Review: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Book: Pushing the Limits
Author: Katie McGarry
Publication Date:  July 31st, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 384
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Goodreads Summary:
"I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

"An edgy romance that pulls you in and never lets go. I was hooked!"-Gena Showalter,  New York Times bestselling author of the Intertwined series.

I wanted to like this book, mostly because of the blurb that promised a "girl-using loner bad boy." And I guess I got that, though not in the way I wanted.

The best way to explain my reactions toward this book would probably be in quotes. So. Let's begin, shall we?

Quote #1: In a lightning-fast move, he placed both of his hands on the brick wall, caging me with his body. He leaned toward me and my heart shifted into a gear I didn't know existed. His warm breath caressed my neck, melting my frozen skin. I tilted my head, waiting for the solid warmth of his body on mine. I could see his eyes again and those dark orbs screamed hunger.

Yummy Noah is yummy. I can totally see the dangerous sexiness he's got about him. However, this would have been a lot hotter if it hadn't happened almost in the exact same way several times throughout my reading of the book.

Quote #2: "No apologies. I could kiss yo right now." Judging by the look in his chocolate-brown eyes, he meant it.
"Don't. I think I'm gonna puke." I loved the way his lips turned up--part mischievous smile, part man of mystery.

Okay, I get that Noah is dangerous and sexy and mysterious. But I don't need to hear it over and over again. The puking part was funny, can't deny that. But I can't handle the redundancy in this book. Especially the parts with Noah always referring to Echo as "baby" or "my siren" or his "cinnamon oven" or whatever it was that he liked about her smell. It got old. And, as I mentioned in my status update, it reminded me of John Tucker Must Die, where I learned that John actually called his different girlfriends "baby" so he wouldn't mix up their names. Not a good sign.

Quote #3: "Yes, but never love. Just girls who didn't mean anything. You..." His tongue teased my bottom lip, thawing my body. "Are everything. I got tested over winter break and I'm clean and I've got protection." He reached to the side of the bed and magically produced a small orange square.

*Cough* *Snort* I think my coffee came out of my nose at this part. I definitely rolled my eyes. Is Noah a magician?

Quote #4: "I made out with Beth." The two of us leaned against the counter and drank our beers.

Do guys tell each other that they "made out" with a girl? I don't know. I just found this scene extremely feminine, for some reason. Except instead of drinking fruity stuff, they're having beers. I keep getting the feeling that McGarry is trying too hard to make these guys seem bad, and it doesn't come off as natural, just stereotypical.

Quote #5: Like everything else in life, if it contained the word free, it implied slow.

Ha! I like that. It's so true. Now here's a little, unique nugget that McGarry lets us see once in a while.

Quote #6: "I wish I could sleep with you," Echo's sexy-as-hell drowsy voice mumbled through the phone.

"Say the word, baby, and I'll rock your world."

*More coughing, snorting, laughing* Who SAYS that? Honestly, if some guy told me he'd rock my world, I'd laugh in his face. It's so cheesy.

Quote #7: "...I added a fucked up thought to another fucked up thought and I created a pile of shit."

Yet another funny nugget in the forest of badly used cliches and sayings. Wooooo. At this point, I just want everything to be over.

Quote #8: I waited for my pulse to stop beating my veins like a gang initiation, for the blood to leave my face and for my lungs to not burn as I gasped.

Errr. Like a gang initiation? What a strange simile. I had to read that a couple times, and I'm still a bit confused. There also is that strange comparison of her stomach butterflies to mutant pterodactyls? The pterodactyl part I can understand, but why are they mutant? Many times, I get the feeling that McGarry is using all these words but not pausing to really evaluate their meaning and what they contribute to the story.

