Zeroes

Title: Zeroes

Series: Zeroes - book 1

Author: Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti

Rating: 4.5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Number of Pages: 496

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date: 2015

Summary: Don't call them heroes. But these six Californian teens have powers that 

set them apart.

Ethan aka Scam has a voice inside him that'll say whatever people want to hear, whether it's true or not. Which is handy, except when it isn't - like when the voice starts gabbing in the middle of a bank robbery. The only people who can help are the other Zeroes, who aren't exactly best friends these days.

Enter Nate, aka Bellwether, the group's 'glorious leader.' After Scam's SOS, he pulls the scattered Zeroes back together. But when the rescue blows up in their faces, the Zeroes find themselves propelled into whirlwind encounters with ever more dangerous criminals. At the heart of the chaos they find Kelsie, who can take a crowd in the palm of her hand and tame it or let it loose as she pleases.

Not many author's can make a book about a group of dysfunctional characters and make a story that you will actually enjoy, but this trio have somehow succeeded. With an almost casual efficiency, this trio of authors managed to turn the world upside down, shake it and walk off with a shrug as if to say 'well what did you expect from us, you didn't think we would make it easy for these guys'. These six characters are all connected to each other through the fact that they are all different and have unusual powers. But these powers don't only bring them together but also push them apart. 

Zeroes is told in multiple perspectives which helped to build on the extensive array of characters. Through each perspective you begin to see how difficult the lives of our characters are because of their abilities; these guys are Zeroes, not Heroes for a reason. Scam has the abilities to talk his way out of anything, but that sometimes means he pushes someone else in his path. Anonymous get forgotten by everyone, including his family and Crash, well she can crash any electronic system, so it's best that she stays away from hospitals and airplanes, just in case. 

Based on the other books I have read by Scott Westerfeld I knew to expect an unconventional story and I wasn't disappointed. Ever book I have read by Scott Westerfeld has had a clear and distinctive mark that is clearly his own and despite the fact that this book was co-authored his presence was still there. With two other author's co-writing this book I was worried that there would be a bit of disjointedness to this book, but at no point did I ever feel like there were multiple author's writing styles, I feel like I read a book by Scott Westerfeld alone. 

The Night Circus

Title: The Night Circus

Author: Erin Morgenstern

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Historical, Fantasy

Number of Pages: 490

Publisher: Vintage Books

Publication Date: 2011

Summary: The Circus arrives without warning

No announcement proceeds it...

It is simply there, when 

yesterday it was not

Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements, and it's only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

In part one of The Night Circus we meet the main characters of the story over the expanse of several years. We get brief glances of our main characters from the age of 5 in 1873 till their late teens 1886. The story starts off with introducing lots of intriguing ideas and establishes much of the story. Usually these long wind up stories will bore me and I give up but this book has such an enchanting feel to it, that even if there was no plot line for the entire book I probably would have kept reading. Never have I read a book that the writing and story dazzle in perfect synchronicity.

In is in part two that we are introduced to the Circus...and what a Circus it is. The entire circus is a work or art and incredible imagination. Le Cirque des Reves, the Circus of Dreams,  is only open at night and is entirely decked out in black and white and the best performers. But this is no ordinary circus, hiding in plain site , the circus is the platform of extraordinary magic not the illusions that the audience believes it is seeing. Marco and Celia are pitted in a game where they don't know the rules or how to win, all they know is that they must out do each other in feats of breathtaking imagination.

But as the years go by Celia and Marco find that they no longer compete against each other but instead build their magical creations for each other. But the competition must come to an end and Celia and Marco must find a way to end the competition without the drastic consequences that threaten the circus and their love.

But Celia and Marco aren't the only characters to tell a story, born under the strange and unique circumstances of the circus' magical opening night, the Murray twins, Poppet and Widget are two key players in the survival of the circus with their unique abilities and the help of a farm boy, Bailey with big dreams.

In short, I loved this book! It was magical and enchanting and was a world that I would love to see come to life. The book doesn't have the most compelling story line but it is written beautifully and I couldn't put it down.

Black-Eyed Susans

Title:Black-Eyed Susans

Author: Julia Heaberlin

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Thriller/ Mystery

Number of Pages: 349

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: 2015

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Tessa, dubbed a 'Black-Eyed Susan' by the media, became famous for being the only victim to survive the vicious attack of a serial killer. Her testimony helped put a dangerous criminal behind bars - or so she thought.

Now decades later, the case has been reopened and the black-eyed Susans planted outside Tessa's bedroom window seem to be a message from a killer who should be safely in prison.

Tessa agrees to help with the investigation, but she is haunted by fragmented memories of the night she was attacked and terrified for her own teenage daughter's safety, Can she unlock the truth about the killer before it is too late?

I really struggled to get into this book. The main reason for this was that I found that rather than saying what was happening, it just seemed to dance around events and teased you with information to the point where you wanted to pick the book up and throw it across the room. If you picked this book up without reading the summary first, I really think you would spend the first 70 or so pages of this book wondering what was going on. For people who love suspense and being kept guessing this is the book for you. Me, would have liked a bit more information to understand what was happening.

