Book: City Of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Published May 2014 by Margaret K. McElderry Books|514 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: The Mortal Instruments #6

Genre: YA Paranormal- Angels

You can find City Of Heavenly Fire on goodreads & Cassandra Clare on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

ERCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID.

I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!

What I Thought:

I have really mixed feelings about City Of Heavenly Fire.  There were things I liked, but there were also things I didn’t like.

I really love the world that we see in this series.  I feel like there’s so much we don’t know about this world, and I like that we see how detailed this world really is.

I think I have a love-hate relationship with this series.  I love the overall idea of the world, and it seems like the world is very well thought out.  But at the same time, I’ve liked the series less and less as it went on.  I’ve enjoyed the entire series but I also felt like the series could have ended with the third book.

I’m really struggling with what I think of City Of Heavenly Fire.  I liked it, and I’m glad that things were (mostly) resolved.  I wasn’t particularly fond of what happened with a certain character, and while I like said character, I also found I didn’t particularly care about what happened to them, or that things will seem to work out for them.

I found that Magnus is, by far, my favorite character.  I’m not sure if he’s getting his own series, but his story was infinitely more interesting, especially with what we learn in this book.

We meet a lot of new characters, and I actually liked that we saw chapters from many different characters. Like the previous books, there’s a lot going on in this one, so it was nice to see a little bit of everything that was going on.  At the same, there were so many characters that it was hard to keep track of some of them, particularly those who were introduced in this book. It was hard to be invested in them when I had some trouble keeping up with them.

Let’s Rate It:

I liked City Of Heavenly Fire- basically, I like the world Clare was imagined, but I didn’t care about what happened to the characters.  It is sad that I’ve lost interest as the series went on, because I really want to LOVE this series.  It is a fun series, and very readable, but I think this series (FOR ME) has gone on a little too long. City Of Heavenly Fire gets 3 stars.

Book: Love Letters To The Dead by Ava Dellaira

Published April 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux|327 pages

Where I Got It: bought the hardcover

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find Love Letters To The Dead on goodreads & Ava Dellaira on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person.

Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to the dead—to people like Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse—though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating the choppy waters of new friendships, learning to live with her splintering family, falling in love for the first time, and, most important, trying to grieve for May. But how do you mourn for someone you haven’t forgiven?

It’s not until Laurel has written the truth about what happened to herself that she can finally accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was—lovely and amazing and deeply flawed—can she truly start to discover her own path.

In a voice that’s as lyrical and as true as a favorite song, Ava Dellaira writes about one girl’s journey through life’s challenges with a haunting and often heartbreaking beauty.

What I Thought:

I liked Love Letters so much more than I expected, but not as much as I hoped!

I love that the entire book is full of letters.  I love that she writes to them, and that she has connections to each of the people she writes to.  It very much felt like she was writing a letter to a true friend, and it really felt like she knew what they were going through.  I love that she shares her life with them, and that we get to see how she’s dealing with everything.

As much as I loved the letters, I also felt like they were something I just stumbled across.  I feel like it put some distance between me and Laurel, and I didn’t connect with her as much as I would have liked.  I also didn’t really care about May, and I really wish I cared more about May.  I think teenage-me would have LOVED this book, but as 28-year-old?  Not so much.  I was definitely expecting to be more emotional throughout the entire book, and not just at the end.

I will say that there is something about Laurel finally accepting what happened, and I really wish I felt that way during the entire book.

I did love seeing the friends that Laurel made, and seeing how much her friendships with them changed over the book.  I also loved seeing her relationship with her dad and her Aunt Amy, and I really wanted to see more of her relationships with her dad and her aunt.

I didn’t really like her relationship with her mom, and while it seems like there are some issues there, they didn’t seem to be explored as much as they could have been.  And part of me wants to have seen it, but at the same time, there are so many other things that Laurel is dealing with that it’s probably best it wasn’t really there.

Let’s Rate It:

I really liked seeing Laurel finally accept what happened with her sister May, and I love all of the letters, but at the same time, I felt a little distance from what was going on because of the letters.  Love Letters To The Dead gets 4 stars.

