Shame on me for being absent for a whole month -- work and school have been drilling me into the ground. But I'm very excited to be taking part in the Fire & Ice Hop, hosted by a lovely group of ladies that you can find in the link above. Please feel free to peruse the lists they have up to visit the many other blogs that are taking part in the hop, and enter to win many amazing giveaways.

As much as I would have loved to reach out to the author and do a little interview for my post, Cassandra Clare is one in-demand, busy lady. In addition to writing, writing, and writing, she's spent a while in Toronto back in September/October, hanging out with a fabulous -- and may I say very, very good-looking -- cast and watching her book City of Bones come to life for the big screen (August 23 of this year! Get ready!). She's also working on a new Shadowhunter series, co-writing The Bane Chronicles with Maureen Johnson and Sarah Rees Brennan, co-writing a series with Holly Black, and her next (and last) installment in the Infernal Devices is coming out next month. I don't know how she does it! Plus she's always interacting with the fans over Twitter and Tumblr and is just all-around amazing. Superwoman, if I've ever seen one.


But for my stop, I've chosen to let out my inner fangirl and feature Cassandra's 5th book in the Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls. When it comes to the Mortal Instruments and the "ships", as the kids call them these days, I get kind of crazy. Like a One Direction fangirl on crack. The main theme for this Fire & Ice is romance, and boy is there a lot of it in CoLS. Even the cover is romantic, no? I think this is the most relationship-focused book of the whole series thus far. I swear, after I finished this book for the first time, I put it down and immediately took to tumblr to like and reblog all the brilliant fan arts that people have made of these couples like a maniac, too immersed in infatuation to even be embarrassed about it. I'd literally be sitting there clicking away and going "they're so cuuuute!" and "oh my god oh my god oh my god!" "get married and have babies plz!!!1!" ...Yeah.

Ahem.

In lieu of Valentine's Day (no, not Valentine Morgenstern, that'd be frightening), this post will highlight the three core couples with some excerpts of my favourite moments between them. Also, it comes at a perfect time, as the people behind the City of Bones film are holding #ShareMortalLove on Instagram this week, releasing exclusive new character images every day. Exciting, exciting stuff. Some movie tie-ins to give this post a bit of a visual. Then there's a pretty awesome giveaway at the end! So without further ado...


JACE & CLARY
[ Jace Wayland/Lightwood/Morgenstern/Herondale &
Clary Fray/Fairchild/Morgenstern (whew!), aka Clace ]


Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Wayland & Lily Collins as Clary Fray

Chapter 17: "Valediction", pages 396-398

“Jace,” she said softly.

It suddenly seemed insane that there was this much space between them, that she was standing across the room from Jace, and that they weren’t touching. She started toward him, but he held up a hand to ward her off.

“Don’t.” His voice cracked. Then his fingers went to the buttons on his shirt, undoing them, one by one. He shrugged the bloodstained garment off his shoulders and let it fall to the ground.

Clary stared. Lilith’s rune was still in place, over his heart, but instead of shimmering red-silver it looked as if the hot tip of a poker had been dragged across the skin, charring it. She put her hand up to her own chest involuntarily, her fingers splaying over her heart. She could feel its beating, hard and fast. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh,” Jace said flatly. “This won’t last, Clary. Me being myself again, I mean. Only as long as this hasn’t healed.”

“I—I wondered,” Clary stammered. “Before—while you were sleeping—I thought about cutting the rune like I did when we fought Lilith. But I was afraid Sebastian would feel it.”

“He would have.” Jace’s golden eyes were as flat as his voice. “He didn’t feel this because it was made with a pugio—a dagger seethed in angel blood. They’re incredibly rare; I’ve never even seen one in real life before.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “The blade turned to hot ash after it touched me, but it did the damage it needed to do.”

“You were in a fight. Was it a demon? Why didn’t Sebastian go with—”

“Clary.” Jace’s voice was barely a whisper. “This—it’ll take longer than an ordinary cut to heal… but not forever. And then I’ll be him again.”

