The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones
Cassandra Clare

+++++

Spoilers ahead! If you haven't read City of Bones, don't read any further.

How can I describe this book?

Amazing.

I originally hadn't intended to read City of Bones- I was just going to wait for the movie because my closest friend told me she didn't like The Mortal Instruments. But the cover was so interesting I had to pick it up. And once I picked it up... Is there a rune for awestruck?

The plot isn't anything original: 15 year old Clary Fray finds out she's a Shadowhunter, a half-angel, half-human hunter who kills demons, and she falls in love with Jace Wayland, her fellow Shadowhunter, but the two are devastated when they learn they are brother and sister because Valentine, who also happens to be the bad guy/rebellious Shadowhunter they have to kill, is their father, and Jocelyn Fray is their mother. It isn't the plot that drew me in- it was the originality of Clare's world, the way she wrote her characters, and the descriptiveness of her prose. Clary's character was strong and levelheaded, and I loved her as though she were my sister. My heart broke for her when I found out Jace was her brother, because from the moment I met Jace I wanted Clary/Jace. In the bottom of my heart, I still ship their relationship, even if it is incest...

Simon is a sweetheart, but I don't think he's the sweetheart for Clary. Jace is exactly what she needs... the fire for the fire.

Valentine was an amazing addition to the series. He's the perfect type of bad guy- handsome, darkly sexy, menacing, and a cold-blooded killer. That's exactly what I look for in villains. I loved that about him. And I loved that he was Clary's father.

All in all, City of Bones was amazing! Can't wait to read City of Ashes.

Tempted by PC*Kristin Cast

Tempted, House of Night

PC + Kristin Cast

++++

If you do not like spoilers, stop reading now.

While Tempted was amazing, it fell short of Hunted. Let's just get that out of the way right now. Hunted was good- Chosen level good, like the best one I've read so far- and to be honest, Tempted befell my expectations. I was expecting way more from Tempted than I got.

In Tempted, Zoey and her friends have just banished Kalona and Neferet, and they're trying to get back to their lives when they learn Neferet has gone to the High Council. Now the kids are going to Italy to try to stop her from doing evil. Also, Stevie Rae finds herself attracted to Rephaim, a Raven Mocker whom she heals. 

The pros of Tempted first. The best part of Tempted was probably Rephaim. I can tell he's going to be my new favorite love interest, because he was amazing. His character had so much... tension when he was with Stevie Rae. And he's just a great guy in general. I loved Rephaim, and I hope PC continues this storyline and doesn't ruin it. Zoey's shattered-soul scene was amazing too. I think that's the biggest cliffhanger HoN has ever had. To be honest, Zoey was a bit annoying in this book, and it was a relief when she finally took control and tried to save Heath, even though her soul got shattered and he died. Heath's death was the saddest part of this book, because he was probably the second-best thing about it. I loved how much Heath grew in this one. He devoted himself to staying with Zoey, and in the end, to him, that was all that mattered. *squees* Just so romantic!

Another character I loved in Tempted was Aphrodite. She's grown so much since she was introduced in Marked, and I feel like she's as much a part of the circle as Zoey. I love her and Darius, too. That wasn't something I was ever expecting. Stevie Rae deserved Rephaim, as well. She was such an excellent character here, and I feel like PC's getting ready to have her take Zoey's place while she's shattered, which I have no problem with. Neferet was irritating in this one, but in a good way. She was one of those bad guys you love to hate. I hate her with everything in me, but it's fun now. 

Cons of Tempted: probably the writing. It was so much better in Hunted. I think that's why Tempted befell my expectations so much. There were so many mistakes... *shudders*

All in all, Tempted was an entertaining read, even if it befell my expectations. Okay! Onto Burned!

Hunted by PC+Kristin Cast

Heeeereee's Hunted!

It was a while before I read this book, because I was out of town for about a month (literally, I had to stay with my aunt) and I didn't do much reading during that time. As soon as I got home I ran to a book store and picked up the next 5 books in the House of Night series- Hunted, Tempted, Burned, Awakened, and Destined- for relatively cheap. I'm working on the reviews for all of them, and I have an unfinished Catching Fire review on here, as well as an Eclipse review.

A friend suggested the Mortal Instruments series, but I don't know if I should start reading them- comment below if you think I should.

