Review: City of Ashes

Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Published: 2008

Pages: 464

My Rating: 4/5

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go -- especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother....
I read City of Bones back in February, and I enjoyed and understood why it was so popular. But I wasn't as invested into it as most other people were with the series. I'm more of just a casual fan. As it had been so long since I read the first book, my memory of the story and the characters was a little faded. I know I should of probably recapped myself before going back into the series, but I just wanted to get started on it straight away.

As a whole, I enjoyed the book. The second half a lot more than the first. I really felt like they spent the whole first half of the book just talking. Talking and explaining. As I'm not that invested in the series, and am not really that interested in all the little details of the plot, I found this very boring. And I ended up reading it just to get through it, rather than finding it entertaining. But alas it picked up a lot in the second half and I found myself zooming through it eagerly. There were lots of twists and turns and action packed scenes. There was also one particular plot twist that I thought was brilliant and really loved.

One thing I love about Clare's writing, is that she paints such a perfect picture in your head of what's going on.  The way she writes her dialog is so real and believable, and also very funny at times. There's nothing stilted in the conversations the characters have. Their conversations bounce off each other so well. And their relationships are so relatable (save perhaps Jace's and Clary's, haha).

Of the characters in the book, I loved Simon the most. He started off as the usual geeky best-friend, but he's developed so much since then, and the things that happen to him in this book are both scary but great. Another character who's grown on me a lot is Jace. In the first book, I wasn't too keen on him because he just seemed like the typical mysterious guy love interest. But in this book, you can see how the events in the last have really taken their toll on him. He seems so conflicted, and doesn't seem to know what to think any more. And in showing this human side, I've began to love him some more.

So overall, I did quite enjoy this book. I'm in know rush to read the next one, but I definitely will sometime. I very much see why everyone loves this series so much, and I definitely recommend it if you're into Fantasy and Urban Fantasy.

Review: A Monster Calls

Title: A Monster Calls

Author: Patrick Ness

Published: 2011

Pages: 211

My Rating: 4/5

The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming...The monster in his back garden, though, this monster is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth.

I hadn't heard anything about this book before I saw it in the shop. It caught my eye as the dark mysterious hardback that stuck out from the other books. As soon as I saw that it was by Patrick Ness (author of one of my favorite trilogies; The Chaos Walking Trilogy), I knew I had to get it. Even though it is written by Ness, it was based off an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, who sadly passed away before she could write it. 

I got the impression when I looked through the book when I got home that it was meant to younger readers because of the fantastic illustrations inside and the age of the main character. Even though the book had that younger image about it, I found it extremely heavy and dark like the pictures themselves. But this is what made the book so special. 

The blurb on the back gave very little indication as to what the book was about apart from a monster. I had no idea what I'd got myself into. The real meaning was extremely powerful and deep. Something I think many people can relate to. The main themes being loss, truth, and acceptance. It also had a lot to do with the inner demons one can carry.

Even though it was a very short read, it definitely packed a punch. The writing and story made sure that it would stay with me for a long time after I read it. I really felt for the main character, Conor, as what he was going through in the book is pretty much one of my very worst fears. It really got me thinking about what I would do if I was him. 

The book is pretty much how he copes with his stress and grief, and how he struggles with terms of acceptance. It is interesting how it is shown through the monster, painting a vivid image in your head of something you wouldn't normally be able to see.

I definitely wasn't expecting this book to be so heavy, especially for what could be considered as a children's book. I wouldn't rush to give it to a child. But at the same time, it was brilliant. The concept was so well thought out, and then well written in turn. Not many books make me cry. But this book practically had me sobbing into a pillow by the end. It is a truly powerful book, with an extremely relevant and important meaning. I would only recommend this book if you have a box of tissues ready with you.  

   

Review: Ravenwild

Title: Ravenwild
Author: Peter Plasse
Illustrated: Mike Longenecker 
Published: 2011
Pages: 494
My Rating: 4/5


Returning home from another grueling shift of E.R. work, Dr. Blake Lee Strong comes across a downed motorcyclist and stops to help, but little does he know that his world and that of his family will soon be turned upside down. Duped into being transported to another planet called Inam'Ra, Dr. Strong and his family are thrust into a medieval world populated by Trolls, Gnomes, Elves, Dwarves, Humans and other alien beings. An epic odyssey begins as the Strong family fights for not only their own survival, but also for the continued existence of the citizens of Ravenwild.