“How much time? Before you go back to the way you were?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know. But I wanted—I needed to be with you, like this, like myself, for as long as I could.” He held out a hand to her stiffly, as if unsure of its reception. “Do you think you could—”

She was already running across the room to him. She threw her arms around his neck. He caught her and swung her up, burying his face in the crook of her neck. She breathed him in like air. He smelled of blood and sweat and ashes and Marks.

“It’s you,” she whispered. “It’s really you.”

He drew back to look at her. With his free hand he traced her cheekbone gently. She had missed that, his gentleness. It was one of the things that had made her fall in love with him in the first place—realizing that this scarred, sarcastic boy was gentle with the things he loved.

“I missed you,” she said. “I missed you so much.”

He closed his eyes as if the words hurt. She put her hand to his cheek. He leaned his head into her palm, his hair tickling her knuckles, and she realized his face was wet too.

The boy never cried again.

“It’s not your fault,” she said. She kissed his cheek with the same tenderness he had showed her. She tasted salt—blood and tears. He still hadn’t spoken, but she could feel the wild beat of his heart against her chest. His arms were tight around her, as if he never meant to let go. She kissed his cheekbone, his jaw, and finally his mouth, a light press of lips on lips.

ALEC & MAGNUS
[ Alec Lightwood & Magnus Bane, aka Malec ]


Kevin Zegers as Alec Lightwood & Godfrey Gao as Magnus Bane

Chapter 21: "Raising Hell", pages 491-493

Alec didn’t remember scrambling down from the top of the stone tomb, or pushing his way across the stony plain among the litter of fallen bodies: dark Shadowhunters, dead and wounded werewolves. His eyes were seeking out only one person. He stumbled and nearly fell; when he looked up, his gaze scanning the field in front of him, he saw Isabelle, kneeling beside Magnus on the stony ground.

It felt like there was no air in his lungs. He had never seen Magnus so pale, or so still. There was blood on his leather armor, and blood on the ground beneath him. But it was impossible. Magnus had lived so long. He was permanent. A fixture. In no world Alec’s imagination could conjure did Magnus die before he did.

“Alec.” It was Izzy’s voice, swimming up toward him as if through water. “Alec, he’s breathing.”

Alec let his own breath out in a shaking gasp. He held a hand out to his sister. “Dagger.”

She handed him one silently. She had never paid as much attention as he had in field first aid classes; she had always said runes would do the job. He slit open the front of Magnus’s leather armor and then the shirt beneath it, his teeth gritted. It could be that the armor was all that was holding him together.

He peeled back the sides gingerly, surprised at the steadiness of his own hands. There was a good deal of blood, and a wide stab wound under the right side of Magnus’s ribs. But from the rhythm of Magnus’s breathing, it was clear his lungs hadn’t been punctured. Alec yanked off his jacket, wadded it up, and pressed it against the still-bleeding wound.

Magnus’s eyes fluttered open. “Ouch,” he said feebly. “Quit leaning on me.”

“Raziel,” Alec breathed thankfully. “You’re all right.” He slipped his free hand under Magnus’s head, his thumb stroking Magnus’s bloody cheek. “I thought…”

He looked up to glance at his sister before he said anything too embarassing, but she had slipped quietly away.

“I saw you fall,” Alec said quietly. He bent down and kissed Magnus lightly on the mouth, not wanting to hurt him. “I thought you were dead.”

Magnus smiled crookedly. “What, from that scratch?” He glanced down at the reddening jacket in Alec’s hand. “Okay, a deep scratch. Like, from a really, really big cat.”

“Are you delirious?” Alec said.

“No.” Magnus’s eyebrows drew together. “Amatis was aiming for my heart, but she didn’t get anything vital. The problem is that the blood loss is sapping my energy and my ability to heal myself.” He took a deep breath that ended in a cough. “Here, give me your hand.” He raised his hand, and Alec twined their fingers together, Magnus’s palm hard against his. “Do you remember, the night of the battle on Valentine’s ship, when I needed some of your strength?”

“Do you need it again now?” Alec said. “Because you can have it.”

“I always need your strength, Alec,” Magnus said, and closed his eyes as their intertwined fingers began to shine, as if between them they held the light of a star.