I liked the way that Echo pieces together what happened, but I had to wonder whether it was strictly necessary to have so many flashbacks and so many meltdowns. It felt repetitive after the first two hundred pages, and the last hundred was just overkill, I think. I thought this story could've been a lot more compressed, which would have made the characters much more likable. I didn't really like Echo or Noah, Echo because she angsts a lot, which is obviously understandable given how much crap she has going on in her life. But there are moments where she seemed to acted in a way that was overly emotional, and it just didn't endear me to her. Likewise, Noah's perspective wasn't all that fun to read, either. He uses curses liberally, and normally I don't mind that, except that I think McGarry overdid it again. Also, he acts irrationally, and at the end when he sneaks into Mrs. Collins's office, I don't even get why he did it. It was just confusing to me.

The characters didn't leave much of an impression on me, despite what happened to them. Noah and Echo both have unenviable pasts, and that aspect drew me the most, though McGarry somehow blew them all out of proportion so the emotion seemed more forced than sincere. I don't think I liked anyone, really. Maybe Mrs. Collins, but I hated how she was likened to a dog. All of the comparisons made in this book are overcooked. If we likened this to a dish, I would say it was a delicious bowl of fried chicken that almost couldn't have gone wrong, except in the end the chef got insecure and dumped a bunch of salt in, which completely overcompensated.

That said, this still might be enjoyable, especially for fans of Perfect Chemistry and other books by Simone Elkeles.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read and review this book.

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Review: Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park

Book: Flat-Out Love
Author: Jessica Park
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 400
My rating: 3 Stars

Goodreads Summary:
Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance.

Something is seriously off in the Watkins home. And Julie Seagle, college freshman, small-town Ohio transplant, and the newest resident of this Boston house, is determined to get to the bottom of it.

When Julie's off-campus housing falls through, her mother's old college roommate, Erin Watkins, invites her to move in. The parents, Erin and Roger, are welcoming, but emotionally distant and academically driven to eccentric extremes. The middle child, Matt, is an MIT tech geek with a sweet side ... and the social skills of a spool of USB cable. The youngest, Celeste, is a frighteningly bright but freakishly fastidious 13-year-old who hauls around a life-sized cardboard cutout of her oldest brother almost everywhere she goes.

And there's that oldest brother, Finn: funny, gorgeous, smart, sensitive, almost emotionally available. Geographically? Definitely unavailable. That's because Finn is traveling the world and surfacing only for random Facebook chats, e-mails, and status updates. Before long, through late-night exchanges of disembodied text, he begins to stir something tender and silly and maybe even a little bit sexy in Julie's suddenly lonesome soul.

To Julie, the emotionally scrambled members of the Watkins family add up to something that ... well ... doesn't quite add up. Not until she forces a buried secret to the surface, eliciting a dramatic confrontation that threatens to tear the fragile Watkins family apart, does she get her answer.
Flat-Out Love comes complete with emails, Facebook status updates, and instant messages.

There is no denying that Flat-Out Love is a very well-done book. That despite Jessica Park's little team-up with Jamie McGuire, this book will make you feel. Even though she's not acting cordially through her her support of McGuire in attacks against reviewers, I do not regret reading this book. The behavior of an author does make my opinion of him/her fall considerably, but it doesn't stop me from reading a book that promises to be good.

The revelation at the end was mind-blowing. I had no idea it was coming until a couple pages before (probably because I was up at 3 AM finishing up). Park duped me, and I feel simultaneously gratified and offended.

The cast of characters...I loved the characters in this book. Celeste, Matt, Erin, Finn...Ha. The dialogue was quick and witty, and I couldn't put the book down. I read it, in fact, for 5 straight hours. It's beautiful. This messed up, dysfunctional family, was beautiful. Julie was plenty amazing, too, with the way she deals with the situation and her attempts to help. Even though it was hard to like her at first for her rejection of the quirks of the Watkins family, her behavior towards Celeste and Flat Finn was enough to redeem her in the end.

I need to reread all of the messages with Finn after this. Damn it, that was brilliant.

I decided to be diplomatic and rate it a fair 3 stars, because even though I gave my honest opinion in this review, I still can't completely forget Park's past behavior.

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Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Book:  The Scorpio Races
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Inc
Publishing Date: October 18th, 2011
Pages: 409
My rating: 3.5 Stars

Goodreads Summary:
It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

My AP U.S. History teacher used to joke that he'd given us fun projects for the final couple months of the year because they always erased the bad memories we had of the grueling tests and homework packets we had to do for the majority of the year.