However, once I got through the first part of this book I really, really enjoyed it. The mystery begins to unfold in a way that allows you to follow and make your own assumptions, pushing and pulling you on the right track and sometimes leading you down dead ends. This book was filled with an amazing amount of little details, and the past and present are highly intertwined in a way that shows the amount of thought and detail that Heaberlin has put into this book,

This book alternates in perspective between Tessa or present day and a younger Tessie following the events of her attack. By telling the story in this perspective, Heaberlin doesn't really have Tessa talk about the events of her past so much as she focuses on the present and the results of what happened all those years ago. The story told from Tessa's point of view was definitely more enjoyable as this was what told the bulk of the story and was were ultimately the mystery and thriller aspect of the book were present. This meant that sometimes the other chapters told from a different perspective sometimes felt a little irrelevant to the overall story and were almost acting as a filler or breaker.

The Lux Series

 I first picked up the Lux Series about two years ago, I flew through the first three books and for what ever reason I just decided to stop. So I figured it was about time I went back and finished what I had started.

The first three books for me, I would probably describe as a contemporary/ science-fiction cross over. Rather than focusing so much on the fact that there are aliens present in this book, this almost takes a back seat to everyday teenage problems, such as friendships and relationships. 

The first three books Obsidian, Onyx, and Opal are told through the perspective of Katy, a book vlogger/ blogger who has just moved with her mother to a small town where she quickly gets to know her new neighbours Dee and Daemon. I found that these books seemed to changed from everything happening at one time to nothing happening at all, there wasn't much of an inbetween. But for whatever reason though, this worked for the series and I didn't really dwell on it.

The final two books in the series are, however, when everything changes. Origin and Opposition are told from dual perspectives. With both Katy and Daemon narrating these final two books the world of the Lux expands exponentially. These books have probably got the best dual perspective I have ever read. No other book has created such clear distinctions between the two characters, showed different sides of both the main and minor characters and shaken the whole plot line up quite so dramatically. By doing this, Armentrout created a huge and complex amount of depth to all of her characters and I really wish that she had done this through the first three books as well.

Alongside this series is the book Shadows a prequel to the events of first book and told through a different POV again, Dee and Daemon's brother Dawson. While this book is not necessary for the series it does help to once again build on the complexity of the characters in this series.

And finally to top of this series is the book Oblivion the first three books condensed down to tell Daemon's POV. I was worried when I picked this up that it would be like every other book that I have read like this and simply tell the same story but from a different perspective, totally a waste of time. I couldn't have been more wrong. Reading the dual perspectives has nothing on this book. Reading Daemon's POV of events was enlightening to say the least, all of sudden you see more character flaws in character's that Katy didn't and in Katy herself. Character's that hadn't made much sense before suddenly did. This book really drove home the point of 'you can't understand a person until you walk in their shoes'.

While I don't consider these books to be great master pieces, I gave each of them 4 stars because I did ultimately really enjoy them. I did find that Armentrout is clearly an author more suited for New Adult books than YA as I did find that this reflects through her work and I found it quite obvious in some places of her writing. I'm really interested now to actually read a book of hers that is New Adult.

March Wrap Up

For the month of March I didn't get as many books read as I would have liked due to the fact that I was moving house and many of my books ended up in boxes, boxes which I was only just about to unpack last weekend. And because I was moving I had no internet for two weeks, so rather than going back and trying to write full in detail reviews of the books I have read I will instead wrap them all up in one post.

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and others.

In the beginning of march I finished reading the last five books from the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. I didn't enjoy these short stories as much as I do enjoy her novels. I did, however, find that they gave a really interesting insight in the inner working of the Shadowhunter world as it was set in Idris as opposed to an Institute. I also loved that we got to learn so much about Simon, because who doesn't love Simon in all his dorkiness.

5/5 Stars

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

March was very much a Cassandra Clare month. I continued with my Shadowhunter fix by re-reading Clockwork Prince, the second book in the Infernal Devices Series. As this is a re-read it not really surprising that I give this book a 5/5 stars. My favourite thing about this particular book in the series is how much we learn about Jem as he quite often gets overshadowed by Will as a character.

5/5 Stars

The Aeneid by Virgil

My TBR Challenge for February was to read a poem but in February I was in a reading slump so it just didn't happen. Granted the Aeneid isn't a poem in the traditional sense that most people would call a poem, especially once it has been translated from Latin to English. But an epic poem is still a poem.

This book is a well loved classic for a reason as it tells the story of Aeneas fleeing Troy after it has been destroyed by the Greeks and follows his journey to establish a new kingdom and race that would go on to become the Roman Empire. This book is filled with propaganda for Augustus and the greatness of Rome,

5/5 Stars

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I have been wanting to read this book for a really long time but after watching the movie and becoming a sobbing mess I have also been putting it off. This book is very unique in how it is told as first of all, death narrates the story which gives a very airy feeling of how true some of the events in this book are. Secondly the book is broken up into multiple parts and within each of these parts there are a number of short stories which all amalgamate into the over all plot of the book. I loved this book as it made me laugh, smile and cry and cry some more. If you do plan to read this book, have a box of tissues ready, especially at the end

5/5 Stars - easily

I did read a few other books in March but I was able to write reviews for those so feel free to check them out.

