Book Review: City of Ashes

City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments #2): Written by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: March 25th, 2008

Publisher: McElderry Books

Format of Novel: Paperback

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Summary (from good reads): Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

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Happy Shadow Hunters Tuesday everyone! Today we are reviewing the second book, City of Ashes in honor of the second episode of the TV series being released to our viewing pleasure. Unlike many of you, I haven't really watched the second episode yet online, so please don't spoil it for me okay? Hehe. Anyway, City of Ashes is the first dramatic sequel to the never ending Mortal Instruments series and what a emotional roller coaster right? We got action, a little bit of romance, and pretty much a better understanding of the Silent Brothers and the world Cassandra Clare created for us. (And the official Malec train finally began in this book, yay!)

One of my favorite parts was when we get to see Simon join the gang in a twisted way. By getting turned into a vampire.. Sure he turned into a vampire, but now he gets to have a lot of fun with it and be with Clary during these crazy ass adventures. I was excited for this part, but at the same time, I was a little let down. I felt as so Simon didn't need to become a vampire to be more awesome than he already was in the beginning. Maybe in a way, the author should've let him stay human throughout the entire book so we can see the flaws and the pros of being a human fighter in the Shadow hunting world. I also enjoyed Clary in this book as a character. She seemed to finally go out of her native stage a little bit and grew more mature since she grasps her newfound world a little bit more than the first book.

With everything that was presented, I've enjoyed the book for the most part. However, one of the main reasons I gave this book a four out of five stars was because of Jace. He was such a whiny little bitch, I couldn't stand his actions and the way he hurt Clary. It made me want to punch a while and throw a chair at him. He kept going up and down with everything and I understand he is emotionally imbalanced, but come on, don't be a asshole to people that give a shit about you.

Overall, this book was exciting to re read and I'm dying to grab the third book again to see more events unfold and these people grow into more of an badass than they already were in this book. And maybe, we'll finally see Jace grow a little out of the asshole stage? Maybe..

Book Review: Shatter Me

Shatter Me: Written by Tahereh Mafi

Release Date: November 5th, 2011

Publisher: Harper Collins

Format of Novel: Nook

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (From good reads): Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

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I'm late in the game, but I'm glad I was just so I can appreciate this series as a whole instead of waiting for the next books to review them on here. So Shatter Me, it's basically like the people have said in the past, it's a mixture of X-Men and any regular dystopian novels I've read in the past. But unlike the other dystopian novels I did read, I found this narrative of Tahereh Mafi to be very poetic. It's reminds me of Maggie Stiefvater's writing in her Raven Boys series, but it's more fluid in a angst-y sort of way. We follow Juliette's journey after being locked up and abandoned by those who was supposed to love her in an asylum for a little over 264 days. We get to meet the other characters like Adam and Warner. Each of them with their own goal and method of trying to overcome that goal.

At first I wasn't sure about reading this trilogy. I did hear mixed reviews about it, but at the same time, I wanted to give it a shot and I'm glad I did in the end. The plot of this story is quite typical for a dystopian novel in terms of its world being a wreck and the rebels vs governed forces concept, but it has it own twist since we are more focused on the protagonist's sudden ability to kill people with a single touch.

What makes this story interesting is the idea that we get to see how somewhat crazy the focused characters are throughout the novel. The pacing doesn't really help me in a personal sense understand what going on, but I liked that. It helped build up a mystery without giving so much information. I'm still questioning what the hell happened in their world and how did the rebellions start their 'war' against Warner and his soldiers. Speaking of Warner, can we talk about him? What a psycho huh? I mean, I'm sure that there is something more about him, but for now, damn.. If he wanted love, he should've taken the lighter approach like Adam did with Juliette. Adam is also a mystery to me. While I do love his character thus far, I think there's something else to him that's darker and we can't know what's going on till the sequels.

Juliette, what can I say about her? I think she's a interesting being. While I can agree that she is a whining and jittering little being, I do admire how flawed she is in the psychotic sense. She's reminds me of Mara Dyer, but is more kindhearted I wanna say. I'm hoping she grows stronger as a character as the series continues. Also, my babies, James and Kenji, oh my god can they be real so I can hug the crap out of them??

Overall, this book is exciting and fast pace. The narrative is so realistic and poetic, I'm so dying to read more from this author in the near future. What are your opinions on Shatter Me? Tell me in the comments below and I'll see you guys soon with another blog post. Happy Howling!

ShadowHunters: A Pilot Review

So guys, yesterday was the world premise of the television series, "ShadowHunters". Its the adaption that I prayed for after watching that dreadful movie version of it a few years ago. Like the books, we follow Clary, Jace, and the others in their journey for the mortal cup and to defeat Valentine and his army in order to protect both worlds. Like many people, I've been iffy on watching the show because I'm scare to see if the creators of the show royally screwed up anything that was suppose to be in the books, but isn't at all.