And that's what the last fifty pages of The Scorpio Races have done. They were so intense, they basically obliterated the mind-numbing monotony of the other 350 pages. I would've given this book 5 stars for the last 30 pages alone. But nope. Stiefvater had to attach the other 300+, and so I am aggrieved that I can't give it a very high rating because of them.

When I say monotonous, I mean bored-out-of-mind monotonous. I was praying for something to happen, and I skimmed a lot of the paragraphs about Thisby or the details of the island and races because there were so many of them. Don't get me wrong, Stiefvater does have a gift with words, but it got a bit grating to keep learning about the sea and the horses over and over. Then again, if she hadn't focused on the world-building, the world of The Scorpio Races might not have come as alive as it did. That's the crux of the matter. Also, the book actually got pretty creepy and gory. I liked that.

I was practically begging for Sean and Puck to just do it in a patch of cliff grass or something. I mean, Sean and Puck don't even meet until 100 pages in, and their relationship progresses at the rate a snail takes to go uphill. Which is not bad at all, but took a lot of the excitement out of the book. And what is it with all the parents missing? That's just...weird and coincidental. I would've liked to know more about them, since Sean didn't seem to feel all that bad about his father being eaten up. Maybe I skipped more paragraphs than I should have?

I liked the characters (George Holly. What a badass. Oh, and Benjamin Halvern and his butter tea. I sort of want to try it), though, and the sweet romance once it started going. Sean was quite different from all the guys I've been reading about, with his sharp demeanor and quiet devotion. However, I'd have to say my favorite part was the relationship between Sean and Corr. It's just one of those friendships between animal and human that's stronger than you could ever expect. They're totally my OTP now. All in all, I'm satisfied with this book despite the utter boredom I went through, and I'm definitely encouraged to read Shiver now.



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Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Book:  The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection
Pages: 327
Publishing Date: April 24th, 2012
Publisher: Harper Teen
My rating: 1 Star

Goodreads Summary:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

May I present to everyone The Hunger Games...Girlified!
Disclaimer: Despite the fact that I am drawing comparisons between the two, there is no way that this sad little novel (if it can even be called that) will ever match up to The Hunger Games.

Similarity #1: A "cutthroat" competition in which only one winner will be left standing.
Why It's Girlified: Instead of engaging in bloody struggles to the death, the girls instead compete by wearing prettier dresses, better makeup, and having etiquette. The closest they get to violence is when one bitch-slaps the other.

Similarity #2: A poor heroine who seems like an unfeeling douche in the beginning but somehow manages to endear herself to the public with her antics.
Why It's Girlified: America Singer (this name. I can't even.) is the most self-centered, weepy little twit I've ever read about. She does multiple things that would be considered horrible if others had done them, such as badmouthing the prince, throwing tantrums, but somehow the prince loves her and wants to be her best friend (because he's as stupid as she is, probably), and the public adores her.
This quote basically sum up her dazzling personality:

His black T-shirt was worn to threads in several places, just like the shabby pair of jeans he wore almost every day. If only I could sit and patch them up for him. That was my great ambition.

First selling off virginity, then this. This book is doing leaps and bounds for femininity, let me tell ya.

Similarity #3: The love triangle between the boy back home and the new boy whose personality the MC comes to know and adore.
Why It's Girlified: I can't make a decision between Aspen and Maxon. Why? Because I would rather make no decision at all. Neither of them have desirable qualities besides their broad shoulders and strong fingers. Cass needs to learn that just because the guys are hot doesn't mean they won't act like sticks of wood.

We have Aspen:
He ripped back my blankets in a move both graceful and violent.

I was internally screaming RAPE at this part. Love of my life or no, I don't want him ripping my sheets off me after I hesitated over answering whether or not I loved someone else.

We have Maxon:
He had his own smell, a mix of chemicals that burned out from him.

