Waiting on Wednesday (74)

Waiting on Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly awaiting.

Lady Midnight
(The Dark Artifices #1)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Expected Publication Date: March 8, 2016

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Synopsis:

Los Angeles. It’s been five years since the events of the Mortal Instruments when Nephilim stood poised on the brink of oblivion and Shadowhunter Emma Carstairs lost her parents. After the blood and violence she witnessed as a child, Emma has dedicated her life to to discovering exactly what it was that killed her parents and getting her revenge.

Raised in the Los Angeles Institute with the Blackthorn family, Emma is paired as a parabatai with her best friend, Julian Blackthorn. A series of murders in the city catch her attention — they seem to have the same characteristics as the deaths of her parents. Could the murderer be the same person? And her attention isn’t the only one caught: someone has been murdering Downworlders as well. The Fair Folk make a deal with the Institute: if the Blackthorns and Emma will investigate the killings, they’ll return Mark Blackthorn to his home. The catch: they have only two weeks to find the killers. Otherwise it’s open war between faeries and Nephilim.

The Shadowhunters of the Institute must race against time to catch the killers, even as they begin to suspect the involvement of those closest to them. At the same time, Emma is falling in love with the one person in the world she’s absolutely forbidden by Shadowhunter Law to love. Set against the glittering backdrop of present-day Los Angeles, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches from the warlock-run nightclubs of the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica.

My Thoughts: This is one of my pre-orders that is coming in and I have been anxiously awaiting it since it was announced in 2014.  I, seriously, LOVE the Shadowhunter world.  Cassandra Clare is the author whose books I own the most of (all in hardcover) and will continue to buy them until she stops writing them.  The Mortal Instruments series and The Infernal Devices series are in my top ten series list and I have no doubt that The Dark Artifices will be joining them soon.

Also, Shadowhunters the TV series makes me super happy.  I don't care if it isn't perfect (except Magnus, who is always perfect), I just like seeing the shadow world come to life.

Teaser Tuesday (53)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by  MizB at Should Be Reading

To Participate you:

-Grab your current read

-Open to a random page

-Share two 'teaser' sentences from somewhere on that page

-BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS

This week's teaser comes from:

City of Lost Souls

Author: Cassandra Clare

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Teaser:

Their faces were only inches from each other. She felt his hot breath against her lips before he kissed her, and she leaned into it, her eyes closing. His mouth was as soft as she remembered, his lips brushing hers gently, sending shivers all through her. She raised her arms to wind them around his neck, to slide her fingers under his curling dark hair, to lightly touch the bare skin at the nape of his neck, the edge of the worn collar of his shirt.

My Thoughts: This is one of my most favorite book series'. I can never get over how amazing these books are and they constantly leave me reeling. If you haven't started this series yet, get on it!!!!

Review: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

City of Fallen Angels

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publication Date: April 5th, 2011

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Genre: YA/Paranormal/Romance

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Synopsis:

The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And - most importantly of all - she can finally call Jace her boyfriend. But nothing comes without a price. Someone is murdering Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side - along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls - neither of whom knows about the other one. When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

My Thoughts: Book #4 and I am still so unbelievably in love with this series. I've heard rumors that this book was a little disappointing when compared to the rest of the series. But I did not find it to be so at all. As per usual, I was loving every single minute and gripping the book with a death grip of anxiety and hope and love.

When we left in the City of Glass, everything ended on a pretty good note. It was definitely rough ride getting there, but things ended on a high note I would say. I for one was so freaking excited For Clary and Jace. Finally, it looked like things didn't have to be so complicated for them, and they could just be together like they needed to be. Oh but I was so horribly wrong.  The suspense and intensity that Cassandra Clare always dishes out for us is never ending. What a false sense of security I was lead into. But hey, I am not complaining! The constant torment, and never ending battle of good versus evil, with the most surprising plot twists imaginable are all reasons why I love these books so much. Not to mention Jace is literally my favorite book boyfriend ever.

I thought it was a great installment to the series. Immensely captivating, I just devour these books, and they in turn devour me. I always get so caught up and emotionally attached. Trying to talk to me while I am in reading these books is almost a death sentence. Don't come between me and my Mortal Instruments haha. We got some brand new plot development with new foes, and unexpected old ones.We are continually strung along with the roller coaster ride that is Jace and Clary. We get to watch Clary immerse herself more and more into the life of becoming a shadow hunter. Also, lots of character development with Simon. I will admit I never liked Simon overly much. But he is beginning to grow on me and I would say this book has made me actually quite like him.

The characters we love so much are ever growing and constantly changing. Faced with new challenges and developments that never feel old or over done. Everything always feels fresh, new, exciting, scary, terrifying, and wonderful. I have to say I am at a huge conflict with the ending. I just can't believe what happened and that that is where we were left off. I don't yet own the next book in the series, but at this point I'd do just about anything to get my hands on it!

Waiting on Wednesday (48)

Waiting on Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly awaiting.

City of Heavenly Fire
(The Mortal Instruments #6)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Expected Publication Date: March 19, 2014

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Synopsis:

In Book 6: City of Heavenly Fire, Jace, Clary and their friends are drawn inexorably into a war that pits Heaven against Hell, angels against demons—a war that threatens to destroy our world entirely if the Shadowhunters can't end it first.

Okay, so not much out about it yet, but I know it is coming and that makes me crazy that I have to wait that long! I love, love, love The Mortal Instruments (Jace, anyone?)!  That is just a filler cover too, not the actual one.

 Luckily, I have the new Infernal Devices coming out between them and the Magnus Bane Chronicles. Oh, and the MOVIE!

