lightbringer is nice. And Lightbringer's fable was very interesting too. Would Stannis sacrifice his wife if it came to that? He doesn't seem to care about her a lot but still... a chilling thought. And one last thing, I loved that Davos called Stannis out on how unpronounceable his god R'hllor's name is! Hahaha that really bugged me. Thanks again for that, Martin. CHAPTER 11: THEON And another new POV chapter, though we've met this guy at the beginning of A Game of Thrones. I liked Theon - as a background character. Now that he's a POV character... I can see how much of a smug asshole he is. What he did to that ship captain's daughter was awful; so it was great seeing his uncle shut his mouth up with the possibity of his sister inheriting Pyke in his place. Go equality! Dorne doesn't seem to be the only one! During the Balon-Theon showdown I really got this Denethor-Faramir vibe off them, though I couldn't explain why. So dad wants to go back to burning down villages and raping women... very progressive. And if I understood correctly, he wants to invade WINTERFELL?! I'll hate Theon forever and ever if he agrees to that. It was nice seeing he still had loyalty for Robb, let's see how it holds up now. Finally getting a glimpse of the Iron Islands and their culture was good, though I hadn't pictured it as such a terribly grim place. It's also interesting that they have their own god, the Drowned God. I thought it was only the Seven and the Old Gods throughout Westeros, now there's also the Drowned God and the Lord of Light, interesting. Oh, and the comet is a message from this Drowned God to invade. Of course. CHAPTER 12: DAENERYS Finally!!! We're back with the Unburnt, Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen! Fuck yeah! This was a bit slower than I expected, the whole desert thing was pretty depressing. So, to the Dothraki the comet is called shierak qiya, the Bleeding Star, and Daenerys follows its direccion through the red lands, with a third of her khalasar dying before they reach an abandoned citadel where they find food and water. Along the way we find out the dragon's names: Rhaegal, Viserion and Drogon, named after her brothers and husband. Also, Drogon is the black dragon, the biggest of the 3 and the one who was Balerion the Black Dread in the old trio owned by Aegon, that was awesome! They're growing too, can't wait till she can ride one! At this abandoned citadel, we finally find out why Jorah Mormont sold those prisoners to slavers and fled into exile: it was because of a very expensive wife, who is still alive and left him after he couldn't pay for her style of life anymore. Poor Jorah, he's an awesome character. But... at moments during the last book I got this vibe between Jorah and Dany but I thought it was just me. Not so: Jorah wants Dany, and he says she looks like his ex-wife. Holy crap! Then Dany sends her bloodriders to explore the surrounding area and one of them comes back with 3 people from Qarth: a warlock, a merchant prince, and a masked shadowbinder. VERY interested in the last one, I believe Melisandre is a shadowbinder too (whatever that is, anyway. Something like a sorceress?). They've come to see dragons, and dragons they shall have! CHAPTER 13: JON Very slow chapter. The Night's Watch expedition find their fourth deserted wildling village, Whitetree, which has a really cool gigantic heart tree. They send word to Aemon and... nothing else really. Very short, very uneventful. CHAPTER 14: ARYA The Watch recruits can't cross the river south of Gods Eye to round the lake by the west, so they have to go upstream to the town by the shore, where they can't find boats and are attacked in their sleep by Lannister men. This one started very slow, but then the holdfast attack was really unexpected and awesome. Also, I wonder what's the deal with the wolf only Arya heard when she woke up just before the attack? Maybe she "became" Nymeria in her sleep just like Bran and Rickon? And the idea occurred to me that maybe Nymeria won't be all friendly when they find her... and Arya may even have to kill her. Hope not, but it's an idea. Quite a few casualties here, and please please tell me Yoren is still alive! Gendry, the crying girl I had totally forgotten about and Arya escape through the trapdoor in the holdfast's barn, but Arya threw an axe to let the convicts escape before that. The chapter's ending was a bit confusing. Did the convicts get into the tunnel? The Lannisters continue to raise the bar of being assholes, this time attacking Night's Watch recruits who have no part in wars. Also, something that really didn't happen here but Biter made me remember: why does Martin always italicize hisses? Biter and Dany's dragons don't just hiss, they hiss. It reads pretty silly, and I don't get what's so important about hissing that he italicizes it. Anyway, great chapter! Nice to see Arya kicking some ass with Needle, and I wonder what will she say when they ask her why she cried out "Winterfell!" CHAPTER 15: TYRION Oh Littlefinger, you shameless magnificent bastard, Shireen being Selyse and PATCHFACE's daughter?! That was hilarious! This was a really funny chapter, with Littlefinger's comparison of poor Shireen to Dragonstone's gargoyles, Bronn's "Fuck you, dwarf" to Tyrion saying he almost sounded like a proper courtier, and Tyrion complimenting Varys on his outfit: Tyrion: "Leather becomes you. You ought to come like this to our next council session." Varys: "Your sister would not approve, my lord." Tyrion: "My sister would soil her smallclothes." These two make such a great pair! I can't wait to see HBO bring these dialogues to life. Anyway, Cersei is overreacting and acting stupid again, and Tyrion finds a secret way through a brothel, courtesy of Varys, to come out somewhere else, disguise as a child, and go see Shae without being followed. Seems like a lot of work to me... Could it be that it was Littlefinger who told Stannis that Joffrey is a bastard? Interesting idea, and it very well could be, that guy's unreadable. CHAPTER 16: BRAN Since Bran's the current Stark at Winterfell, he has to play Lord and attend to northern politics with Maester Luwin and Ser Rodrik's help. Poor Lady Hornwood, she's surrounded by suitors she doesn't want and lords wanting to steal her lands. Ser Rodrik should go for it! Also, can I hit the Walders? Insufferable brats. You don't mess with poor Hodor! And it was good to see Osha again if only for a little while. And FINALLY, a book later, Bran remembered watching Cersei and Jaime fucking before Jaime pushed him off the window! This really came out of the blue, and I wonder what will come of it. Bran's word will be proof enough for Robb, so maybe he'll try allying himself with Stannis? But then again, Catelyn suggested making Renly their ally a while back. We'll have to wait a see.

Isabella Winter treviojasvc6d1 — Posted on Under the Covers I absolutely loved Michaels’s writing style. The pacing was great, the sense of humor was spot on and most of all, this book had a lot of heart in it. Evan and Matt are perfect for one another. I loved that they both started off in a bad place. Of course, I don’t wish what happened to Evan to happen to anybody, but the fact that Evan found comfort in Matt’s presence set my mind at ease. It seemed like a natural progression to their friendship and I loved that they sought out each other in their darkest times. It shows that love can overcome the steepest mountain. You just need to have a little faith. I know that others had a difficult time believing that Matt and Evan were both straight men who, for the first time became interested in men. My feelings on this were the exact opposite. I felt that Michaels showcased their inner conflict well. Their confusion was evident in Evan’s self-loathing and doubt and also in Matt’s unease. There was a lot of back-and-forth action because, for them, it’s something they have never experienced before. Faith and Fidelity was a thrill to read. It was a solid M/M romance with a wonderful backstory and incredible supporting characters. I’m sure Michaels will become a favourite of mine soon.