Saturday, August 23, 2014

Confession Of A Weird Reader #3: Reading The Last Book In A Series

Hey you all, bookish people! Let's talk about the last book in a series. In the last couple of years some of my favorite series ended and I think a lot of us had to go through the heartbreak that comes right after reading the very last sentence in that particular book.

The news that a series is going to end always makes me anxious. It's one of those things I dread with all my heart and I always hope I don't see it on an author's website. And even if it's not about those big series, of over 6 books in it. Even just the release day of the third book in a trilogy that I loved makes me anxious.

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I'm not ready for a series to end. I know at some point it should, but I don't want it to end. Not only because I'm so invested in the story, the characters and the world in that series, but because really, that series has become like... a magical portal to this incredible world that gives me immense joy and sometimes heartbreak. I know those characters. I cried for them, I jumped with joy or moped around with them. They're like friends.

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Yeah, it might sound weird to non-bookish people, I know. But let's be honest here. Not only have you read their stories and seen them grow and develop and become great men and women, they've also changed you in a way. It always makes me angry when I hear people saying books don't teach you anything and I want to just smack them so hard, but I hear it isn't polite and that it's illegal in some countries *rolls eyes*

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So, here comes the confession part of this post (it is titled that way, after all). I have yet to read the last 4 books in Women Of The Otherworld. It's not because I've stopped loving that series, I haven't. And I do want to read about *SPOILER ALERT* Savannah and Adam. But reading these last 4 books means reading the end. I don't want that. I've literally picked up those books and put them back on their shelf dozens of times just because of that reason. 

Not to mention that I've delayed reading the last Harry Potter book for a year after it came out, because I didn't want to read about any of my favorite characters dying in the last battle. Guess why I haven't yet read Allegiant and tons of other series endings. I had the courage to read Beautiful Redemption only because I knew there's a sequel. I'm a chicken sometimes, okay?

I have a hard time reading the last book in a series. Okay, so some authors, like Kelley Armstrong, are nice people and write little "What happened after" stories or novellas. It's not the same. And I know, I know, I said I love re-reads and I do. I stand by what I said. But it's still going to end again and again and again. Now, I know I could read stand-alones. But again, I love series. They're big and they give me time with characters that I love and they tell me more stories than you can ever fit into a single book. Plus, with series, there's a certain ease you have when reading from your favorite character's POV. It's like you're meeting with friends. 

What about you? Do you have a hard time reading the final THE END in a series, or is it just as easy as if it were a stand-alone?

Monday, August 18, 2014

Book Review: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare


Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices #1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: August 31st 2010
My Rating: 3 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them....


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Disclaimer: Before I start my review I should warn you that: 1) my review might contain SPOILERS and some curse words and 2) There will be a few GIFs because words fail me at the moment and I need them to accurately convey what I'm feeling right now. 

So...Umm...I finished reading this book on Sunday and I'm still a bit confused about what I'm actually feeling about this book. I loved the first part of it. Adored it, actually. Then the second half of the book happened and I kept wondering "What am I reading? What did I miss?". I'm getting ahead of myself though.

So the first half of the book was great. A girl was murdered and no one knows why, there's another girl kidnapped and a race of warriors feared by all dark creatures that will do anything to protect the humans, also known as "mundanes". Everything sounds fine until now right? Right. Our heroine is a book lover as well and that was so great, because I love book nerds as heroes/heroines.


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I have to admit to one thing first: I decided to read these books after I saw the movie. I saw the movie and I liked it (I know, I know, those who read the books were disappointed) and I thought I need to see if the books are just as awesome. The idea of a strong warrior race fighting demons, vampires, warlocks and other dark creatures has always appealed to me and it's still not getting old. I love that theme and so here I am. Granted, The Infernal Devices takes place before the events in the movie, but I always hated reading series/sagas out of order.  

I was thrown off by Tessa's naive nature, but then again she was a young girl in a new country, new continent, hoping to meet her brother whom she has not seen for a while. Plus, she's been God knows how many weeks on a ship and that would make anyone longing for some human interaction. Granted, there were people on that boat but maybe she was just shy *shrugs*. I did like the idea of her being kidnapped right as she arrived at her destination though. It made the villain be very scary, the fact that he acted right away, with no warning whatsoever. We are introduced to our hero (or so I thought), Will. Will is a smart-ass and I like that in a guy. Sarcastic and completely unashamed of his shortcomings. Sometimes he's a bit rude, but he secretly loves books and again my judgement was clouded by emotions. Then I got to know him a little bit and by the end I wanted to punch him in the nuts, just for shits and giggles, but that's another story. There's another guy in the picture, Jem, but I kinda didn't like him all that much. I mean, I didn't dislike him, but he was a little...he's a character I can miss, someone that I don't necessarily notice all that much.

