City of Lost Souls

*Disclaimer* This is the fifth book in “The Mortal Instruments” series so if you haven´t read the other four books yet, please be aware of spoilers. I would not advise reading if you want to start this series without being spoiled, but if you don´t mind feel free to continue on, just be warned. However if you have read City of Fallen Angels, this review won´t spoil the book.   

Title: City of Lost Souls

Author: Cassandra Clare

Pages: 554

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Rating: 4/5 Stars

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Cassandra Clare has done it again. Even though The Mortal Instruments is certainly not the best series I have ever read, Clare manages to make each book better, which is something I am in awe of. City of Lost Souls is my favourite instalment in this series so far. As some of you might know by now, I don´t particularly love how Cassandra Clare constructs her plots. I find them to be a bit too slow building to grab my full attention right away. But with this book it was a bit different. Clare uses multiple POVs to showcase different story arcs that at the end come together beautifully to build the finale, which to be honest wasn´t as great as the previous one in City of Fallen Angels. Still I found the overall plot in this book, to be probably the strongest in all of her books I have read so far. 

This book also gives the reader more of a background knowledge of different characters, which I very much appreciated. Once again Clare highlights a certain character, in the last one it was Simon, in this one it is Alec. We haven´t seen as much of Alec as other characters, so it was nice getting to know him and the way he thinks more.  But where this books really shines is in Jace´s character development. We see him and Sebastian being melted and separated and melted and separated over and over again, so I wasn´t quite sure how much of the real Jace was left. But in the epilogue we see how much he has grown due to this circumstance. I reckon if I would reread this book, I would be able to pick up on a lot more subtle hints that point in this direction.

So what else is there to say? Well the classic things that Cassandra Clare is known for. It is a really funny book, I am a fan of all the relationships (seriously I ship them all) and I LOVE the nudges to the Infernal Devices, those are so great. Also it was really fun seeing bits of every city they went to.

What is your favourite ship from TMI? Let me know in the comments down below!

Read on xx

Lena

August Releases

A bit late, but but at least you can already get most of these releases now, right? ;)

Enter Title Here, by Kanakia Rahul

As the end of summer approaches, so does the time where we grab for the last contemporary book on our TBR-Piles. But which book would be better to chime in the beginning of fall/the start of the new school year than a combination of contemporary and school. Rashmi is the typical over the top-perfect-in-everything kind of student, who just wants to go to Stanford. So to get herself a head start she gets herself a literary agent. But to write a more relatable novel she starts doing all the typical American girl things like get a boyfriend.

Published August 2^nd

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22060619-enter-title-here

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Enter-Title-Here-Rahul-Kanakia/dp/1484723872/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470843968&sr=1-1&keywords=enter+title+here

It Ends With Us, by Colleen Hoover

Have I ever read a Colleen Hoover book? Well…. no. But with such a huge following, like she has I would think it is safe to say, that her books are quite enjoyable. From what I have heard so far it seems as it is another crowd pleasing favourite, which is enjoyed better the less you know about it, so we are going to leave it at that.

Published August 2^nd

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27362503-it-ends-with-us

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ends-Us-Novel-Colleen-Hoover/dp/1501110365/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470843950&sr=1-1&keywords=it+ends+with+us

Attack on Titan, Volume 19

I have by no means caught up with this series yet, but it is always nice to have another volume of this AMAZING series. After Titans destroyed most of humanity, Humanity has withdrawn into one last city. The story picks up five hundred years later, when suddenly a colossal titan appears, who destroys the saving wall. I would highly recommend this series, especially if you liked the Mistborn series, by Brandon Sanderson.

Published August 2^nd

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833731-attack-on-titan-volume-19

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Attack-Titan-19-Hajime-Isayama/dp/1632362597/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470843929&sr=1-1&keywords=attack+on+titan+19

Nevernight, by Jay Kristoff

This book! It has everything I could ever want (except for maybe dragons and ice cream, but I haven´t read it yet, so who knows?): an assassin, a boarding school AND magic? Heck yes, sign me in! But I am still a bit anxious, as the reviews so far have been really split. It seems that people either love or hate this book, so we will see.

Published August 11^th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26114463-nevernight

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nevernight-Jay-Kristoff/dp/1250073022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470843559&sr=8-1&keywords=nevernight+by+jay+kristoff

The Bronze Key, by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare

I read the first book, called “The Iron Trial”, a couple of months ago. It is a fun Middle Grade series, in which the main protagonist Callum goes to this magic school. It reminded me a bit of Harry Potter, so if you have already finished the Cursed Child and can´t let go this one offers a similar premise.

Published August 30^th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13612965-the-bronze-key

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bronze-Key-Magisterium-Book/dp/0545522315/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470843589&sr=8-1&keywords=the+bronze+key

Furthermore, by Tahereh Mafi

Tahereh Mafi is best known for her bestselling Shatter Me series, which once again: I have not read yet! So I can´t go off that but the synopsis sounds cool. Apparently colour plays a big role in this one so that will be a new concept, that I have never seen done before.

