Looking Forward To...(92)

There are so many amazing books already on the shelves and new ones coming out.

For a list of books yet to be released I'm looking to get, you can also look on my right Sidebar at the ever growing list titled Desired Reads - just scroll down. Of course there are tones of other new books to come out that are amazing as well, but these ones are part of series I have already started or for one reason or another caught my eye (and haven't seen much on other blogs yet). But I will highlight one here each week.

(mentioned in order of Release Date then Alphabetical if there are more than one book coming out on the same date.)

Next Book Is...

City of Lost Souls

#5 Immortal Instruments

By:  Cassandra Clare

Due Out:  May 1, 2012

Oh, this one I'm looking forward to!  I love the first three books, and enjoyed the fourth.  Now with the ending of the fourth I want to know what happens!  I'm hoping to get some answers.  I'm hoping to free Jace from his spell, and what of Sebastian!  Oh I just hope for answers.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees. 

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away—not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought—Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own? 

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved — and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell — a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives. 

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love? 

Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series. 

Book Review: City of Fallen Angels

City of Fallen Angels

By:  Cassandra Clare

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Teen

Publish Date:  April 2011

Format:  Hardcover 424pgs

Genre:  YA Fantasy

Series:  4th book in Mortal Instruments series; Book 1 ~ City of Bones, Book 2 ~ City of Ashes, Book 3 ~ City of Glass

Recommendation:  If you enjoyed the first three books Yes, continue on with the series as the story carries on for Jace.  And we get to know Simon much better, him and the vampire side.  But be ready for young relationship issues.

Book Synopsis:
The Mortal War is over, and Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her.  She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique powers.  Her mother is getting married to the love of her life.  Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last.  And - most important of all - Clary can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war.  Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her.  His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless.  Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side - along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life.  And they're willing to do anything to get what they want.  At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls - neither of whom knows about the other.

When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves.  Even Jace.

Love.  Blood.  Betrayal.  Revenge.  The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels

First Sentence:
"Just coffee, please."

My Thoughts and Summary:
Six weeks after the big battle in the home land of the Shadowhunters at the City of Glass, everyone is back at home with big events underway.  Clary is happy with her mother's marriage on the horizon and she's with her love, Jace.  Simon has two strong and beautiful girlfriends, neither knowing of the other.  Everything seems to be good for everyone, or is it?  Clary notices a distancing between her and Jace starting and not knowing why, and everyone's starting to see Jace isn't looking to good resulting from lack of sleep.  Simon has the most powerful vampire in New York City wanting him on her side, and people are trying to kill him.  Who could want Simon dead so badly to try going against the Mark of Cain present on him?  There are Shadowhunters being murdered.  Clary finds herself on her own mission when she finds out about a dead infant.  All starts to get twisted together in this book.

We have view points from Clary like in the first three books, but more view points from Simon this time around.  And it's neat to see things through Simons eyes and the life he is now leading as a marked vampire.  This is the book where Simon's life starts to see the consequences of his new life style along with the mark he bares.  Simon has lots to learn about being a vampire.  And with issues coming up we learn a good deal more of the Vampire side in this world and specifics in this kind of life  We do get a few views of Jace and his feelings for Clary from earlier in the series.  Which is a nice little touch to see what he felt when they weren't to be together.  Jace is still having troubles in trying to believe and convince himself he's not like Valentine.  And now he's experiencing horrible dreams.

We even get to see new characters this time around.  And characters are mentioned from Cassandra's other Shadowhunter series, Infernal Devices.  This world just keeps growing and growing.  But I enjoyed the new characters and the spins they added to the story line.  I'm hoping to see at least one of them again, and the other... well, not so much. ;)

This book had a slower start for me.  It seems this book is centered around the relationship drama of all the characters.  It's to catch us up on where they are in their lives, and most of the characters being young adults are learning about their feelings and why they feel the way they do for each other.  The book took me about one hundred and ten pages to start picking up the pacing of the plot for me, and at times slowed up to get back to the characters emotions.  But a little over half way, the book picked up with the action with the short segments that went from one character to the next as they were all in different places at one time.  This helped keep the pages turning quickly to see where they all were and what was going to happen.


I purchased this book for my own reading enjoyment.


This book qualifies for the Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Floor to Ceiling Books, and 2011 YA Reading Challenge hosted by Jamie Loves YA.

Who? What? Where? (25)

Who are you with? Where are you at? What's happening?

