Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Book: Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices
Publication Date:  March 19th, 2013
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.

You are not the last dream of my soul. You are the first dream, the only dream I ever was unable to stop myself from dreaming. You are the first dream of my soul, and from that dream I hope will come all other dreams, a lifetime’s worth.

"I had hope enough to take out those old dreams again, to dust them off and give them to you."

"...yours is not the kind of love that can be redeemed only through destruction."
 
Can I say that after reading A Tale of Two Cities, all of these references suddenly make so much sense to me now? My God, my AP Literature teacher should've just let me read Clockwork Princess instead of harping continuously about how Darnay was the better man (which he was not).

I think this book is the best of Clare's that I've read so far, in that it ends the way the final book of a trilogy should end. Not the way City of Glass did, with more space for more books and unresolved endings. The epilogue has been controversial, and it reminds me a bit of the epilogue for the Harry Potter series. I recall that when people were messaging Cassandra Clare and wailing about whether the ending would make them cry, she said somewhere that it was a bittersweet one. And that's exactly what it is. Something Cassandra Clare really specializes in is not giving people what they want. Most people wanted that happy ending, that assurance that all Tessa's problems would be solved with some miraculous magic. There is magic, but there's also the reality of Tessa's situation and of her immortality. Unlike with The Mortal Instruments, I didn't get the feeling that Clare was pushing the envelope with her plot or the powers that are unveiled.

People have already said things about the love triangle and how beautiful it is, and I'm inclined to agree. Of course, I was a Will/Tessa shipper all the way through (if you couldn't tell through all the Will quotes that I used), but the way that all three of them love each other equally is something that's powerfully expressed throughout the series. Their love for each other is equal parts burdensome and joyful, and no character was left without honor.

One thing about Clare's books that always gets me is how I never seem to predict what will happen. She throws in a lot of curveballs, some more convincing than others. I'm really sad to see The Infernal Devices trilogy end because I loved everything about it. I loved the characters, their humor, the setting of 19th century London. There is a certain subdued power behind the series that I didn't get with The Mortal Instruments, and I hope that Clare brings it back in her next Shadowhunters series rumored to be set in the 1900s which I just stumbled upon in a review O_O (thank you, Maja).

View all my reviews
 

Review: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Book: Days of Blood & Starlight
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Author: Laini Taylor
Publication Date: November 8th, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

A dream dirty and bruised is better than no dream at all.
I'm amazed how this book is so much bigger than what it is. There's something about the world that Laini Taylor has created that is so... universal. It's so difficult to explain, but while I was reading it, I literally felt like I'd entered an alternate universe that was magical but realistic. Unlike its predecessor, Days of Blood & Starlight is not centered around just a group of people or a painfully dramatic love story. It is, at its very heart, a book about war, death, and sacrifice.

At the beginning, I was agitated because Akiva and Karou were leading separate lives. I desperately wanted them to meet up and renew what they'd had, but as the book progressed, I realized that this desire wasn't realistic. The book begins with Karou as the new resurrectionist, making new bodies to resurrect the chimaera soldiers of Eretz. The White Wolf watches her constantly, and she's not happy. It starts off heavy and dark, unlike the last book, which I remember as starting off with her idiotic ex-boyfriend. Instead, there are the deaths of Brimstone and the rest of Karou's chimaera family suffocating her. Many of my fellow reviewers have expressed their surprise and apprehension at the bloodiness, but I welcomed this facet. The title has blood in it; we can't really expect flowers and rainbows.

What I really want to credit Taylor on is her perfect balance of hope and pain. I never knew how things would end, and there were always different conflicts popping up out of unexpected places after a problem was solved. It was really emotionally draining, actually. Karou is suffering at first, under the tyrannical rule of the Wolf, but then Zuzana and Mik find her and they add this beautiful atmosphere of sweet love and loyalty that I found enjoyable. Their relationship is much more fleshed out in this book, and it was realistic and adorable, which grounded the forbidden love part between Akiva and Karou. Their presence made the other chimaera seem more human, and I like that Taylor took the time to explore all these different characters and make them seem real. The book isn't told from just Karou's or Akiva's perspectives, but from the eyes of many different characters. Some of them only live for three pages before they die, but it adds a very holistic view, shedding light on what's happening in every corner of this alternate universe.