Do any of you find the fact that Maxon is toxic attractive? Because I don't.

Basically, what I'm saying is that this book has obvious aspects that come from The Hunger Games. However, it is also so girlified, teenybopperified, and altogether stupidified that these features have become almost unrecognizable. The writing is clumsy. It goes sort of like this:

Yesterday I brushed my teeth. I looked out my window and saw my boyfriend with his arms around another girl. Tears welled in my eyes. I smiled. I smiled again. I whisper-yelled at him. It took a while for me to rest, since I was so tired.

It's so painfully elementary that I wanted to slam my head against a tile.

Anyway. Please don't be like me, in that others' countless negative reviews weren't enough to convince you this book is utter crap. Because it is. Even the ending is crap. I might have been a bit more lenient if Cass hadn't finished what she'd started this book for. I don't even get what the conflict was. And there was no anticlimactic finale. There was no climax AT ALL. The plot is just a straight, boring line to nowhere. There were some iffy mentions of rebels and America's doubts about Illéa (doesn't make any sense to me why that makes this a dystopian, but whatever), but that's all overshadowed by the pressing concern of getting the attentions of some prince who doesn't know jack about his own country but still manages to make spur-of-the-moment, groundbreaking decisions. Oh, and he claims to know nothing about girls and to be afraid of their crying, but he manages to say all the right things and bring them all into giggly puddles of goo? This is disgusting and unflattering. I'm sure I speak for most women when I say that not all of us are reduced into pathetic tear-streaked damsels because of some guy.

I tried to read this like a chick lit. I did. But I doubt even my swoony, easily convinced self would've liked this.

My computer erased my previous review, which was already 3/4 written, which makes me hate this book even more.



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Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Book: Graceling
Author: Kristin Cashore
Series: Graceling
Release Date: October 1st, 2008
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 472
My rating: 3.5 Stars

Goodreads Summary:

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.

Graceling reminds me of an evolutionary theory we were taught in Biology called punctuated equilibrium. For those of you who were smart enough not to take biology, punctuated equilibrium is defined as periods of slow change followed by rapid spurts of events. The reason I compare the two is that Graceling has its own formula of punctuated equilibrium, in that it has long periods of boring description, followed by random spurts of activity. The good thing is that the spurts always took me by surprise. The bad thing is that I was bored in between them.

Many reviews I've seen describe Graceling as a wholly feminist novel, and I can see how it could be construed that way, through Katsa's resistance to anything remotely feminine. However, unlike some readers, I didn't find her annoying or too preachy. It's true that most of the male characters pale in comparison to Katsa's perfection in fighting, and that Katsa's character may be a little bit overdone. Nevertheless, I found it easy to like her, considering her position as the king's royal bully and her struggle to have control in an unstable kingdom.

The world-building is quite fascinating in this book. I don't read much high fantasy, but I liked the setting of the Seven Kingdoms. One thing I think is very well done is the concept of Graces that Cashore incorporates. It's an original idea, and the revelation of Katsa's Grace was surprising and intriguing. Also, I liked her relationship with Po, which developed slowly and reasonably. The realization that Katsa has with her feelings toward Po brings me back to the punctuated equilibrium theory in that it was dropped like a bomb and ruined all the slow development that had occurred in the beginning. Po was much more appealing than I gave him credit for, and what happens to him in the end tugged at my heartstrings, even though I'd already anticipated it.

What bothered me most with this book is that some scenes are intense, which is great, but they also happen so randomly and suddenly that they almost have a dreamlike quality. The resolution at the climax took all of a couple sentences and left me disappointed. But I don't regret reading this, given that Cashore is not a bad writer, and some of the scenes were pretty awesome (mountain lions!).



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Review: Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

Book:  Wanderlove
Author: Kirsten Hubbard
Release Date: March 13th, 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Pages: 338
My rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads Summary:
It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Kirsten Hubbard lends her artistry to this ultimate backpacker novel, weaving her drawings into the text. Her career as a travel writer and her experiences as a real-life vagabond backpacking Central America are deeply seeded in this inspiring story

There needs to be a destination, even if it's way off in the haze of my unlived life. And in that life, I'd like to be an artist.