Share with us just a little bit of what is happening in the book you are reading, right where you are now.

Just a tiny taste of what's happening, remember try to not give spoilers of the book.

(This is a new meme I'm going to try and will tweak as I go. And please don't laugh at my lame attempt at drawing. ;D )

I'm moving this post from Thursdays to Wednesdays as I have another idea for Thursdays.

I'm bouncing between two different groups of conversations.  Clary is now resting at the Institute after her little scuffle with a Hydra demon.  Hm.  And Simon is waiting at the Sanctuary for the eccentric Magnus Bane to appear to talk with the beautiful and age old vampire the lead a large clan.  ALL sorts of information is flowing around now!

City of Fallen Angels
By:  Cassandra Clare

Teaser Tuesday (80)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

This Week:

Simon thought of a younger Isabelle, keeping the secret, never telling anyone, hiding it from her brothers.  Knowing things about their family that they would never know.

City of Fallen Angels

By Cassandra Clare

239pg

Book Review: City of Glass

City of Glass

By:  Cassandra Clare

Publisher:  Teen Simon and Schuster

Publish Date:  March 2009

Format:  Paperback, 542pgs, 5 1/2" x 8"

Genre:  YA Fantasy

Series:  3rd book in The Mortal Instruments series; Book 1 ~ City of Bones, Book 2 ~ City of Ashes

Recommendation:  HELL YES!  If you haven't read this series, what are you waiting for!?!

Synopsis:
To save her mother's life, Clary travels to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that by doing so she is breaking the Law, which could mean death.  Even worse, Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by Shadowhunters who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.  Luckily, Clary finds an ally in the mysterious Sebastian, who holds a strange attraction for her.  As Valentine musters a demon army, can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their ancient hatred and work together?  And can Clary harness her new found powers to help save them all - whatever the cost?

First Sentence:
The cold snap of the previous week was over; the sun was shining brightly as Clary hurried across Luke's dusty front yard, the hood of her jacket up to keep her hair from blowing across her face.

My Thoughts and Summary:
So, where do I start on this summary?  Well, if you are getting to this book, you've probably already read the first two books and so hooked you don't care what I'm going to say.  But I'm going to give it a quick go for you anyway.  And if you haven't read the first two books, there WILL BE SPOILERS FOR FIRST TWO BOOKS here.

With the end of City of Ashes, we now have a clue from an old friend of Clary's mothers of what we need to do to wake Clary's mom from her self induced coma.  Clary is still struggling with Jace being her brother, and wanting more from the relationship and not acting on it.  Now we find the Lightwoods, Jace, and Clary are traveling to the home country of the Shadowhunters and the capital city.  But as excited as Clary it to go and see the home city, Jace is just as determined to not have Clary go.  And Clary nor the others know why.  Jace is being very secretive about it again.  Will Clary get there?  Of course she will, but what will happen when she arrives?  And how will she get there?

Well, I have to say I had to rush out to get this book as I couldn't wait to read it.  I HAD to know what would happen, mostly with Clary and Jace.  And the ride Cassandra takes you on with each book is just amazing.  This is another wonderfully written book in which I didn't get much sleep until I was done with it.  I just couldn't put it down.  And not just because I wanted answers.  We start right where City of Ashes leaves off and jump head first into the action.  These characters never get a rest from the wicked in this book and I loved it!

We meet new characters and all the old.  And we lose a character or two ;) as we go through this one too.  I loved the way the characters stay true to who they are from the beginning, yet some have grown so greatly from the beginning.  And until the end of this book, I really didn't realize how much these characters had grown. 

I am so hooked on this series, I will follow it until Cassandra doesn't write of it anymore.  She has really made a true believer and a great fan of her work here.

Thank you Cassandra!


I purchased this book on my own for reading enjoyment.


This book qualifies for Speculative Fiction Challenge hosted by Floor to Ceiling Books, and 2011 YA Reading Challenge hosted by Jamie Loves YA

Teaser Tuesday (69)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

This Week:

The demon flopped down out of the window onto the cobblestones and began to slither toward them.  Something about its oozing, boneless motion made bile rise up in the back of Clary's throat.

City of Glass

By Cassandra Clare

247pg

Teaser Tuesday (64)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

This Week:

She looked up from closing it to find Jace watching her through hooded eyes.  "And one last thing," he said.  He reached over and pulled the sparkling pins out of her hair, so that it fell in warm and heavy curls down her neck.

City of Bones

By Cassandra Clare

pg 214