Book: Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

Published October 2014 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers|303 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: None

Genre: YA Thriller/Mystery

You can find Black Ice on goodreads & Becca Fitzpatrick on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Sometimes danger is hard to see… until it’s too late. 

Britt Pfeiffer has trained to backpack the Teton Range, but she isn’t prepared when her ex-boyfriend, who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two very handsome occupants—but these men are fugitives, and they take her hostage. 

In exchange for her life, Britt agrees to guide the men off the mountain. As they set off, Britt knows she must stay alive long enough for Calvin to find her. The task is made even more complicated when Britt finds chilling evidence of a series of murders that have taken place there… and in uncovering this, she may become the killer’s next target. 

But nothing is as it seems in the mountains, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally? 

BLACK ICE is New York Times bestselling author Becca Fitzpatrick’s riveting romantic thriller set against the treacherous backdrop of the mountains of Wyoming. Falling in love should never be this dangerous…

What I Thought:

I definitely liked Black Ice!  There was so much going on, and it’s different than a lot of other mysteries/thrillers I’ve read.

I like that it’s more surviving in the wilderness and what’s going on with the murders.  Granted, I did manage to figure out who was behind the murders quite a bit before it was actually revealed.  I don’t quite remember when I figured it out, but I did.  What kept me reading was wanting to know the motivation behind it.  Still, I felt like things were pretty unpredictable, and I was never completely sure of what was going to happen next, even though I wasn’t particularly surprised by how things turned out.

I LOVED the atmosphere of the book, and it really added to the craziness that happens on the mountain.  Of all of the crazy things that happened, I didn’t like the romance.  At all.

I didn’t care for it , and I didn’t really get the point of Britt and Mason falling for each other.  I get that they both understand what it was like to be up on that mountain- which is actually fine- but the romance felt like it was there just to be there.  In the sense that they know what the other went through, the romance does make sense.  I get that she both wants and doesn’t want Calvin, her ex.  That was actually pretty believable.

What I didn’t find believable was Britt’s friendship with Corbie.  I really didn’t get why the two girls were best friends, and I kind of wish that their relationship had something more to it, because it felt like a pretty shallow friendship.  I did like that Britt seemed to find a couple great friends that she met in college, and that her story was tied back to Mason’s in the end.

Let’s Rate It:

Even though some things weren’t believable or didn’t really work work for me, I wanted to keep reading to see how things would turn out.  Black Ice gets 3 stars.

Book: Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Published May 2012 by HarperCollins|276 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: Hemlock #1

Genre: YA Paranormal- Werewolves

You can find Hemlock on goodreads & Kathleen Peacock on Twitter, Facebook & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Fans of Maggie Stiefvater and the hit television show True Blood will flock to this first book in the supernatural mystery series set in a town where werewolves live in plain sight.

Mackenzie Dobson’s life has been turned upside down since she vowed to hunt her best friend Amy’s killer: a white werewolf. Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country, and bloodlust is not easy to control. But it soon becomes clear that dangerous secrets are lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, Mac’s hometown—and she is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her in grave danger.

Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling debut novel provides readers with a mystery that Kimberly Derting, author of The Body Finder, calls “clever and frightening,” while Sophie Jordan, New York Times bestselling author ofFirelight, raves: “Forget every werewolf book you’ve ever read. This one breaks the mold.”

What I Thought:

It’s rare for me to read about werewolves on their own, and even more rare for me to actually finish one.  But I liked it more than I thought I would!

I really like that there’s a werewolf virus.  Granted, it kind of reminded me of the different variations of illness turning people into zombies or vampires, but I like that there’s a werewolf version of that out there.

I do wish it was explained a little more, because really, all we know is that it was revealed by the government quite a few years before the start of the book.  I’m really curious about the government’s knowledge of the virus and how it came to be.  And the trackers, definitely interesting.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll be revealed in at least of the books to come.

I will say that I was struck by how much I was reminded of the different rights movements- in particular, it seemed to be a combination of women’s rights, civil rights and GLBT rights.  I have no clue if that was intentional on Peacock’s part, or if that’s just what I was reminded of.  I’m sure people who are much more knowledgeable about those topics could draw better conclusions/parallels than I ever could, but it is something interesting to think about.