Anyway, the first part of the book had a great deal of suspense, some mildly irritating moments involving a female Shadowhunter (of which I will refrain from talking about because then this review will turn into a rant about characters I'd like to bitch-slap into the next century), and some action-filled scenes, during which I was keeping my fingers crossed for the good guys.

Then... the rest happened. Here's the thing. I'm usually a forgiving reader. I understand that my expectations are somewhat weird in terms of how a book should end and that if I guess correctly what's going to happen sometimes that makes me roll my eyes, other times it makes me want to pat myself on the back for being a smart cookie. HOWEVER. Something happened here that didn't quite sit well with me.

First, how is it that the Shadowhunters, a great race of warriors, feared by all supernatural creatures, didn't know that one of their "trusted friends" was actually working against them? You'd think they would have the means necessary to control everyone 'cause, you know, they sounded like the freakin' police of the supernatural world. Amirite?


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Second, why is it that it took the good guys so much time to even consider that the one guy feeding them information might be lying? Granted, the possibility didn't even register in my mind at the time, but why would they, the smartest, strongest, most fierce of all, took so long? And then, when time came for them to figure it out, Will said it like he said something ordinary, like...oh, I don't know, "The sun is hot". If it was THAT easy, why did it take so freaking long in the first place??? 


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Then there's something...technical, if you'd like, that bothered me. It seemed that in the last...100-150 pages or so, there were too many important moments that could've been the ending of the book. Now, you might frown and look all confused, but usually big moments in a book signal the end of that book, right? Huge, bombastic moments happen once or twice, but this book seemed to have more. I probably wouldn't have noticed this, had the book been split in two parts. Then it wouldn't have been an issue. Since that was not the case, I kept scratching my head, wondering what could possibility happen next, because it seemed that all that had happened was all that seemed possible at the time. 

I'm not saying in any way, shape or form, that the book was bad. It wasn't, but the ending...Yeah, that was bad. The only way for me to express my feelings about the ending compared to how the book started, is by using this gif:


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It was exactly like that. I'm now confused, because I don't know if I am ready to read further or not. I do want to read City Of Bones, but I just don't know... It's sad, because I see so many bloggers that I follow and that I trust that gave glowing reviews to this book and I'm sitting here all confused and pouting, wondering if I read a different book.

Obsessed With Covers #15: Wicked Heroine, The Jewel, Gilded Ashes

Y'all know how much I love a pretty cover. I think about...40% of the books that end up on my shelves (be they physical or digital) do so because of the covers. Call me shallow but you have to admit that a pretty, shiny cover will catch your eye faster than a dull, boring one. Two, simple rules that I'll follow:


  • 1, 2 or 3 (no more than 3, though) covers per week;
  • books should be new-ish; no more than 2 years old.
Oh, before I share the covers that made me drool or want to stare at them for hours and hours, I have to say something. This is a semi-original idea. Why semi? Because almost every book blogger has something similar. The only thing I came up with was the title. If by any chance there's another blogger with a similar feature with the same title, I assure you I'm not stealing your idea. I'm just THAT bad with titles. Believe me, I'd love to be smarter and have a witty name for this feature, but I don't. So, no copyright infringement/theft/steal or anything of the sort was desired. All I can say is sorry :P

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So, here are the prettiest covers I've seen this week.


This is a very pretty cover. I love the multitude of colors of the clouds. That is one powerful storm waiting to start. I love the hand holding the orb, which I admit looks strangely similar to an eye and that makes the entire thing creepy. Which I love. And then there are the calm waters and the lone boat that makes my heart stutter because there's a storm coming and it makes me think no one on that boat might survive. Then there's the weird shadow in front of the boat. I wonder if it's a tree, a cloud or a sea creature. All in all, this cover is great!







Wicked Heroine - Jasmine Giacomo



Pretty dress? Check. Creepy factor added by the fact that the girl is reflected in the many sides of a "jewel"? Check. It's pretty easy to explain why I love this cover, really. I'm hoping the cover stays the same for the paperback edition of the book.











The Jewel - Amy Ewing


There's a stairs theme in this series and I like that. I love the trees surrounding the stairs. I like that the stairs don't look so scary as in Cruel Beauty though.












Gilded Ashes - Rosamund Hodge



What about you? Any pretty covers you saw recently that you loved?
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