Lady Midnight

Title: Lady Midnight

Series: The Dark Artifices - book 1

Author: Cassandra Clare

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy

Number of Pages: 669

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: March 8th 2016

Summary: In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word, A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other - but they can never fall in love.

Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhinter. She lives for battle. Alongside her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Stripe, and faeries - the most powerful of supernatural creatures - teeter on the edge of war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries are found murdered in the same way Emma's parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma's chance for revenge and Julian's chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held by the Faerie Courts. All they have to do is solve the murders within two weeks... and before the murderer targets them.

Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai from falling in love? Who really killed her parents - and can she bear to know the truth?

Lady Midnight is an action packed and intense and for the first book of a series that is promising to be spectacular one. I hadn’t realised how much I missed a new Cassandra Clare book. Going into Lady Midnight, the assumption is that you already know the structure of the world that Cassandra Clare has created and as a result we don’t have to get a whole lot of world building allowing us to get straight into the story and learn the characters, and there is quite a few new characters to learn. Unlike previous books the characters grew up in the Shadowhunter world.

In the previous Shadowhunter books while adult presence has been limited, it is almost non-existent in Lady Midnight, the adults that are present have fleeting appearances and little sway and guidance over Emma, Julian and the rest of the Blackthorn children. As a result some of the old fashioned beliefs that the Shadowhunter’s hold onto do not apply to our characters. There are two obvious examples of this. The first is in the behaviour of the characters. All Shadowhunter’s grow up fast, it is a given, they grow up and fast because they die young. But our main characters have had to grow up more than others. They are this odd mix of having had to grow up too fast and still holding onto their child like dreams and ambitions. This helps to make the story both compelling and heart wrenching.

The other way this lack of adultness is seen, is in the presence of technology. Without adults forcing the Blackthorns and Emma into thinking that mundane technology is useless they have thrived under its influence. The characters make references to movies and use computers in a way that would stump our previous Shadowhunter characters, even those of the Mortal Instruments.

Cassandra Clare is a no-holds-bar author, you have no idea who can trust, or who is going to live; even the main characters are up for grabs. But so as to keep spoilers to the minimum I will just look at main characters.

Emma is very much a combination of Clary and Jace. She is reckless and stubborn, and constantly getting into trouble. Above all else Emma is loyal and driven with a need to find answers and work out who she is. Emma is slow to trust and care for others but when she does, it is final. Emma needs nothing more than to close the final chapter of one part of her life so that she can learn to live in the next.

Julian on the other hand is a mix of Will and Jem, he is quiet and reserved but rather than music we get art as his passion. But like with Will you never see the real him, you get his protective side that shows through and the absolution that he will put his family and Emma first but keeps secrets. He keeps secrets in the same way that Will does, they are perfectly put together but are the story progresses we see these secrets begin to unravel and pull him apart at the seams.

This book is neither slow nor fast despite its bulking size (669 – and it’s just the first book) it was a well paced and well written book. This is the best book Cassandra Clare has written so far and as her writing has grown and become even more amazing I am sure that her books will one day kill me. Cassandra Clare forces you to feel so much for her characters and then she rips your heart out with betrayals, lies, secrets and deaths.

Glass Sword

Title: Glass Sword

Series: Red Queen - book 2

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Number of Pages: 442

Publisher: Orion Books

Publication Date: 2016

Summary: Mare's blood is red, but her unique Silver ability - the power to control lightning - has turned her into a weapon that the Silver court will do anything to control.

As Mare escapes the cluthes of Maven, the prince - and friend - who betrayed her, she discovers something shocking: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, no a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters.

But Mare is treading a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat. Will she shatter under weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

Glass Sword begins right where it left off. The last sentence of Red Queen and the first sentence of Glass Sword follow each other almost as if you have started a new chapter not another book. Not many authors do this but I found that I loved it. Rather than waiting for the story to pick up again so I could get back to the amazing world that Victoria Aveyard has created, it was like I never left.

I want to say so much about this book but I won't because I don't want to spoil this for anyone. 

Glass Sword has one very interesting theme that runs through out it, especially towards the end. A theme that is often touched in many books which involve uprisings but never in quite this much clarity and detail. 'At what point do your actions stop becoming that of saving others and instead become the first steps that your enemy once took themselves with the same ideals'. This is something that is really clearly seen and something that the characters struggle with. A lot of thought and planning has gone into how the characters will face such a challenge.

But the thing I loved the most about this book and about Victoria Aveyard's writing is that she holds no punches. Victoria is a brave writer and if she wants to put something in her books she will. This means that certain parts of her books can get very dark, the characters can be shockingly cruel but most importantly she creates characters that are so uniquely diverse and different you actually feel like you are meeting truly different individuals and not just characters with slightly different personalities that give the illusion of different.

Glass Sword is perhaps the best sequel novel I have ever read and I can't wait to see what happens next...

Zero at the Bone

Title: Zero at the Bone

Author: Jane Seville

Rating: 3.5 stars

Genre: Romance, Thriller

Number of Pages: 293

Publisher: Kindle

Publication Date: 2009

Summary: After witnessing a mob hit, surgeon Jack Francisco is put into protective custody to keep him safe until he can testify,

A hitman known only as D is blackmailed into killing Jack, but when he tracks him down, his weary conscience won't allow him to murder an innocent man.