Ravenwild is the story of a modern day family suddenly thrust by a not-so-trustworthy wizard into a fantasy world at war, inhabited by Humans, Dwarfs, Elves, Trolls and Gnomes - among other weird and wonderful creatures. The family finds themselves lost and split up in the unpredictable and dangerous world of Inam'Ra, and each must fight to survive in order to be reunited with each other once more.

One of the things I loved most about this book, was the fact that it was a family that we were journeying with. Not just the usual one teenage lead and their love interest. Each member of the family was unique and clever with their own personality and off on their own adventure. There was Blake and Jessica; the determined parents, Stephanie; their teenage daughter who is believed to be vital to the future of Ravenwild, Orie; the teenage son who first travels there with his friends (Ryan and Gracie) and Jacqueline; the youngest daughter who is transported there with her cat, Cinnamon.  I also think that having all these characters better enabled the reader to explore the far reaches of the fantasy world of Inam'Ra.

This book was definitely one of those books that got better and better as it went along. The story starts off with just the Strong family. But as we get farther in and the Strong family are broken up, the branches of the story start to split off into this complex but exciting tale. But it is not only the Strong family that we learn about. We are also introduced many other characters like Jared, the kind and lonely human who lived out in the woods of Ravenwild for years, and also the evil troll Emporer Malance, who cares nothing of the creatures of Ravenwild, and would probably rather have them for dinner!

It was great to see a perspective from not only the 'good' side, but the 'bad' side as well. I also loved that even the enemy species of the book (the Trolls), had a good variety of individuals in them. These ranging from the most evil Emperor to the kind and helpful Daria and Forrester who do everything they can to help the Strong family. I thought it made characters a lot more believable in that sense.

About half way through, the story turns, and we are taken even more in depth into the world and histories of the Trolls and Gnomes. I found it extremely interesting to learn about all these different characters that were so well though-out. There could almost be a separate book alone about the Troll and Gnome civilizations! As interesting as it was to learn about these different aspects of the world, I did find it quite hard to follow at times. There were a lot of characters with a lot of their own situations to learn about, and sometimes I would have to go back and remind myself of who certain people were and what was going on with them.

But this being said, I thought that the characters were one of the strong points of the story. They were so well thought-out and complex with their own traits and histories to them, and I found myself eagerly turning the pages to find out what happens to them. Characters in particular that I liked being; Daria, Uri Gall, Orie and Cinnamon.

The story was brilliantly written, and flowed smoothly from page to page. The descriptions were vivid and colorful, but not too long that they took away from the pace of the book. I found the illustrations spaced throughout the book to be a real treat, especially the wonderfully drawn character sketches that really bring out the personality of the character they represent.

Overall, I really enjoyed Ravenwild. The characters were endearing, even if they did become a bit hard to follow and the writing flowed well. It was a great change to go back to the creative medieval fantasy, with so much of this Urban Fantasy around these days. I really recommend this book. It would especially be a real treat for any fantasy fans!

If you would like to learn more about the upcoming Ravenwild Trilogy, visit here.

Review: Cryer's Cross

Title: Cryer's Cross
Author: Lisa McMann
Published: 2011
Pages: 240
My Rating: 4/5

The small town of Cryer's Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain.

When a second student goes missing - someone close to Kendall’s heart - the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she’s losing her grip on reality. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school - messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there - Kendall decides that crazy or not, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t act on her suspicions.

Something’s not right in Cryer’s Cross - and Kendall’s about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to 

keep their secret's buried.

I haven't read Lisa McMann's Wake series mainly because I'd heard so many mixed things about it, and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. The thing that drew me into reading this book was mainly the mention of the main character having OCD. I've never read a book that has a character with OCD in, and I was highly looking forward to reading this. Not just because of that, but also for the mystery story as that interested me.

