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!

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.

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publication Date: March 27th, 2007

Publisher: Margart K. McElderry Books

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Paranormal/Romance

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Synopsis:

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. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy? This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a 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. . . . Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

My Thoughts:  My first thoughts?  Where has it been all my life?! haha. I've heard of these book forever and have wanted to read them, but just now have I finally cracked open the first book in the Mortal Instrument Series. I find myself asking a question I ask myself often, What took me so long to read this?! I read the first two books in the Infernal Devices series at the very beginning of the year, I then bought the first three books in the Mortal Instruments series and they've been sitting my on shelf so patiently waiting for my to discover how amazing they are.


Yes, this book was amazing! It's one of those books that gets right under your skin. You can't stop thinking about it when you're not reading it and when you are reading it you can't stop turning those pages. The characters in this story have taken up residence in my head and refuse to leave. I can't stop thinking about them, imagining them, feeling like I know them personally. It's tortuous right now because we're moving in 11 days and I just packed all my books except the few I was reading away. Including the next two books in the series that I own. The need to know more about these characters, to see what happens next is eating away at me. Either I will suffer until we move and I unpack them, or the desire will drive me mad until I unpack all my books to find them haha. I feel like with every book I read by Cassandra Clare I fall more and more in love with her writing. She really has a gift! I hope she write many more books for many more years so I can continue being enraptured by her incredible story telling. I know I need to get out there and buy the rest of the books in the series that  I don't own. As soon as possible!


This story knocked my off my feet (metaphorically speaking of course) so many times. Things kept happening that just completely shocked me or blew my mind. It carries so many surprises and twists, you just never know what is going to happen on the next page! Reading this book was so exciting and intense. It's a wild ride haha. I think it's a book people of all ages would love and I feel like no matter what genre you are usually into that you would like it because it's just such a great story line. But if you do enjoy stories about angels and demons and warlocks and vampires and all those awesome things, you are going to love this book! I guarantee it! I haven't heard of anyone yet who have read this book and didn't like it. I'm sure some have, but I have yet to find them.


The main character Clary is this amazing girl who is wise, strong, and smart beyond her fifteen years. She goes from completely oblivious to the fantastical world around her to being throw headfirst into it, right smack in the middle and pretty much alone. For all the things thrown her way, she handles it all with  such strength and composure, it's incredible. I developed a series sense of respect for her throughout the story. I also fell completely in love with Jace. He is a total smart-alec, reserved, and kind of cocky guy. But he is incredibly protective of those he cares about, fiercely so. Plus his background story really endears you to him, it's unavoidable I think.


I find myself not wanting to tell you anything about the actual story line, besides what you learn in the summary. I want you to be as shocked, surprised and in love as I was. It's a nail biting, page turning, awesome journey that you will be so glad you took. Full of vivid characters and amazing story line and that's pretty much all I am going to tell you haha. You will have to read this one for yourself. I really mean that to. you HAVE to read this :) Take a wild guess how many owls will be at the bottom of this review!