Published August 30^th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28110143-furthermore

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Furthermore-Tahereh-Mafi/dp/1101994762/ref=pd_sim_14_70?ie=UTF8&dpID=614dj-RRpOL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR106%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=JM4AZW6JPHZM2RWR150D

July Wrap-Up

If I were to summon up my reading habits this month the only way I would be able to describe it were: Weird.

Hey guys, how are you? Long-time no see. I am sorry, but my computer had to be repaired and it took longer than I thought it would. But at least I read a lot! Especially during my vacation, but after that things got strange. I fell into a reading slump, but only kind of. I wanted to read, but no book grabbed my attention so I started I think five different ones until I finally committed and finished a book. But since then the only thing I have read this month are graphic novels/comics. Nothing wrong with that, but it I would rather read novels. Anyway, moving on to what I actually read:

City of Lost Souls, by Cassandra Clare          4/5 Stars

Once again a great book by Cassandra Clare, really liked the plot (Review to come)

The Neverland Wars, by Audrey Greathouse           2.5/5 Stars

Got this one as an ARC, this one just kinda fell flat. Pretty forgettable

The Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson       4.5/5 Stars

While not as good as the first book, this was a really great high fantasy book (Review to come)

Confessions of a Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella     5/5 Stars

ReadbyZoe on YouTube read these books a while ago so I wanted to pick them up as well. LOVED it. Really fun and fast read with loveable characters

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, by Sophie Kinsella    4/5 Stars

This one repeated lots of things from the first book, so while still enjoyable, it just wasn´t as refreshing and fun

Shopaholic Ties the Knot, by Sophie Kinsella          4.5/5 Stars

The plot goes into a different direction and shopping takes the backseat, once again really great (I think I might review the series as a whole, or maybe in pairs, not sure yet)

My Life Next Door, by Huntley Fitzpatrick            2.5/5 Stars

This was the book that helped me start reading again, but it wasn´t pretty good to be honest. The characters were really cliché and the plot felt unnecessarily stretched out. (Review to come)

Graphic Novels:

Attack on Titan Vol 1, by Hajime Isayama    4/5 Stars

I started watching the anime again, so I knew what was going to happen; While really great, the art style was confusing at times

Attack on Titan Vol 2, by Hajime Isayama    4/5 Stars

I really appreciated the scene that was left out of the anime, it gave me a better understanding of Mikasa; I think I still prefer the anime though because the manga isn´t as suspenseful and emotionally gripping

East of West Vol 3: There Is No Us, by Jonathan Hickman         3.5/5 Stars

I took too much time off this series, so I was quite confused by what was going on, but I got back into it by one point; Finally, the threads are intertwining!

East of West Vol 4: Who Wants War? by Jonathan Hickman      4.5/5 Stars

Loved the information (maps, history etc.) at the beginning. Some of the story arcs are becoming understandable, but there is still lots of mystery around what´s really going on; Can´t wait for Volume 5!

Fables Vol 1: Legends in Exile, by Bill Willingham          5/5 Stars

Great first instalment, I can definitely see myself becoming obsessed with this series

Fables Volume 2: Animal Farm, by Bill Willingham         5/5 Stars

This volume was even better!

Seconds, by Bryan Lee O`Malley        4/5 Stars

A really quirky and cute graphic novel. The art style portrays the characters similar to chibis, which is sweet. The dynamic between Katie and the narrator is unlike anything I have read before. Recommend especially for people who want to get into graphic novels!!!

Sweet Tooth Vol 1: Out of the Deep Woods, by Jeff Lemire        3/5 Stars

Didn´t really like the artstyle, but it does fit the story well

Sweet Tooth Vol 2: In Captivity, by Jeff Lemire      3.5/5 Stars

I liked this one better; Also we got some backstory, which is always nice

Sweet Tooth Vol 3: Animal Armies, by Jeff Lemire          3/5 Stars

Didn´t like it as much as the second volume

Chew Vol 1: Taster´s Choice, by John Layman       3/5 Stars

This was a difficult one, I appreciate the plot and the characters, but I wasn´t a fan of the art and it is just a bit too gross for my taste (pun intented), I´ll probably read Vol 2 and then decide if I really want to continue on, I would still recommend it though, because it is by no means a “bad” comic

Y: The Last Man Vol 2: Cycles, by Brian K. Vaughan      4/5 Stars

Even though I didn´t like it as much as the first Volume, I still really liked it! It wasn´t as humorous and I can´t comprehend Hero´s actions. Also: Not cool Yorrick! What about Beth?

Y: The Last Man Vol 3: One Small Step, by Brian K. Vaughan   4/5 Stars

I think this is my least favourite volume in this series yet, it was great until that part with the theatre. That turned me off a bit, but apart from that: Great Volume, great series!