However, like a lot of you, I was excited to see the show and to see a very popular book series evolving into something awesome for us to see. The only other main reason was I was so skeptical about this show was because of the movie. Holy crap, that movie was horrible. (It had it good moments, but overall it was bad..). After the movie receiving such poor reviews a few years ago, we all can agree that we are on thin ice with this series because something else in the movie/tv show sort of sense. So here it is, my intake on the pilot.

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Holy shit, this was so much better than the movie. I was cheering happily over Alec's portrayer, oh my goodness, he is beautiful! The main actors did a good job in taking their time to researching the characters' personalities and action. And Jocelyn, she is such a bad ass. I'm so glad they included the fighting scene with her and Valentine's goons, it made her shine as a character even though we won't probably see as much in the upcoming episodes. Simon was so freaking cute and natural. The actor who portrays him is perfect. The movie of him was cute as well, but I felt that he had a stick in his butt much like Jace's movie version of him. And Jace's TV actor, I enjoy him, 'nuff said.

The girls like Isabelle and Clary are perky, I like how the TV actors are bringing these characters to life in a natural way (I know I keep saying that word, sorry).

I also liked the pacing and the new minor characters that were added into this show as well. It gave me as a viewer the chance to see everything in a wider point of view. Another thing I liked was the age increase. When I'm reading the book series, I picture the characters a little older than they are because of their attitudes in fighting and jokes. Maybe you guys don't feel that way, but I feel like it was better for them to increase the ages.

The differences I've noticed in the show compare to the book are noticeable at the moment, but you can forgive the creators for them right now since we are only at the beginning of this show. But, this is just a personal opinion of mine.

Overall, this pilot kicked ass, well in my opinion it did. What are your opinions on the pilot episode and are you excited for more? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be back soon with another review of this series next week if you want or a book review. (Let me know in the comments below as well). Happy howling!! <3

Book Review: City of Bones

City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: March 27th, 2007

Publisher: McElderry Books

Format of Novel: Paperback

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): 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 strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. And she’s more than a little startled when the body disappears into thin air. Soon Clary is introduced to the world of the Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of warriors dedicated to driving demons out of our world and back to their own. And Clary is introduced with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque monster. How could a mere human survive such an attack and kill a demon? The Shadowhunters would like to know…

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Well guys, I'm sure many of you know what this series is all about right? I figured it's only right to start reviewing this series in honor of the new television show that is appearing tonight. And also, it was time for me to semi-return to this blog. Let's get started. This is the book that started the global fan base for Cassandra Clare. It has a Supernatural meets Degrassi feel to it with the teenage drama and action packed fights we read throughout the Mortal Instruments series. Its humorous, serious, and entraining for us readers to grasp in the paranormal fantasy this author had been embracing herself for almost ten years now. Plus the love for all romance she embarks with some of the characters are a bonus as well.

City of Bones takes place in New York City (I live in the state, but not this particular city) and we follow Clary and her best friend Simon as they are thrust into this invisible after the disappearance of the paranormal. There they meet Jace and the lightwoods siblings and they begin their epic quest to stop Valentine and his growing army while learning more about the world they were born to protect.

Now I'll be honest with ya, I lost motivation to read the rest of this series after completing the Infernal Devices trilogy a while ago, but since now I gotten the new boxset, I decided to actually sit down and read the entire series this year. (I'm only on the second book so reviews for these books are gonna be slow). I really enjoyed the first book, but considering it is the introduction to this series, I can't spoil much for those that have read it. The characters were fresh, the plotline is jumpy yet keeps the readers on their toes.

I liked how Clary developed the attitude to go save her mother, but yet I felt that she was annoying in the sense that she was still naïve into the new world. Which is fine and all, but still, I would've liked the pacing to slow down a bit just show she can develop a little more as a character. Jace Wayland was a walking douche, but we already know he's going to grow a little more as the series progresses. Now Simon, Simon is my baby. I love him as a character. He is loyal, sassy, and all around good friend when needed. The Lightwoods are also cool characters, but I want them to sine a little more as the series progresses. And Magnus Bane, holy shit do I want to party with him one of these days haha. He was a kick ass character too.

Overall, this introductory novel was a great start. Even though I wasn't a fan of how fast Clary was pushed into this world, I'm excited to read the sequels ahead. I'm also excited about the tv show as well. I'll probably do a review on the show after I watch and we can have a full discussion on it. :)

Till then guys. Happy howling!