I have a headache from reading this book. I think this is one of the few times where I'm pleased, despite the pounding in my head.

I honestly didn't expect the impact this story would leave on me. Maybe a few iguanas, some rain forest talk, barracudas...But Hubbard managed to make this into something profound. She brought the eternal problem of discovering yourself to South America, and in the process, she made something beautiful.

To begin with, the main character, Bria, has incredible character development. Over the course of her stay in various places of the wilderness, she develops her own independence and confidence in fighting for what she loves. Of course, she is pretty pitiful in the beginning, but I found it adorable instead of irritating. She has a voice that's completely sincere. As a teenager, I can completely sympathize with the way she feels: torn between places. Her connection to her art reminded me of how much I love my own writing and the possessiveness that comes with our own personal creations. Also, I loved the little pieces that Hubbard would slip in that made Bria so much more believable. For example, there's this one part when she's trying to put on her summer dress in front of Rowan and two other girls and gets stuck before she can get it all the way on. It's stuff like that that makes me believe that the author really has gotten into the mindset of the characters she's writing and knows that it's not just pretty words that makes a story: it's voice. And I'm happy to say that Bria's is an especially enjoyable one to read.

Onto Rowan. Damn, does he sound like a delicious piece of man meat. Despite his ponytail. Ha. I loved that he had his own problems, and that his bad boy past hadn't turned him into some dark poetry-reciting maniac (It has happened in other books. I would know.). Throughout the story, he comes off as someone truly likable and sweet, with a big heart and secrets of his own that he won't share unless the right person comes along. I loved tracking how he changes and opens himself to Bria throughout the novel, and I'm thankful that Hubbard never made their love story easy. Caution: whenever Rowan and Bria seem to be getting along better, don't get your hopes up. Something, be it Scandinavian giants or seasickness, will probably mess it up. Those who've read this book know what I'm talking about. But it all comes down to the issue of trusting someone else, not just with your safety, but with who you really are. That's why those who are sick of insta-love and unrealistic characters should read this book. There are real discoveries of what it means to exist in this world, and what it takes to step out of the comfort zone and pursue dreams that are actually worthwhile.

Not only do we have a hilarious, lovable, and begrudging travel couple, we have the beautiful backdrop of South America and the Caribbean. After all this, I have a hankering to visit there. Although I would never backpack. It sounds brutal, and I like comfortable hotels. Yup. Anyway, the way Hubbard describes the seas and brilliant sunsets are so vivid, it makes me yearn to be able to experience it once in my life, too. The drawings that were included were a lovely addition, especially the last couple ones, which let me visualize what kinds of people Starling, Rowan, and Bria are. I'm actually considering buying this book, which is big, since I'm pretty stingy in buying books because I think I won't ever read them again.

In truth, I don't think any review I write can do this book justice. You'd have to read it to know why I love it so much. Just like Bria observes that people can't understand the beauty of travel unless they've done it themselves.

So...yeah. READ THIS BOOK. If you don't like it (which is doubtful), at the very least you won't have felt like you lost brain cells in the end.




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Review: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Book: City of Lost Souls
Series: The Mortal Instruments
Author: Cassandra Clare
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Source: Library Copy
Pages: 534
My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Summary:
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.

'You can't raise a child to believe the opposite of what you do. I don't think she doesn't believe she can die. I think, just like you always did, she believes there are things worth dying for.'

