Book Reviews

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 in Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Fun / Interesting / Older Readers / Otherworldly / Series / Young Adult by

Summary

Teenager Clary witnesses a murder. A murder of a person covered in tattoos and she cannot report the murder because no one else can see the person and the body vanished. She learned that the teens were called Shadowhunters (teens who kill demons and monsters.) But these Shadowhunters will not believe that Clary can see them because after all she is only a mundane (human.) Shortly after watching this happen her mother is kidnapped and it all seems to be relating to her. It also all seems to be revolving around something called the Mortal Cup. In this book with friendly werewolves and vampires, Clary must find her mother, retrieve the Mortal Cup and stop loving Jace. But will all of this stop the Cup from being used for the wrong reason and her mother being killed? The other question is where is her mother and where is the Cup?

Review

This was definitely a Buffy-like book. It had the action, it had the romance, it had the friendship clashes. For those people old enough to know who Buffy is (I am not that old, I only found it on Netflix and I enjoy watching it), Clary  is the modern-day Buffy in the sense she fights vampires and demons and the creatures, when they are dead, vanish.
I received this book from my Secret Santa and when I saw it, I nearly fell off my seat with joy. My mom could not take me to the library so I could borrow the book, so when I received it I was enthralled. My mom did not want me to read it just yet because I am reading a lot of vampire/demonic creature books. But I read the excerpt and I read the prologue and I just could not put it down. I read the book in just over three days because it was so good.
The story line was interesting, it kept me turning pages, and it was fun to read. The characters were described well and the story was consistent. It did not jump around all over the place like  some books do. A lot of the chapters ended in suspense and that was one reason it kept me going. The cover was interesting and not because it has a picture of a guy with a shirt off but because it has a cemetery, a city, and a boy with weird and swirly tattoos.
I really do hope that you read this book because it was really good. They also might be coming out with a movie for it some time in the next two years – hopefully. They have a directory, a screen writer, and a person to play Clary. Keep your fingers crossed and happy reading.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 3

 in Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Fiction / Older Readers / Otherworldly / Young Adult by

Review

I am not doing a summary of this book because to do a summary of this book would be too hard for me. I would give the whole book away. Just to look at it in a nutshell it is about a fireman – in the future – when firemen do different things and it is about firemen and books and this one fireman and his adventure (not an adventure around the world but mentally) with the books and his experiences. If you are going to read this book do not go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble to read their review because it gives the book away. Ok so that is what the book is about but what did I think about it? I personally loved this book. It was exciting, and it made you want to read more. I know that a lot of people would not find this book interesting and that was my opinion when I first tried to read it about 2 years ago but one I started it I actually liked it and now that I have read it again I liked it even more because I am older and that helps because I understood it better. You have to be mature and be able to understand complex sentences because it was pretty hard to understand. This book is not arranged in chapters but in sections and there are 3 sections. I really do hope that you will try this book because it was wonderful. I gave this book a chance and so should you because it is not what it seems. Enjoy.

Read my other review of another Ray Bradbury book Something Wicked This Way Comes.

The Invisible Order – Book One – Rise of the Darklings by Paul Crilley

 in Book Reviews / Books / Hot Off The Press / Otherworldly / Young Adult by

Summary

It is a normal Monday morning and Emily Snow is going to work to earn what money she can after her parents “died.” As she was passing an alley, she witnessed a battle between creatures which were not taller than her knee. This is because Emily can see into another world than just her own. She cannot just sit there. Doing nothing is not one of the options and the Invisible Order – a secret army dedicated to protecting our world from creatures like Faerie’s – knows about Emily and what she can do and they will do anything to get her to work for them. With her brother William and a street thief, Spring-Heeled Jack, that cold winters morning was the beginning of her adventure and if this century old battle is not won, the world as we know it just might be destroyed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review

This book was good but (here comes the big but) they ended it dreadfully. The last chapter just left you hanging and then it said ‘This is the end of book one and to find out what happens read book two, The Fire King.’ I though that it was the worst ending a book could have. If a book says “book one” it normally implies that there is a book two. Also how about the author added in the beginning of the book, ‘This is the beginning of book one. Start reading the book so you can read book two also.’ The book was exciting and everything but it was just a bad way to end it. But just because a book is exciting does not mean that it is written well. I felt – personally – that they did not describe the characters very well. They just kind of said they were tall and had blond hair (none of the characters looked like that though, at least I don’t think there were) and that was all they said about it. The story was good and it was the only thing that kept me reading it. I wanted to find out what happened next. They just did not describe looks very well. I would recommend people to read this book so you read the story but just be prepared you might not find the end satisfactory.

