Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare | Book Review

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

The Infernal Devices #1
First Published: 2009
Paperback
Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating:

Magic is dangerous — but love is more dangerous still.
When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Friendless and hunted, Tessa seeks refuge with the Shadowhunters, a band of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons. Drawn ever deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated by — and torn between — two best friends and quickly realizes that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

If you've been following this blog for the short while it has existed, you probably already know I gave up on The Mortal Instruments after the third book. So you might be a bit surprised to see this review.

But after hearing so many good things about The Infernal Devices and it's superiority to TMI, I decided to give it a shot, hoping it might be a different reading experience than the former. I desperately wanted it to be. I wanted to be swept into Clare's world like so many others do. But alas, it was not in the stars. Again.

As I've mentioned before, the main issue I have with Clare's books is that they just fail to properly grab me. I always end up reading them really slowly. It tires me. In this particular story, I kept flipping to the end, in the hope of peaking my interest. It mostly didn't help, aside for spoiling the Big Bad for me, which only served to make me upset about the lack of hinting in his direction (that I could note).

Then there was the romance. In TMI (first trilogy), I was kind of on-board. I liked Jace, and I liked that there was never really a love triangle. I was looking forward to the romance in TID, seeing as everyone freakin' loves Will and Jem.

Did I get what I was hoping for? Nope. Aside for the fact I did not swoon for Will (he was kind of too inconsistent for me, hot than cold and over again, and while I'm sure we're going to explore his past and get his redemption, that's not done in this book), I did not understand why Tessa was falling for him.

The few decent interaction they had ended poorly. It was insta love, from start to finish. Jem, at the very least, was very sweet to our MC. Falling for him, especially at this point, would've made much more sense.

To be completely honest, I was way more interested in the side characters, such as Charlotte & Henry, and Sophie. I kept looking forward to their scenes, wanted to see how their stories would play out. If I read on (which will probably happen as I already own the third book), it will be mostly for these guys. Sorry!

The Maze Runner by James Dashner | Book Review

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner #1
First Published: 2009
Paperback
Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating:

"If you ain't scared, you ain't human."
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He's surrounded by strangers--boys whose memories are also gone.
Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It's the only way out--and no one's ever made it through alive.
Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

This is one of those books that stood unread on my shelves for ages. I first resolved to read it when Dylan O'Brian was announced to play Thomas, because I'm a proud Dylan O'Brian fangirl, but deciding to do it and actually doing it turned out to be two separate things.

Part of my reluctance had to do with the fact this is such a hyped novel, and I don't have the best track record with those. And... it's a dystopian novel. I... don't like these too much, if I were honest. So, in all honesty, I wasn't that hopeful about this book.

Now, this book is interesting. It leaves you with a ton of questions you want answered, which in turn makes you want to continue with the series to find them out. And it all kind of messes with your head in a good sort of way. 

But is it especially good as a story? Um... not... really. 

I found it to be extremely dull for about the first 150 pages or so. If I didn't really want to know if there was some point to all this, I wouldn't have been able to force myself to continue with it. I had to give myself a schedule of short, centered reading periods to get through it. Things kind of picked up when Theresa finally woke up.

Aside for this, I found the writing... lacking. It felt as dull as the story was. And that without mentioning the dang repetitions. I mean, I get it. The memory loss thing is funky cause you remember the things but not where/whom/when/etc you learned them. I got that the first time and the second time and the third time. By the fifteenth time I just wanted to hit Thomas over the head with a club.

Your memory may be funky, but mine sure isn't so back off me you schuck!

Speaking of Thomas... I still have no grasp over the guy, or any other character in the book. There were too many random shifts of emotions (and displays of violence), that every time I thought I understood who someone was the carpet was pulled from underneath my feet and I had to try to figure them out all over again.

I still can't differentiate between them, too. If you took out their names, I will have no idea who's speaking.

And the entire time, I had this nagging thought that they weren't smart enough. Sure, they are not dumb at all. But geniuses? Err, I didn't feel that at all. They were just... normally intelligent kids. This wouldn't be an issue if a big part of the story wasn't hanging on their intellect. If you don't believe that about them, then you really don't believe any of the shit going on. And I didn't, so...

BUT, I really have no effing clue what's going on and for what possible reason this was all done! It seems utterly ridiculous! I mean, I feel like I kind of grasped the general situation outside the maze, but the maze itself still makes no sense to me. This makes me excited (and hopeful) that the next books would reveal the truth about everything.

Reading over my review, I realize I don't give too many plus points about this novel so it might be confusing as to why it's a three and a half stars read. The thing you've got to understand - the mystery and intrigue and the confusion is this books plus point. It's what made it readable and enjoyable. So despite all the minuses, I still had fun with it.