SIMON & ISABELLE
[ Simon Lewis & Isabelle Lightwood, aka Sizzy ]


Jemima West as Isabelle Lightwood & Robert Sheehan as Simon Lewis

Chapter 7: "A Sea Change", pages 156-158

He pushed open the door to the first bedroom on the left and stepped inside. It was dark, the lights off; if Simon hadn’t had vampire sight, he probably would have seen only blackness. As it was, he saw the outlines of a wardrobe, chairs with clothes thrown over them, and a bed, covers thrown back. Isabelle was asleep on her side, her black hair fanning out across the pillow.

Simon stared. He’d never seen Isabelle sleeping before. She looked younger than she usually did, her face relaxed, her long eyelashes brushing the tops of her cheekbones. Her mouth was slightly open, her feet curled up under her. She was wearing only a T-shirt—his T-shirt, a worn blue tee that said THE LOCH NESS MONSTER ADVENTURE CLUB: FINDING ANSWERS, IGNORING FACTS across the front.

Simon closed the door behind him, feeling more disappointed than he had expected. It hadn’t occurred to him that she’d already be asleep. He’d been wanting to talk to her, to hear her voice. He kicked his shoes off and lay down beside her. She certainly took up more real estate on the bed than Clary did. Isabelle was tall, almost his height, although when he put his hand on her shoulder, her bones felt delicate under his touch. He ran his hand down her arm. “Iz?” he said. “Isabelle?”

She murmured and turned her face into the pillow. He leaned closer—she smelled like alcohol and rose perfume. Well, that answered that. He had been thinking about pulling her into his arms and kissing her gently, but “Simon Lewis, Molester of Passed-Out Women” wasn’t really the epitaph by which he wanted to be remembered.

He lay down flat on his back and stared at the ceiling. Cracked plaster, marked by water stains. Magnus really ought to get someone in here to do something about that. As if sensing his presence, Isabelle rolled sideways against him, her soft cheek against his shoulder. “Simon?” she said groggily.

“Yeah.” He touched her face lightly.

“You came.” She stretched her arm across his chest, moving so that her head fit against his shoulder. “I didn’t think you would.”

His fingers traced patterns on her arm. “Of course I came.”

Her next words were muffled against his neck. “Sorry I’m asleep.”

He smiled to himself, a little, in the dark. “It’s okay. Even if all you wanted was for me to come here and hold you while you sleep, I would have done it.”

He felt her stiffen, and then relax. “Simon?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell me a story?”

He blinked. “What kind of story?”

“Something where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. And stay dead.”

“So, like a fairy tale?” he said. He racked his brain. He knew only the Disney versions of fairy tales, and the first image that came to mind was Ariel in her seashell bra. He’d had a crush on her when he was eight. Not that this seemed like the time to mention it.

“No.” The word was an exhaled breath. “We study fairy tales in school. A lot of that magic is real—but, anyway. No, I want something I haven’t heard yet.”

“Okay. I’ve got a good one.” Simon stroked Isabelle’s hair, feeling her lashes flutter against his neck as she closed her eyes. “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”

Of course, in addition to these 3 lovely couples, there are the other equally loveable ones like Luke & Jocelyn, and Jordan & Maia. Who's your favourite TMI couple? Sound off in the comments (I'm more of a Sizzy fan, myself).

I'm giving away one (1) hardcover copy of City of Lost Souls signed by Cassandra Clare, one (1) copy of Shadowhunters and Downworlders: A Mortal Instruments Reader, and one (1) necklace -- made by yours truly during one of my many craft binges. The necklace features a mini City of Lost Souls book pendant. By the way, it's not waterproof, so don't like... shower with it on or anything, lol. To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter below (make sure to add all information asked so your entry won't be deleted). The giveaway will close on March 1st at 11:59pm and a winner will be contacted within 48 hours. Good luck!!

Hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine:
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Like my last "Waiting On" post, here's another steampunk book. This one is the first in a four-part series called Finishing School and is set 25 years before the Parasol Protectorate in the same universe. Also, I feel the need to point out that the cover is really pretty.

Etiquette & Espionage
Author: Gail Carriger
Series: Finishing School, Book 1
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 320
Release date: February 5, 2013

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

First in a four book YA series set 25 years before the Parasol Protectorate but in the same universe.


