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”

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”

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”

Review: Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare

Lies. Betrayal. Danger. Deception. Anger. Adventure. Passion. Love. All of which await eager readers in Cassandra Clare’s latest installment of The Infernal Devices, Clockwork Prince. Clare flawlessly blends action, sci-fi/fantasy, YA, pararomance, and steampunk together magically.

While romance is a huge part of this latest book, it does not over power the adventure. For me, other YA sagas such as Twilight, the love story overpowered the action and adventure, especially in the second book making it less enjoyable but in this series….there was a delicate balance which made it exceptionally hard to put down!

In the midst of all the YA romance there is a richly satisfying mystery and adventure. Tales or betrayal, lies, deception, and unrequited love all cloak this book in a silky velvet darkness that  fully encompasses all the characters and plot not just a singular aspect of the story.  Add in the clockwork angels, automatons, and steam powered inventions and you have one perfectly constructed Steampunk novel! Continue reading “Review: Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare”

Review: The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker (Strangely Beautiful #2) by Leanna Renee Hieber

The illuminating, ghostly second installment of the Strangely Beautiful series by Leanna Renee Hieber, The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker, picks up right where Book I left off.

The dark, brooding professor Alexi Rychman and ‘reincarnated’ Grecian goddess Persephone “Percy” Parker are soul mates….destine for each other. They are now planning their hasty wedding in the midst of the turmoil which prophecy has brought on.

With the coming prophecy has come the war which was also for told….the Whisper World is threatening all The Guard holds dear. The Guard knows that their fight is far from done….the Whisper World and Darkness threaten to claim the now mortal goddess (Percy) as his bride.

Alexi struggles to protect Percy from her fate while Percy herself searches for answers to her past and what she is exactly. Alexi knows his duty is to protect Percy from danger and as leader of The Guard, he is powerful….but his power soon turns boarders on obsession. Alexi must learn how to protect Percy while allowing her some room to breath…Percy must learn her own power.

Dark signs soon begin to develop at the beloved Athens Academy signaling the coming war but The Guard is not alone….previous Guard members rally themselves as allies (they are the ghosts of past Guard members) to the new Guard. One ghost Guard member, Beatrice, was once the leader of Alexi’s Guard and she helps him realize he must trust in Percy and trust in her power in order to save the Guard from the coming war. Continue reading “Review: The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker (Strangely Beautiful #2) by Leanna Renee Hieber”