Let’s see.  Characters.  Nothing really stands out about them, except for Amy, who makes random appearances in Mac’s dreams.  She’s the only one who stands out, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m reviewing this book a week after finishing it, or if it really is because they aren’t super-memorable.  Honestly, though, I didn’t really care for Amy, but there’s definitely more to what’s going on then what we get in this book.

Let’s Rate It:

I did like Hemlock, but I have so many questions that I want answered.  For whatever reason, I didn’t completely fall in love with it, but I am intrigued enough to keep reading.  Hemlock gets 3 stars.

Book: City Of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Published May 2012 by Margaret K. Elderberry Books|397 pages

Where I Got It: nook store

Series: The Mortal Instruments #5

Genre: YA Paranormal/Angels

You can find City Of Lost Souls on goodreads & & Cassandra Clare on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon.

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?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

What I Thought:

Of the Mortal Instruments books I’ve read, this one is my least favorite.  I liked it, and there were some interesting things that happen, but it’s the one that’s the least memorable to me.

I really want to know more about the Iron Sister, who are a sister group to the Silent Brothers.  I doubt we’ll learn more about them in the last book (and it’s possible that they’ll pop up in one of Clare’s other Shadowhunter series), which is a shame, because they really are one of the more interesting groups we come across.

I get why Clary, Alec and Isabelle want Jace back, and are trying to find a way to get him back while killing Sebastian while also NOT killing Jace.  But I felt like they were a bit too whiny, especially Clary.  Considering this is something I tend to not pay attention to, or am generally willing to overlook if I do notice it.  And while I normally LOVE Magnus (he is probably my favorite character in the entire series), he seemed less like himself than normal, and he definitely doesn’t have the humor or flamboyance I’ve come to expect from him.

There’s something about this one that didn’t pull me in the way the other ones did.  I kept reading, because there is something compelling about this series, but for whatever reason, I just wasn’t as enthused as I was with other books.  Even though stuff happens, it somehow feels like this one is filler until we can get to the next book.  I know that it’s setting up what will happen in the last book in the series, but the story may be starting to wear on me a little bit.  And it’s getting so hard to believe that this entire series has happened over the course of a few weeks.  With the number of things going on, it seems like it should be happening over a longer period of time.

Let’s Rate It:

I don’t really have much to say about City Of Lost Souls.  It’s a fun and enjoyable, but also the least memorable in the series. City Of Lost Souls gets 3 stars.

Book: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Published February 2013 by St. Martin’s Press|262 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find Eleanor & Park on goodreads & Rainbow Rowell on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Two misfits.

One extraordinary love.

Eleanor… Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough…Eleanor.

Park… He knows she’ll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There’s a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises…Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

What I Thought:

I finally got over my hesitation of reading Eleanor & Park.  I’ve been really hesitant to read it, because so many people love it, and I was terrified it wouldn’t live up to the super-high expectations I had for it.

Unfortunately, when I go in with high expectations, I am almost always disappointed, and this was (very sadly) the case with Eleanor & Park.  It really turned out to be okay, mostly because I don’t care enough to put in an effort to dislike the book.

I didn’t really find either character compelling, and I felt like they were pretty bland.  I don’t need to connect with characters or with what’s going on in their lives to like a book (but it is a preference) but I just didn’t connect to either of them, and as the book went on, I cared less and less about them.  Park was a bit too understanding and patient and perfect (for me) and Eleanor…I understand why she acted the way she did, but it was frustrating that it not only took her so long to actually do something about her family life but to leave her siblings at home.  Also: why do we not learn what happens with her siblings?

The romance did NOTHING for me.  I’m not one to talk about insta-love- I’m actually pretty neutral about it- but in this case? I felt like there was no chemistry between Eleanor and Park, and it did feel a bit insta-lovey to me.

The ending…it wasn’t as heart-breaking or as emotional as I was expecting, but maybe you need to care about the characters in order for that to happen.  What happened to Eleanor was horrible, and I will admit that it was the only time I even STARTED to feel something, but at that point, it was too late, you know?  And where was this for the rest of the book?