Also, like the last book, this one is not lacking in plot, especially since there are multiple plot lines running through the story. In the middle of the book, I think there are like... 10 deaths within 50 pages. Taylor brings her way with words back to this one, and everything is told in such gorgeous style. Her prose is the fairy dust on top of an already magical story. Although I'm a bit upset with how little Akiva/Karou time I got in this one, the ending was the perfect balance of desolation in hope. I am in awe.

View all my reviews
 

Review: The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis

Book: The Storyteller (Der Märchenerzähler)
Author: Antonia Michaelis
Publication Date: January 1st, 2012
Publisher: ABRAMS
Rating: 4.5 Stars

A good girl.
A bad boy.
A fairy tale that's true.
A truth that is no fairy tale.

It begins the day Anna finds the child's doll on the floor of the student lounge. When it's claimed by Abel, the school drug dealer, Anna becomes determined to learn more about this mysterious boy with the military haircut and deep blue eyes. She follows him after school and discovers a secret: Abel is caring for his six-year-old sister, Micha, alone. Anna listens in as he tells her a fairy tale, the story of a little orphan queen pursued by hunters across the oceans for the treasure she carries: her pure, diamond heart.

It's a story with parallels to reality. Social services and Micha's abusive father could take her from Abel if they discover the truth.

Despite friend's warnings, Anna is drawn to Abel and Micha, and falls under the spell of the story of the little queen and her desperate voyage.

But when people Abel has woven into his tale turns up dead, it's Anna whose heart is in danger. Is she in love with a killer? And has she set out on a journey from which there is no return?

"...big, burst droplets of blood the color of poppies. A sea of blood, a red endless sea, crimson waves, carmine froth, splashing color..."

Lately, I've been having this problem. I've been wanting to go to Neverland. I want to experience the worlds of pirates, assassins, princesses, and golden apples again. And I have. But the problem is that I just don't believe anymore.
Somewhere, a fairy is dying...

The thing about The Storyteller is that it made me believe again. It was spellbinding in all the right ways, and it was the perfect book to urge me back into the world of dark fantasy. Michaelis combines a fairytale and reality, and she does it so well that even Abel's and Anna's story seems like something out of a dream, despite all the mentions of study dates and spilled hot chocolate (by the way, if Micha drinks that much hot chocolate, she must be a very happy--and chubby--little girl indeed). It gives this element of reality, yet when Anna and Abel are together, it seems so much more magical. Which is weird, since they're just being coupley. I'm chalking it up to Michaelis's writing style; the fairytale that Abel tells seems to weave its way into reality.

I'm still pretty awed at the genius of the book, the way the fairytale matches up with everything that's going on in Anna's and Abel's lives. Michaelis is essentially tells two stories at the same time, paralleling them exactly. That takes some serious skill (and probably hardcore outlining).

I was surprised at how dark this book is. I mean, you kind of get that from the blurb, but there's other stuff that's not hinted at in the blurb. It really took me by surprise. I had no idea there'd be so many mentions to problems that afflict children and different castes (Abel hates me for saying that word, but I can't think of something else).

It really reminds me of Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma in that there are these momentary gleams of happiness that make the darkness brighter and more real. Because without those moments, can we really count as humans? We need the happiness and the sadness, too. As with Forbidden, this couldn't have had a happy ending. The hope is there, and so is the fairytale, but in the end, reality triumphs. But there is hope that continues in the heart of a little girl.

The mystery added to the darkness, something that always lurked in the background and wouldn't come to light. Michaelis throws out so many different hints, and I totally thought I suspected the right person, but in the end I was still wrong, and I admire her for leading me on such a goose chase. The only thing that's keeping me from the 5 stars is that I didn't like Anna until towards the end. She seemed too fickle and irresponsible, even if she was doing the things she did for Abel. But Michaelis has executed almost every aspect of this story well, from giving all the characters different motives and traits, to making the plot twist and turn but ultimately come to a satisfactory conclusion.