Y: The Last Man Vol 4: Safeword, by Brian K. Vaughan  4.5/5 Stars

The beginning was strange, but after they leave 711 this volume did everything right again.

As you can see, I was pretty busy this month. Do you want me to review any book/comic in particular? Let me know down below and we can discuss it together!

Read on xx

Lena

The Neverland Wars, by Audrey Greathouse

*Disclaimer* I was provided with an eARC in exchange for an honest review by Sara from YA Bound Book Tours.

Title: The Neverland Wars

Author: Audrey Greathouse

Pages: 302

Published by: Clean Teen Publishing

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Magic can do a lot—give you flight, show you mermaids, help you taste the stars, and… solve the budget crisis? That's what the grown-ups will do with it if they ever make it to Neverland to steal its magic and bring their children home.

However, Gwen doesn't know this. She's just a sixteen-year-old girl with a place on the debate team and a powerful crush on Jay, the soon-to-be homecoming king. She doesn't know her little sister could actually run away with Peter Pan, or that she might have to chase after her to bring her home safe. Gwen will find out though—and when she does, she'll discover she's in the middle of a looming war between Neverland and reality.

She'll be out of place as a teenager in Neverland, but she won't be the only one. Peter Pan's constant treks back to the mainland have slowly aged him into adolescence as well. Soon, Gwen will have to decide whether she's going to join impish, playful Peter in his fight for eternal youth… or if she's going to scramble back to reality in time for the homecoming dance.

I love Peter Pan. I really do. And I love retellings even more, so it is really sad that this is a book that is best described as forgettable and just ok. Nothing too special and not worth recommending or even remembering. While it is a fast paced read with fun aspects like e.g the mermaids (really enjoyed those) and it does have a nice modern twist on the Peter Pan store I just had lots of problems with it, the biggest one being the characters, especially Gwen. Apart from being a naive girl, the only thing Gwen is the perfect shining star (pun intended) and she is oh so special. Yes, she "sees behind the glamour" of growing up, contrary to all the teenage robots around her, but apart from that she has about zero personality. She justifies lots of her behavior with how her parents treat her, which by the way is NOT how parents treat their kids these days. It is only used as another device to get the authors message across, but while yes, I got what she wanted to achieve, but there is hardly any way around that if the reader is hit over the head with what they should be feeling. Another example for that are the lost boys. They are depicted as these really, once again, naive children, who are so centered around the idea of adventures that they completely shuffle off their families to be in Neverland. I can´t comprehend these actions, but at least they had more character than Gwen did. Also I smell a love triangle coming, which I am not a fan of.

This book just tries to be/do something it does´t have the skill to do. It tries questioning the meaning of growing up and how age and puberty affect us, but really all it does is making me roll my eyes on a seemingly desperate added depth to an already forgettable YA book. I would say if you look for a fast paced read and are willing to over lacking characters, this book might be for you, but it just wash´t for me.

Do you guys know of any other Peter Pan retellings you would recommend? If so I would be really interested in reading them!

Read on xx

Lena

June Wrap Up

Let´s call this month “Lena is only reading Cassandra Clare” month, shall we?  Because her books are seemingly all that I have read in the last thirty days. (Except for one book I didn´t like, but who cares)

ClockworkAngel, by Cassandra Clare    3.5/5 Stars 
A “fine” first instalment in TID series

City ofFallen Angels, by Cassandra Clare             4/5 Stars

Liked it; not my favourite in the series so far, but good

Finding theRaven, by Patty Dickson Piezca      1/5 Stars

Really didn´t like it; ended up DNFing it

ClockworkPrince, by Cassandra Clare   4/5 Stars

Loved it, had some problems with it, but I am looking forward to the finale; review coming soon!

Do you guys like it, if I only say a bit about the books in Wrap-Ups or do you want me to do something else? Let me know in the comments down below!

Read on xx

Lena

July Releases

My top picks that are released in July 

Saga Volume 6, by Brian K. Vaughn & Fiona Staples

If you have been reading my blog you will by now know that Saga is one of my all-time favourite series. Even though I am not completely caught up (cuz let´s face it graphic novels are EXPENSIVE) I am really happy that there is another volume out for me to put on my Christmas wish list.

If you haven´t read Saga yet, first off: Do it! It´s phenomenal! (Except if you are younger because there is LOTS of violence and sexy stuff) But it basically follows this young couple, from different planets as they raise their child, while on the run from their governments. It´s funny, the story is great, the art is phenomenal and you should read it.

Published July 5^th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28862528-saga-volume-6

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Saga-6-Brian-K-Vaughan/dp/163215711X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467128846&sr=1-1&keywords=saga+vol+6

Learning to Swear in America, by Katie Kennedy

As the earth is about to be destroyed by an asteroid, NASA calls onto 17 year old mastermind Yuri to save the day. But Yuri has a hard time getting the older physicists to listen to him. But then he meets Dovie, who shows him what it means to save the world and save a life worth living.

