Book Review: Book Review: Mortal Instruments, City of Heavenly Fire By Cassandra Clare

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 752

The end of the Mortal Instruments...

I enjoyed the Mortal Instruments series for the most part. There's a bit too much romance and long descriptions for me, but that's just my taste. The best part is the world the author has created and all of the unique characters. My favorite is the glittery bisexual warlock, Magnus Bane. (Yes, seriously. He's the best!)

Clary is a normal girl who enjoys drawing and hanging out with her best friend, Simon. She's at a club when she sees three other teenagers with strange tattoos murder a guy, but no one else can even see them. When her mother is kidnapped, (or dead, but she really hopes only kidnapped) she's thrust into a world of Demons, Fairies, Vampires, Werewolves, and Warlocks. Turns out those teenagers are Shadow Hunters and the man was a demon. Shadow Hunters keep the peace using a device called a stele to draw runes on themselves, which gives them special powers like grace and speed or invisibility to Mundanes. (Normal people, like muggles)

There are six books in the Mortal Instruments series (and a prequel trilogy) and the last book has just been released. The series spans only six months, but it felt like longer to me. I liked the first `trilogy' better than the second, though I liked Simon more in the second. There wasn't nearly enough Magnus, but I always think that.

If you haven't read the series up to City of Heavenly Fire (or the prequel) don't keep reading, there be spoilers below.


Heavenly fire was an exciting finale, which certainly didn't seem as long as it was. I was so afraid to read it, (I didn't want anyone to die) but I'm pleased by the ending. It was a good and fitting conclusion to the series.

Emma Carstairs (who will star in the next series, the Dark Artifacts) gets her own point of view. She grew up a Shadow Hunter and is already quite skilled with weapons. Her best friend is Julian Blackthorn, a boy with six siblings. (two of which are half fairy) I liked all the Blackthorns, they already have unique personalities. (Ty reminds me of Sherlock)

This book takes place mostly before the end of Infernal Devices, so Zachariah is still a Silent Brother. He doesn't get his own point of view. His parts are mostly told by Jia Penhallow. (How disappointing!) I really wanted more Jem and Tessa in this book! (I guess I'll have to hope for more of them in Dark Artifacts.)

I'm also sad we didn't get a Sebastian point of view, because it would've been interesting to see into his mind a bit more. He's a better villain than his father, more black and white, even though I think it was supposed to be the other way around.

SUMMARY (Plotline spoilers for the first half of the book)

Sebastian’s attacking Institutes and using the cup to make more soldiers for his war. The Clave orders everyone back to Idris. The London Institute is one of the last to leave and Sebastian attacks, but is thwarted. In his rage he attacks the Praetor Lupus and then comes after the Iron Sisters.

Before the meeting of the Clave the Fairy Envoy, Meliorn has invited the other Downworlder envoys to meet with him, but it’s a trap and, Raphael, Luke, Jocelyn and Magnus are taken hostage. Sebastian’s demands? Send Clary and Jace to him or he’ll kill the hostages.

Clary discovers that Sebastian has been hiding in a dimension of hell, Odom, and that’s why they haven’t been able to track him. To get to Odom they have to pass through the fairy court, but there they discover that the fairies have joined with Sebastian and are using their magic to transport his army.

City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass - 9/10 Stars

City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire - 8/10 Stars

Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess - 9/10 Stars

Book Review: Matched by Ally Condie

MATCHED

I kept getting that song Matchmaker, Matchmaker, find me a match caught in my head while reading these books. (Just thought I'd share, you're welcome.)

People who reviewed this book either loved it or they hated it. I think that's because when people hear dystopian they expect something like The Hunger Games or Divergant, but Matched is a quieter dystopian. Where Hunger Games is a dystopian with some romance and Divergant is a romantic dystopian, I’d say Matched is a romance in a dystopian world.

Cassia is seventeen and that means it's time for her Matched ceremony, to find out the person she’ll spend the rest of her life with. The Society controls everything, which books you read, which art you can see, and even whose hand you can hold. No one has any choices, but most people don’t realize it, and are happy with the way things are. Cassia was happy, until she got home from her Matched ceremony and put in the chip, which was supposed to contain data about her Match. The face on the chip isn't just that of her match. There's also the face of another boy, a boy she knows.

Based on the summary I thought Matched would be faster paced with more action, but that isn’t what these books are about. They’re about people, relationships, and their personal struggles. I’m not saying that Matched is a boring read, the author kept me flipping pages.

