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Book Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. The Mortal Instruments Series #1.

Published: 2008, Simon Pulse

485 pages

Synopsis: (From Cassandra Clare's website )

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. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.

Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon.

But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....

Valerie's Thoughts:

The first few chapters were a little confusing because of the terminology used to describe the different types of people and monsters in the book. The only one I recognized was Nephilim and that's because it has been mentioned in other books I've read. After the descriptions of the Downworlders, Shadowhunters, and the like are mentioned, it was no longer that confusing.

The story was very interesting and it seems like it would be fun to try to see what local buildings actually look like if they were not being hidden behind a glamour to protect the people inside.  Clary and Jace are wonderful characters, although Jace can be a bit of a pain at times. You still want them to get together and date, and it heads in that direction, then a shocking twist happens. One I did not really expect to come. Near the end, it lets you decide who you believe is telling the truth.  I am looking forward to seeing where the story goes next.

Book Review: Torment by Lauren Kate

Synopsis:

Hell on earth. That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.

It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts-immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something- something dangerous.

What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

The second novel in the Fallen series... where love never dies.

Our thoughts:

After falling in love with Daniel in the first book, Fallen, we found it kind of hard to like him as much in Torment since he keeps pushing Luce away in order to protect her. You just want them to stay together, but he makes it difficult. He comes through in the end, and we love him again.

It was great to discover that the Shadows are helpful to Luce, instead of her having to be afraid of them.

Some great new characters are introduced in this book. Two of whom being Miles and Shelby. Both of them help Luce work with the Shadows and help her to explore her past lives.

The end, however, left a big "What?" in our heads. We are hoping that it would be resolved in book three, Passion. JoAnna re-read the ending, and is still confused about what happened to the real Luce. If you have read this book and understand the ending, could you please do JoAnna a huge favor and explain it in an e-mail to vanceminions@gmail.com She would GREATLY appreciate it!

Book Blogger Hop - April 22-25, 2011

This week's question comes from Christina who blogs at The Paperback Princesses.  She asks:

 "If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?"

Of course! Especially since most of the books we read are from a series. Since we primarily hunt down new books in the library based on how interesting the cover is, and what the synopsis is, we try to see if it is in a series. If it is, we try to find out what number in the series it is and if we can find the others. If it is not the first one in the series, we place it on hold so we can read the series from the beginning. There is nothing worse than reading a book, only to find out it is a part of a series and that's why it doesn't make much sense. It's a good thing that JoAnna looks up the book covers and information online first to have a better idea of the author and the series. It also is a huge help when the books themselves list what book number it is either on the spine or near the title page.

In My Mailbox - April 18, 2011

Hosted by: The Story Siren

In our mailbox, or rather, on the library's hold shelf is Entwined by Heather Dixon.

Synopsis:

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it. The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation. Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest. But there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

Released: March 29, 2011, 480 pages

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Philosophical Friday - April 15, 2011

 

Time for some more things to ponder and laugh over this weekend:

 

I am going to start using big words to sound smart...

Sorry. I mean, utilizing gargantuan idioms to simulate intelligence.

 

 

 

 

Every girl deserves a knight in shining armor...

too bad they are all fictional characters and already taken.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Dark Rising

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
Lacey Weatherford's "The Dark Rising" (Of Witches and Warlocks #4)
Release date: Slated for June 24, 2011.



Synopsis from Goodreads:

When Portia Mullins discovers the love of her life is still alive, her heart soars. But reality sets in immediately causing it to plummet when she realizes that he doesn’t remember his past life with her. Unwilling to give up on him, she embarks on a loving quest to help restore his life to him.
Vance Mangum sees the beautiful girl standing before him claiming to be his wife, and while he can’t remember her, he also can’t deny the intense pull he feels between them. Not knowing where else to turn, he agrees to give her the time she’s asked for and to help her in the effort to recover his memories.
The two quickly reconnect with one another, but dark surprises are lurking in the wings when Vance discovers a desperate longing for something he feels he can’t withstand. Will he be able to resist? Or will evil raise its head in a new form, leaving Portia as the prey of the very man her heart desires?
Darkness reigns supreme in this haunting tale of love and desperation, Of Witches and Warlocks, The Dark Rising.



I'm really looking forward to continuing the story with Portia and Vance. Book 3 (Blood of the White Witch) really makes you want to know what happens next. If you are thinking about starting to read the series and are just as impatient as I am, I suggest you wait until The Dark Rising comes out. It also doesn't help with my lack of patience when there are a few certain people teasing me about it! But my day will come.... not soon enough though.


Be sure to also check out our movie version of Waiting on Wednesday HERE!