This synopsis sounds so ridiculous that it will be great. I am curious to see in which route they take Yuri´s social capacity though, because I most often see characters who are “teenage geniuses” portrayed in the likes of Sheldon Cooper. What I hope this story will do is provide a greater perspective on the ability of teenagers to induct change/save the world, so we will see. "Learning to Swear in America" is also a debut and I love supporting debut authors so go Katie!

Published July 5^th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23018259-learning-to-swear-in-america

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Swear-America-Katie-Kennedy/dp/1619639092/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467128867&sr=1-1&keywords=learning+to+swear+in+america

An Author´s Odyssey, by Chris Colfer

“The Land of Stories” is hands down one of my favourite Middle Grade series, like ever. It got me started into reading retellings and branch out more into MG in general and just bae. Also Chris Colfer, whom you may know from the TV show “Glee” is the author so there is that. I haven´t read the fourth book yet, but I got it recently, so this is definitely very high up on my TBR. As this is the fifth book in a series there are of course spoilers, but the description on GR literally only says fifth book in the Land of Stories series, so that shouldn´t be a problem. The first book follows two siblings, who fall into their grandmother´s  old story book, where they meet lots of known characters like Little Red Riding Hood (Go Red!) as they try to find a way back into the real world.

Published July 12^th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23611997-an-author-s-odyssey

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Land-Stories-Authors-Odyssey/dp/0316383295/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467128971&sr=1-1&keywords=an+author%27s+odyssey

Arabella of Mars, by David D. Levine

After really enjoying the Steampunk element in “Clockwork Angel” (read my review here) I am excited to read another book set in the same era. “Arabella of Mars” follows. Britain has a new colony on Mars, where our main character Arabella (Well duh), who is everything but a proper young lady, lives. To discipline her, her mother sends her to earth, London to be exact. But after some dramatic change in her family´s circumstance, she needs to go back to Mars. To achieve this she must disguise herself as a boy on a ship serving the Mars Trading Company. It sounds fun, action packed and like a great SciFi Steampunk novel.

Published July 12^th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25615226-arabella-of-mars

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Arabella-Mars-Adventures-Ashby/dp/0765382814/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467128986&sr=1-1&keywords=arabella+of+mars

On the Other Side, by Carrie Hope Fletcher

I would really like to give you guys a summary of what this book is about, but its description confuses me. The only thing I can gather from it is that this book follows Evie Snow after she dies and because of some secret in the past, which she now has to unravel, she can´t go into heaven.  I like Carrie Hope Fletcher´s YouTube channel so I am really excited for this book to come out next month.

Published July 14^th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25744542-on-the-other-side

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Carrie-Hope-Fletcher-ebook/dp/B00ZS51LLO/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467129017&sr=1-2&keywords=on+the+other+side

The Woman in Cabin 10, by Ruth Ware

The most likely time for me to pick up a thriller is on holiday (on which I will go soon eeek!) so if you are the same “The Woman in Cabin 10”, may be a good choice, especially since the story is set on a cruise, which gives me major holiday vibes. The travel journalist Lo Blacklock has been given the chance of a lifetime. She gets to travel on a luxury cruise for seven days in the North Sea. But then a passenger gets thrown overboard.

Published July 19^th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28187230-the-woman-in-cabin-10

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Cabin-10-Ruth-Ware/dp/1501132938/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467129035&sr=1-1&keywords=the+woman+in+cabin+10

A World Without You, by Beth Ravis

We follow this boy, named Bo, who thinks he can travel through time. So his parents send him to a school for troubled youths, where he meets this girl Sophie and they fall in love. But even despite their love Sophie commits suicide due to her depression. Now Bo thinks Sophie is not really dead and he is convinced he is able to go back in time to save her.

Beth Ravis is known for her popular “Across the Universe” trilogy, which I haven´t read, but this book sounds really interesting. I imagine it to take a different approach on mental illness with magical realism sprinkled into it, which I am really intrigued by.

Published July 19^th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27272505-a-world-without-you

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-You-Beth-Revis/dp/1595147152/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467129056&sr=1-1&keywords=a+world+without+you

P.S. I Like You, by Kasie West

During Chemistry Lily scribbles down a line from her favourite song. No surprise she is surprised to find a message next to it the next day, Soon enough Lily and her mystery student are exchanging messages, lyrics and even sharing secrets.
I almost missed this book! Thank goodness I didn´t because it sounds so cute and sweet. If you have read all the summery contemporaries you own yet, this sounds like P.S I Like You would be a great one to pick up next.
Published July 26th

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25486998-p-s-i-like-you

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/P-S-Like-You-Kasie-West/dp/0545850975

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by J.K Rowling

This is the “continuation” of the Harry Potter series, which let´s be honest everyone and their mother have read by now. Don´t get me wrong it IS my favourite series of all time and I am reals excited for this book, but I don´t know if I am willing to spend actually quite a lot of money on a manuscript.