I was definitely expecting the nostalgia I felt in Fangirl, but I didn’t feel it at all.  I wasn’t brought to that time in my life at all, which was disappointing, because I wanted to feel the nostalgia and all the feelings, and it just wasn’t there.  I don’t know if it’s because the book was set in the 80’s- I was born in ’86, so I don’t remember/was too little to remember the decade, or if it’s for some other reason.  Regardless of when the book was set, I still feel like I should have felt the nostalgia, and I just…didn’t.  I don’t know if it’s because I never experienced that in high school (or, well, ever) but I still kind of feel like I should have been able to feel that regardless of whether it’s something I’ve experienced myself.

And the shifting POV kind of worked, but not really.  I just hated that, at times, narration would shift back and forth for one sentence.  It was dizzying at times, and it got really frustrating.

I really wish that Eleanor & Park worked for me, and while I normally get why people love a book that I don’t, this is one of the rare cases where I don’t get it.  I don’t know if I’m just missing something, or if it’s just not the book for me, or if it’s because I went in with high expectations and was bound to be disappointed, or a combination of many different things.

Let’s Rate It:

Eleanor & Park is a book that in theory, I should dislike, but I just don’t care enough to dislike the book.  It’s not that it’s a bad book, but it’s not my cup of tea.  Eleanor & Park gets 2 stars.

Book: Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh

Published March 2009 by Penguin|328 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: Guild Hunters #1

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

You can find Angels’ Blood on goodreads & Nalini Singh on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she is the best- but she does not know if even she is good enough for this job. Hired by the dangerously beautiful archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, Elena knows failure is not an option—even if the task is impossible.

Because this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad.

The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other—and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the hunt does not destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just might. For when archangels play, mortals break.

What I Thought:

I’ve heard so many good things about this series, and I can’t believe I took so long to read it!

I also need to read adult romance more, because I always enjoy them every single time I read them…

Back to Angels’ Blood though.  I tend to stick to historical romance, but I veered away from that because I was in the mood for paranormal romance.  I like that Elena is a vampire-hunter who has to hunt down an archangel.  And there’s no war between heaven and hell and the angels we meet are a pretty diverse group of angels, which was pretty awesome.  And Archangels creating a certain number of vampires a year is really different than any other angel/vampire book I’ve read.

I love this story, and I can’t wait to keep reading the rest of the series, especially with how the book ended!  I don’t know why I didn’t see that coming.  Seriously, I should have seen that coming.  I wasn’t as enthused about the characters, but I still liked them, even though I wasn’t pulled into their story (particularly Elena and Raphael).  There’s definitely an interesting assortment of characters.

And the romance!  Raphael!  I heart him.  He’s definitely in my top ten favorite swoon-worthy characters.  I didn’t completely love their romance (the flirting and sexual tension was awesome, but…sexy times?  Not so much.  Fingers crossed that it’ll get better).  It wasn’t as romance-y as I thought it would be, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m more used to YA romance and historical romance, or if it’ll get more romance-y as the series goes on.

Let’s Rate It:

Angels’ Blood was fun to read, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.  It’s definitely different than any other angel book I’ve read, but in a good way!  Angels’ Blood gets 4 stars.

Book: Life A.D.: Life After Dez by Michelle E. Reed

Published December 2013 by Month9 Books|366 pages

Where I Got It: Kindle store

Series: Atman City #1

Genre: YA Paranormal

You can find Life, A.D.: Life After Dez on goodreads and Michelle E. Reed on twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

In Life, A.D. you have two choices: join the program or face the consequences.

Seventeen-year-old Dez Donnelly crashes headlong into fate on the side of a rural highway, her life ending in a violent collision of steel and screaming brakes. The train that delivers her newly departed soul to the crossroads of the afterlife won’t be carrying her to the sweet hereafter until she accepts her abrupt end and learns to let go of the life she’ll never finish.

Her new reality is conduct manuals, propaganda, and unrelenting staff, all part of a system to ease her transition from life to death, while helping her earn her way out of limbo. Atman City, beautiful and enticing, is an ever-present temptation that is strictly off limits to underage souls. The promise of adventure proves too strong, and beneath the city’s sheen of ethereal majesty, Dez discovers a world teeming with danger.