In addition, it was just announced on Monday that Cassandra Clare will collab with Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson to write The Bane Chronicles. Crying. There's another to add onto my "Waiting On" list. The "Bane" in question is the one and only High Warlock of Brooklyn from Clare's Shadowhunter universe, Magnus Bane. I was on my way home when I read Sarah Rees Brennan's fantastic blog post, and her other one on Cassie's blog; I'm pretty sure I let out a little yelp of excitement.

A series of 10 short stories will be released starting February 2013 in e-book format. A new issue will follow every month until the release of the City of Bones movie in August, then a print edition of all The Bane Chronicles stories will be released in 2014. We finally get to find out what happened to Magnus in Peru?! Um, exciting.

The following is an excerpt from Sarah Rees Brennan's tumblr post, complete with a photo of the gorgeous, gorgeous, GORGEOUS Godfrey Gao, who will be portraying Magnus on the big screen (and a cat! Chairman Meow, anyone?):

We bring to you THE BANE CHRONICLES, chronicling (you see what we did there) Magnus’s adventures through the ages.

Have you ever wondered about Magnus’s past loves and lies? Magnus and Alec’s first date? How Magnus and Camille got together? What happened in Peru? Starting in February 2013, in the run-up to City of Handsome Magnus: the Movie (Also Starring Some Other People Who Are Pretty Good-Looking) we will put out a Magnus Short Story every month.

There will be ten of Magnus’s magnificent adventures all in all. Some of them Cassie and I are writing, some of them Cassie and Maureen are writing, some Cassie is writing herself as we cruelly abandon her! All of them, we think, are lots of fun. (Read More)

Also, here, have a link to the news posted on EW.com

Title: City of Ashes
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments, Book 2
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Adventure
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Release date: March 25, 2008
ISBN-10: 1416914293
ISBN-13: 9781416914297
Format: Hardcopy
Source: Purchased

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.



My Review:
First thing's first, I would definitely recommend reading City of Bones before City of Ashes, as the story takes place right after the events of the first book. It might will be confusing if you don't know the entire back story.

In the second installment of the Mortal Instruments, Clary Fray has finally found her mother after the life-changing events in the equally breathtaking predecessor. However, Jocelyn Fray is in a magically induced coma, put on her to avoid revealing deep secrets to her once upon a time husband, Valentine. Valentine, on the other hand, wants to destroy all Downworlders: werewolves, vampires, and faeries. Clary and her friends team up once again with extra help from others to battle against her and Jace's terror of a father, who is after the Mortal Sword this time around to continue his plan to bring down the Clave. With the return of Valentine and the discovery of Jace's identity, the young Shadowhunter is under much scrutiny from the Clave and everyone around him. To make things worse, he and Clary are dealing with the aftermath of the news that they are siblings and being forced to deny their feelings for each other. This leads to a lot of confusion with Simon, Clary's best friend who has been harbouring a secret crush on her. Simon has his own problems -- much bigger problems -- to deal with as a result. Absolutely nothing is easy, everyone is still reeling from previous revelations, and unfortunately for our heroes, this is only the beginning.

This time around, there was more on the Downworlders, which is something that I've been looking forward to since Magnus' party in City of Bones. Clare intertwines between the mystical world of the Shadowhunters and the gritty streets of New York. Everyone is on high alert now that Valentine is on the loose; the Lightwoods are back at the New York Institute to clean up the mess Hodge had left, and Jace's newly-revealed identity also affects his relationship with the family that he's come to know and love as his own. There's more focus on things like Simon's feelings for Clary and vice versa in this book. But I really couldn't stomach Clary and Simon as a couple. Not ashamed to say that I'm too much of a Clace (yes, the portmanteau -- I had to) supporter for that. Plus, I adore Simon and Clary's friendship, nothing more. Their dynamic as best friends was one of my favourite things in book one, unrequited love aside. I'm not a fan of love triangles, but the Jace-Clary-Simon fiasco is far from your average. It's pretty messed up and disturbing if you've read the end of City of Bones and the summary above (I know, ick, her bother?!), but I'm all for disturbing. I don't know what that says about me, but I feed on twisted storylines... it makes things more interesting. While I did feel for Clary and Jace's major dilemma, there was a lot of focus on the fact and at times it became a little too much; luckily Clare made up for those little bouts with amazing action sequences and shifting to the backgrounds of the other characters.

