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: Blood and Salt

Blood and Salt: Written by Kim Liggett

Release Date: September 22nd, 2015

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Format of Novel: Hardcover

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (from good reads): When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in—blood and salt.” These are the last words Ash Larkin hears before her mother returns to the spiritual commune she escaped long ago. But when Ash follows her to Quivira, Kansas, something sinister and ancient waits among the rustling cornstalks of this village lost to time.

Ash is plagued by memories of her ancestor, Katia, which harken back to the town’s history of unrequited love and murder, alchemy and immortality. Charming traditions soon give way to a string of gruesome deaths, and Ash feels drawn to Dane, a forbidden boy with secrets of his own.

As the community prepares for a ceremony five hundred years in the making, Ash must fight not only to save her mother, but herself—and discover the truth about Quivira before it’s too late. Before she’s all in—blood and salt

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This was one of books I was dying to read this book for a period of time because I love me some horror romance. Coming from a person that enjoys that genre, I decided to take a gander at this novel. Meaningless to say, I did enjoy it quite a bit. It was fast pace and I giggled at some of the chapter names even though I wasn't suppose too. The concept of the story was gripping and suspenseful, considering the elements of a cult and alchemy, I was able to be pleasantly surprise by the events Ashlyn and her twin brother endured while trying to save their mother from becoming a vessel for their ancestor.

The pacing of the story was spot on, though I was slowly loosing interesting because I wanted it to have more suspense into it and a couple of the twists were predictable. But, the significant ones were executed quite nicely. I enjoyed the main cast of characters very much, they were out of it yet a perfect fit for this time of duology.

The only main problem I did have with Blood and Salt was that this book reminded me too much of the Mara Dyer trilogy. It was probably because of the mind bending stuff we see in that trilogy, but I think I had too high of an expectation for this book since Mara Dyer was such a beautiful crafted novel for psychological thrillers in my opinion.

All in all, I found this debut novel compelling, suspenseful, and interesting due to the occult elements that this book. I thought it did lack a little with the twists, but otherwise, I fairly enjoyed this novel. I eagerly await for the sequel that will released next year and possibly other novels from this author as well if she continues her writing in the horror genre.

Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (#1): written by Laini Taylor
Release Date: June 5th, 2012
Publisher: Little, little brown for young readers
Format of Novel: Paper back
Summary (from good reads): ~First book to the trilogy~
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
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This book is a new trilogy I have been hearing about lately and so after getting this from Barnes and Noble about a month ago, I gave a whirl. Let me just say, holy crow! Laini Taylor is amazing! This book is so so so awesome and the world building was truly a wondrous thing to grasp. I literally finished this book within a three day span, despite the fact this book was over 60 chapters. The story itself felt like I was pulled into a fairy tale and an original one at that too.

The simple idea of having the biological and the history of chimeras is truly what sparked my interest for this story. In most young adult literature, it amazes me to see that there are barely any stories about chimeras like the ones you see in this particular novel. I mean yeah there are chimeras in some Young Adult fiction, but they are normally the smaller bad guys. In this case, I was so happy to see that these wonderful creations are both good and evil. I think that with the chimeras in the story along with the angels, it really brought out a originality that I can really grin too when reading it. So as a result to it, when I get the money to do this, I'm going to get up and get the other two books just to see what happens to Karou and Akiva.

And speaking of Karou and Akiva, man oh man did I enjoy their characters. There a balance of each other and they contained that particular curiosity and selfishness that ended up causing them the issues they were gonna face towards the end of the story. But considering that this book is the first one to the trilogy, I'm pretty sure that we are gonna see more craziness soon.

Happy Howling.

Book Review: DarkFever

DarkFever written by Karen Marie Moning
Release date: October 31st, 2006
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Format of Novel: Hardcover
Summary (From goodreads.com): ~Book one in the series~ MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands….

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Alright, again I apologize for not posting as much. My internet was being weird and I was caught up in reading this book just so I can review it on hand. So unlike the previous of books I have review in this blog, this book is more a higher 'young' adult range or as people would say it now-- new adult fiction. This involves more sexual undertones and informational background on what fairies are.

As I read through this book, I can say that I'm not really big fan of it but I did enjoy it at the same time. No not because of the sexual stuff, but it was mainly because of the plot and characters overall. Now I get that this book is the first one to the long series, but I felt that Moning should've added a lot more than what a first book can handle. The book itself was okay and the narrative was really cool since it felt like I was personally listening to MacKayla's telling me the entire story herself. However, regardless of that fact, I did have issues with book.

The plot in my opinion felt empty. Moning did create a interesting world and characters, but the story line didn't really have much. For twenty five chapters, I wanted more. I think the story could've created a buddling romances between MacKayla and Jericho, but since I still need to read the other books I don't have much of a opinion to give a full-on review about the series as a whole. With the characters, I didn't enjoy MacKayla as much as I would like too. At first I felt as so she was really, really whining, but as the story continued on, I grew to like her snippy attitude when she arrived in Ireland. As for Jericho, I like the idea of him being a mysterious bad guy, but I really wanted him to give out a little more emotion as a person. In a way, he was dry and all he gave a crap about was the Sinsar Dubh, which is the most important object talked about in the story. 

While I did enjoy the read and the new experience on reading about fairies, I wish this story had more depth towards it. I am curious about reading the other books to this series, but I'm not sure if I'll enjoy fully since I had some issues with this one. But, like any other book, its a read and if you guys are into faes/fairies and celtic mythology, then pick up this book for your curious minds. Have fun reading and see you guys tomorrow.