The Infernal Devices Trilogy by Cassandra Clare

Summary for Clockwork Angel:

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.
The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them…
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Overall rating of trilogy: 5 STARS!
Clockwork Angel: 4 Stars.
Clockwork Prince: 5 stars.
Clockwork Princess: 5 Stars.

This review is going to be split in two parts: non-spoiler and Spoiler. I will tell you when to stop reading unless you want to. 

Although I have read Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series (except for Heavenly Fire, I heard there were spoilers to The Infernal Devices Trilogy), I don’t think very highly of it. I enjoyed it enough, but I barely remember what happened in it now. So I had The Infernal Devices trilogy (TID) sat on my shelf for about a year and a half before I decided to pick it up last week. I don’t regret this at all. I genuinely feel like I’ve lost part of my soul now that I’ve finished it and there is no more. I would recommend giving this a go even if you didn’t like The Mortal Instruments (TMI), The characters are so much better in my opinion.

Clockwork Angel took a while for me to get into, it was a solid start to the series, but it really was just a “setting the scene” kind of book. It was really good, but lacking in some areas, such as plot development and I feel it probably could have been shorter if Clare didn’t make the characters go off rambling in their minds about nothing in particular. However, the series seriously picks up in Clockwork Prince and I read it one sitting, staying up till about 4am. Lots of character development and amazing new characters that I just fell in love with. Which is something that sets TID apart from TMI for me, in TMI I didn’t actually care about any of the characters other than perhaps Magnus Bane. I was practically reading it for the plot. Whereas in TID, I don’t think I have ever loved side characters so much; Sophie, Charlotte, GIDEON (<3) and Gabriel, Henry! So many fantastic characters. Clockwork Princess focuses a lot in the first half of the book on the romance, I didn’t mind this. It balanced well with the action packed second half. Believe me, the romance is worth pushing through to get to the what happens in the end. Although, I recommend not reading the epilogue. I mean, read it, but be prepared. I wasn’t. I’m still pulling myself together.

I loved this trilogy so much. Probably one of the best I’ve ever read. Read it. It’s worth the time.

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***SPOILERS***

Okay I need to just let my feelings out.
Despite not being a massive fan of Will and Jem (I know I’m a freak), I liked them enough but I WAS NOT EXPECTING THE FEELS DURING THE EPILOGUE.
I can’t deal with it. I could have done without that Cassandra Clare!
I was pushed even more over the edge by Gideon dying, my OTP during the trilogy was Sophie and Gideon! My fave characters!
But I was bawling my eyes out so hard I started to feel sick. I haven’t cried that hard at a book since Harry Potter! It was INSANE. I keep thinking about it and tearing up and its been nearly 12 hours.
 

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Gwyneth Shepherd’s sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon–the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.
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Rating: 3 stars

This series has been given rave reviews on Goodreads and on BookTube, and I fear I’m going to one of those who disagrees. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy this first book in the series, I did. It was very entertaining and I don’t regret reading it. But it isn’t a five star book, I can’t quite understand people’s reasons for giving it that rating.

There are a number of problems in the book and some of which were probably caused by errors in translation. The book was originally written in German, and it was most likely translated into American English, which isn’t good when the book is set in England with English characters who apparently speak in American English. I kept finding myself pointing out things that are wrong to English culture or words the characters speak that mean something different in England than America. It started to bug me after a while, because it came across as being inconsistent with what the story was trying to portray. Other than this, the writing is easy to read and would probably be enjoyed more by the younger teenager.

The characters were rather average, nothing different from the thousands of other YA characters that I’ve read about and not going to lie I’ve already forgotten their names. I feel like they could have been fleshed out a lot more and the author wastes words by having the main character ramble in her mind about things that don’t really contribute to the plot in any way whatsoever. It’s a shame really because the plot is actually really good, I just feel like it could have been written a lot better.

Like I said I didn’t dislike the book but I doubt I’ll remember it in a months time. I think I probably will read the other books in the series if I should ever see them in the library but I’m not going to go out of my way. I would recommend it if you’re looking for something relatively fast paced and really easy to read.

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar’s cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere. 

But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the king and queen and their children are brutally murdered in the palace. An impostor seizes the throne, a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere’s walls, and those who escape are left to roam the land as exiles, dying by the thousands in fever camps.