I don't think there's a character I don't like or at least find uninteresting in this series. Valentine, for instance. I loathe him and his Hitler-like mentality, but his back story and the way Clare recalls it is so captivating and interesting. Old characters are further explored and there are new ones added into the mix. This book definitely cemented my love for some in particular. Such as...? Isabelle, Isabelle, Isabelle. My lovely Isabelle. I loved her even more in this book. Her one-liners were to die for ("Nothing less than seven inches", "I'm pure at heart. It repels the dirt"). She's such a fierce character and so sure of herself. Another character that was introduced was Maia. Yay for female werewolves! I think the last time I read a book with a female were was in Blood and Chocolate... and I was about 14-15. She's basically a female version of Simon. Speaking of... Simon, my love! This was a great book for him. I loved mundie Simon, but I love vampy Simon even more. Just his whole adjustment to it was such a great thing to read about, because you could tell it was very hard on him, very far from glamourized. It's not easy adjusting knowing that there's a possibility you could kill and that you'll probably outlive everyone you love. Then add Clary's overwhelming feeling of guilt and belief that all of it was her fault? It's heartbreaking. Then there's Jace. Just stick a knife in me and twist it, why don't you? Poor kid, getting kicked out of the Institute because of who he is. I love the Lightwoods (by far my favourite TMI family), and I'm so happy that the rest of them were finally introduced in this book, but Maryse lost some points with me for that one. She kind of redeemed herself after, though. I'm glad that the mystery of where Jace comes from was being further focused on. Dude's lived a very complex life. Of course, there's the precious Alec and Magnus, who both started to grow on me. I could tell that they would be something special as the series goes on. There was also the development of Luke and his connection to both worlds and their inhabitants. He spent most of the book at the hospital, watching over Jocelyn and hoping she would wake. It's amazing how the story was fueled by a woman who fell into a coma quickly in the series. Her back story and how she brought up Clary led to all of these events happening in her daughter's life now, and Jocelyn's not even awake to tell the tale. It just makes it more exciting to look forward to hearing Jocelyn's side of it once (if?) she finally wakes up.

As you can probably tell from that huge last paragraph, I enjoyed the character development immensely. The last 100+ pages were also very action-packed and was the perfect way to end the book. I was eager to jump into the third book right away. This second installment definitely entertained me more than the first. City of Bones was a great set-up for the things to come, but City of Ashes had such great character development and so many unexpected twists and turns that kept me thoroughly engrossed.

My rating:

Visit the author:
Official website | Twitter | Goodreads
Buy this book:
IndieBound.org | Amazon.com | Indigo.ca

Hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine:
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

There's no set release date or cover yet, but with all the hype surrounding it right now, I'm not even ashamed to say that my life revolves around this series at the moment. So to see it end is like a piece of my soul drifting away into the abyss. I'm exaggerating, but I really don't want the Mortal Instruments to end; I love this particular group of characters too, too much.

City of Heavenly Fire
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments (Book #6)
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: Unknown
Release date: 2014

In Book 6: City of Heavenly Fire, Jace, Clary and their friends are drawn inexorably into a war that pits Heaven against Hell, angels against demons—a war that threatens to destroy our world entirely if the Shadowhunters can't end it first.




This next one: just look at this cover! I love the plot, as well. White's Paranormalcy trilogy is pretty good, so I'm looking forward to this one.

Mind Games
Author: Kiersten White
Series: Mind Games (Book #1)
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 256 (Hardback)
Release date: February 19, 2013

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways… or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments, Book 1
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Adventure
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Release date: March 27, 2007
ISBN-10: 1416914285
ISBN-13: 9781416914280
Format: Hardcopy
Source: Purchased

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing — not even a smear of blood — to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.