Finding in each other an unlikely ally, Jack and D are soon on the run from shadowy enemies. Forced to work together to survive, the two men forge a bond that ripens into unexpected passion. Jack sees the wounded soul beneath D's cold, detached exterior, and D finds in Jack the person can help him reclaim the man he once was.

As the day of Jack's testimony approaches, he and D find themselves not only fighting for their lives...but also fighting for their future. A future together.

TBR Challenge: For March my TBR challenge was to read a book that was based on a characters emotional development.

Before I begin writing this review I think it would be first a good idea to start off by saying that I spent a good part of February in a reading slump, and as a result, said reading slump may affect my overall perspective and rating on this book.

I picked up this book for two reasons. First I wanted a book that wasn't particularly long, was probably action packed and it met the requirements of my TBR Challenge. When I find myself in a reading slump, I have found that a good way of getting out is to read a book that is fairly short and always has something happening. This book was, however, not quite what I was expecting.

For a book that was about hit men, witness protection and being on the run, this book was pretty lacking in the action. A good half of this book was simply waiting around for something to happen, and then waiting some more. Granted you can't have a book just filled with one fight straight after the other, you need to break them up, but this book was spread out for miles; and when you finally got a fight scene, it was over in a page or two. This would have been fine if something was happening in between but even the romance in the story was very slow due to the fact that D as a character is extraordinarily emotional dead inside.

I really didn't like the character of D. When I say he is emotional dead, I seriously mean it. D might have a moral compass that points north and does direct him in life, but he also lacks the most basic things that makes someone human. A character as emotional dead as D makes him difficult to relate and sympathise with him. This was all especially apparent when you compare him to Jack. Jack was full of life, wanted to know about everything and in comparison to D, Jack was the poster child of humanity.

D took a long time to develop as a character, and even at the end still came across as being quite emotionally dead. It is not until we are well into the second half of this book that we really begin to see him change and begin to live and the epilogue was a good indicator that he hasn't really grown so much as he has grown when it comes to Jack.

My second problem with D was his speech. D spoke like he was highly unintelligent and I really found this hard to accept when he was a man that ran on strategy as a survival mechanism. While I get that the way he talked was probably a way of bringing more depth to D, helping to show that there was more to him. I found myself thinking that Jane Saville was trying to write the worst character possible so she could more easily show that he will grow and develop. But that is just my opinion and based on the high reviews on goodreads I get the impression I stand alone in many of opinions of this book.

Despite the fact that I seem to have only written negative things about the book in this review, I did enjoy the book. The fact that I was in a reading slump and actually finished the book in a couple days shows this pretty well. 

Ink and Bone

Title: Ink and Bone

Series: The Great Library - book 1

Author: Rachel Caine

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Steam Punk, Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 410

Publisher: Allison and Busby

Publication Date: 2015

Summary: In a world where the ancient Great Library of Alexandria was never destroyed, knowledge now rules the world: freely available, but strictly controlled. Owning privates books is a crime.

Jess Brightwell is the son of a black market book smuggler, sent to the Library to compete for a position as a scholar...but even as he forms friendships and finds his true gifts, he begins to unearth the dark secrets of the greatest, most revered institution in the world.

Those that controll the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life - and soon both heretics and books will burn....

This book brings a whole new meaning to knowledge is power and a world run by books. If you love books, at some point you have probably seriously considered a world that was run by librarians and books lovers as some kind of paradise and perfect world. Well...maybe not. In a world where books are the most precious things, owning them makes you powerful and only the powerful can obtain them. So naturally no one is actually allowed to own books. Yeah doesn't really sound like paradise any more. And when knowledge is power, well everyone else sort of just has to accept that they lack both.

I didn't find the characters in this book to book to be particularly interesting, aside from the characters that we never really got to meet. Between every chapter we got snippets of written correspondence between some of the most powerful people in this world of books but it is only right at the end that we actually get to meet these scarily powerful men and women. In many ways, however, the characters in this story were overshadowed by the much more enthralling world that was created.

Rachel Caine created a world that was mix of history, steam punk, science fiction in a world that is so like our own yet at the same time so very far a way. This world ruled by the Great Library of Alexandria means we get a setting that is a mix of the luxurious life style of the Egyptians, mechanical inventions of the industrial age with a dash of technology that far exceeds our own and throw in a smidgen of magic. The librarians are a mix of tyrannical and almost god like revered leaders who are the most intelligent people around and impossible to out play.

I was hoping that this book would be a little more fast paced and action packed but at certain points I found myself really forcing myself to keep reading. Ink and Bone was filled with lots of little story line moments which all came together at the end but sometimes I found them difficult to read as they didn't quite fit nicely together. This was also not helped by the fact that at some points Caine created such intense and action packed moments you felt like you were sitting in an action movie. Yet despite these shifts from extreme actions to lapses in events, I really enjoyed the book.

Clockwork Angel

Title: Clockwork Angel

Series: The Infernal Devices - book 1

Author: Cassandra Clare

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult

Number of Pages: 470

Publisher: Walker Books

Publication Date: 2010

Summary: When sixteen-year-old Tessa Grey arrives in England during the reign of Queen Victoria, 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 realises that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

The Infernal Devices series is a prequel series to the Mortal Instruments. As a result we get some of the names we know and love such as Herondale, Lightwood and Fairchild, but we also get introduced to some new ones. 

