City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #1) ★★★★☆ When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with odd markings. This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with golden-haired Jace. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know… . I loved City of Bones. Not quite as much as I loved its predecessors, the books in the Infernal Devices trilogy, but still quite a lot. I thought that the variety of Downworlders, the mystery of Clary’s past, and rich details Clare puts into the story keep it interesting throughout. However, several scenes could have been shortened considerably and not done any harm to the story. I also didn’t like that this book and Clockwork Angel followed very similar formulas, but since City of Boneswas written first, I’ll forgive Clare. The thing that really got on my nerves was the love triangle. In TID, I was a big fan of the love triangle; it was executed perfectly and actually added a lot to the story. But in this book all I couldn't think of why Clare put the love triangle into play at all. Frankly, it was just annoying and cliche. But, I concede, overall City of Bones was a well-thought-out, beautifully detailed urban fantasy.
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The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (Blood of Eden #1) ★★★★☆ Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters. Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for - again. Ever since Twilight came out and sparked a whole new interest in vampire books, I’ve been a little wary of the genre. But The Immortal Rules is wonderfully not Twilight. I love Kagawa’s vamps. They’re a cool new spin on traditional Dracula-types, and the fact that she added in the vampire cities and Rabids makes her world that much more complete. The vampire cities are eerie and scarily real-feeling. The Rabids, post-human monsters with no thoughts other than to destroy, just scare the shit out of me. For all I like about Kagawa’s beautifully combined paranormal dystopia, I wish I knew a little more about Allison. She seems to adjust to vampirism pretty quickly; I want to know if she’s conflicted about being ‘alive’ as a vamp, or if she simply accepts it as how life is now. Still, Kagawa managed to stay remarkably real in her story - from the way Stick reacts to Allie to the pilgrims looking for Eden to the humans’ reactions to being put under vampire rule. I will definitely be continuing this series. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion ★★★★★ R is a young man with an existential crisis—he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams.After experiencing a teenage boy’s memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim’s human girlfriend. Julie is a blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world. I loved this book. It was practically glued to my hands; I barely paused to eat while I was reading it. There are a thousand reasons I love Warm Bodies, but one of the biggest is that it’s so different. I’ve read a few zombie stories in my day, and this one took the cake. R isn’t a thoughtless killing machine. There’s no sense of hopelessness and defeatism in him or Julie - they acknowledge that their world’s gone to shit, but they hope it will get better. I was skeptical at first; sure that R’s “recovery” would be some miraculous, cliched cure from love. But R starts to become human and live again because he wants to. And it’s infectious. The amount of character development in this book is staggering. The amount of thought Marion put into his world-building and the plague itself is wonderful. I do wish that the battle against the Boneys had gone slightly different, at least at the end, when they all just walked away. But overall,Warm Bodies completely transported me into R and Julie’s world, had me sitting on the edge of my seat, and made me fall totally in love with it. I never thought I would care so much about a zombie. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett ★★★★☆ According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world’s only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth’s mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist. My friend recommended this book to me, and I’m glad she did. I was laughing by the time I’d finished the prologue and cast of characters, and I kept laughing throughout the book. As much as Good Omens was funny, though, it was also quite serious. I love the ideology worked into the text; the idea that humans are not inherently good or evil but rather both, and that angels and demons are not so unlike each other, plus a few more brilliant ideas that would spoil the ending for you. I love that the “In the Beginning” section is chock-full of foreshadowing, and all of it comes to fruition by the end of the book. No strings are left dangling, and while in some ways this wraps the ending up almost too neatly, it also leaves it fairly ambiguous. Another great facet to this book was the portrayal of the Horsemen, the Antichrist, and the angels/demons themselves. It was completely unique, and avoided getting very involved in religion while still acknowledging the religious undertones, which I very much liked. Overall, Good Omens was a truly incredible read that I absolutely loved, which met and then surpassed all of my expectations and totally blew my mind. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices #3) ★★★★★ Tessa Gray should be happy - aren’t all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa’s heart, will do anything to save her. If I had to describe this book in three words, they would be these: holy plot twist. Clare has outdone herself with the finale of The Infernal Devices. Despite the book’s having begun with a giant demonic worm, it’s truly incredible. Beginning this book, I was really nervous, because I knew we’d finally figure out exactly what Tessa was, who would win her heart, and whether or not Mortmain would be stopped. Clare did a wonderful job of answering these questions. And her plot twists - of which there were several - knocked me completely off my feet. (There will be spoilers beyond this point. You have been warned). One of the things I absolutely loved about this book was Charlotte’s role. In the 19th century, women weren’t seen as capable of taking on the kind of responsibilities Charlotte does. I love that although the Consul is extremely sexist and makes many insulting remarks about the “fairer sex,” Clare also makes it clear that she doesn’t share that view and goes so far as to make Charlotte the new Consul, a huge victory for any woman in that time period. A problem I had with the book was the ending - everything seemed too neatly wrapped up. Everyone marries who they’ve fallen in love with, and even Jem, eventually, gets the girl. But at the same time, if the book had ended any other way, I probably would’ve thrown it against a wall. This series has put me through enough pain, I think we deserved a bow-tied ending. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd) ★★★★★ The monster showed up after midnight. As they do. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming… This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth. A Monster Calls is a new mix of sorrowful cancer book and chilling horror story. This book was extraordinary, from the way it was conceived to the way it was brought to life. Just when I thought I’d figured out what was happening, something new popped up. Ness’ words, Dowd’s idea, and Jim Kay’s illustrations fill every page with suspense and mystery. It’s creepy, it’s heartfelt, and it’s heartbreaking. A Monster Calls isn’t a book to be taken lightly, and it certainly isn’t a book that turns out the way you expect. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia + Margaret Stohl ★★★★☆ Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever. Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. I don’t usually go for the paranormal romance books, especially after Twilight hit bookstores and became the new standard. But this one is completely different from any I’ve read or heard about. I love the way the authors created the town, as rife with secrets as the families who live inside it. Beautiful Creatures is incredibly layered; there are a thousand stories weaving beneath Ethan and Lena’s, which is more like the way things really happen than most books will tell you. Because of this, the book is really long, but not a sentence is wasted. By the time you reach the end, you will be holding your breath and biting your nails, desperate to know Lena’s fate. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ★★★★☆ The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. The Night Circus is, in a word, enchanting. Within the first few pages I’d fallen in love with the circus and its performers. The magic is perfectly utilized, making it believable (or as believable as real-and-true magic can be, I suppose). I love the layout of this story, the foreshadowing, the setting, the romance - I am simply in awe. My one and only quip with this book is that if you don’t make note of the dates (under each chapter title) it’s a little confusing, but if you do pay attention to the dates it only adds more to the story. I honestly cannot choose my favorite part of this book, but I would probably say the circus itself. The circus is as magical as Celia and Marco, and it is truly a wonder. I thank Morgenstern profusely for giving me the opportunity to wander through its tents. The Alchemist by Paul Coelho ☆☆☆☆☆ Paul Coelho’s story is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom points Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasure found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transformation power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts. To give fair warning, if you liked this book, I highly suggest you don’t read my review of it. And if you haven’t read it yet, spoilers. Because, to be honest, I hated The Alchemist. I disliked almost everything about it. The relationships between the characters were so unrealistic - I can’t even describe. At one point, Santiago meets Fatima, who is apparently his great love. He hasn’t spoken a single word to her yet, and he knows he’s irrevocably in love with her. So what does he do? He marches up and says “I love you.” That might have been okay (not good, but okay) if she hadn’t told returned the sentiment. If a strange guy you’ve never met before walks up to you and confesses his undying love, under no circumstances do you reply “Love you too.” Then there was the scene in the marketplace, where Santiago just hands a guy his money and then wonders why his “new friend” is running off with it, and shouldn’t he wait up? Or the scene where Santiago is talking to the wind and the sun, and then he is the wind - Sorry, Coelho, you lost me. I understand that Coelho was trying to impart some deeper meaning - spiritual, religious, whatever - on us, but The Alchemist just didn’t do it for me. There are plenty of books that manage to convey deep messages while still having believable storylines and characters who don’t turn into wind. The Diviners by Libba Bray ★★★★☆ Do you believe there are ghosts and demons and Diviners among us? Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City - and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer. As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened… If that summary doesn’t give you chills, wait until you meet the villain of Evie’s world. The Diviners is full of creepy scenes featuring the killer, guaranteed to make your spine tingle. The imagination behind him and his background is astounding, like getting several stories in one. As Libba Bray spins her tale, she weaves the many stories into one perfectly. I love 1920s NYC. The speakeasies, flappers, the vernacular. The setting of The Diviners had all that and more, the pages filled with memorable characters and a thrilling plotline. From the moment I met her, I loved Evie, the bold, brash girl too big for Zenith, Ohio to handle. Evie seems like the kind of girl you could meet on the street and just tell there was something different about her. I love Libba Bray’s writing - I think she’s fantastic and she’s my second favorite author - and I lovedThe Diviners too. My only quip with this book is that it leaves so many loose ends. Usually I like a book that doesn’t tidy up after itself and tie all the bows. But with this one I almost feel like there’s too much left unsaid, like even though the book has ended, I have nearly as many questions as I did at the beginning. I can't wait for the sequel! The Diviners was a great book - well worth the 578 pages. There’s no doubt about it. - The Diviners is the cat’s pajamas. |
Once Upon a Time...As a longtime lover of stories and a believer in the power and magic of books, I've spent my life seeking out the best reads. This blog is dedicated to reviewing the books I read - good, bad, or magnificent - to help other readers find their next favorite books. Currently ReadingKing Zeno
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