Ten years later, Finnikin is summoned to another rock–to meet Evanjalin, a young novice with a startling claim: Balthazar, heir to the throne of Lumatere, is alive. This arrogant young woman claims she’ll lead Finnikin and his mentor, Sir Topher, to the prince. Instead, her leadership points them perilously toward home. Does Finnikin dare believe that Lumatere might one day rise united? Evanjalin is not what she seems, and the startling truth will test Finnikin’s faith not only in her but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.

In a bold departure from her acclaimed contemporary novels, Printz Medalist Melina Marchetta has crafted an epic fantasy of ancient magic, feudal intrigue, romance, and bloodshed that will rivet you from the first page.
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Rating: 3 stars

I feel sad that I didn’t like this book more. The amount of raving reviews I read before hand kind of made me think it would be something amazing. I’m not saying this is a bad book. It is really well written, to the point where I am willing to carry on with the series. However, I feel I didn’t connect with it as well as everyone else did. I think that the reason I didn’t necessarily like this book was not because of it being over hyped, I  actually understand why people love it so much. But I think it was because I felt it dragged on for so long that I kind of had to force myself to sit and read it.

There are a few things I really enjoyed about this book and one was how realistic it was, yeah I know it’s a fantasy, but it didn’t fell like it was accommodating to the clichéd scenarios that so frequently present themselves in other young adult fantasy novels. I didn’t roll my eyes once which was a breath of fresh air. The world in which this series is set is intriguing and it has its good and bad aspects, I thoroughly enjoyed the darker aspects which rarely make appearances in YA, with references to famine, disease, rape and death on a huge scale. It’s a little bit morbid of me to like reading about it but it really gave a much darker edge to the book that I was not expecting.

This book is definitely a story centred on its characters. There is an enormous array of characters that make appearances throughout the book that were really interesting and well formed. My only problem is that I want to know more about them. I really loved Trevanion and Froi. I could read entire books about them (thank god the next one in the series is Froi of the Exiles!). I disliked Evanjalin though, although there were aspects of her character that I liked, there was too much that I didn’t like. It makes me wonder what everyone else sees that I don’t.

There were some parts of the book and the world building that I didn’t like, that were well, confusing. I literally couldn’t picture what Lumatere was meant to look like. I feel that despite the huge amount of detail that Marchetta goes into in this book, she wasted it on things that didn’t matter and could have had more use in the descriptions of the world that the book is meant to be set. Although the writing is fabulous, there were also aspects which I just did not understand, I understand that it is part of Marchetta’s writing style, but I actually found myself trying to guess what was actually happening. I feel that these parts were meant to be obvious to the reader, I don’t know whether I was just being dense, but it really lowered my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, I do think this is a book worth reading. I don’t regret it, I just really wish I could have enjoyed it more. I will make my way through the other two books, but I may save them for a rainy day.

Need by Carrie Jones

Zara White suspects there’s a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She’s also obsessed with phobias. And it’s true, she hasn’t exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane…but Zara’s pretty sure her mom just can’t deal with her right now.
She couldn’t be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara’s overactive imagination. In fact, he’s still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There’s something not right – not human – in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.
In this creepy, compelling breakout novel, Carrie Jones delivers romance, suspense, and a creature you never thought you’d have to fear.
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Rating: 1.5 stars

This book is more of a preteen book rather than young adult. A minor blip from the publishers for marketing it as YA. I didn’t like this very much. The writing is bad. I read this book a few weeks back and I am having to scour my memory to remember what actually happened. The story in itself is not terrible, it was entertaining enough and I quite liked the romance aspect. Although honestly? It doesn’t take much to make me like romance.

I feel this book should have been longer. At just over 300 pages it isn’t exactly short but the plot really needed more embellishment. About 95% of this book is the main character and a few side characters (that barely make any appearances) wondering around and thinking with only 5% of any kind of action, and the action was mediocre at best squished into about 5 pages. I’m actually not sure how the author managed to stretch it to 300 pages, as there was hardly any character development at all, in fact I’m not really sure we know all that much about the main character. It’s sad really because this book has so much potential to be a really good story. It probably would have been better to have merged this book with the second in the series: Captivate. So there is actually more happening. For a Preteen/YA paranormal book its pretty dull.

This is probably one of the few books that I wouldn’t recommend. This is the kind of book you would read if you had nothing else left.

Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott

A powerful tale of magic, love and revenge with a strong female lead set in fairy-tale Japan; this is “Cinderella” meets “Memoirs of a Geisha”. Trained in the magical art of shadow-weaving, sixteen-year-old Suzume is able to recreate herself in any form – a fabulous gift for a girl desperate to escape her past. But who is she really? Is she a girl of noble birth living under the tyranny of her mother’s new husband, Lord Terayama, or a lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama’s kitchens, or Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands? Whatever her true identity, Suzume is destined to capture the heart of a prince – and determined to use his power to destroy Terayama. And nothing will stop her, not even love.
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Rating: 3.5 stars.

This book was good, I liked it and I’m glad I read it but there was some aspects of it that I didn’t really like at all. Although it is a very good story and very well paced and thought out. I have always loved books that were set in Japan, I find the country fascinating and I liked the sound of the “Cinderella meets Memoirs of a Geisha” storyline. Despite the world in this book being set in a “fairy-tale Japan”, I still found it rather captivating and interesting.

However, I feel like the story could have benefited from more world building, a little more talk about the history I think would have  made the plot more solid. Not to mention that I only barely connected with the characters. Most of which were very 2D and lacked any originality. I couldn’t stand Suzume’s mother, although that is obviously intentional, but seriously what a selfish horrible character. On another note, I quite enjoyed the romance aspect it wasn’t a major part of the plot but I think it embellished it nicely and although in places it could have been more in-depth  I think it worked well.

There is only one other part of this book that I disliked and that was the ending, although essentially it wasn’t that bad but I felt it was lacking. I still have numerous questions about the side characters and it’s annoying that I’ll never know what happened to them because this book being a stand alone. Ugh!

On a more happy note, I really enjoyed the magical aspects of the story, it was fascinating and it was very original. A nice breath of fresh air from the usual. Despite there not being as much of this “magic” as I would have liked it worked. I don’t have anything bad to say about it really.

I do recommend this book if you’re interested in stories set in Japan/ Asian countries, original magical ideas and an action packed novel that is a little gut-wrenching.

[Series Review] Blood of Eden trilogy by Julie Kagawa

To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…
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.
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Overall rating: 4.5 stars.

You’ve probably thought already that you will never have anything to do with stuff involving vampires again. The topic has been exhausted over and over again and yet the genre still isn’t dead, it truly is an immortal genre in fiction. Its safe to say that Twilight has essentially made the genre go into overkill, and the influx in vampire novels since Stephenie Meyer’s success haven’t really been of any significance. With the exception of the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, who’s series could be deemed a success even with the flop in box office of the movie. Even with Anne Rice’s books, and of course the classic Dracula, the genre has always been sought-after in popular culture. But it is obvious it is starting to get repetitive. Luckily, I picked up this series for a bit of fun not expecting all that much. I’ve read Kagawa’s previous Fey series and loved it, so I was eager to give her other books a try. So, so, so glad I did. Not going to lie, I think this might be my favourite Vampire series. I do have a soft spot for vampire books, and I’ve read a lot of them. Although none have really stuck with me. This trilogy is epic. It deserves hype.

The Blood of Eden series centres on the character of Allie, who struggles to survive with everyone else in a post apocalyptic world which has been ravaged by disease, and which has been taken over by vampires using humans as cattle. Allie refuses to become a blood-bag so has to scavenge for food on the outskirts of the walled city. The walled city which keeps out the imminent death which awaits on the other side.
There seems to be a popular craze at the moment for apocalypse/dystopian style books so I suppose there was evidently going to be an attempt to incorporate this into the vampire genre.  It is a good mix. This series certainly brings back a lot of the “dark and disturbing” to vampires, that has been very lacking in the past 10 years. It was thoroughly enjoyable and kind of scary at times!

The characters were all very interesting. Although I do think that some of the “companion” side characters had very stereotypical personalities. But the main character Allie is worth reading this series for alone.  A very strong character that really develops throughout the three books. There are good and bad sides to her character but honestly? Thats what makes a great character in my opinion. Her voice in the books is enthralling and certainly makes you want to keep reading.
I was very fond of Kanin’s character and I wish we could have seen even more of him in the series, I think his character could have been build on a lot more than he was. Jackal’s character was a little frustrating at times but he did bring a lot of dark humour to the story that made me laugh numerous times. Zeke was a good character, but in The Forever Song I found myself getting increasingly frustrated with him even a little annoyed.