The first thing that I loved about this book is the world. Cassandra Clare has created a world that it both a historically belivable one and is also filled with magic and mechanical inventions. Like with the Mortal Instruments, the Shadowhunters of the 19th century live a secluded life from the mundanes and believe themselves to be better than the Downworlders. 

 While their are cross overs between both the Infernal Devices and the Mortal Instruments their is no repetition in story ideas. In both series we are introduced to the Pandemonium club, yet the two are unrecognisable, while being creepily the same in the different era's. In the Mortal Instruments the club is simply a club that is frequented by Downworlders, Demons and Shadowhunters...in the Infernal Devices the Pandemonium Club has a far more sinister role. In this version of the club it is run by varying levels of Downworlders and Demons who seek to exploit the naivety of mundanes; they draw in the unsuspecting and use them as pawns.

The other thing that I loved that has carried through on both series is the presence of Camille, Magnus and Church. Having a small select few of the characters from the Mortal Instruments present helped to create a connection between the two series and also to help solidify that some of the characters are actually immortal. Knowing that some of the characters will still be alive in 130 odd years and watching them love and hate really brings the loneliness of immortality to life. Getting to experience a character in two very different time frames brings a new depth to the immortality of characters that most authors are unable to portray.

The role of women in this book is also a big topic. There are three main women: Tessa, Charlotte and Jessamine, each are very different and have very different understandings of how women should act. Charlotte is a Shadowhunter first and a lady second. She goes into battle and has the right to give her opinion. Jessamine is pretty much a spoilt rich brat. She strongly believes that women should sit around and look pretty, take care of their husbands and raise their children. 

Tessa has very traditional views to begin with, men make decisions while women are more reserved. These views, however, do not suit Tessa's personality type and she lives in a world of fiction with strong female characters. When she meets the Shadowhunters she is originally put off by their casual and forward behaviour, yet at the same time she is fascinated with the idea that women can be strong and fight to.

It is the character of Will, however, that is the most fascinating. Will as a character is arrogant, rude and just plain unpleasant to be around. Yet he can also be prone to moments of true selflessness and kindness. Like with his descendant, however, his cruelty towards others comes from a desire to protect others from himself and to protect himself from pain and suffering. Will is by far one of the deepest characters I have read about. Everything about him contradicts. He can't stand anyone, doesn't believe anyone deserves pity but the one person he cares about the most is the person who most depends on him and has his unwavering devotion.

Even if you didn't really enjoy the Mortal Instruments, this series may still appeal to you.

Top 5 Wednesday - Badasses

1. The first badass character that comes to mind for me is Rose Hathaway from the Vampire Academy series. Rose is a dhampir, a half vampire warrior tasked with the job of protecting her best friend, the Dragomir princess. Rose is a sassy, butt kicking force to be reckoned with...and stragoi had better watch out. There are two things in life Rose Hathaway excels at - breaking rules and kicking butt.

2. The second badass character that comes to mind is Celaena Sardothien from the Throne of Glass Series. Celaena is an assassin, but not just any assassin, she is the assassin of Adarlan. But unlike many badass characters Celaena also appreciates the finer things in life. She is passionate about books, music, dance and owning some pretty extravagant gowns. Because who said you can't look amazing and still be deadly. She also holds some pretty powerful secrets.

3. Tessa Grey from the Infernal Devices, is not a badass is the same way that Celaena and Rose are. Rather than weilding a sword or other sharp and pointy objects; Tessa uses her intelligence and her determination to help and do the right thing. Tessa is fiercely passionate and loyal to those she cares about. Tessa uses the skills she has and doesn't back down.

4. Number four goes to the brothers of The Black Dagger Brotherhood. These guys are tough, take no shit and no matter how many times these vampire warrior's (I'm detecting a bit of a theme in my choices) get beaten down, they get back up and keep fighting. Yet despite all their strength they love each other strongly and don't fight for themselves but for others. These brother may terrify most who cross their paths but they are also capable of great feats of kindness and sacrifice.

5. Annja Creed is an archaeologist in the Rogue Angel Series by Alex Archer. Annja however, is not your everyday scholar...she is the reincarnate of Joan of Arc and wields Joan's magical fixed sword....which she can pull of out of thin air as the need arises. Annja travels the world as a part of her job and along the way helps to right wrongs and over come the greed of others. Annja is both a skilled fighter and highly intelligent. Their is nothing she can't accomplish once she has set her mind to it.

Wolves of the Northern Rift

Title: Wolves of the North Rift

Series: Magic & Machinery - book 1

Author: Jon Messenger

Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Fantasy, Steam Punk

Number of Pages: 350

Publisher: Smashwords Edition

Publication Date: 2015

Summary: Magin is an abomination. It spread from the Rift, a great chasm hundreds of miles long that nearly split the southern continent in two. The Rift was a portal, a gateway between their world of science and the mythological world of magic.

On the northern continent of Ocker, King Godwin declared that no magical monstrosity would be allowed within their borders. The Royal Inquisitors were formed to investigate reports of mythical occurrences and, should they be found, to destroy them.