Teaser Tuesday: 4/12/11

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Valerie's Teaser Tuesday comes from Lacey Weatherford's The Demon Kiss (Book 2 of her Of Witches and Warlocks Series)




"Pumpkin, I'm an encylopedia salesman," I mimicked him. "But really I'm a warlock. Oh and did  I mention I'm a federal agent also?" I paused. "Is there anything else that I need to know about you?" I added loudly, calling to him over my shoulder, as I cast a glare back at him.

His only response was laughter.

p. 98, The Demon Kiss, by Lacey Weatheford (Of Witches and Warlocks, book 2)

Random Thought...by Joanna

I had just gotten done reading Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton today and was looking up other YA books to be on the look out for. I noticed something with practically every book I've come a cross. When the story starts out, and the main story is about a girl, everything starts out either before her 17th birthday or right when she is turning 17. Not that this is a bad thing, but it was just something I thought of today and was telling Valerie about it. The other thing I noticed is that with paranormal books where the main male character is either a vampire, fallen angel, or something else, they always have a tendency to have stopped aging right around the age of 20. Again this isn't a bad thing it's just another one of those observations I've come across. I guess it's just something that is trending and working for authors cause I really enjoy reading those types of books.

Waiting on Wednesday: Passion

"Waiting On Wednesday" is hosted by Breaking The Spine. What book are you waiting for?

The book we are waiting on is Lauren Kate's Passion which is the third book in the Fallen Series.


Release Date: June 14, 2011.

There is no official synopsis as of yet. All we could find was:

"Before Luce and Daniel met at Sword & Cross and fought immortals at Shoreline, they lived many lives. . . "

After reading both Fallen and Torment, we fell in love. The way Torment ended makes you really want to find out what happens next.

Teaser Tuesdays!!

 Hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.





"Yeah, until these two turn us in," muttered another boy. "For, you know. The thing."

"I'm sorry about your nose," she said. He blinked.
"It's not so bad," he offered. "Look, Claire-"
"Don't"

Pg. 187 "The Dead Girls' Dance" by Rachel Caine (The Morganville Vampires-Book Two)

In My Mailbox... err, Shopping Bag

Hosted by: The Story Siren

 

Since the Borders Book stores are closing around us, JoAnna stocked up! Shame that it's closing. :(

Young Adult:

Shadowland by Meg Cabot (The Mediator Series)

Ninth Key by Meg Cabot (The Mediator Series)

Reunion by Meg Cabot (The Mediator Series)

Darkest Hour by Meg Cabot (The Mediator Series)

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine

Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine

Historical Romance:

Mad About the Duke by Elizabeth Boyle

Courtesan's Kiss by Mary Blayney

A Duke's Temptation by Jillian Hunter



Philosophical Friday!

Why does night fall but never break and day break but never fall?

Extreme Break-ups?

Have you ever noticed that when you read teen romance series, the first book is always boy meets girl, they have issues to work out, they fall in love, the end. Then book two comes out, boy/girl split, one still wants the other, while the other one insists on leaving to protect them, they work things out, then get back together, the end. It just annoys you that the couple you love aren't together much in book two.  Not that this is a bad thing, it's just something we've noticed with all the series we've read: Twilight saga, Fallen series, Hush Hush series, Of Witches and Warlocks series, etc.

Case in point with possible spoilers:
Twilight vs. New Moon (Stephenie Meyer)
In Twilight, Bella falls head over heels for Edward. Edward tries to keep his distance, thinking their relationship will not end well. Eventually, he admits defeat and they end up together.

Fast forward to New Moon. Bella gets a small papercut at her birthday party, Jasper wants to feed on her, Edward leaves Bella to keep her safe. Only, this forces her to be more reckless in order to "see" Edward. Edward thinks she has died, realizes he can't live without her, tries to kill himself, only to find out she is alive and well. They end up getting back together at the end and the story continues.

Fallen vs. Torment (Lauren Kate)
In Fallen, Luce is sent to a boarding school, sees Daniel across the way, and he gives her the finger as she smiles at him on her first day. Determined to find out what his problem is, Luce feels the need to get closer to him, while Daniel tries everything in his power to keep from losing her like every other time she's been around, hence the finger. But the bad boy image isn't working on her and only draws Luce into him more. Eventually, his secret is revealed and they fall in love again. The book ends.

Now Torment rolls around. In order to protect Luce and keep others from destroying her, Daniel sends Luce to a new special boarding school in a different state, unbeknownst to her friends and family, whom think she is at the other school. One difference is, they are still together, but Luce is finding the relationship to be aggrevating and Daniel is more stand-offish than usual. Even though they are together, you get irritated with the way they are acting towards each other. Eventually, Daniel shows up more and things are better at the end.