Anyway, onto the review of Hunted.

The book is set literally right after the end of Untamed, with Zoey and the circle escaping the House of Night for the tunnels. It's basically a continuation of Untamed. Only this one's much better. I'm starting to believe that what I said about the House of Night novels getting better after each installment is true, because the tone quality is better- the novel is still dark but it's not so dark you're all gloomy the whole 323 pages- the writing is better, just in general, and the novel is just better.

One of the things I'd like to point out about this one is that I liked Damien a little more in it- and if you're a faithful reader, you know how much I hate Damien. He's freaking terrible. I am not a homophobe, because I absolutely adore Jack, but I just don't like Damien. But they wrote him a little better in this one, so maybe I can grow to like him a little more if they continue with this writing style. He was more mature- maybe that was what was so appealing about him in this one. I also really liked Stevie Rae in this one, who was kind of irritating in Untamed and Chosen.

One of my favorite parts, however, of Hunted was Kalona. His character was probably the best-developed I've seen since the beginning of the House of Night series, besides Heath. He's so.... sexy. I know, I sound silly because all he is (at the moment, I don't know if they're making a movie) is words on a page, but the way she described him literally sent chills of desire up and down my body just reading. If they ever do make a movie, they better pick the hottest man on Earth to play Kalona. His love for Zoey was attractive as well. It's not even that he loves her, it's the WAY he loves her that was so attractive. It kind of reminds me of Fifty Shades of Grey- which I'm also thinking of reading.

I also loved Stark in this book. Normally I hate cocky, arrogant boys as love interests, but Stark was so mellowed-out by his love for Zoey that that irritating cockiness was gone and he was just Starkey-poo. I love that (SPOILER ALERT!!!!) he's Zoey's Warrior now. Hmm. Let's see where that leads...

All Zoey's love interests were amusing in this one- and she had four of them. Wow. I think that's the sluttiest we've ever seen Zoey. Add another one and she can call it gang rape. That's one thing I don't like about House of Night- how much of a Mary Sue character Zoey is. Erik's kind of a Gary Sue too.

Hunted was amazing, and i can't wait to start Tempted. 

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The Host
Stephenie Meyer

+++++

It took me a while to read The Host. I'd checked it out, after my friend said it was good. But my other friend said she hated it, so I was unsure about reading it. It sat untouched on my bookshelf for a long time, but this morning, desperate to have some reading material, I finally picked it up. And God I think that is the best decision I've ever made.

The prose screamed at me: dangerous. The world of The Host was so different from Twilight, so I see why people get annoyed when they're compared just because they have the same author. It's very annoying. Now, I'm not saying you can't tell it's SM's writing- the writing style is similar to Twilight. Wanda reminded me a lot of Bella at certain points. And there were certain obvious references to The Twilight Saga. Seattle? Phoenix? Come on.

The Host is about Wanderer "Wanda", a soul who has been to so many different planets she hasn't found one she can call home. When Wanderer invades Melanie "Mel" Stryder, things start to change. As Wanda rebels against her society and falls deeply in love with two men, Jared Howe and Ian O'Shea, she begins to see that true love doesn't have a body.

Several characters died in this book, even though most of them were major, so I see what Stephenie Meyer was saying when she said she didn't want to continue The Host because she didn't want to kill anyone off. It makes sense, even though I don't like it- it just sounds like a lazy excuse. I'm so glad (SPOILER ALERT!!!) that Wanda ended up with Ian. I don't see what she even saw in Jared. He was mean to her, and he really didn't care whether or not she died, just so he could get to Mel. I really liked Mel as a character. Her fire and strength sort of reminded me of Katniss.

I devoured The Host in one sitting. It was so good I had to instantly go to Google to see if there was any news about the movie- which was another reason why I picked up the book. It's amazing. If you like Stephenie Meyer's writing, or are a Twilight fan, The Host is definitely for you.

Go pick it up NOW! lol I'm kidding.

No, seriously, buy it.