I feel so melancholy now. Going to listen to some Leonard Cohen.
View all my reviews
 

Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Book: Insurgent
Series: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Publishing Date: May 1st, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
My rating: 4 Stars

Actual Rating: 4.5 Stars Also, spoilers from the first book.
My face after I finished:



Roth, way to make me sob for the next book.

How will I start this review? I'll start it with a quote from the book itself, because this book deserves to be quoted:

People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them.

I loved this book, despite some of its inconsistencies, because of the strength of its characters and because of what it says about human nature and the world. I know some don't like Insurgent as much as Divergent, and that's understandable. Insurgent takes things to a darker, grittier level. This is the aftermath of the first book, where Tris has already seen family die and killed a friend with her own hands. For much of the beginning, I felt hopeless, just as I'm sure she did, too. That doesn't make up for the fact that Tris makes some pretty stupid decisions. For example, turning herself in when it wouldn't have done much good in the first place. I mean, all that happened was that they would run tests on her and try to control everyone, so I didn't see how she thought self-execution would help. But I can't hope to understand someone who has basically had all of her family torn away, who doesn't know whom to trust, and who's consumed by grief and rage. I felt that this book was better than the first because it dealt more with the characters themselves, especially Tris, and how they were shaped by their choices.

Once again, Roth brings back a whole bunch of action sequences that are clear-cut and narrated in her usual, clinical style. I finished this book (500+ pages!) all today, so I count it as a grand accomplishment. It was hard to read, not because of pacing, but because it was difficult to see all the hurt and deaths due to cruelty. That's why I loved this book more than the first. The emotions are expounded upon, and good and evil aren't black and white. Nobody was as he/she first appeared, and because of this, Roth does an excellent job in making each character more memorable and standalone. I liked what she did with Peter, Marcus, Christina, and Jeanine. It was just one guy double crossing the other guy's double cross all over the place, but I enjoyed the twists. They kept me guessing, unlike the first book. Also, I adored Tobias. I'm pretty sure he's my favorite fictional male protagonist because he's strong, honest, has his own past and suspicions. It made him seem real, not just some other attractive dude thrown into the main character's path so they can kiss and sacrifice the entire world for each other. The romance is some of the plot, but it never gets overbearing or gag-inducing.

"I don't..." I sound like I am being strangled. "My family is all dead, or traitors; how can I..." 

I am not making any sense. The sobs take over my body, my mind, everything. He gathers me to him, and bathwater soaks my legs. His hold is tight. I listen to his heartbeat and, after a while, find a way to let the rhythm calm me.
 
"I'll be your family now," he says.

ARGH! HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE HIM?

Besides the character, Roth says a lot about the world itself in her books. She brings up topics of bravery, sacrifice, the strength of love and loyalty, and what exactly the right choice is. I'm so sick of all the YA novels talking about the importance of love or how it can ruin a person forever, and I'm glad that someone has the sense enough to speculate more into topics that will come of a shattered world, maybe even the future we're all destined for. I'll probably get condemned for this comparison, but I'm just going to say that these books remind me the most of The Hunger Games because it's not love-centric, and it definitely does what a good dystopian novel should.

The ending definitely wasn't as anticlimactic as the one I got in Divergent, though it still didn't seem that earth-shattering because of all the crappy stuff that happens throughout the book, and I can't say it was wholly unexpected. But it riled me up for the next book, and I'm like a cheerleader with pompoms right now, I'm so excited for the third. There were a couple discrepancies, and sometimes I felt that it was sort of difficult to keep up with what was happening with all the groaning and screaming through teeth, but I made it through okay. There was this part where Tris shoots a window with her gun when just a couple minutes before she refused to take one because of the whole shooting-Will-PTSD, and that made me a bit confused. But other than that, everything was spectacular.

I'm expecting a lot from Ms. Roth now.

And ugh, I'm going to go read a romance novel or something. All of this angst and world destruction has made me feel icky.

(Also, apologies if this review was not as succinct/sensible as my others. I find it difficult to talk about books I love. It's definitely easier to insult books than to really capture all the things that make them great.)

View all my reviews