Overall, the only thing stopping me from giving this series a full 5 stars are problems I have with the side characters. Otherwise, I would recommend this series to anyone that has lost faith in the Vampire genre and anyone with love for the gory! This is a trilogy I would certainly read again.

Outcast by Adrienne Kress

After six years of “angels” coming out of the sky and taking people from her town, 16-year-old Riley Carver has just about had it living with the constant fear. When one decides to terrorize her in her own backyard, it’s the final straw. She takes her mother’s shotgun and shoots the thing. So it’s dead. Or … not? In place of the creature she shot, is a guy. A really hot guy. A really hot alive and breathing guy. Oh, and he’s totally naked.
Not sure what to do, she drags his unconscious body to the tool shed and ties him up. After all, he’s an angel and they have tricks. When he regains consciousness she’s all set to interrogate him about why the angels come to her town, and how to get back her best friend (and almost boyfriend) Chris, who was taken the year before. But it turns out the naked guy in her shed is just as confused about everything as she is. 
He thinks it’s 1956.
Set in the deep south, OUTCAST is a story of love, trust, and coming of age. It’s also a story about the supernatural, a girl with a strange sense of humor who’s got wicked aim, a greaser from the 50’s, and an army of misfits coming together for one purpose: To kick some serious angel ass.

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Rating: 4 Stars.

After reading Angelfall by Susan Ee, I have been incredibly eager to read more “Angel” books to check out if there are any other books just as fantastic as it. Outcast was a very pleasant surprise, I actually wasn’t expecting a great deal from this book. I thought the synopsis basically told the entire story, and the length of the book (300+ pages) didn’t really indicate that something spectacular was going to happen. I need to stop thinking like that. 

This book was actually thoroughly entertaining, and I read it in a day. I could not put it down, even though the plot line was pretty predictable throughout. But for me, this didn’t matter, it didn’t take anything away from the book there were a few surprises that I was not expecting. The writing was very good and I was quite taken with the main character Riley very early on in the book. One more thing I enjoyed about this book (which is sort of similar to Angelfall, but a little less so) is how creepy it was a times. It was just captivating. Also, the ending was a little bit of a roller-coaster ride, and I can’t believe I am okay with what happened, which I think is the best way to feel about an ending that was pretty damn heart-wrenching. 

I think there are various aspects of Outcast that might make people weary about picking it up, especially the religious aspect to it. Now I am an Atheist, but I’ve always had an interest in people’s religious beliefs and this book is very big on the religious front. It was really very interesting to read about this town’s responses to ‘The Taking’ and “angels”, because it is realistic in a sense that something like this probably would happen if these were the circumstances. But I’m not sure how people who have more religious backgrounds than me would take this book. So if you’re religious and thinking about picking this up then I warn you! 

There were also aspects of the book that I thought were very unrealistic, which is why I am giving it 4 stars. For example, the lack of curiosity from people in the town about Gabe. No-one really questioned why he was there and Riley’s parents literally just let him stay with them without questioning him about who he was and where he came from. The same with the town, a town which is constantly watching every little thing that happens there, and which basically ignores Gabe’s arrival. It doesn’t really fit with how Kress has portrayed the town. Also, Gabe’s lack of curiosity about what happened to him really bugged me and really didn’t suit his character at all, it was very unrealistic for someone from 1956 to suddenly wake up now with no curiosity as to what happened to him within that time… Whaaaat?! 

But other than that, I really think this is a book worth reading and it’s a shame it isn’t more well known. Hopefully in the future it will gain some of the recognition is deserves. It was a very enjoyable book, and I find it hard to think that someone could dislike it. 

Book Haul [#7]

Yeah, I’ve been pretty bad at getting up regular posts over the past 2 months, but honestly I haven’t actually read that much. University work is taking up way to much time and I just can’t spare any to uploading a review or read a book worthy of a review. I should think I’ll be like this until the end of May and then I’m free for the summer and I’ll be reading so much, you’ll probably get pissed off at seeing my posts on your dash. 😛
Although I haven’t had time to read… that does not mean I haven’t had time to buy books. So yet again, here’s another book haul:

Katherine by Anya Seton

This classic romance novel tells the true story of the love affair that changed history—that of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the ancestors of most of the British royal family. Set in the vibrant 14th century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who ruled despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already married Katherine. Their well-documented affair and love persist through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption. This epic novel of conflict, cruelty, and untamable love has become a classic since its first publication in 1954.