-

Melanie Stryder/Wanderer: Saiorse Ronan
Jared Howe: Max Irons

Beautiful Creatures {{predictions}}

<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7930335-beautiful-redemption" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles, #4)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1331049809m/7930335.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7930335-beautiful-redemption">Beautiful Redemption</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2895706.Kami_Garcia">Kami Garcia</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/221281123">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
UPDATE 7/19/12<br /><br />The cover of this book has green letters. Green. FREAKING GREEN, which is my favorite color. And a staircase winding down, down, down. And they gave us the title, Beautiful Redemption. <br /><br />Redemption - The action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil: "God's plans for the redemption of his world". Hmm, maybe Ethan's the one getting saved. I hope... <br /><br />Now, I have some new predictions for you guys. I recently reread Beautiful Chaos (my eyes were totally mistified by the ending) and I've come up with some new predictions. Here are fifteen "prophecies" that I believe must come true in Beautiful Redemtpion.<br /><br />1) <strong> Lena will break down. She'll become almost Bella Swan-like and be gone when everyone needs her, but some vision from Ethan will finally get her ready and she'll Bind the New Order and bring her Mortal boyfriend back. </strong> That's got to happen. If Ethan was going to die, the authors would've ended the series at three books (which would have made me bomb their houses. No, I'm kidding. But I would've been pretty mad.) Plus, look at the summary. It's almost telling us Ethan's coming back.<br /><br />2) <strong> Amma will die. </strong> This is one of my oldest predictions, and it still stands because I believe it to be true. Amma made her deal with the bokor in Beautiful Chaos, and Abraham banished him. I think the deal is going to be trading her soul for Ethan's or something like that, and she dies. Her death will be painful, but it won't be unexpected.<br /><br />3) <strong> John Breed and Liv Durand will get together. </strong> Their romance was hinted at in Beautiful Chaos, but they didn't actually get together yet; remember Liv denied that they were dating? I'd actually love to see Jiv (or Lohn?) happen. They're pretty cute together.<br /><br />4) <strong> Ethan's mom will come back, or reveal that she was never actually dead. </strong> A similar thing happened in The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, and it was completely unexpected. I think the authors would do it. It'd certainly be an excellent plot twist.<br /><br />5) <strong> Ridley will finally choose- once and for all- which side she's on. </strong> For the past three books she's been back and forth. We can see that she really loves Link, but she's not showing it because of the part of her that's Dark. However, when she became Mortal, she was shown true love and Light on Link's part (and their relationship is SOOOO cute). Also, I think what Macon said- "Everyone has Light and Darkness" was a hint at a possible plot turn.<br /><br />6) <strong> There'll be one final, spectacular Claiming Moon. </strong> This is almost confirmed by the sudden Nineteen Moons at the end of Beautiful Chaos. The only question is, will it be John's Nineteenth Moon? Or some new character? <br /><br />7) <strong> Abraham will have a hand in trying to stop Lena from Binding the World Order. </strong> Of course he will. He's the main antagonist, the reason for so much of Ethan and Lena's struggles. And he was mysteriously sane in Beautiful Chaos, so I think he has some epic end-of-the-world tricks up his sleeve for the next book. Let's hope they're not too epic, 'cause I don't want the authors killing off anyone else, even though I'm certain that's going to happen.<br /><br />8) <strong> It'll be from Lena's point of view. </strong> I can imagine the authors continuing with Ethan's point of view, but it wouldn't really be very entertaining. I mean, what else can he do but watch from the Otherworld? If he's dead, all he can do is watch. It would be interesting if they did a Vampire Diaries type thing where Ethan's a ghost and Lena's the only one who can see him, but I don't know. Lena's POV would be best though. Or maybe even both! That'd be awesome, and from the looks of the summary, I'm seeing both their stories.<br /><br />9) <strong> There's going to be an earth-shattering, jaw-dropping secret that NO ONE saw coming. </strong> That kind of thing has been happening a lot in YA, sudden plot twists that no one saw coming, so I can imagine something forbidden happening. Only... what?<br /><br />10) <strong> Ethan's father will finally come out of his depression/stupor. </strong> This will only happen if his mother comes back. That'd be pretty nice. His dad's a clueless character, but I think with the right incentive he'd be cool.<br /><br />11) <strong> Marian will either die or Liv will have to give up something to save her. </strong> This wasn't on my original list, but when I reread the book I noticed the depth of the Far Keep subplot, and I realized that Marian might be dying in the next installment. That'd be terribly sad. I love Marian's character, but hey. Doesn't look like there's any way to save the Caster Librarian...<br /><br />12) <strong> There will be something underground, explaining the winding staircase on the cover. </strong> Or maybe that's just a metaphor for Ethan's journey into the Otherworld, or to find Lena. Too early to tell.<br /><br />13) <strong> There will be an Ethan's dad/Ethan's mom/Macon love triangle if she does come back. </strong> I mean, come on. Mrs. Wate was the reason Macon chose Light- or at least part of the reason- so you know he still has feelings for her. It would be kind of awkward for Lena and Ethan, though. <br /><br />14) <strong> The bokor will have a <s> bigger </s> huge role. </strong> I mean, come on. This one's gotta happen. Amma's little deal with him was deadly, I'm assuming, so maybe he'll be on the villain card with Abraham in the book.<br /><br />15) <strong> There will be a bittersweet ending. </strong> At the moment, I can see many characters dying, the Nineteenth Moon being action packed, Abraham causing some trouble, and Lena and Ethan having that powerful reunion. I think the book will end on a bittersweet note, but I don't know how much of which will come across.<br /><br />So, there you have it. Those are my predictions for Beautiful Chaos. Now, hurry up October! Please! So we can see if they come true!<br /><br /><em> Note: Guys, have you heard that they just recently finished filming the <strong> Beautiful Creatures movie </strong> ??? It's coming out February 13, 2013. Who's going to see it? I hope they make movies out of all the books, including this one! <em></em></em>
<br/><br/>
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6368404-j-ella-cullen">View all my reviews</a>