Inquisitor Simon Whitlock knows his responsibilities all too well. Along with the apothecary, Luthor Strong, they've spent two years inquiring into such reports of magical abominations, though they've discovered far more charlatans than true magical creatures. When assigned to investigate Haversham and its of werewolves, Simon remains unconvinced that the rumours are true. What he discovers in the frozen little hamlet is that the werewolves are far more real than he believed; yet they're hardly the most dangerous monster in the city.

From the word go I found this book to be pretty average. Nothing about it in any way really grabbed my attention throughout any part of the book. Yet at the same time this book has the potential to be great. With an odd mix of steam punk and fantasy, this book had marvelous inventions and unusual werewolves.

Wolves of the Northern Rift had a very slow story line. If you look at the cover you see a red haired lady surrounded by white wolves. The cover is spectacular! You are convinced, there is going to be a red haired lady and white wolves. Well for the first half of the book there was no red haired lady and we had only met the werewolves for a chapter, if you don't count the dead ones - which I don't. And in the last half of the book Mattie (the red haired lady) is present for all of about five chapters. And the chapters aren't that long. This entire book seems to be about gathering information and nothing very exciting happens.

Now as you get to the end of the book it does slightly begin to redeem itself. As the summary says, there is something worse than werewolves in Haversham. You get these hints about a great evil, a monstrosity that it not just a threat to Haversham but to the entire kingdom.....and then things just get kind of anti-climatic. The bad guy (I won't say who) enthralls the townspeople under his control and almost easily, Luthor manages to over come it.

Now Luthor, there is an unusual character. You see, Luthor has a secret, a big secret; a secret that we don't get much of until we near the middle of the book. And yet despite this big secret once again we are let down and nothing much happens. Luthor is constantly portrayed as being less intelligent and useful, especially in comparison to the superior Inquisitor Whitlock but when it is revealed that Luthor is anything but, he pretty much lets us down and fails and Mr Superior wins.

Now my last thing to say about this book is a little strange. No ages were mentioned in this book. I know what your thinking: 'what the hell do ages matter?' Well they do! When you don't know the ages of your characters you have know idea if they are extremely talented for their age or if they have a life time of experience behind them? Are they young with a point to prove? Or are they arrogant because they have been so good at what they do for so long? Are they wise, or are they smart? Such a minor detail and yet it affects the entirety of who the characters are.

Awakening

Title: Awakening

Author: Natalie King

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Number of Pages: 272

Publisher: Penguin

Publication Date: 2014

Summary: When Zelie Taylor pulls a lost necklace out of the icy lake, she has no idea what the consequences will be.

At first the pendant is just freezing cold - unnaturally so - but then she hears a voice inside her head and thinks she must be going made. She's not. Seventeen-year-old Tamas' soul has been trapped in the pendent since 1918. His body is nearby, sleeping, and Zelie must help him awaken.

At first Zelie just wants Tamas' moody, enigmatic presence out of her life, but after a while she isn't so sure. And what is waiting for Tamas when he does emerge? The sinister force that trapped him has returned and is growing more powerful.

A hundred-year-old mystery steeped in dark magic will make Zelie question everything she thought she knew.

First of all let me start off by saying I want to kick myself for how long it took me to pick up and read such an amazing book. Secondly I want to kick myself for not realising that this book was written by a New Zealander. I really need to read more books by Kiwi authors.

Now that the negatives are out of the way, lets talk about the positives.

This book was spectacularly written. It was written in a way that I can't describe in words but it was perfect and it was faultless. The writing brought the world to life, gave the characters depth and moved the story forward in an effortless way. I knew from the first line that this book was going to be exceptionally good and by the end of the second I knew it would be spectacular. 

"Of all the emotions, guilt leaves the greatest mark. While fear and happiness can fade, guilt remains as heavy and harsh as the day it arrives."

This book is deep and thought provoking in a way that is all encompassing but without drowning you in unpleasantries. It was a perfect balance. As for the mystery side of this book it is weaved through the book, feeding you bits and pieces as you need them allowing you to draw your own conclusions.

My favourite character in this book was Tamas. Who he is in the beginning and who he is in the end is almost unrecognisable, yet at the same time Natile King manages to portray who he is fundamentally through all stages of his character development. Tamas starts off as a very angry character who has been mislead and betrayed. Just as Tamas begins to accepts this situation he is unexpectedly given the freedom he desires but at the cost of once again facing his demons and being forced to overcome his need for revenge.

While I didn't find that Zelie did much growing as a character, she did learn to act rather than simply feeling. Zelie isn't really shy but she is withdrawn and likes to blend in with the crowd. By the end of the book she isn't afraid to stand up and do what she needs to do to help those she cares. I suppose rather than learning and developing in many ways like Tamas does, Zelie learns one big lesson instead.

Awakening is also filled with a few minor plot lines that while do not directly alter the main story line they do nicely interweave with it and help to shape the overall book. Natalie King's writing style has in many created a new legend or myth. Everything was original and obviously had a lot of thought go into it.

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Title: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Series: Jessica - book 1

Author: Beth Fantaskey

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Paranormal

Number of Pages: 351

Publisher: Harcourt

Publication Date: 2009

Summary: The undead can really screw up your senior year...