Hear that? I think that's the sound of Cassandra Clare's brilliance coming back. If there is one thing that is true about the Mortal Instruments series, I think it's that this book is way better than its predecessor. The plot isn't going haywire anymore, and for once there's direction to what the characters are doing. That's not to say that all the different perspectives and couples didn't boggle my mind, but I will willingly overlook that in this case. Clare has brought back the old sparkle that made her previous books so hotly discussed. I was no longer irritated with her for drawing out Clary and Jace's suffering. In fact, I thought Jace was pretty cute in this book. It was probably because he'd lost all moral obligation and wasn't angsting all over the place like he was in CoFA. My mom actually read this book before me, and she agrees with me. I really enjoyed the multiple facets that were seemingly given to Sebastian, and I almost found myself trusting him too. Which I never should have done, but kudos to Cassandra Clare for making me almost believe that the evilest evil-doer on the face of evil could actually be good. The best villains, after all, are the ones who are convinced that they're doing something right. Also, I am now 99% certain that Brother Zachariah is Will. Please. His "interest" in the Herondales and that time when he says he would die for two people? He's definitely not Barney the Purple Dinosaur.

One thing that stands out to me most about this book: Clary. She goes from the wimpy girl from CoB to a total demon ass-kicking heroine. I was pretty worried in the middle about her developing a case of Stockholm Syndrome, but even though she wavered at moments, she never forgot about the task at hand. Especially when she fights back against Sebastian. Speaking of Sebastian and Clary. Ewwwww. That scene with them...ewwwwwww. That is all I have to say. Anyway, Clary's final act at the climax proved to me that she had learned from all her experiences considering selfishness, love, and sacrifice. Which brings me to the next topic.

Whew, is there a lot of sacrifice in this book. There are people offering themselves up left and right, clandestine exchanges everywhere...It's a pretty bittersweet ending that this book has, and I hope that all of the characters will end up finding happiness, if only because all of them have been through such complete, utter crap. I mean, Magnus and Alec? It made me sad. It really did. But I was glad that Magnus had finally decided to speak out against the way everyone was treating him like the answer to everything. But I really like Magnus, and so I hope he and Alec solve their problems and are a happily ever after couple. Because they deserve nothing less.

One thing that niggles me about this book is the fact that the Clave seems totally useless. They're like the cops in those superhero movies, in that they always rush in and make things worse by getting in the superheroes' faces with their walky-talkies and badges or whatnot, and in the end their cop cars blow up and the villains escape because of them. I haven't seem them do anything good, actually. Their contempt towards Downworlders and the ineffectiveness of the "Law" don't exactly strike much faith in me. Also, I didn't enjoy Maia and Jordan's pillow talk. Or anything about them, really. Too much kissing, not much else happening. That was a problem throughout the book for me, actually. There was too much almost-sex happening where it didn't really mean anything, and I found myself skimming those parts. The ol' metaphors and similes are still at large, and I could have done with less description. But I loved learning about Paris, Prague, and Venice. It's always a nice surprise when the characters travel to different places.

Other than that, I really did like this book. I finished it in two days, if that's any indication.

Last thoughts:
Maureen: What. The. Flipping. Flamingo. I'm scared.
And one again, Magnus and Alec:


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Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Book: Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Publishing Date: December 2nd, 2010
Publisher: Dutton
My rating: 4 Stars

This was a delightful change from the sudden-love witch-vampire-weird supernatural love triangle. I haven't read chick lit in so long, I've forgotten all the cute NORMALCY that you find in them.

What I liked most about this book was the voice. Anna has a strong voice, and her teenager-esque comments were always amusing. She has a passion--movies--and she has her own understandable problems, though it may not seem like it at first. Also, throughout the book, I didn't get pissed at the things she did. She does dumb things, sure, but they make sense. They're not just creepy or weird. Don't even get me started on St. Claire. I liked that he wasn't just blindingly gorgeous-which he is-but that he was a little on the short side and had his own issues.

The character development for Anna was strong, and that's the kind of thing that these kinds of novels need. Perkins does a great job of it, and the way she narrates Anna's journey through France at the same time that she's building friendships is smooth. I like that she doesn't just do the old love triangle-she puts a new spin on it, and I was pleasantly surprised. In addition, the sexual tension is just plain hot.

The reason I couldn't give this 5 stars is that there were moments when the book was just a little too cliche for me. I understand that Perkins was probably trying to give those old cliches a new, fun spin, but they were a bit overwhelming sometimes.

I do recommend this book for anyone who's looking for a fun read, though, because it is definitely that.

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