Book Review: Tempt me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas

Tempt me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas

The Hathaways #3

First Published: 2009

Kindle Bundle

Adult, Historical Romance

Rating:

He was everything she'd sworn to avoid.
Poppy Hathaway loves her unconventional family, though she longs for normalcy. Then fate leads to a meeting with Harry Rutledge, an enigmatic hotel owner and inventor with wealth, power, and a dangerous hidden life. When their flirtation compromises her own reputation, Poppy shocks everyone by accepting his proposal—only to find that her new husband offers his passion, but not his trust.
And she was everything he needed.
Harry was willing to do anything to win Poppy—except to open his heart. All his life, he has held the world at arm’s length…but the sharp, beguiling Poppy demands to be his wife in every way that matters. Still, as desire grows between them, an enemy lurks in the shadows. Now if Harry wants to keep Poppy by his side, he must forge a true union of body and soul, once and for all...

When I started Tempt me at Twilight I was slightly disappointed to learn this was the story of Poppy, the third Hathaway sister. To me, Poppy was the least appealing Hathaway in the first two books, simply because she seemed pretty boring.

The Poppy I discovers in Tempt me at Twilight ended up being my favorite part of the novel. She was just... so great. She was brave. She didn't back down. She sees the best in everyone. She's exceptionally kind, but that won't stop her from telling some harsh truths. She is no doormat!

Then there's Harry. While I was compelled by him from the first moment, I can't say I liked him initially. His manipulative ways left a sour taste in my mouth, partly because he saw nothing wrong with them but mostly because I couldn't quite understand why Poppy brought it out of him. 

Sure, she's delightful - she's smart and inquisitive and all what I said before, but he knew her for mere minutes when he decided he wanted her. Needed her. Would "sell" the last parts of his humanity to have her.

Why?

This was a little too insta-love for my liking on that aspect. I would've liked for them to have had more talks, more interactions, before Harry decided on her so completely. Or at all, for that matter. And after they had married, I would've loved for more of those sweet small moments that explained why he (and she!) fell in love. That explained the change in Harry, which was fun to watch but done a little too quickly and drastically to be completely realistic.

They were there, it just... they weren't exactly enough.

Despite these, they were a really cute couple. I mean, really. They were funny and baffled and interesting and I just loved their interactions; how she was constantly a thing of marvel to him, how she found him both hateful and yet impossible to hate, because there was just something behind his eyes that spoke of a different story. How she made him better and he made her more daring. Made her appreciate the peculiarities of her family. Of their love.

Not to mention the hotel crew surrounding them was simply delightful. I would love for a spin-off series for Valentine, the Chef and possibly more eccentric hotel personals that we don't know yet. Make it happen, Kleypas!

So, a bit of tweaking here and there would have made this a full round four star, but in all honesty I enjoyed this greatly anyways. 

Book Review: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

The Mortal Instruments #3
First Published: 2009
Paperback
Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating:

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?

So, when I read City of Ashes and wrote my original review of it, I boasted at how I was certain I would start City of Glass the following week and finish the first trilogy of the series. I made a huge liar out of myself, because I ended up reading it a full year later.

Which is really one of the main problem I have with this series and Cassandra Clare's books in general. I just don't feel compelled to read them. At all. And even when I do, I end up reading them in triple the time it usually takes me.

I do somewhat enjoy them (not half as much as most of you out there seem to, though...), but that's just kind of my general feeling about them.

In this installment of the series, the tables turned. Where in the last book I loved Jace and was a bit disappointed by Simon, in this one I found Jace's pov to be extremely tiring, and Simon's rather delightful.

Which is too bad, because the whole romance part of the book is centered around Jace and Clary, who spend most of it dancing around--or with--each other, until they finally discover what we all knew (or at the very least I knew) from book one. Hooray and good riddance. But does that mean the angst can finally stop? According to the synopses of the next books, not even close. *sigh*

This makes me glad I'm never going to read them. #ThereISaidIt.

This book is filled with death, but most of it in the big sense of the word, an Avengers type of massive destruction that doesn't really touch you much because you are not too attached to any of those people. Except in one case.

You probably know which Death I'm talking about, and if you don't I'm not going to be the one to spoil it for you (though I did spoil myself for it), but let's just say it's one of my big No-Nos and I want Clare to somehow take it back *sniff*

But it's not the death and destruction that's truly frightening here. It's the fact that Valentine believes he is doing the right thing, the hard thing that no one else but him will do. He is not pure evil. And this type of villain is much scarier to me, because pure evil never stood a chance, that is what it is. But Valentine could've turned out a whole different. He could've done the world a ton of good.

The other villain we're introduced to here? He's pure evil. And I hate him. But not enough to pick up the next books and force myself once again through bazillion pages. #ThereISaidItAgain