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn't fit into Jessica Packwood's senior year 'get-a-life' plan. But then a bizarre (and incrediably hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth - and he's her long-lost fiance. Armed with new found confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire's Guide to Dating, Health and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war - and save Lucius' soul from eternal destruction.

The look of this book and it's description give off quite a cheesy feel, or at least that's the impression I got. In fact that is what I was hoping for when I picked this book up. Something that was a quick read and didn't require too much thought. Instead I got a book that wrote about the most normal and natural sounding vampires' I have ever read. Never in all the many books I have read about vampires have I read a book that didn't feel like they were cliched, forced or just plain ridiculous, even if it was only slightly. Instead the vampires in this book were every day people who just so happen to be vampires. I was quickly sucked into a flawless creation of vampires and wasn't spat out until I reached the end. Yup I read this book in one sitting...okay I stopped to grab snacks.

To me what made this book so well done was the unfolding of events. We start off by meeting Jess, who we believe to be an ordinary teenage girl. Soon, however, Jess finds outs she is anything but ordinary and that she has been betrothed to Lucius since she was a baby as a way of uniting two warring vampire families. Jess is a logical character that believes in what she can see and that science can explain. Because of this we aren't forced into the world of vampires, in fact the word 'vampire' almost doesn't appear at all for the first quarter of the book except for when Jess tells Lucius he must be crazy for believing he is undead and so is she.

From here Jess is slowly forced to accept that she is a vampire and so is Lucius but it is a gradual process. The change that we begin to see in Jess separates her from her everyone and as a character we get to see her grow, trust her instinct and fight for what she wants. Because the closer Jess comes to accepting that she is a vampire, the more Lucius wants to be an everyday teenager. Both characters face some tough questions to do with their identity and who they really are. And for the rest of the book we watch as they try and balance what they want with duty and what is necessary to keep each other safe.

The fight that Jess and Lucius have with trying to save themselves and each other actually gets quite dark, especially for Lucius. When Lucius fights for the freedom he had come to enjoy in his time in America, we are introduced to the Elders and more importantly to Vasile, Lucius' uncle. Vasile as a character is detrimental to who Lucius becomes at the end of the book and the person he will always fight to be. Vasile is cruel, unforgiving and believes in harsh discipline and Lucius faces the hard decision of whether or not his uncle is really on his side.

But the plot and character development aren't the only well done things in this book. The writing style itself was a perfect balance of descriptive and getting to the point. At no point did anything drag or go to fast. It was flawlessly written.

The only thing that prevents me from giving this book 5 stars is the fact that I'm a little bored with unassuming characters finding out that they are really someone special. Seriously, that's it.

City of Glass

Title: City of Glass

Series: The Mortal Instruments - book 3

Author: Cassandra Clare

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Number of Pages: 540

Publication Date: 2009

Publisher: Walker Books

Summary: Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the anscetral home of Shadowhunters, to save her mother's life. Clary begins to uncover truths about her family and her past with the help of Sebastian, and Valentine begins to muster the full force of his demon army.

 Amid the chaos of war, the Shadowhunters must decide to fight with the vampires, werewolves and other Downworlders - or against them. Meanwhile, Jace and Clary have their own decision to make: should they pursue the love they know is forbidden?

This is probably my second favourite book in the series. This book was originally written as the final book of the trilogy before Cassandra Clare came to her senses and wrote more books. For this reason it is one of my faves. As an original ending to a series, this book tidies up a lot of loose ends, which is good when you consider that this series is now six books, as it means no story lines begin to drag. It also means the characters get a moment of finality before the next stage begins.

In this book we really get to see some character development. In this book the effects that the previous two books have had on the characters really begins to show. We begin to see the characters breaking round the edges and fighting to not crumble into thousands of tiny little pieces and just give up. Jace in particular is really pushed to his limits. As a character who has always been taught to be strong and unbreakable, it's humbling to watch him slowly break down and rebuild himself.

Cassandra Clare is a brave writer. She writes her stories as they happen. Rather than being an author who writes and smothers their characters so they all come out okay at the end, Cassandra Clare's writing is almost brutally honest. In many ways it's almost as if she is writing about what really happened. If the characters should be suffering, they will be. Happy moments are happening at the same time that the world is being ripped out from under the characters feet and thrown in the deep end of hell.

Stone Guardian

Title: Stone Guardian

Series: Entwined Realms - book 1

Author: Danielle Monsch

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Number of Pages: 266

Publication Date: 2013

Publisher: Romantic Geek

Summary: Gryphons flying past skyscrapers? Wizards battling it out in coffeehouses? Women riding motor cycles with large swords strapped to their backs? All normal sights since the Great Collision happened twenty-six years ago.

Well, not normal for everyone. Larissa Miller may have been born after the Great Collision, but as a history teacher who lives in the human-only city, she has never come into contact with any other race or species. That is, until one day she walks out of her apartment only to be attacked by a mob of Zombies, but then is saved by a Gargoyle.
Leader of the Gargoyles, Terak has been watching over the human woman for months because of a cryptic prophecy. Gargoyles trust no one outside their Clan, but something about this woman stirs every protective instinct within him. When he realizes the danger to her is real, he refuses to allow her to explore this new world without him at her side.
In the course of their investigation Terak becomes entranced by his little human. But when he discovers why Necromancers want her and the great reward that awaits him if he betrays her, he must choose between the welfare of his Clan and not only Larissa’s life, but the fate of this new Realm as well.