Also there is no book two yet so you will have to wait for a little while to find out what happens.

 

The Infernal Devices Series – Book One – Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

 in Book Reviews / Books / Hot Off The Press / Series by

Summary

Tessa Grey is sixteen years of age and she thinks that her life is normal. What she does not know until she meets the Dark Sisters is that she has a power. She can change shape. The Magister wants to claim Tessa for his own so he can share her powers. But the Dark Sisters are cruel and the Magister is unknown. When she becomes friendless and hunted, Tessa joins the Shadowhunter of the London Institute. They swear they will find her missing brother but only if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself falling in love with James, who is fragile and beautiful but holds a deadly secret, and Will, whose moods do not let you know whether you are friends or not with him. As the Shadowhunters searching draws them nearer to a plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa figures out she must choose between saving her brother and saving her new world and friends. Love just might be the most dangerous magic of all.

Review

This book is written by Cassandra Clare and she also wrote the Mortal Instrument Series. That series is very popular and so a lot of people will have read it. I want to clarify one thing about this book. It is a prequel to the Mortal Instruments series. Cassandra Clare is writing a prequel to the Mortal Instrument Series. If you have already read that series than you might recognize locations and people because they were around a few hundred years before the Mortal Instrument Series.

So now on to my opinion of this book. I personally thought that this book was pretty good. It captured the reader because of the story line, it made you want to keep reading, and it had a little romance. This was a definite page turner. I like the characters and how they were described. The thing that really drew me into the book and made me choose it though was the cover.  It shows a young man (17 or 18 like described in the book) who is in old-fashioned clothes. He is turned so you can just see a part of his face. This made me wonder who he was and I just had to find out. Also I liked the title. Clockwork Angel. It makes you (the reader) and me curious. Well that is my opinion anyway. This book is a Hot Off the Press book and it was still really good. Hope that you will try and read it because I am pretty sure that you will enjoy it. I am not the person who likes books with Demons and Vampire and stuff but this one was pretty good. I hope that you will try this book.

What does INFERNAL mean?

When my mother saw the title Infernal Devices she kind of groaned. So I got curious to what Infernal meant. So here is a definition for you.

Infernal – adj – of, relating to, or characteristic of hell or the underworld

Just a little bit of vocabulary for you to learn.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

 in Book Reviews / Books by

Summary

“The seller of lightning rods arrived just ahead of the storm. He came along the street of Green Tow, Illinois, in the late cloudy October day, sneaking glances over his shoulder. Somewhere not so far back, vast lightnings stomped the earth. Somewhere, a storm like a great beast with terrible teeth could not be denied.”

The carnival rolled into town. You smelt it before you heard it. You smelt the popcorn and cotton candy. Why was it coming? It was too late in the year for a carnival? When it arrives why are there two strange men and a ferris wheel that makes you older or younger. Two innocent 13-year-old boys, William Halloway and James Nightshade, are in the evil grasps of Mr. Dark and the “dark carnival.” They have to save the town souls – and their own. Will they do it? What would you do if your secret wishes could be granted by the mysterious ringmaster Mr. Dark? The only problem is if you get on the wrong side of him……well, read it to find out.

Review

There is a definite weird factor in this book. The language is really complex and hard to understand. All of Ray Bradbury’s books are kind of out there but this one was really odd. The whole way through the book you expected a certain thing to happen but by the end what you originally thought was completely off. Out of the ordinary things happened in the book and the cover also, after reading the book, means something really interesting. This is an adult book and not for content but for the fact that it is pretty hard to understand. I had to read parts of the book multiple times before I finally understood it. I recommend people to read this because it is an interesting book, just a little hard to understand. So enjoy, and if you want to know what happens if you get on the wrong side of Mr. Dark, well you will have to read and understand the book. Good luck.