Welcome to Life, A.D. where being dead doesn’t mean you’re safe, and the only thing harder than getting out of limbo is getting through it.

What I Thought:

I don’t read many books dealing with the afterlife, but this is definitely a more unusual and refreshing take on it.  I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next book!

At first, I wasn’t sure what was going on, because Dez is on a train that will take her to Atman City, the place where she’ll work through her life and transition to death after her unexpected death.  I didn’t realize at first that she was dead, but once things started to be explained, it was a lot less confusing.  I like that she’s with other kids who died unexpectedly, and that they have to work towards getting out of limbo.

What’s really intriguing about this afterlife is that there is more to Atman City than what we see, especially the city itself. Mostly because we don’t get to see much of it, and what we do see has a lot darker than what I ever expected.  I mean, there are definitely some unsavory people in Atman City, and I am very curious to see how that will factor into the rest of the series, because it feels like it’s important to the story.

Dez is definitely interesting and she’s pretty resistant to getting out of limbo, even though she clearly doesn’t want to be there. But I also understand why she’s so resistant, because she’s so young when she dies.  But I also feel like she does make some pretty good progress in accepting what’s happened, and that she’ll become even more accepting of it in the next book. But I still didn’t completely feel for her, even though I feel like I should because she’s been through a lot of horrible stuff. I think it’s because she’s so resistant to acceptance that it was a tad bit hard to completely care about her.

This world is definitely intricate and I like that so much is explained without feeling like a massive info-dump.  Everything was described so well, and I knew exactly what everything looked like and what this world was like.

Let’s Rate It:

Life, A.D. is definitely intriguing and intricate, and I like that it’s such a refreshing take on the afterlife!  I didn’t completely love Dez, but I’m hoping she grows on me in the rest of the series. Life, A.D. gets 3 stars.

Book: Dead Jed: Adventures Of A Middle School Zombie by Scott Craven

Published December 2013 by Month9 Books|226 pages

Where I Got It: Kindle store

Series: Dead Jed #1

Genre: Middle Grade

You can find Dead Jed: Adventures Of A Middle School Zombie on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

Dead Jed is Shaun of the Dead meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Jed’s not your typical junior high geek. He is, to use the politically-correct term, cardiovascularly-challenged. And while his parents have attempted to shield him from the implications of being ‘different’ for as long as they could (Jed was 8 and at a friend’s sister’s birthday party when he blew his lips off onto the cake in front of everyone, finally prompting the “Big Talk” from his parents and an emergency SuperGlue repair by his dad), 7th grade at Pine Hollow Middle School as a target of Robbie the supreme school bully and his pack of moronic toadies is rapidly becoming unbearable.

From being stuffed in a filled trash can as “dead meat” and into a trophy case as the bully’s “prize,” to literally having his hand pulled off in the boys’ room (Jed’s always losing body parts. Luckily, a good stapler and some duct tape and he’s back in the action) and a cigarette put in it and try to frame him for the recent reports of smoking in the school, Jed’s had enough and is ready to plan his revenge. Besides, it’s awesome what you can do when you’re already dead.

What I Thought:

I don’t read a lot of middle grade, but I liked this one!  I haven’t read the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid books, but from what I know about them, I think kids who like those books will really like Dead Jed.

I like Jed, and how hard he tried to fit in, even though he has a medical condition that basically means he’s a zombie.  I really like that it’s something that he has to deal with during the entire book, and that you see who Jed really is.  Being a zombie is only part of who Jed is, and he’s just a normal kid trying to get through 7th grade.  It made the book a lot more original and different, and it really highlighted how horrible it can be to be different in middle school.

Dead Jed is definitely clever and light-hearted and witty, and I couldn’t help but laugh a few times throughout the book.  It’s definitely a fun book that also has a lot of heart.  And Jed is definitely bullied and has to deal with people who aren’t tolerant of his condition, but I really liked how he dealt with it.

I liked the pop culture references, especially the zombie pop culture references.  You can’t go wrong with Michael Jackson’s Thriller, especially at a school dance!

Let’s Rate It:

Dead Jed is a fun book, and it’s definitely a great middle grade read- but I think a lot of people would enjoy this story, regardless of age.  Dead Jed gets 3 stars.