Cryer's Cross was a very atmospheric and chilling story. I wouldn't go quite as far as to call it a Horror, as I've seen some call it. But it was definitely very creepy at times, especially at the end. The suspense throughout the book kept me reading on and on, and I almost finished it in one sitting (which I do very rarely). This being said, it was a very short book, being only just over 200 pages. But it was the perfect length for the story!

I was very skeptical when I first got this book about how McMann was going to treat the OCD of the main character, Kendall. I've had OCD for as long as I can remember and have seen way too many stereotypical versions of the disorder in fiction represented as someone being overly neat or clean with no real substance. McMann however, was SENSATIONAL (yes, I capitalized that) at getting into the head of someone with OCD. Some of the descriptions and phrasings were so accurate in describing the rituals in Kendall's mind; I couldn't have put them better myself. She really did her homework, and it helped me relate to the main character so much.

Overall, I really enjoyed this little story. The writing was snappy and to-the-point, which helped along the story a great deal. The suspense was enchanting and I was rocking on the edge of my seat and the creepy ending.  

Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Title: The Replacement
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Published: 2010
Pages: 375
My Rating: 4/5


Mackie Doyle is a replacement - a fairy child left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago, to replace the baby when it was stolen away by the fey. So though he lives in the small town of Gentry, Mackie's real home is the fey world of tunnels and black, murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. Now, because his fey blood gives him fatal allergies to iron, blood and consecrated ground, Mackie is slowly dying in the human world. Mackie would give anything just to be normal, to live quietly amongst humans, practice his bass guitar and spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably back home to the fey underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem, where he must face down the dark creatures, rescue the child, and find his rightful place - in our world, or theirs.

I was surprised by how much I liked this book. And how quickly I got into it. I was taking a bit of a chance when buying it as it's not my favorite genre. But just thought I'd give it a go. I'm quite glad that I did. 


First off, I loved our lead character, Mackie. I have no idea what I liked about him so much, but I just found him very likable. As for the rest of the characters, I have to say, Yovanoff did a brilliant job writing them. They were all unique and individual with their own personalities. They were all real. 


I found the whole fantasy world very interesting. There was nothing specific, like vampires or werewolves, but there was a whole manner of different creatures with the theme of death. I did find that some of the details of how the world worked in relation to ours a little glossed over, causing me to get a bit confused at times. And I did find it strange how easily all the characters settled with the idea of the world. 


But overall, I found the writing very fast paced and enjoyable, with many likable characters and interesting scenes. I don't think it's one of the best Urban Fantasy books, but I liked it more for the writing and the characters than the fantasy aspect to it.

Review of Graceling

Title: Graceling
Author: Kristin Cashore
Published: 2008
Pages: 471
My Rating: 3.5/5

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight--she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po's friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace--or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone. With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will 
consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.


I had heard so many great things about this book! It seemed to have positive reviews all round. I was really looking forward to reading it and had pretty high standards for it. And I think that that was the problem for me a little. 


I'm struggling to put a rating on how much I liked it. At the beginning of the book, I found it very hard to get into and it was quite slow moving. I also didn't really know where the story was going. I felt like this for a large majority of the book, which is why I never fully got immersed into the story. But this was the only problem I had with it, and that was more to do with the fact that it just isn't my sort of book rather than it being at all bad.


It was beautifully written. It reminded me a lot of the Lord of the Rings. But I did find that this was one of the things that slowed the book down a little. I loved the fact that it was a fantasy set in a Middle Earth-y time, yet with no Dragons or Elves or anything like that. The fantasy in this book were the Graced, or Gracelings. It was a brilliant concept, having people with two different eyes, with one exceptional skill. I really enjoyed reading about that. I also liked the characters a lot. Katsa (I kept reading her name as Katniss) was a very good main character, and I liked how we learned about her Grace with her as the book went along. I also 
really loved Po and Bitterblue, they were very real, strong characters. 


There's something about this book that really sets it apart from anything else, yet I can't place my finger on it. There was a quality in the writing and the exceptionally clever story telling that puts this book to a very high standard. There was also a lovely well-rounded ending that I loved, and it was such a nice change to read a YA book where it's not compulsory to read the next two books to know how it all ended and know that the characters all lived happily ever after (even though, I know there are more books after this).   