It's not very often you stumble across a book where the main character is a gargoyle, so naturally this is what drew me in the most. However, I felt that this idea of gargoyles was sort of glossed over, despite their importance. In the entire book we only get three or so scenes, which show only a small portion, of what the gargoyles are like as a society and the rest of the book is spent saying that all the stories made up about gargoyles are grotesquely false, yet no real answers were given as to who they 'really' were.

The romance in this book was well done, especially from the point of view of Terak. Terak as a character in general was well done and very believable. We first meet Terak as a strong independent character who will do anything for his clan. As the book progresses we see Terak become more and more open to fighting for what he personally believes in and watch as he struggles to balance he wants with his responsibilities. He does a lot of growing as a character and it was enjoyable to read from his perspective.

Larissa in comparison as a character was not as well developed. I found at times she was weakly written, her reactions a little unbelievable at times and was far to quick to trust and love Terak. While it was interesting reading from Larissa's point of view as it was her story. I feel that the story would have been more compelling if it was told more from Terak perspective.

The world created for his story was perhaps the thing I loved the most. In the book, our world has collided with another realm that contains magic. As a result you get a mix of normal human lives with those of magical creatures and societies. I loved the way that the vampires in this book were not your typical vampires but were a mix of vampire and necromancer magic (which fits considering they are the living dead) and they didn't sparkle. Hopefully in later books we will see more of the other paranormal races.

This is only the first book in a series and there is heaps of room for this world to grow and develop with multi perspectives through this first book it has set itself up to contain a vast foray of characters and story lines with each promising to be more impressive than the last.

Top 5 Wednesday - Buzz Words

This months T5W task is to pick your top five buzz words or words that guarantee you buy a book. T5W was created by Lainy from Gingerreadslainey.

5. Discover/ investigate - if a book has the word 'discover' or 'investigate' written by either the publishing company or in the books blurb I'm always interested. You can always guarantee a book with 'discover' or 'investigate' is going to have something new and exciting happening to a character.

4. Best selling author/ award winning - I think this is self explanatory. If a book is written by a best selling author or award winning then the book is probably going to be good... people don't generally buy or give awards to books that suck...like I said, self explanatory.

3. This isn't really so much a buzz word as a buzz question...books that contain rhetorical questions really sell a book for me...it makes me feel like they are speaking directly to me. Cheesy...yes, but also true. if a book has something like 'can she overcome the challenge?' well then I have to read to bloody find out whether 'she can over come the challenge?' 

2. Normal/ ordinary - I know what your thinking...really you see the word normal and you have to read a book?... well yeah, why? because if a book has the word normal or ordinary describing it, it has probably had something written about how it this book and it's story are anything but normal and ordinary. I'm pretty sure this classifies as reverse psychology.

1. Thrilling - I love books that pull you in and make you invested in the plot, the characters, the world and everything else in between. If a book is being sold as thrilling, and not just because they are a thriller or mystery, then I have to read the book to find out why this book is so thrilling. What is it that has dragged others in, and will it be just as thrilling for me.

City of Ashes

Title: City of Ashes

Series: The Mortal Instruments - book 2

Author: Cassandra Clare

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Number of Pages: 411

Publication Date: 2008

Publisher: Walker Books

Summary: With her mother in a coma and her father hell bent on destroying the world, Clary Fray is dragged deeper into New York City's terrifying underworld of werewolves, demons and the mysterious Shadowhunters. Discovering the truth about her past was only the beginning. Now the fate of the world rests of Clary's shoulders, but can she master her new-found powers and control her feelings for a boy who can never be hers?

Like many books that are the second in a series, City of Ashes is not my favourite in the series. This book is very much about the changes that are happening rather than anything actually happening. This book is very focused on Clary and Jace and the rest of the characters learning about their new identities and how these new identities do or don't change who they are. I find this book to be very character and world driven rather than plot focused. We also meet the last of our main characters bar one other. 

Yet despite the fact that this book isn't so much a driving point in the plot, it is perhaps, in my opinion, the most important book in the series. It is in this series that we begin to see the importance of our main characters and get a feel for how much danger and chaos Valentine is going to bring to the world. We are also introduced further into the Shadowhunter world and meet even more of the downworlders and learn more about who the Clave is and what role they have. City of Ashes is very much Valentine's story. In this book we get to see more of Valentine and we begin to understand what he wants and how his mind works.

It is really hard to write a review on a book in a series you have read before, you can't write what you truly think and how you feel the book fits into the story objectively because you know what is going to happen next and when you have read the Mortal Instruments series as many times as I have you get to the point where you just simply can't fathom someone not having read the books.

And that is pretty much were I'm at...this book is not my favourite in the series but still I love it, I love the whole series and I highly recommend reading the series if you love fantasy, urban fantasy or paranormal books. For those of you who haven't read much fantasy, supernatural type books or want to forray into the magical worlds of such books, this series is a great place to start. With a main character who has always believed that they were human you get to learn about a new world along side them making it easy to follow and get lost it. This second book expands on the world and magical creatures that live in it and really brings them to life.