Whenever I hear that a book has good prose, poetic, or flowery writing I cringe inside. I think this is because it often seems forced or false. The author of Matched has a natural effortless poetic voice, which doesn’t feel like she’s trying. It also made sense that the character's voice would be poetic, because she loves poetry, which plays a large part in the book.

If you thought Matched was too slow paced than you won't enjoy the sequels either, because they have the same pace. (Crossed might be even slower.) That's not to say that nothing happens, but the focus remains on the characters and not on their struggle against the world.

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CROSSED

In Crossed they are mostly traveling throughout the novel. I think if I knew this going in I wouldn’t have been so impatient for them to get somewhere and could’ve enjoyed the journey better.

We meet some new characters along the way and get to see what life is like outside of the Society.

Cassia and Ky are both trying to get back to each other. The book is told from both of their perspectives. (I kept wishing that one character knew what the other did.) The author did a good job of remembering what each character knew and not having them know something they shouldn’t. There might have been a mistake towards the end, but then again Cassia could’ve figured it out for herself too.

Xander is in the book as well and just because Cassia told him she loved Ky he’s not giving up. She did say she loved him too after all, so it’s understandable that he still loves her.

This is a strange book, because I think that if you skipped Crossed, Reached would still make sense. (The few things that happened in Crossed are explained again in Reached.) I’m not saying you should skip Crossed, I just think it’s weird that you probably could and not miss much in the way of story line.

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REACHED

The author did a good job of the two perspectives in Crossed. (I was occasionally confused, because both were told in first person.) In Reached not only are Cassia and Ky telling the story, she’s added Xander too. I worried that she was biting off more than even she could chew, but the chapters were kept short enough that I didn’t get confused.

In Reached there's a rebellion against the Society and all three of the characters are on their own. Then there's an outbreak of a plague and a rush to find a cure. (Unlike Crossed, Reached doesn’t lack for plot, but the focus is still on the characters, not the action.) The author did a good job of making me worry for the characters.

There are new women in both of the boy's lives, so it wasn't obvious which one Cassia would end up with. (I didn't like Xander, so I actually cared who she wound up with in one of these stupid love triangles.)

Other than the dystopian aspect these books aren’t my normal style, so it surprised me that I enjoyed them. If Matched sounds interesting to you, you should give it a try.

Matched 7 Stars

Crossed 6 Stars

Reached 7 Stars

What was the last book you read that wasn't what you expected?

Book Review: Uglies, Pretties, & Specials By Scott Westerfeld

UGLIES

When everyone turns sixteen they change from ugly to pretty by means of advanced surgery. These new pretties are shallow and party all the time in New Pretty Town. Tally is almost sixteen and can’t wait until it’s finally her turn to be pretty.

Tally’s best friend turned before her and now she’s all alone. Uglies, those who haven’t had the surgery yet, enjoy playing tricks like sneaking into New Pretty Town. During one of her tricks, Tally meets Shay, a fellow Ugly whose friends have also all turned before her.

Over the course of the summer Shay and Tally become good friends and plan all sorts of fun tricks together. Shay teaches Tally how to hover board and takes her into the Rusties, the ruins of our civilization.

When it’s finally time for the two to turn pretty, (they have the same birthday) Shay confesses that she doesn't want to be pretty. Shay plans to run away to a place called the Smoke where apparently people live in the wild and don’t turn pretty. Tally decides she wants to be pretty and stays behind. On the day of her surgery Special Circumstances, the advanced police force (who are pretty, but pretty scary) tell Tally that she can’t be pretty unless she goes after her friend and activates a tracker for them to arrest all the Uglies in the Smoke.

The characters in Uglies are fine, but it’s mostly the world that I’m reading for. The author’s explanation of how the world wound up like this was unique and so is the society he’s created. I liked the idea of the hover boards and how they worked. They’re magnetic and only over metal or rivers. (Because of the metal fragments in the running water.)

The beginning of the book is interesting, but after Tally goes in search of the Smoke, things slow down and it feels like we are only waiting for Tally to get there. (Actually, if you skip Tally’s entire journey to the Smoke you won’t miss anything, because they talk about it all afterwards.)

Once she gets to the Smoke the pace picks up a bit, but I still felt like I was waiting for something to happen. It’s only half-way through the book things have to go wrong somehow. Is the Smoke all it seems? Will Tally betray her new friends? Come on, something happen already!

When things pick up, they really pick up. The end is as good as the beginning and a quick read.

Warning: It ends to be continued. (I couldn't go to bed until I’d started Pretties, which unfortunately starts slow.)

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PRETTIES

It’s hard to say anything about the sequels without spoiling Uglies, so I’m just going to give my impressions.