My Review:
This is my second time reading this book. I'd always been planning on re-reading the series to prepare for the upcoming movie. I didn't want to start them too close to the movie's release date (which is August 23, 2013 -- I've already got my calendar marked heavily in red), because I'd be comparing things like crazy. So when Marie's Paranormal Spooktacular came along, I thought this would be a good time as any to get to it.The story begins with Clary Fray and her best friend Simon Lewis heading to an all-ages club called Pandemonium, a place they seem to frequent in their home of New York. This night is different -- Clary witnesses a murder. Even more bizarre is that the act was done by three strange teenagers covered in odd tattoos who seem to be invisible to everyone but her. She knows what she saw, but she doesn't want to believe it. To make matters worse, her mother goes missing shortly after and her home is attacked by a monster. Now she's pulled into and very much involved in an unusual world that just escalates as the story goes on.

I was instantly drawn in by the characters, especially the Shadowhunters: Jace, Alec, and Isabelle. They have such a strong presence throughout that you can't help but be fascinated with them. Then there was Simon, who had me at "I wanted to tell you that lately I've been cross-dressing. Also, I'm sleeping with your mom." I'd have to say that the beginning scene in Pandemonium is one of my favourites. Right away I was intrigued as to where this whole story would go; there was action right off the bat. Personally, Clary as a character didn't jump off the page to me. Not that I didn't like her, I just found the others more interesting. I did enjoy the chapter with Magnus Bane's party (who is another one I've come to adore). Clare writes character interactions so well that I look forward to any and every scene where all of them are present, even Clary. It's like she's better when she's talking to the others. My only other qualm with the book was that by the middle, the plot was moving quite slowly. But I still couldn't put it down. It's worth it to keep reading though, because of the ending. Oh my goodness, the ending. I became so invested in these characters and their relationships, and then I reached the end of the book and let me tell you, I just had to go out and get the next one right away.

The world that Clare introduces is imaginative, well fleshed out, and written with vivid descriptions. She's created this universe that's so detailed that I noticed more and imagined more the second time around. It's like the further I went into the series, I noticed just how significant a lot of past details were from earlier books; these details had no purpose to me early on... but then I'd read about them later and a light bulb just goes off. The details are so intricate that I didn't even know they've made a space for themselves in the back of my mind. I'm glad I re-read this book, because it was nice to re-visit and recall a lot of these details in the narrative and in the characters themselves.

Before I read this the first time, I had glanced at reviews and saw that a lot of people either loved it or hated it. It seems that there's barely any middle ground from what I've seen. I fall under the category of loving-it-to-the-point-of-obsession. Seriously. I picked up this book about a year and a half ago but only read it in July of this year. After I finished it (I read during meals, before bed, during any spare moment I had), I got the other four right away and read them all in 6 days. I barely slept until I got to the end of the fifth book. When I found out that the next one isn't coming out until 2014, to say I had a bit of a breakdown would be an understatement. But, to conclude, City of Bones opens us up to a unique and mystical world of the paranormal that's nothing short of a great introduction to a series.

Note: Read for the Spooktacular Paranormal Reading Challenge

My rating:

Visit the author:
Official website | Twitter | Goodreads
Buy this book:
IndieBound.org | Amazon.com | Indigo.ca

Hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine:
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

So I started this series a few months ago for the first time, and I was, once again, hitting myself over the head asking why I never read it when I heard everyone talking about it. I guess it's kind of a good thing that I waited a while, because compared to the others who have discovered it earlier than I did, I don't have to wait that long. 5 more months... I think I can make it 5 more months. Maybe. But hey, it's coming out in time for my birthday!

Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices (Book #3)
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: Unknown
Release date: March 19, 2013

Danger intensifies for the Shadowhunters as the New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy comes to a close.

If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it?

The clock is ticking. Everyone must choose.

Passion. Power. Secrets. Enchantment.

Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the final installment of the bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy.


I'm excited and sad for the release of this book. It's the final book in the TID trilogy, and I know there are going to be some intense moments and revelations; I'm just thankful that Cassandra Clare has one more Mortal Instruments book, as well as the Dark Artifices series to look forward to. Where would I be without my Shadowunter dose? (Lying and crying pathetically in  corner, probably.) Happy reading!