Overall, I found that the first half of the book dragged and was hard to get into, but had a very endearing story and nice ending that helped a lot for me. 

Review of Across the Universe

Title: Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Published: 2011
Pages: 398
My Rating: 4/5


Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules. Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship—tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next. Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there’s only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.


My Review
When I first heard of this book I was really interested in the concept - I've never read anything space-sci fi before. But I was slightly put off by the romance suggested by the cover and the blurb, as I'm not a huge fan of that sort of genre.

The chapters switched between Amy's point of view and Elder's. This I loved, as it gives two totally different perspectives and shows how different the two people from different worlds think and act.

I also loved how well thought out the whole colony of people living on the ship was. It was strange yet believable. As much as I did enjoy the mystery, I did find a few parts a tad predictable. But it wasn't a huge problem.

As for the romance, I was glad to see there wasn't as much as I was expecting due to how it was implied. The story was mostly focused on the mystery and sci fi. There also wasn't any of this love-triangle stuff that you get in a lot of YA novels these days, and instead there were other problems involved. But I still think fans of the romance will enjoy this.

Overall, I enjoyed this book very much, and read most of it in a day in fact! It was a refreshing and interesting read as there isn't much out like this in YA at the moment. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Review of Poison Study

Title: Poison Study
Author: Maria V. Snyder 
Published: 2005
Pages: 409
My Rating: 4/5


Choose: A quick death . . . or slow poison . . .
About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve.
She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace -- and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.
As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting.
Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control.
Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear . . .


I had heard good reviews about this book, and after reading Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder, I was keen to read this. I was lucked out when I found the whole Study Series for sale at £5 (or £1.99 each)! 


There were two things that really made me like this book. First of all, I liked the strong female main character. I've read plenty of books with female leads and strong female leads, but it really takes a lot for me to like them. Yet somehow, Yelena won me over. I also liked the dynamic of the other characters (Valek, Ari and Janco).


This brings me to the second point that made me like this book. You get a lot of cliches with YA books, especially in the fantasy genre. But Snyder was able to avoid them in this book. None of the romance was obvious or forced and there was none of the usual love triangles that you get in a lot of YA novels, which I loved!


I did find some of the details a bit confusing and sometimes got a little bored wondering where the story was going. But there were clever non-obvious plot twists and back story told in portions to keep you wonder and reading on.


Overall, I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. Even though I'm not dying to read the next, I will get to it eventually, and look forward to it when I do!

Review of Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

Title: Revolver
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Published: 2010 (?)
Pages: 211
My Rating: 4/5

1910. A cabin north of the Arctic Circle. Fifteen-year-old Sig Andersson is alone. Alone, except for the corpse of his father, who died earlier that day after falling through a weak spot on the ice-covered lake. His sister, Anna, and step-mother, Nadya, have gone to the local town for help. Then comes a knock at the door. It's a man, the flash of a revolver's butt at his hip, and a mean glare in his eyes. Sig has never seen him before but Wolff claims to have unfinished business with his father. As Sig gradually learns the awful truth about Wolff's connection to his father, Sig finds his thoughts drawn to a certain box hidden on a shelf in the storeroom, in which lies his father's prized possession - a revolver. When Anna returns alone, and Wolff begins to close in, Sigs choice is pulled into sharp focus. Should he use the gun, or not?


My Review: 


This was a lightning fast read. Barely 200 pages with large writing, I read it in a day! I'm really having a hard time to come up with anything to say for this review, it was just a perfect little read that was brilliantly written.


Set in the Arctic Wilderness in 1910. Sig discovers his father frozen to death and sits alone in his cabin with the corpse and his father's revolver. Not long after, a strange man named Wolff shows up claiming business with Sig's father which he now expects Sig to complete. 


Wolff was an extremely disturbing character. I felt for Sig as though I was sitting in the cabin with intimidating form myself. The current story was interspersed with chapters cleverly telling of Sig's family and father, and the events leading up to his death. The book also had very strong themes of hope, faith, choices, family and wealth all wrapped up into one. It was a very refreshing read, and like nothing else you'd find in the Young 
Adult genre.


I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a quick real written YA read!