Hush Hush vs. Crescendo (Becca Fitzpatrick)
In Hush Hush, Nora is forced to be paired up with Patch as her biology lab partner and hates every minute of it. During a getting to know you assignment, Patch told Nora that he knew everything about her, but she knew nothing of him. Determined to finish the assignment, Nora goes to a place she would normally never go, just to get answers. Which every question she asks, Patch's answers are always cryptic. To Nora, Patch doesn't make any sense, but she ends up falling in love with him and they get together.

During Crescendo, Nora breaks up with Patch because he tells her that he can't be with her, even though he wants to be. She still wants to be with him, but thinks it would be best to be apart. But everytime they run into each other, he does/says something that pulls her in, which makes her regret breaking up with him, then something else would make her push him away again. In the end, Patch decides he would rather be with Nora and deal with the consequences than to not have her in his life.

The Trouble With Spells vs. Demon Kiss (Lacey Weatherford)
From the beginning of The Trouble With Spells, Vance is in love with Portia and get together early on. Their relationship is pretty hot and heavy and due to a very special bond, they can't spend more than a few hours apart without feeling anguish. However, Vance's terrible past comes back with a vengence and he feels he must leave to protect Portia and her family and deal with his problems on his own. This is a little exception to our observation. Vance leaves Portia at the end of book one, but Portia races off to find him in the second book.

Demon Kiss is a little different. This time, Portia is on a mission with her friends to find Vance, help him, and bring him home. After they get back together, Portia is then taken and Vance is left to rescue her. So while they are still together in book two, they spend more time apart than you would like. This is a bit happier than the other books mentioned above in the fact that they aren't the ones keeping them apart. Other people are trying to keep them apart, but they are determined to help one another in order to maintain their loving relationship.



Now once again, this is not a bad thing. It keeps the series entertaining and makes you want more and want them to be back together. This is just a simple observation we've made through our readings.

Review: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

SYNOPSIS:

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.
But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.


Our Thoughts:

One thing that we can say about this book is that while your reading it, it will keep you guessing! You can also find yourself immersed in the story. It's a well written story that you find is impossible to put down and once you finsih it, you're sad it's over and need to find out what happens in the next book.You wonder if Nora is really losing her mind or is it something more sinister. Sometimes, it's hard to determine what is reality and what is not. Even after finishing it, I'll re-read it like it is the first time all over again. This is another one of those books that it would be wise to pick up the second book, Crescendo, immediately after finishing Hush Hush or get it when you buy/borrow Hush Hush.

Book Review: Fallen by Lauren Kate

SYNOPSIS

There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.
Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.
Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.


Our Thoughts

I know they say to never judge a book by its cover, but you'll find an exception to the rule. I saw the cover of the book, picked it up, read the synopsis, then decided I had to read it.  So yes, I judged a book by its cover and it turned out to be another one of those books you can't put down. Got this during my vampire/werewolf craze and needed something new. And it was just the something new I needed. I found myself rereading it several times and forcing it upon others, who also fell deeply in love with it.

Who is this Daniel guy? Why did he flip Luce off the first day? What is he hiding? Those were questions that kept us reading just to find out! You can place yourself in Luce's shoes: you get annoyed when she does, you get mad when she does, and you are just as curious. The book keeps you wanting more and pick up Torment immediately, just to contiue the story.

Believe us, when you pick up Fallen, pick up Torment as well. It will ease the torment of finding out where the story goes.

First Book Review: The Trouble With Spells by Lacey Weatherford

Synopsis

The Trouble with Spells

Portia Mullins had always lived the life of a normal teenager, up until her sixteenth birthday. She is then informed by her Grandma that she is actually a witch who is a descendant from a long line of witches and warlocks. After overcoming her disbelief she finds that being a member of the coven comes with one great perk in the form of the school's handsome bad boy, Vance Mangum. Vance and Portia have an immediate connection as a budding romance begins, only to be threatened by turbulent skies on the horizon as Vance's checkered past rears its ugly head to haunt them. Portia is forced to use her untried powers in defense of everything she loves in a desperate attempt to hold on to the one thing that really matters in her life.

Our Thoughts:

This book is something that we heard about through someone on twitter. They said that if we haven't heard about it or read it, that this book is a must read. So we were curious about this book, searched high and low for it and found out it could only be purchased online. After reading the synopsis and our interest was piqued, we had to get it. Once it finally came in the mail we started to read it and found ourselves wanting more and that we couldn't put the book down. If you're into reading books such as the Twilight Saga, Hush Hush, Fallen, or any other supernatural romances then this is the perfect read for you. In the literary world surrounded by Vampires, Werewolves, and Angels, The Trouble with Spells is a breath of fresh air. You'll fall in love with the characters, story, and find yourself lost in the book just like we did.

A Welcome First post!

This post is to say welcome! We haven't done a blog before so please bear with us on this new adventure through the blogging world. In this blog you will get a variety of topics, from what books we're reading, Video games we are playing or can't stop playing over and over again, or Movies that we are excited to see or have seen.