This book has been on my to be read shelf on Goodreads since I got my account and I’ve been intrigued about it for ages, other than the fact that my name is Catherine, it seems like a book I would enjoy.

Need by Carrie Jones

Zara White suspects there’s a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She’s also obsessed with phobias. And it’s true, she hasn’t exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane…but Zara’s pretty sure her mom just can’t deal with her right now.
She couldn’t be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara’s overactive imagination. In fact, he’s still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There’s something not right – not human – in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.
In this creepy, compelling breakout novel, Carrie Jones delivers romance, suspense, and a creature you never thought you’d have to fear.

I’ve never intended to read this series, I think the short length of the books appealed to me so I picked them up when I saw them in a charity shop. It’ll be a quick read, hopefully I’ll enjoy it.

Captivate by Carrie Jones

Not going to include a blurb here as its the second book in the Need series, don’t want to give it away!

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Every weekend, in basements and parking lots across the country, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded for as long as they have to. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything. Fight Club is the invention of Tyler Durden, projectionist, waiter and dark, anarchic genius. And it’s only the beginning of his plans for revenge on a world where cancer support groups have the corner on human warmth.

Despite now owning 3 books by Chuck Palahniuk, I have yet to read one them. Its a project for the summer I think. 🙂

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Northern Iceland, 1829. A woman condemned to death for murdering her lover. A family forced to take her in. A priest tasked with absolving her. But all is not as it seems, and time is running out: winter is coming, and with it the execution date. Only she can know the truth. This is Agnes’s story.

A little bit different to what I normally read, but my aim this year is to read more adult books and stray a bit more from the Young Adult and Classic genres that I cling to.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies. When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father’s closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.

Everyone seems to love this book so I grabbed it when I saw it in my university bookshop. I have no idea what to expect.

 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

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 beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery 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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Rating: 4.5 Stars.

(Beware: A few spoilers)

I liked this, I liked this a lot. It was pretty amazing. I believe I have only read about 4 angel books in my life and only one of them was terrible, but I’ve met a lot of people who have read so many awful angel books that it always makes we weary about picking one up. I should probably drop this suspicion, and take more leaps of faith because this book did not disappoint and I went in with pretty high expectations. The amount of rave reviews I’ve read about this book, its hard to not have high expectation. Despite not liking certain aspects of the book, I still enjoyed it immensely.

I loved the fact this story was set in Prague. Its nice to read Young Adult books that aren’t set in the USA or UK, as the majority are…
It sort of gave a more quirky aspect to the book. I don’t really know anything about Prague, I have friends who have been there and loved it, but I’ve never been myself. I definitely think I want to go now.
However, I wasn’t overly impressed by the “heaven” slash “portals” part. I don’t know whether its just me being awkward, but I just found it incredibly hard to imagine the whole thing. I think there could have been a bit more description, in that respect. I’m hoping there will be more clarification on this in the next book.

The majority of the characters I LOVED. Karou is awesome! So is Zuzana. I love them. But I am finding Akiva a little… well, boring. (I’m sorry, don’t hate me!) He’s just a little dull and lacking in character depth in this book. I really hope this will change, I don’t want him to be yet another two dimensional love interest in a YA novel.
One character that I really love though is Brimstone. I was absolutely gutted by the end, and a part of me is hoping with all my heart that it is a mistake. I would have loved to find out more and more about him, but alas, I think that will never be now. (why do I always like the characters that die?!)
I’m also intrigued by Thiago, I want to know more about him.
Just one more, problem I have with the book is the humans reactions to angels and supernatural stuff. I find it a little unrealistic and frustrated me in places. If I met an angel in a street I’d be running as if my life depended on it not standing there taking pictures. Haha.

Overall, I think this book is a great start to a trilogy/series. There is a lot of background information and I really look forward to reading more about this world. It has a lot of potential to grow into something epic.

Book Haul [#3]

Welcome to my second book haul of the year! These are a few books I’ve accumulated over the past 10 days that I haven’t already blogged about.  I mentioned a few of these books on my youtube channel that I started up (if any of you saw it). However, I have now deleted said video because I have decided it would be silly of me to start a booktube channel when I’m in my third year of University. Even if I managed to regularly update I wouldn’t have been able to carry it on in September as I will most likely be starting a masters degree and I will have barely any time to read never mind keep a youtube channel running. Maybe I will return to it in the future but right now it would be stupid of me.