There are fewer slow spots in Pretties, because even the less exciting parts are fun and the plot is much less predictable than Uglies. The slang is so awful it’s funny, but I think it’s supposed to be.

Uglies hooked me with the world and concept, but I love the characters in Pretties. This book has everything the first one was lacking.

Another to be continued ending. (grumbling)

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SPECIALS

I liked the powers in Specials, but I didn't like Tally as much. (I especially didn't like her interactions with David and Zane and I wanted to see more with both of them.)

Again there were slow spots towards the middle, but the author didn't go into as much detail so they weren't as long.

It felt like everything happened too quickly at the end, but that was largely because of the point of view and the plot was wrapped up nicely. I wanted more at the end to find out what's next for Tally. (Like an epilogue.)

There’s an extra novel (ironically called Extras) that takes place after the trilogy, but it has different characters.

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Uglies- 7 Stars

Pretties- 8 stars

Specials- 7 stars

Book Review: Graceling, Fire & Bitterblue By Kristin Cashore

These books were good, but their saving grace (sorry couldn't resist the pun) is the unique magic system the author has created.

GRACELING

Certain people have mismatched eyes and are graced, meaning they have a particular skill or talent. Some talents are as simple as a skill at cooking, but others are more mystical such as swimming like a fish or reading minds.

Katsa has the Grace of killing. Her uncle, the king, uses her to dispense punishment to people who displease him, but Katsa's not content to simply be her uncle's pawn. She established the council to help people in trouble when the kings make unjust decisions. She thought she’d be alone, but the council has expanded and now spans the seven kingdoms. The council does things such as shelter farmers who are being punished for not paying their taxes after the king’s men trampled their crops.

On one such mission for the council, Katsa goes to rescue the father of one of the kings who has been kidnapped. There she meets a young man who has the grace of fighting. She knocks him unconscious and returns to her kingdom with the kidnapped man only to have the graced fighter show up at her king’s court. The man's name is Po and the man who was kidnapped is his grandfather and he’s here to rescue him.

Deciding to trust this young man, whose silver and gold eyes have a disarming effect on Katsa, the council tries to figure out who kidnapped his grandfather.

The first half of Graceling is quick paced and interesting. Then the characters go on a journey and it becomes a series of traveling and running. I’ve read lots of fantasy so I’m accustomed to such ‘journey’ novels, but it caught me off guard after the exciting beginning.

At around 50% there’s a sex scene making this an older YA novel, though you can see it coming and it’s easy enough to skip.

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FIRE

Fire is set in the same world as Graceling, but in a different place. In the land of Dell there are brightly colored animals, called monsters. They have the ability to bewitch people with their beauty and ensnare people’s minds. Fire is the only human monster, a girl of seventeen with hair the color of living fire. Fire’s father was the adviser to the king and an evil man. Most people hate her because of her father or fear her for her power.

I recommend reading the prologue as an epilogue (or at least after chapter 27) I think this will make Fire a better book, because you won't know what's coming.

The love story in Fire is slower to get started than Graceling, but still felt too sudden, because of things happening off page. (I would’ve preferred if she won him over herself gradually.)

Fire was a good character for about the first 70% of the book. She was a tough young woman similar to Katsa, but different enough to still come off as her own person. Then the character I'd been rooting for and liking for the majority of the book turned into a moody weakling. I only wish the author had ended things differently, but I suppose it's more realistic this way.

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BITTERBLUE

Bitterblue is eighteen and the queen of an entire country. Her days are filled shuffling endless stacks of paper. One night she decides to sneak out of the castle and see what her kingdom is really like. She discovers that people are still recovering from her father’s reign of terror, but things are worse than she thought.

She meets a pair of boys who work at a printing press. Are they thieves? What are they up to? They have many secrets, but she’s not exactly honest with them either, pretending she's only a baker in the castle’s kitchen.

In a world with Graceling magical powers, Bitterblue is just a normal girl. She might be a queen, but I wish she had some sort of special ability.

The high point of this book is seeing the old characters from Graceling, particularly Po. All of the excitement with the council takes place off page in this book, because like the first two books, it's told from a single viewpoint. I wished we could go with Katsa and Po instead of being stuck in the castle with Bitterblue. I liked Bitterblue in Graceling, but life as a queen isn't all it's cracked up to be, and life in the castle is dull and frustrating. I felt your pain Bitterblue!

Like Fire (where I kept reading to see how Fire would win Brigan over) I kept reading Bitterblue to see how her friends would find out she’s actually the queen. The revelation was much better than Fire and was probably my favorite part of the book.