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What are you waiting on?

Review: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

City of Glass

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publication Date: March 24th, 2009

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Romance

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Synopsis:

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight. As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost?

My Thoughts: This series just continues to get better and better with each installment.  You probably already know how much I loved the other books based on my previous reviews. So my undying love for this book should come as no surprise.

In this book, pretty much all previous conflict comes to a head and the drama and suspense that I enjoy so much in this series is increased twofold at least. I don't want to tell you what comes to a head because I don't want to tell you which pieces of the puzzle come together. If you've read the series you know there is so much going on at all times. We're always torn by multiple conflicts at once. And I freaking love it. But in  City of Glass we get to see a lot of those things work themselves out, and we get a lot of answers to our questions that have been putting our anxiety through the roof.

I almost make reading these books sound painful haha. But the fact is, there just aren't many books out there that make me feel as intensely as these ones do. Every emotion is brought to it's breaking point and usually sits there for a while taunting us before it ultimately crashes and subsides only to start all over. There I go again making it sound painful. While reading these books might be a little painful, because of what I said above, but they are also extremely enjoyable, incredible, captivating, mesmerizing, and much more.

For me, this book was intensely fulfilling as my largest quandary finally met it's end. I closed this book and I immediately went to the store and bought the next in the series as I only owned the first 3. I was really lucky they even had it, because there isn't much of a selection in my town for books =p.  The nearest book store to me is about an hours drive. How terrible a fate is that? Hence, why I usually buy my books online. Also, it helps me sucker my husband into buying me books every time we do venture into the big city haha :). So anyway, you will be seeing a review for City of Fallen Angels soon!

If you haven't started this series yet, I strongly recommend you get on it, post haste. There are few that I would rank along side these books. They stand in a league of their own. Cassandra has created a series that will have people falling in love for years and years to come, I'm sure!

Review: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publication Date: March 25th, 2008

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Genre: YA/Paranormal/Romance

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Synopsis:

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father. To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

My Thoughts: Yes, I agree. It took me way to long to read this book after reading City of Bones: review here. I finished City of Bones just before moving to our new house and after we moved I just kept ending up with other books in my hands. But here I am finally posting a review for the sequel. And  I won't make the same mistake again, City of Glass will be following soon.

If I thought City of Bones had me on the edge of my seat chewing my fingernails like mad, then this book had be laying on the floor fingerless. Yes I just said that, yes I am that lame. If you like drama in your books, then this  series is definitely for you. I am just overwhelmed with the overflowing amount of drama and character conflict and suspenseful plot and shocking developments. I read through this book pretty quickly, I always had to literally force myself to put it down. I spent about to days with this book in front of my face 70% of the time at least. I was up late every night wide awake because I just could not stop. There is no stopping point in these books. There is never a single moment where you're like, yeah this looks like a good point to take a break. Nope, every page and chapter is filled with intense excitement, mass amount of angst and emotion and heart breaking events.

Seriously, this is a series you need to pick up. As soon as you can. Cassandra Clare is an amazingly talented writer and every book I've read by her so far has been so captivating and phenomenal. I find myself giving lots of praise to lots of books lately. I guess there are just so many great ones out there. I will probably never get to read them all, which is a sad thought indeed. I look forward to my own retirement where the reading will never end. Seriously.

Another sad thought is that I own City of Glass but I have yet to purchase the rest of the series. That is something I am going to have to do very soon. Or I will roll over and die of anticipation and anxiety from needing to know what happens next.

Jace is pretty much one of my favorite characters from a story ever. I don't even know how to describe it. I just freaking love him. I've always got this feeling in my stomach when I'm reading about him. He is one of the best male characters of all time in my opinion. I can't think of another male character that carries half the emotional capacity and strength and determination that he does. He's amazing to say the least. I'd like to see you read these books and not just fall in love with him. And the tension and chemistry between him and Clary. My goodness, if my heart doesn't explode because it's beating so hard before I finish this series, I'll be incredibly surprised.

And just like my last review for this series, I've told you pretty much nothing about the plot line. I really don't want to. I don't want to give a single thing away, so you can experience it all for yourself. So you can see for yourself how incredibly hard it is to close the book and put it down. See if you can't keep the story and characters out of your head for five minutes. This series will take you over, and you will love it haha.

T.G.I.F. (6)

Thank Great Illustrators Fridays is a book meme created and hosted by Owl Read It.

They say don't judge a book by it's cover, but a lot of the time the cover is what draws you to the book in the first place.  This meme is to show appreciation to the artists who put their time and effort into creating the great book covers of our beloved series.

To Participate:

• Pick a book cover you love (any book will do - released or not)
• Post the picture of the book along with the author, publisher & the illustrator of the cover (if you can find it, if not, that's okay too!)
• Post a brief summary of why you like the cover.  
• Take the pic above and link back to us :)

This Week's T.G.I.F. Cover:

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Published: March 27, 2007

Publisher:  Margaret K. McElderry Books
Illustrator(s): Can't find a name. If you know, please tell me :) And thank you, whoever you are!

My Thoughts: Okay, I will admit that this one has been on my mind because of all the great casting news that came out yesterday! In case you haven't heard - Magnus, Jocelyn and Hodge have been announced (in addition to Jace, Clary, Simon and Isabel).

But this is about covers, people (I get sidetracked easily)! And this one is great, just like all of Cassandra Clare's novel covers.  Which of the Mortal Instrument or Infernal Devices covers are your favourite?

(P.S. Both series mentioned above are highly recommended by yours truly)

What are your favourite book covers? Leave us a link to your own T.G.I.F! :)