Published July 31^st

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29056083-harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Cursed-Child-Production/dp/1338099132/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467129078&sr=1-1&keywords=harry+potter+and+the+cursed+child

So what releases are you most excited about? Hopefully I didn´t miss any! Let me know in the comments down below!

Read on xx

Lena

Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare

*Disclaimer* This is the second book in the "Infernal Devices” trilogy so if you haven´t read the first book yet please be aware of spoilers. I would not advise reading if you want to start this series without being spoiled, but if you don´t mind feel free to continue on, just be warned. However if you have read Clockwork Angel, this review won´t spoil the book .

Title: Clockwork Prince

Author: Cassandra Clare

Pages: 560

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Rating: 4/5 Stars

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?
As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

I was sick when I picked this book up, so I wasn´t sure whether I was really gonna get some reading done or not. But this book! If you have read my review of “Clockwork Angel” (which you can read here) you know that I didn´t like it as much as I would have liked to and I am really happy to say that I loved Clockwork Prince. The plot was so much more enjoyable than pretty much any other Cassandra Clare book I have read so far. (I am gonna make a post on why that is soon) It was action packed with LOTS of plot twists. You think the story is going to evolve in a certain direction and then “BAM”, no. Plot twist. Also their actions were comprehensible (Apart from that weird ghost scene; that was just weird). They were acting like real human beings, which I liked. A great example for that are Jem and Tessa. Instead of doing something stupid, they actually TALKED! About their feelings! Like adults! Finally some YA characters who talk about their problems/feelings instead of running away from them. (I am looking at you Jace Wayland)

This book in a whole is just so full of romance! Not only ones involving Tessa, but we also get to know the dynamic between Charlotte and Henry more, which I loved. But the most prominent relationships are certainly the ones involving Tessa. Clare kills the reader with that damn love triangle. In my review I also said that I wasn´t the biggest fan of Wills yet, but that has CHANGED! We get to know why Will acts like he does and I am sooooo in love with him, please marry me! The love triangle is constructed to be an absolute masterpiece. Clare manages to let the reader see what Tessa feels about Jem and Will and shows two different men, who both have their own reasons for being loveable. Especially in the beginning I shipped Jem and Tessa and Will with myself (sorrynotsorry), but somewhere in the middle I realised that I wanted Tessa to be with Will as well as Jem. I found the romance to be quite Insta Lovey, but once I got over that, I was in it to win it. Apart from that the only complaint I have is that some of the expressions were not appropriate for the 19^th century and that Tessa was a bit naïve some times.

So I am basically a mess right now and can´t wait to read Clockwork Princess. 

Read on xx
Lena

Another quick Update

Hey you guys!
How are you today? How´s the weather? Hopefully it´s nice and warm wherever you live, so you can fully enjoy summer! Have you recently eaten any good ice cream? (Ice cream is important) I am just popping in to give you guys a quick update. I am going on holiday! Yaaay! Vacation! I will be gone from the 8th to the 18th of July, so please don´t expect any posts during those two weeks. While I would still like to blog during my vacation I won´t have any internet connections. It´s going to be great to unplug for a while though so #sorrynotsorry
Thank you guys for being so supportive!
Read on xx
Lena

City of Fallen Angels, by Cassandra Clare

*Disclaimer* This is the fourth book in the “The Mortal Instruments” series, so if you haven´t read the first three books yet please be aware of spoilers. I would not advise reading this post if you want to start this series without being spoiled, but if you don´t mind continue on, just be warned. However if you have read the other three books, this review won´t spoil the fourth book.

Title: City of Fallen Angels

Author: Cassandra Clare

Pages: 480

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Rating: 4/5

The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old 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 power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And—most importantly of all—she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.
But nothing comes without a price.
Someone is murdering Shadowhunters, 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. When Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary 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.

I enjoyed this book very much. It wasn´t as great as City of Glass, but I was happy to see all my little babies happy again, after having suffered through the events of the past books.  Well kind of happy, since Jace and Clary face lots of struggles in this book. This leads me to one of my complaints for this book: Why in the name of the angel (see what I did there?) is Clary always on the edge of tears? She is pretty much always sad or people worry about her being sad, where did that come from? Luckily that stopped halfway through, or else I would have been really annoyed. Another thing was their relationship in general. The prominent problem I have with Jace is that instead of talking to someone about his feelings, fears or whatever, he just bottles everything up. And now that he is in a relationship one would think that he would talk to Clary, but nope. He much rather leaves her standing and goes off distracting himself.

