The Mortal Instruments 1,2,3 by Cassandra Clare

Clarissa Fray knows things are going to change when she starts to see. Seeing monsters, things that children are taught do not exist. When her mother goes missing and she gets, essentially, kidnapped by the Shadowhunters who hunt the monsters, she is proven right. Clary has to enter this world to find her mother. She is particularly interested in learning the truth about Jace, the sexy Shadowhunter who lives at their secret New York Institute. She becomes permanently part of the Nephilim group, much to the dismay of her best friend Simon. But even he cannot help getting involved, for Clary will do anything to find her mother.

Alright, I read all three books in very very rapid succession, so there is no way I could separate the three to review them. So here goes all three Mortal Instruments books:

OMG. I knew they were the addictive, amazing, rip-your-heart-out type because of all the rave from my friends and online. It was SO true! I read the third book in about 24 hours and couldn't put it down.

Clare is a very talented author. I love the way she writes, it's full of allusions and unexpected imagery. She also created beautiful characters, each with a tragic flaw, but still easy to love. The book changes perspective briefly when necessary, which I liked because it drove me crazy knowing all this information that Clary didn't know yet, just waiting on her and sometimes yelling "NOOO!" at the book.

Clary is a very strong leading lady. Although she made a lot of mistakes that made me want to scream at her, she is tough and knows what she wants. She takes the whole Sight thing really well, and doesn't waste too much time moping or freaking out (although she has this annoying tendency to run out of rooms at major turning points).

And Simon! My Simon...he is the best type of best friend. He adds comic relief right when you need it, causes dramatic rescue scenes, and even makes some dramatic rescues. All the foreshadowing leads you right to the truth though, in the second book, to a crazy plot twist (that I loved). He is also part of a couple interesting love triangles.

Jace is my favorite. Of course. I challenge you to find any female MI fan who does not love Jace. He's sexy, strong, that perfect mix of kick-a and romantic, bad and angelic. I quickly made him my new favorite fictional romantic interest.

The setting changes from New York, to the creepy Bone City, to the amazing City of Glass, back to New York again, and I loved the way the settings came into play.

Yes, there is some romance involved, and it's amazingly heart-breaking. I cannot say a single word about who it is with or why I love it, because that would completely ruin the plot twist for you. And believe me, the twist kicked me in the face.

All of the demon fights, Shadowhunter battles, rescue missions, and near-death experiences make the book mostly action. No sitting around wondering about what will happen next. BOOM! Demons knock down the front door. It's perfect. It made the books so much quicker to read, and impossible to stop ("No! Clary! Jace!").

Long review short, read them. I adored them! Lucky for us, there will be 3 more, as well as a prequel series about some different characters, which I'm sure will still rock. Also, if you're an avid fan like I am, you can visit the site to get some more info and learn more about the Shadowhunters!

4.9/5!!!

The Vampire Diaries 1: The Awakening

(Taken from the combined edition)
Author: LJ Smith
Published by: HarperTeen (07)
Paperback length: 512 (both books combined)

Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her.

I expected this book to be cheesy. It was almost the original vampire romance, written in the early 90's. I expected immature characters, predictable outcomes, tired plot. I was pleasantly surprised.

It was definitely cheesy. I mean, how many juniors do you know who talk to their diary? Besides that, Elena is a modern heroine. She is strong, fiery, and confident. Sometimes she is a little girly and almost naive for my taste, but I can like her easily enough.

Stefan and Damon are the classic vamp old-timey names, and they have stellar good looks. Elena meets Stefan and falls for him, though her appearance is so familiar to him she is painful for Stefan to look at. Gradually, his resolve weakens, and they fall for each other with no hope of going back. (A little prematurely, okay, a LOT prematurely). It was a nice, simple romance though. I enjoyed reading about it.

There was a little too much face touching, name saying, and weird dialogue between Stefan and Elena. Like when they get back from a major tragedy in which he basically saves her life and finally admits his love, before he leaves she says "Call me!" She didn't know his secret, in her defense, but still. It's like she thinks he's gonna go cheat on her or something. She can't go half a day without talking to him? Somewhat petty. That's my only real problem with the book though, it's just kind of naive. (again, 90's teen romance to blame for that)

Things take a rapid turn for the worse, and both Elena and Stefan are in danger of Damon's revenge. Damon is hot too, but clearly you see from the beginning he is going to be the bad guy.

I liked the look into Stefan and Damon's past, and also the classic vampire lore. No garlic or crosses, but old remedies. You have to invite a vampire in. To become a vampire, blood is exchanged. It's the classic, simple view on vampires that is weirdly refreshing after all the modern twists that have been added onto the vamp legend.

And that's that. A good book, quick, to the point, and a good read.

3.8/5

--Shay-la

Shadowland (The Immortals #3)

Author: Alyson Noel
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin (09)
Paperback length: 369 pages

Taken from Goodreads description:

At the start of this breathtaking novel, Damen and Ever travel to Summerland in search of an antidote to reverse a powerful poison. But instead of the cure they seek, they find something far more sinister: the truth about their existence and the fate lying in wait of an immortal’s soul.

Now, with Damen fighting to save them from the Shadowland, Ever turns to magick, hoping to break Damen’s curse. Along the way Ever encounters the mysterious Jude, finding herself drawn to him in a way that will test her love for Damen like never before.

This book was a lot like the second one. It had an interesting enough plot, but again, you're stuck inside Ever's head way too much. She starts to get involved in some out-of-the-house activities, actually spending time with her so called "best friend" Haven (who is the most un-needy best friend ever, they NEVER see each other, or even talk). I liked that she was starting to have a life outside of Damen. She had to, because he is once again absent from the story.

