Initial Impressions 4/28/13:4.25 stars 
 Oh my god. I finished. It went a lot better than I thought it would! So interesting and totally worth the 800+ pages. Excited to read more! 
 Full review as originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide: So wow. I'm kind of in shock that I actually finished this book! Just the sheer mass of this whole series was SO intimidating and to be honest, I couldn't have done it without the Song of Ice and Fire Read Along! The participants have been reading this book for the past two months (we're giving ourselves two months for each book of the series) and I really think that was the perfect was to read it! I didn't feel intimidated or pressured so I was really able to relax and enjoy the book. 
 Now I haven't seen the TV show so I was really going into A GAME OF THRONES pretty blind. I barely knew the basics of the books, but I knew that they were high fantasy which is a genre I've really been getting into lately. The first thing I have to say is BRAVO, George R.R. Martin for being able to keep track of all of your places and characters because holy cow. I could not. If there was one negative thing I have to say about the book, it's that -- Besides being high fantasy and trying to keep track of these new settings and foreign lands, I also had to keep track of a NUMBER of characters which was pretty difficult at first. I kind of cheated and watch only the first episode of the TV show just so I could give myself a face for some of the names and that actually really did help! Then the more I got into the book, the more I was able to tell (most of) the people apart. 
 The epicness of this book is not understated. The book has everything -- violence, battles, romance, traitors, adults, children, creatures, gods, royalty, humor -- you name it. Honestly, there is something for everyone in this book and despite it's sheer volume of pages, I really think that so many different people can easily get into this story and really enjoy it. (Just take your time!!!) 
 I really felt like each of the characters was very well developed right from the start and so many different personalities shined and really felt different from one another. I truly, truly hated the villains and my heart went out to the heroes. There were plenty of surprises and shocks throughout the book (I've been told no character is safe in Martin's books!) and I just really got invested in the story. 
 A GAME OF THRONES is really just so long and so in depth, I find myself having a hard time on where to start specifically so I'll just keep this review simple! It was such an amazing ride and I honestly did not think that I would finish the book and feel so connected to the series, but really all I want to do right now is forget all of my other books and pick up A CLASH OF KINGS and just get lost in the story. If you haven't started this series yet, take it from a doubter -- I think so many people would love it who really hadn't thought of giving it a chance before!