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

MY FAVORITE LINE FROM THE BOOK: "Already the boy with the bread is slipping away from me."

I was at home one day and saw a commercial on TV. This commercial was for, of course, the "Hunger Games" movie. When I saw it, I knew it looked kind of interesting.

I talked to my friend about it. "You haven't read Hunger Games yet?" she cried. "That book is amazing! You have to read it so we can go see the movie together!"

(Read my review of the movie at my other blog, Movie Reviews by Anna.)

So, of course, I read the book, because the movie did sound interesting.

It was the best decision I've made in my life.

From the first sentence, I was instantly captivated by Katniss Everdeen's narrative. District 12 became my home. My sister was suddenly called at the reaping, a system of picking children to be in the Hunger Games, an event shown on live television in which tributes fight to the death. The odds are not in her favor, so I volunteer for her. I'm suddenly facing death in a matter of days.

And only one tribute can win.

The Hunger Games was a breath of fresh air. It was the first book I've truly, deep down to my soul, connected with. If you haven't read it, I strongly encourage you to read it before you see the movie, because the movie is a bit different from the book, and to fully understand, you need to read the book.

SPOILER ALERT: Not to sound mean, but my favorite part was when Rue died. It was the sadness of the moment, the harsh reminder that another tribute died because of the evil, opressing Capitol.

The book deserves more than five stars. It deserves five million.

+++++ (5-stars)

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Before I begin, I want to clarify exactly when my heart broke in two upon reading this book.

When Bella said, "You... Don't... Want me?" My heart shattered, and I hated Edward Cullen with all of my soul, with everything in me. That was officially when I became Team Jacob.

New Moon was a bit of a departure from Twilight. Where in Twilight the dizzying, whirlwind romance was the focus, New Moon mainly focused on Bella, and began to develop the amazing Jacob Black. Jacob was probably the best aspect about this book.

The rest? Meh.

I rated this 3 stars because it WAS good. It had the same hypnotic quality as Twilight. It was only till about the seventh chapter that I was sick of Bella's infantile whining, waiting for Prince Charming to come and save her. Oh, get over it. If I had a hottie like Jacob Black to back me up when my vampire idiot left me, I'd completely forget about Edward. Bella wallows in "sadness and pain" for about THIRTEEN CHAPTERS. Oh, please. Kill me.

The Volturi was an amazing subplot. After reading New Moon, I love Aro. I think he is my second favorite vampire character (the first being Alice).

Guys, when Edward comes back, the pace of the story kind of picks up. THAT is why I rated it three stars. If not for the Volturi scene, it'd probably be one star.

And Jacob! Oh, Jacob.

But this one was more of a MEH. Seriously, I think the only reason I'm picking up Eclipse is to see more of Jacob, because I missed him dearly as soon as Bella and Alice left for Volterra.

+++