The author ties the books together nicely, but I wanted an epilogue to tie up all the loose ends. Maybe the author wanted to leave it open for another book.

The best part of the book was the glossary. (Odd, but true.) It’s ‘written’ by the librarian in the book Death (pronounced like Teeth). I wish the rest of the book was told with such a good voice! I chuckled a couple of times while reading it and not at all during the third book.

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I liked the witty lines in the beginnings of these books and watching the characters meet. I only wish that the rest of the books were as upbeat. I liked all of the minor characters and kept wishing to see more of them, especially the villain.

The world building is simple until we get to Dell in Fire, but there are enough details for it to feel like a real world.

If you’re one of those ‘show’ don’t ‘tell’ people the first two books might annoy you. The author tells a lot and it sometimes feels like we’re missing some good stuff. By Bitterblue she’s figured out how to tell a story, still telling how time passes, but unlike the first two books it flows naturally.

If you’re curious about the Graceling books, I’d say read the first half of Graceling, that's the best part of the trilogy.

Graceling- 7 Stars (First half 8 stars, second half 6)

Fire- 6 Stars (Same, First half 7 stars, second half 5)

Bitterblue- 6 Stars (whole book consistent)

What was the last sad book that you read?

Book Review: The Lunar Chronicles By Marissa Meyer

Cinder, Scarlet & Cress (Winter forthcoming)

Oddly enough the book I recommend most right now is Cinder, where Cinderella is a cyborg. Seriously that’s the plot, but it’s a good book honest.

The market is flooded with fairy tale retellings, and I almost didn’t read Cinder, but it looked popular on goodreads (and I found it on sale for $2) so I decided to give it a shot and I’m glad that I did.

Cinder is set after the fourth world war, where the world is divided into six kingdoms. Cinder is a mechanic living in the capital of New Beijing. The crown prince, Kai comes to her to have his android fixed. She keeps it a secret from him that she’s a cyborg, because cyborgs are looked down upon and have few rights.

Yes, Cinder has an evil step-mother, her legal guardian who practically owns her, and two step-sisters, but only one is evil and she’s really more bratty than evil. And of course there is a ball coming up, which both the stepsisters are preparing for, but that’s where the Cinderella plotline ends.

The plague that has swept the globe has come to New Beijing and Prince Kai’s father, the emperor, has been diagnosed with the disease. There’s no cure and it has a 100% mortality rate. Desperate to combat the disease, the government issued the cyborg draft. Cyborgs, considered less than human, are used as unwilling test subjects.

As if that wasn’t enough for the young prince to deal with, the evil Lunar queen is threatening war if her demands are not met, and one of those demands is to marry the prince. Her spaceships aren’t even her biggest threat. Lunars, the people who colonized the moon, have evolved into a separate race with the ability to create glamours and bend others to their will.

The Lunar Chronicles has excellent world building, an interesting plot, and good characters. (My favorite character is one of the minor ones, Iko, an android with a personality as the result of faulty programming.) A couple of the reveals which were supposed to be a surprising twist were rather predictable in this series, but it didn’t hurt the overall story for me.

The second book stars Scarlet as re-imagined red riding hood and a man with a shady past called wolf. This was my least favorite of the series, because it felt more like a side story with most of the book focusing on two new characters. I kept yelling at my book ‘Where’s Cinder? Get back to Cinder!’ As you can tell it took me a while to warm up to Scarlet. I understand she was going through a rough situation, her grandmother had been kidnapped after all, but it annoyed me when all she did was stress and complain. Scarlet gets better, mostly through her interactions with wolf, and towards the end the action really picks up.

Cress, re-imagined Rapunzel, is trapped on a satellite instead of a tower. I liked her character right away, and it's nice that we get to learn more about Carswell Thorne. Cress doesn't feel like a side story the way Scarlet did, because much more happens to advance the plot of the trilogy. I feel like the author really followed the ‘what would be the worst thing I can have happen to this character now?’ method of writing for this book. I can’t say too much about Cress without spoilers, but it’s almost as good as Cinder.

Cinder 9/10 stars

Scarlet 7/10 stars

Cress 8/10 stars

I’d recommend all three books, but I have no idea which books to compare them to, because they’re just so unique. Maybe dystopian, because the main plot features a world in chaos and characters that are trying to make things better.

Now I can't wait for Winter! (Never thought I'd say that, I hate the cold.)

Do you like fairy tale retellings? Usually I don’t, but Cinder is a happy exception. (and Grimm)