But let´s talk about Simon. This instalment is the most Simon we have gotten so far and I love it! He is one of my favourites from this series with Isabella, who we also see lots in this book, though by far not as much as Simon. There are new character intruded as well, like Kyle, whom I really like. Sadly we don´t get lots from Alec and Magnus until the end, except from hilarious vacation snaps. Also they went to Vienna, my hometown, so that was cool. Big fan of these two, I ship it.

But gosh the ending! Once again it was the highlight of the whole book! It was really intense and fast moving. For the first time it wasn´t fully relying on fighting, but rather on suspense, which I really liked. One thing I have noticed in Cassandra Clare´s books though is that I am not a big fan of the way she paces her books. They always start out slow, exploring what happened in the last book and slowly starts building plot until the last hundred pages or so, where we finally get tons of action. This is the main reason why I give most of her books only 4 stars, as for the most part of the book I feel like the story is dragging a bit, but then BUM last 100 pages, the action is finally here. Don´t get me wrong I like the formula, but by now it feels a bit generic. I would much rather prefer it if she would give us a bit more of a faster pace in the first three to four hundred paged as well. By now though I finally feel attached to the characters (finally, it took quite some time) and I really want to know what happens next, because that ending gurl, that ending!

Have you read “City of Fallen Angels” and if so, what did you think of it?

Read on xx

Lena

The Ultimate Battle: Books VS eBooks

As long as humanity can remember (or at least since eReaders were invented) there have been discussions which book format is better: The new and practical eBook or the traditional much beloved physical book.

In my opinion there are pros and cons to both of these formats, so what better way to discuss this topic than with a list?! Yaaay lists!

Pros of eBooks:

• You can literally take them everywhere.

In this day and age almost everybody has a smart phone, on which they can read an eBook. Only last week, while I was taking the train, I was reading this new book I received for review (Self promo, you can read more about my thoughts about it here) Also if you read it in class, nobody is going to notice. Whether if you read a physical book everybody suddenly seems to be interested in what you are reading, even the people who haven´t voluntarily touched a book in the last decade.

• Your book won´t get wet.

This is SO IMPORTANT! Have you ever taken a book to the beach or to the pool and left with it being a bit wet, so from now on your beloved book has a water stain on it? Of course you have! And you all know how horrible it is!

• ARCs

I know this doesn´t apply to everyone, but getting physical ARCs outside of Amerika, UK or OZ is hard. I don´t live in an English-speaking country so the only real way I am getting my English ARCs is through websites like Netgalley or Edelweiss (praise you for existing!)

• It´s cheaper

Don´t argue with me over this topic please. I know not all of them are cheaper, but most are, even though most often the difference is only a couple of dollars. But they truly are cheaper. Also there are lots of free eBooks out there, especially by self-published or even Indie-published authors. By now even libraries often have books in electronical Formats, which you can lend out online.

• The space

Don´t lie to me that you don´t struggle with having too many books and too little space on your shelves. We all do. And in a matter of fact eBooks just don´t take up any, except a few Gigabytes on your eReader or phone.

Cons of eBooks:

• You can´t show them off

Yes, it´s a vain reason, but a really important one none the less. I can´t help but feel really happy every time I see my book collection and just find joy in arranging them in a new order or putting new ones on my shelves.

• They are not the real deal

This is the most prominent reason, why I still, and forever will, buy printed books. I just find that I can read them much quicker and also just have a better reading experience. It is probably a bias thing to say, but lots of times I unconsciously give books, I read on my Kindle, a worse rating than I maybe would have, had I read them in a physical format.  You just can´t replace the smell and feel of a book in your hands, which is, in my opinion, one of the best things in reading. With eBooks you just don´t the satisfaction of actually seeing your progress and suddenly realizing how little, of this amazing book you´re currently reading, you have left.

Which of these formats do you prefer? And did I forget something? Let me know in the comments down below!

Read on xx

Lena

Just a quick Update

Hey guys!
I am just in the process of adding my blog to Bloglovin, so in case any of you have an account over there it would be awesome if you could add me!

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/15906443/?claim=dattze5bwjf">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Thank you I appreaciate it
Read on xx
Lena

Finding the Raven, by Patty Dickson Piezca

I want to thank the author of this book, Patty Dickson Piezca, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I was really excited to read this book as this is my first ARC I have ever received, so I am really sad to say that I really did not like this book, which was why I did not finish it. My general policy before I stop reading a book is to read at least half of it, which I did so I put it down because I just didn´t enjoy it very much. Before I start with this review I also want to add, that this review is intended as constructive criticism and in no way as just bashing something I didn´t like. I respect how much work the author put into this, but I still want to say what I thought of this novel.