Anyway on to the book haul!

The first book I bought was The Taming of The Shrew by William Shakespeare.

I should think people will have heard of this one. My favourite chick flick is 10 Things I Hate About You, therefore when I found out it was based on The Taming of The Shrew… I HAD TO HAVE IT.

“Renowned as Shakespeare’s most boisterous comedy, The Taming of the Shrew is the tale of two young men, the hopeful Lucentio and the worldly Petruchio, and the two sisters they meet in Padua. 
Lucentio falls in love with Bianca, the apparently ideal younger daughter of the wealthy Baptista Minola. But before they can marry, Bianca’s formidable elder sister, Katherine, must be wed. Petruchio, interested only in the huge dowry, arranges to marry Katherine -against her will- and enters into a battle of the sexes that has endured as one of Shakespeare’s most enjoyable works.”

The second book is Selected Poems 1923-1958 by E.E. Cummings.

I’ve only recently started to read poetry. I obviously studied poets like Carol Ann Duffy, Simon Armitage and Shakespeare at school, but I’ve never actually owned anything until I was 19. I always thought “oh i wont like that… i cant understand it… why would i read that… its for old people.”. I suppose its a sign of growing up for me that I have become very fond of poetry. I have a love for Sonnets, especially Shakespeare and Keats so I wanted to try out something different. I’d seen a lot of e.e. Cummings being posted on Tumblr, the post that finally did it for me was one of Tom Hiddleston doing a reading (This is a link to the audio). It convinced me to walk to Waterstones instantly and buy this.

The third book is Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

I’ve been recommended this numerous times and I’ve never really shown any interest. I basically picked this up on a whim. Whether I will read it… who knows. I want to, I really do, but I think right now is not the right time. I don’t really know anything about it other than what’s in the blurb. Hopefully I’ll read it this year.

“Tyrannical Nurse Ratched rules her ward in an Oregon State mental hospital with a strict and unbending routine, unopposed by her patients, who remain cowed by mind-numbing medication and the threat of electric shock therapy. But her regime is disrupted by the arrival of McMurphy – the swaggering, fun-loving trickster with a devilish grin who resolves to oppose her rules on behalf of his fellow inmates. His struggle is seen through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a seemingly mute half-Indian patient who understands McMurphy’s heroic attempt to do battle with the powers that keep them imprisoned. Ken Kesey’s extraordinary first novel is an exuberant, ribald and devastatingly honest portrayal of the boundaries between sanity and madness.”

The fourth book is The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank.

I should think everyone has heard of this one. I don’t think I really need to explain why I want to read it. To be honest I’m a little ashamed of myself for having not read it yet. What am I doing with my life.

“Since its publication in 1947, Anne Frank’s Diary has been read by tens of millions of people. This Definitive Edition restores substantial material omitted from the original edition, giving us a deeper insight into Anne Frank’s world. Her curiosity about her emerging sexuality, the conflicts with her mother, her passion for Peter, a boy whose family hid with hers, and her acute portraits of her fellow prisoners reveal Anne as more human, more vulnerable and more vital than ever.”

The fifth book is Blood Red Road by Moira Young.

I have actually already read this book, but I had it on my Kindle. I loved it. So much I had to buy it. A brilliant kick-ass main character and a great story. I would recommend it to anyone into dystopian young adult fiction. The romance isn’t too in-your-face or mushy its just perfect and believable.

“Saba lives in Silverlake, a wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms where her family scavenge from landfills left by the long-gone Wrecker civilization. After four cloaked horsemen kidnap her beloved twin brother Lugh, she teams up with daredevil Jack and the Free Hawks, a girl gang of Revolutionaries. 
Saba learns that she is a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Saba and her new friends stage a showdown that change the course of her civilization.”

The Sixth book is The Heritage Reader by Graham Fairclough

This book is one of my text books for my Archaeology Degree. If you’re interested in Heritage then I recommend this.

“This resource is a much-needed support to the few textbooks in the field and offers an excellent introduction and overview to the established principles and new thinking in cultural heritage management.”

The seventh book is Vampire Academy: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion.

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS FILM! It looks like it is going to be FANTASTIC. I absolutely love who they’ve cast for the movie and I honestly can’t wait for the 19th Feb. I’ve flicked through this book already and a little disappointed that there aren’t more pictures of Danila Kozlovsky. (I kind of love him) But that doesnt matter…