I won't go into details as to why, in case you haven't read the previous book, but Damen is now unable to touch Ever. So the plot of the book becomes finding a way to reverse the curse so they can finally "be together" (a respectable goal indeed *awkward turtle*). But Damen is unreachable, because he is playing creepy parent (which would probably make me think twice about "being" with this guy).

In the meantime, Ever gets a job at the magick store and meets Jude, a hot surfer that has a really cool story! He is connected with Ever in more ways than one, and I got pretty excited at the prospect of a guy that could actually make some progress with Ever. So far, Damen and ever have been stuck at square one, and three books later they haven't done ANYTHING. I don't mean sex, I mean bonding. No couple time, no closure, it's like they're still trying to find a way to become a couple. Therefore, all three books have had the same goal.

The third book wasn't as cool as the second one, you only get more questions. No answers. No resolution at the end, which sets you up for more series syndrome. The premise of this story is so good-looking though, I'm not sure I can give up on it yet. I have not hated any of them, just gotten a little frustrated.

I do like one thing: the magick aspect of it all. It's pretty unique, like a mixture of all the magical disciplines. And I like the hot guys (though one is barely a character anymore). At the end of Shadowland, there is a huge giant surprise ending, which was probably enough to keep me reading. I will continue the series, let's hope something actually happens!

2/5

--Shay-la

Blue Moon (The Immortals #2)

Author: Alyson Noel
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin (09)
Paperback length: 304 pages

Taken from description at Amazon.com:

Just as Ever is learning everything she can about her new abilities as an immortal, initiated into the dark, seductive world by her beloved Damen, something terrible is happening to him. As Ever’s powers are increasing, Damen’s are fading—stricken by a mysterious illness that threatens his memory, his identity, his life.
Desperate to save him, Ever travels to the mystical dimension of Summerland, uncovering not only the secrets of Damen’s past—the brutal, tortured history he hoped to keep hidden—but also an ancient text revealing the workings of time. With the approaching blue moon heralding her only window for travel, Ever is forced to decide between turning back the clock and saving her family from the accident that claimed them—or staying in the present and saving Damen, who grows weaker each day...

Evermore was a book I "just read." I didn't hate it, love it, or lose sleep over it. It was good enough though that I decided to borrow the second from a friend. (It was my very first Kindle lended book EVER!) I have to say, I think I liked the second one better.

In the first, we are just meeting Ever, and I sort of viewed her as a weak character. She doesn't ever talk about her problems or stand up for herself, which is something I hate in a lead character. I don't like the person whose mind I'm in to fade into oblivion while I'm reading. But that's exactly what Ever tries to do. But I digress.

In Blue Moon, she is very different. She has found Damen and fallen in love. She's immortal, which is cool, and has started developing powers. She finally is starting to break out of her shell when this new cocky guy shows up, Roman. She knows he's bad, but isn't sure why.

Then Damen gets "sick," which is a bummer, because I still feel like I barely know this guy. Ever loves him enough to forsake her mortal life, but I don't even know him. Talk about typical teenage romance (a definite black mark on this series for me). So then Damen is gone for half the book and you get to spend all of your time stuck in Ever's head. Again.

There were a lot of holes in the story. She would just bust out a new power every once in a while, which rocks, but (as far as I think supernatural powers should go) unrealistic. And there are a lot of things about Summerland, the alchemy side of things, and Roman, that I'm like, why can't she just do "THIS" instead?

The plot starts moving more quickly when she finally finds out the truth. It was a giant mystery, even to me, and creative too. Kudos to Alyson on that side of things. It was a good, quick (one day) read. She doesn't try to drag out the plot for nothing, which I admired. I liked the book and borrowed the third, too.

3.5/5

--Shay-la

Fire Study (Study #3) Review

Author: Maria V Snyder
Publisher: Mira (08)
Paperback length: 448

The apprenticeship is over-- now the real test has begun.

Since the back cover description contains a spoiler for Magic Study, I already knew the truth before I read Magic Study. So I won't put that description here, in case readers haven't read Study #2. Briefly here is the overview:

Yelena has offered to act as a liaison between Ixia and Sitia, meaning she will be spending a little more time with the Master magicians. While trying to learn about her new role in the magical world, she is feared and even hated by some who would do her harm. She has to set feelings aside however when the magic she thought she defeated comes back, and really hits home.

Okay, so, I'm really not sure how I felt. On one hand, I will always be a lifelong fan of this series and was really rooting for it. On the other, this book was nowhere near the caliber of its predecessors. For one, there is nothing new at all until the end. Its the same weapons, the same fight scenes, the same characters you dealt with in the second book, save a few exceptions. It was almost boring. I really wanted there to be some shocking twist or something, which there was, at the end.

Also, Yelena is different. Now she is predictable and does outright stupid things that you know are going to turn out badly for her. In the beginning she was resourceful, headstrong, and powerful. Fire Study is basically a compilation of passing-out scenes after she gets too tired.

Now, toward the middle, there is a very cool scene involving a crate and some curare that was reminiscent of old Yelena, and its uphill from there (not just because Marek finally comes in!). But with a few ups and downs, it gets much better.

I love Snyder's characters! They're what carries the story. She really has talent, and even though this book fell short of some of my expectations, I did enjoy the read. If you've read the first two, you obviously have to read this one, because it closes things out nicely, in my opinion. If you haven't read the Study series, DO IT!!!!! It was sooooo amazing, I wanted to die!

It is also worth noting that my mom read the third shortly after myself, and liked it a lot. She's got great taste, so I bet a lot of readers loved this book. Don't be too discouraged!

3/5

Happy snow day!
--Shay-la