Title: Finding the Raven

Author: Patty Dickson Piezca

Pages: 292

Published by: Ravenswood Publishing

Rating: 1/5                         

When Julia Dulac's father is murdered onstage  and her inheritance is swindled away, she must work through her grief and fear of poverty to find both the killer and a means of survival with help from the Raven, a black crystal that reveals images of past and future truths. While having the crystal appraised, Julia finds love and her life takes unexpected turns through mystery and betrayal against the backdrop of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.
Through the boarding house window, Julia overhears an argument between Rose and her wealthy father over Rose's illegitimate pregnancy. He drops Rose off, saying he will return in one year, that she must be either single and childless or respectably married. Though from completely different backgrounds, Julia and Rose become fast friends, facing lessons of survival and redemption as their fates become irrevocably entwined.

Having never read a book that wasn´t published by a big publishing house before, I didn´t really know what to expect from this book, so I was really disappointed to see how botched it felt. The author took way too little time with practically everything. In my opinion, to make the story more realistic it would need at least 150 pages or so more. The whole thing just felt rushed, already beginning with the setup of the story. The reader just gets thrown into this world and while that may be refreshing if done right, it just doesn´t work. The whole plot in general just seems to fall into place. It doesn´t feel like it is neither character nor plot driven, but more as if the author knew what needed to happen next in order to get to the final point at the end, so she let the characters do something. Their actions just didn´t feel comprehensible to me. The characters in general are all definitely upgradeable. It seemed as if out of nowhere they suddenly had certain characteristics that just weren´t mentioned before.

Another thing that didn´t sit well with me was the pacing of the story. Time was a thrown around variable. While sometimes things just flew by, in an unbelievable amount of time, some things took way too little time. Some of the longest passages were the ones describing how terrible the food or the hostel were. While, yes I get that it was used to emphasize that there weren´t in a good place, which is fine, I do not need lengthy abstracts to remind me of that several times, thank you. On the contrary, I found that lots of details, which often were important to the story, were skipped, so when it came to use I was surprised. For example: As Rose gets sent away to St. Louis in no way was there mentioned that her father was coming with her, but suddenly he began talking to her. And I was just like: What? Where did he come from? So while we got a long description about the label of a wine bottle, the environment or even the looks of characters were hardly touched on.

In conclusion I just want to add that my main impression of this book is, that the author had a vision in her head, which could have worked out wonderfully, but just weren´t mainly due to the lack of description in certain places. But if you personally really enjoy a light guilty-pleasure read without thinking too much and you are thinking about picking this book up, I would say don´t let me discourage you, hopefully you will enjoy it more than I did.

Have any of you read “Finding the Raven”? And if so what did you think of it?

Read on xx

Lena

Top 10 Authors I Want to Read Completely

Hey guys!

So today I am back with another Top 10 post. This one is about my Top 10 authors I want to read completely, so all the novels they have put out so far. In this post I am only talking about authors who have other series in other universes as well, which is why I didn´t mention authors like for example Leigh Bardugo. She only has books out that take part in the Grisha Universe and while I love her books and want to read all of them she doesn´t qualify for this post. I am planning on posting another entry where I only talk about these authors who have only written “one universe” so far soon, so keep your eyes out for that as well!

Gillian Flynn

You may know Gilian Flynn as the author of “Gone Girl”, which I own, but haven´t read yet. What I have read of hers is “Dark Places”, which I liked. It was a very interesting story, with good atmosphere and an excellent resolvement. Many people say though it is not their favourite book of hers, so I am really intrigued what else she has written for me to check out.

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2383.Gillian_Flynn

Jesse Andrews

One of the last books I read was “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”. If you have seen my review (read it here) you know that I wasn´t the biggest fan nof either the story or the characters (except for Mr. Gaines, you go Mr. Gaines!), but really liked the humour and formatting of the book. He recently released a new novel called “The Haters” and lots of people, who had similar problems, to the ones I had, say that this one is better than his first book.

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5227163.Jesse_Andrews

George R. R. Martin

The “Song of Ice and Fire” series is still a work in progress, but the way Martin crafts his world, so careful and fleshed out, has me wanting to read his other books. I love fantasy, which is what he is best at, so I am curious to get more into other worlds of his e.g. “Dreamsongs”

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/346732.George_R_R_Martin

Jonas Jonasson

Jonas Jonasson is the author of “The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Dissapeared” (woah that´s a mouthful) I read that one, as well as his other book “The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden”. Both of these I really liked and had a great time reading, so I am only waiting until my library gets his newest release “Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All”.

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3222554.Jonas_Jonasson

Morgan Matson

It seems like Morgan Matson has been making at least one entry on each of my lists so far. I still haven´t read any of her books, but I will this summer I promise! I already own “Since You´ve Been Gone” and it is on the top of my Summer TBR (which is another post of mine, you can read here). Still, from all that I have heard so far I just know that I will probably love everything she writes, hence the reason she is on this list.

