Category: Book Critic

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Review: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare

Epic.

In Cassandra Clare’s third installment of her wildly successful series, The Mortal Instruments (MI), City of Glass is just that…epic!

City of Ashes left off with the group of shawdowhunter warriors poised for a show down worthy of the OK Corral! Jace, Clary, Alec, Luke, Simon, Magnus, The Lightwoods….everyone was anxiously waiting for the day when Valentine would make his move and they could either fight and destroy him or submit to his demands. City of Ashes left readers tasting the looming battle…waiting for that day to come.

This book follows Clary’s journey to the shadownhunter ‘homeland’ of Idris. The whole Lightwood family, Jace, and Clary plan to attend a formal Clave meeting about what should be done about Valentine.

Just as Magnus opens the portal to send the Lightwoods and Jace though (without Clary), demons and forsaken attack them. Magnus throws the Lightwoods and Jace through the portal before anymore demons pass through and kill them….oddly enough Simon is there meeting with Jace about Clary and he too gets thrown threw the portal to Idris right along with them. Continue reading “Review: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare” →

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Review: Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia

by The Lit Bitch6 Comments on Review: Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia

There is only one word to describe Debra Anastasia’s novel Poughkeepsie…..elegant.

I feel absolutely privileged to review this novel, the cover alone is completely breathtaking and haunting…I couldn’t help but say yes to a review. When I first read the summary, I was not sure that this novel was entirely in my general review genre and I was not sure how the story would fit together as it sounded abstract. I am normally not a huge fan of contempo lit, let alone contempo romance, I feel like contempo lit generally leaves the reader feeling disturbed.

Many of the characteristics of contempo lit are feelings of hopelessness, questioning a world that lacks past assurances (happy endings etc). When I am reading I generally like to escape the real world and retreat into a world of happily ever after….I guess I’m saying I need to be in a mood to read contempo lit LOL :). Which was why I thought about waiting to review Poughkeepsie until after the new year….but I simply couldn’t forget the haunting cover and mysterious title….for some reason I just couldn’t get the book out of my mind, so I agreed to review.

Since this will probably be my last review of the year, I am thrilled to say I went out on a high note–the book was hands down phenomenal….one of the best I have read this year and I don’t say those sorts of things lightly. This book was so many additives it was hard to pick just one: spellbinding, elegant, lyrical, breathtaking, magical…..beautiful.

Poughkeepsie is a dark modern day Cinderella story with a distinct classic Romeo and Juliet feel. Continue reading “Review: Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia” →

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Review: The Deception of the Emerald Ring (Pink Carnation #3) by Lauren Willig

by The Lit Bitch8 Comments on Review: The Deception of the Emerald Ring (Pink Carnation #3) by Lauren Willig

Letty Alsworthy has an appalling nasty habit of being whisked way by seemingly innocent carriages! What was it about her that made everyone within grabbing distance want to and act upon the sudden urge to toss her an anything with wheels, one would be abductor in particular–Lord Geoffrey Pinchingdale Snipe.

In Lauren Willig’s latest Pink Carnation romantic spy thriller series, The Deception of the Emerald Ring, Letty Alsworthy finds herself in a precarious situation…her sister Mary is secretly engaged to Lord Pinchingdale and plotting to elope with him.

Letty discovers the plot moments before Mary literally flies out the window right along with her reputation….Letty manages to get to Lord Pinchingdale’s carriage before Mary does and to her satisfaction prevents their elopement but before she can gloat too much, Letty finds herself in the compromised position–NOT Mary.

When the coach delivers Lord Pinchingdale’s bride to him, before he can confirm the identity of his beloved, he finds himself swept up in a moment of passion only to reveal he is snogging the WRONG sister! With Letty’s reputation at stake, Lord Pinchingdale does what any English gentleman would do–he marries Letty. Continue reading “Review: The Deception of the Emerald Ring (Pink Carnation #3) by Lauren Willig” →

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Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare

1, 2, 3 ACTION! From the first page of Cassandra Clare’s thrilling YA series, The Mortal Instruments, the second book of the series, City of Ashes–readers can expect one thing…ACTION. So much happens in this book, while a lot happened in City of Bones, I felt like the first book in the series was more about foundation laying than this second book…in this book things happen at an alarming pace!

Clary and her shadowhunter friends embark on a dangerous adventure. Having narrowly escaped the clutches of the evil (and rogue shadowhunter), Valentine in Book I, the shadowhunters know it is only a matter of time before Valentine resurfaces.

Suddenly, an alarming number of downworlder ‘children’ are ending up dead….first a warlock, then a fairy, and then a werewolf. The shawdowhunters being to detect the subtle traces of Valentine’s signature all over these crimes.

Clary can’t help but wonder if her mother holds the key to the mystery….but there is one problem, her mother is in a magically educed coma. Continue reading “Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare” →

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Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

by The Lit Bitch4 Comments on Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

Being a teenager is hard enough without the added stress of suddenly being able to see demons and other downworlders. In Cassandra Clare’s book, City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1), Clarissa ‘Clary’ Frey has gone from being completely oblivious of the shadow world to suddenly being very much aware of demons, downworlders, and shawdowhunters. Clary and her best friend Simon are at a club in NYC when Clary witnesses three other teens kill a boy–well Clary thought he was a boy but really he was a demon–the three other teens are shawdowhunters that only she can see.

When Clary gets home that night, she is still stunned by what she saw, and to make matters worse her mother starts acting very strange. Clary’s mom, Jocelyn, informs her that they will be going on ‘vacation’ suddenly for the entire summer. This brings about a huge argument with Clary storming out of the house, leaving her mom behind. While she is out with her friends, Clary sees one of the other teens from the night before….Jace. She is not sure why Jace is following her but she confronts him, demanding answers.

Jace wants to know why she can see them through their powerful glamouring charms when no one else can….only a follow shadowhunter or downworlder could possibly see through their protections since Clary is clearly neither, Jace wants to know what she is. Continue reading “Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare” →