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3351454.Morgan_Matson

Brandon Sanderson

Remember what I said about really liking fantasy? Brandon Sanderson ´s “The Final Empire” may be the only book of his that I´ve read so far, but it is so so great. It has left me wanting to read everything else the man has ever published. And that´s a LOT. This is definitely a long-long term project as most of his books have about 800 pages each and he seems to publish at least two each year. But still, just the idea of the cosmere has me in awe and his stories are great, so why not?

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/38550.Brandon_Sanderson

Rainbow Rowell

I am completely in love with every single one of Rainbow Rowell´s books I have read so far. Granted, I have not started any of her adult books, but since “Fangirl” and “Carry On” are one of my favourite books of all time and I liked “Eleanor and Park” I think I will enjoy her others as well.

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4208569.Rainbow_Rowell

Brian K. Vaughan

Most of you probably know Brian K. Vaughan as the writer of the hugely popular comic book series “Saga”. I absolutely love Saga, but recently I have started another series of his called “Y-The Last Man” (which is also on my Summer TBR). As I really like this series as well I now want to read more of his work. I have done some research and I am interested in reading “Ex-Machina” or “Runaways”. He also just released a new tradeback called “Paperback Girls Vol 1”, which sounds really cool as well.

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24514.Brian_K_Vaughan

John Green

Who hasn´t heard of John Green? He is the authors of widely popular books like “Looking for Alaska”, “Papertowns” and, of course, “The Fault in our Stars”. I have read those three and to be honest I wasn´t much of a fan, especially of “Looking for Alaska” I just found it boring and pretentious. “The Fault in our Stars” was fine, but I am probably one of the few people that didn´t cry #sorrynotsorry. “Papertowns” I enjoyed but didn´t love, but still I am determined to find a John Green book I love, as his short story in “Let it Snow” was my favourite.

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1406384.John_Green

J.K. Rowling

As you may or may not know Harry Potter is my favourite series of all time (and my whole life as well, but let´s not talk about that), so it should come as no surprise that I want to read more of her novels. Rowling is just a master in storytelling and I do like a good thriller/crime story, which is what she writes under her pen name Robert Galbraith, so I hope to pick up her other books very soon.

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/383606.Robert_Galbraith

Which authors do you want to read completely? And have you read any of the books mentioned above? 

Read on xx
Lena

Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Angel

Author: Cassandra Clare

Pages: 479

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Rating: 3.5/5

When Tessa Gray crosses the Atlantic to follow her brother Nate to England, she gets kidnapped by the mysterious Pandemonium Club. Tessa find out that there is much more to this world than she knew. Vampires, Faries, Demons exist and she is one of them. She takes refugee with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who promise her to help her look for her brother, if she will help them with her powers.

I am currently marathoning all of Cassandra Clare´s book in order of publication date. I know I am late to the game, but better late than never, right? Having heard lots about this series I expected two things from this book: That it would be faaaaar better than “The Mortal Instruments” and that I would absolutely fall in love with Will Herondale. Now I have read this book but I can´t really approve of either of these statements. I liked the Mortal Instruments. I didn´t love them like everybody else did but I liked them. To be quite frankly I didn´t really see the difference between the two series. Yes, they take place in two completely different time periods and TMI doesn´t have the clockwork monsters, but in both series the main character is a girl who finds out she isn´t who she thought she was and she plays a big role in the Shadowhunter universe, both have a love triangle, where one of the love interests is really rude *hust* Will Herondale *hust* and a girl, who acts like she doesn´t care about anything but can fight real good if she has to (=Isabelle/Jessamine).

But there are some things The Mortal Instruments had that Clockwork Angel just doesn´t. Tessa doesn´t really care about anything except herself and Will and books. Don´t even get me started on Will. On Jace the rudeness was charming, but Will just takes it too far sometimes. It made me smile yes, especially Tessa´s answers, but was it something that made me fall in love with him, so that now he is my ultimate book boyfriend? Heck no! Maybe that will change, the farther into the series I get, because I will learn more about the characters and I will have a greater appreciation of them. We will see.

So what did I like about this book? The change in scenery and time period brought something different. Until now I haven´t really read a steampunk so I had a great time exploring this new genre, which I now really want to read more from, so if you have any good suggestions let me now in the comments down below! Also I loved getting these little nuggets Cassandra Clare put in for the readers of both series. For example the Pandemonium, some of the reoccurring families, church and mostly MAGNUS! I loved how he played a tiny part in this as well. It gave me, as somebody who reads both series right now, a real understanding of how old he really is.

I don´t really have any complex thoughts of this series, but the reason I think this book definitely deserves three and a half stars, was the plot twist at the end. Without it I would have only given it three stars, so yes read it till the end! I am still going to continue with the series, after I finished “City of Fallen Angels”. Hopefully I will love “Clockwork Prince” more, I still have hopes!

Have you read “Clockwork Angel”? And if so what did you think of it? Let me know down in the comments below!

Read on xx

Lena