Review - Divergent by Veronica Roth

Published by Harper Collins
Published 1 May 2011

Setting - Chiacgo as you have never seen it.  DYSTOPIAN STYLE.  Society is divided into five factions, each of which is named for the qualities and loyalties it's members have - Candor, the honest. Abnegation, the selfless.  Dauntless, the brave.  Amity, the peaceful and Erudite, the intelligent.  

Plot - 16 year old Beatrice is from the Abnegation faction, which means she leads a rather boringly selfless existence.  She has to wear awful grey clothes that probably do nothing for her figure.  She can't even look in the mirror because that's far too vain.  Girl can't even glam herself up, all she has to do is worry about others.  So, the day that she has to choose which faction she is all EFF this and forsakes her Abnegation family (GASP, she thought about herself, the horror!!), to become one of the crazy ass Dauntless.  Major high jinks and seriously amazing shizz goes down.  And as for the Divergent stuff, isn't that some crazy business right there.

Our Heroine - Beatrice aka Tris is such a fabulous character once she sheds those ridiculous grey clothes and actually realises who she is as a person.  Her ascention from a character that was fearful of her own identity into a character that truly embraced her new lifestyle, how she clung to her new unrestrained future with both hands made me fist pump to the high heavens.  GIRL knows how to have a sense of adventure. And crap is she a scrappy little thing!

OH MY GOODNESS YOU GUYS!!! I think I may love this book.  I'm all for a good written dystopia and this it's like a party up in my head right now, because this is joining the ranks of dystopian novels that pack a rather hefty punch in the gut.  Above all, this is a book about identity and facing your fears.  It combines ass kicking action with heart stoppingly fabulous sexytimes.  It's unpredictable and crazy and  really quite violent, which you all know is a recipe to make me go wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

FOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRR ahem.

Truly well written as well too.  I felt Tris's fears like they was my own.  I felt her passion, her sense of purpose and the fears that haunted her.  I felt them all.  And getting to see her struggle to battle these brutal and harsh test of strength and will made me love her more.  Y'all got to love a fighter.  Such a heart stoppingly strong debut novel that packs an emotional punch with a memorable storyline that refuses to release you until the last page.  Unputdownable times a gajillion.  

pssssst.......the question is, what faction would YOU choose.  

This right hurrrr

I cried big fat hot tears.  PLEASE TELL ME IT ISN'T OVER!!! SAY IT ISN'T SO.  

GAH THIS JUST REMINDS ME THAT I SHOULDN'T WEAR MASCARA WHEN I GO SEE THIS MOVIE, AND THAT I SHOULD LEAVE THE MEASELY SCRAPS OF DIGNITY I HAVE LEFT AT HOME.  *&%$*^^)($%£% HOLY SSSSSSSSSSSSHIT!!!!

Waiting on Wednesday - Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Published by Simon Pulse
Published 14 October 2011

Summary - All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra's working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated...even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.

Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she's got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it....

Reasons I want this book like WOAH.  1, look at that rain mac in that fancy shade of green.  Now look at it again and tell me that you don't like it.  YOU CAN'T CAN YOU.  I know, I know, I feel ya I really do.  Now let's go shopping together to buy green rain macs! 2, chalkboard rain makes me feel happy because it doesn't mess your hair up and stuff and just looksd plain awesome.  I WANT TO TASTE IT!! 3, I like the flower in her hair.  I went through a stage when I was a teenager of not leaving my house without a flower in my hair.  SO this makes me reminiscent of the days where crushes and such lark were the only worries of my life.  4, maybe this was a clever thing that the cover designer did but see the tag line? DO YOU SEE IT? what flower do you visualise when you see someone plucking petals off saying that exact quote? THAT'S RIGHT! a daisy! which she is wearing in her hair.  GENUIS MOVE.  5, I have slight ocd, so the fact that the font they used for her name is the EXACT same one they used on Mostly Good Girls makes me go like this - wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!  5, I love Leila Sales.  6, I expect this to be peeing pants levels of funny because damn, she knows how to bring the giggles.

Review - The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Published by Walker Books
Published 22 October 2008

I am writing this review literally not five minutes after I turned the last page.  I look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards.  I can see brown fuzz at the corners of my vision which means my hair resembles that of cartoon people who get electrocuted.  It is very likey that I have snot somewhere on my face because my nose won't stop running.  My hands are black from the mascara that is now probably smeared all over my face.  I look? like a train wreck (heck i'm not looking in the mirror) and you know what? I FEEL like a train wreck.  Because this book was SO EFFIN GOOD it punched me right in the face like some un-relentless monster of words and I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT.  Call me a masochist but whatever.

Okay, so I knew people were bat shit for these books.  I can remember how obssesive people got waiting for the finale of the trilogy to be released. I've seen endless exclamations of love for this author and these characters, but I went into this book knowing not a single thing about it apart from that which is told to us in the synopsis.  SO, it's for that reason i'm declaring this a spoiler free zone, because if you haven't read this I want you to feel the nervous engery, the confusion and the terror and excitement that I did.  BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS CRAZY INSANE.

Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown. And in this town there is not one. single. girl.  It's chock fulla men and farms and suck lark.  SOUNDS LIKE BOY HEAVEN RIGHT? wrong! See, this little town is special because it's full of Noise.  And by noise I obviously mean Noise that comes outta people's heads, in streams of thoughts and images.  Which means that everyone can hear everything everyone ever thinks, even the things they would never say out loud, dark horrible things, even their dreams.  Which basically sucks a LOT because there is never any quiet, no silence, no place to get away from all the noise bashing and clashing around your head, because even the ANIMALS talk (yay!!).  So, it's no wonder that boy Todd spends most of his time hanging out where the Spackles used to live before they were wiped out in the war.  But when he's down by the swamp with his dog Manchee (LURVE) who don't shut up about needing a poo (seriously! LURVE) he finds something he never thought he would ever find.  SILENCE.  DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN.  end scene.

Reasons why I loved this book I would lick it if wasn't on loan from the library:

Patrick Ness writes in this completely off putting style that at first I thought he was crazy.  Todd sounds like a hillbilly what with all this "not when yer asleep, not when yer by yerself, never", that I pictured him in a flannel checkered shirt with a floppy hat on and dungaree's and maybe a piece of straw dangling outta his mouth.  And then this image of him eventually evaporated to be replaced by this boy that I wanted to crush into a giant hug.  And that's all down to his characters development and the skillfull writing style that Ness used to make me see past things that overshadowed my perception of the storyline at the beginning and fully immersed me into this breathtakingly action packed story.

Manchee.  The little dog that can.  I LOVE HIM.  And the fact that you actually get to know him a little because he can TALK through his thoughts was quite possibly a mastermind move.  Ow, Todd? Todd? AHHH I LOVE HIM

Violence.  I sound like a saddist when I say this but OMG VIOLENCE.  don't you just love it when an author holds nothing back and comes at you full force making you see all the gorey gruesome bits that you never expect to make an appearance? because I sure do! Some of the stuff we get to see is like off the charts crazy nasty.  Ness is like a master at making you feel like your going to barf right onto the pages of the book because you JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT.  I live for that horribly sickly feeling where you just need to find out whats happening right now before your heart leaps outta your chest.

Dystopia.  I love me some dystopia.  And this was unlike any I've ever read before.  Random things are thrown into descriptions and it made me feel like everything I had grasped so far was just the tip of the iceberg and that I have so MUCH more to learn from this crazy ass world and the people in it, in upcoming books.

CLIFFHANGER.  Serious, serious cliffhanger.  Like if I didn't already own the next two books in the series you bet I would be going outta the house right now and buying them.  I wouldn't even look in the mirror first and Y'ALL read the description about whats occuring up in my face didn't you? And it actually says at the end...."End of book one" like a taunt.  Like Patrick's own little way of saying I REVEL IN THE PAIN I HAVE CAUSED YOU. 

Depression central.  This sounds whacked out of me, but without seeing these characters at their lowest point, how can we ever appreciate them at their best? Only the best books make me feel like i've just been in a fist fight with a heavyweight boxer.  Which is painful yeah, but oh so exhilarating.

In conclusion, I loved this book as you probably can already tell.  I was dancing on the line of actually posting my whole review in captial letters.  1, because I love them so.  2, because I fell like I can't express my love for this book without shouting it out.  3, because IT WAS REALLY THAT EFFING GOOD.  One of the best YA novels dystopian ficiton has to offer.  It gets it right in that special way only few dystopian books do.  It questions society and humanity, in a way that's subtle but nontheless powerful.  If you had to read one book this year, I hope you'd choose this one.

In My Mailbox!

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren and inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie

Check my mad photography skillz YO

Review

A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness - Quite possibly one of the most extraordinarily beautiful scary as hell covers in the whole existence of the universe.  And the illustrations? DROOL.  I have it on good authority (from the man himself) that the story isn't so bad either.  On it like a bonnet!!

It's Not Summer Without You - Jenny Han - What can I say, other than read this series.  READ IT RIGHT NOW.  My review of this zomg so freaking good book is right here y'all

Wild - Aprilynne Pike - Kind of a surprise review copy.  I haven't read any of this series barring the first one Wings.  And yes, the cover is seriously snazzy pink.

The Emerald Atlas - John Stephens - Hearing lots of buzz about this one from a wide variety of people.  Seems like this is a book that's getting people excited and I want in on it!

Borrowed from the Library

Thorn Queen - Richelle Mead - Y'all would be right in assuming that as soon as I finished The Storm Queen I made a mad dash to library to check this bad boy out and oh gosh soooooooo good.  And also chock fulla sexytimes galore.

In conclusion, my book buying ban until i'm in the States is going REALLY well.  I feel all grown up like being responsible and saving instead of spending.  So YAY me.  And as always, I hope you all had a fab weeks full of bookish goodness and cupcakes and well blond boys, because that's always fun.

Review - it's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

Published by Puffin
Published 2 May 2011


*summary will contain spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty*

Summary -  Belly’s last summer at Cousins Beach ended on a bittersweet note. On the one hand, the love of her life, Conrad, finally noticed her in a romantic way. On the other hand, they find out that Conrad and Jeremiah’s mother Susannah’s cancer has returned. Everyone takes Susannah’s passing hard, but perhaps none more so than Conrad, who disappears halfway into his summer college session. Jeremiah asks Belly to help him find Conrad, which Belly agrees to—with reservation, for she has no idea how he feels about him, whether or not they’ll ever work out.

When they catch up to Conrad, however, they realize that something big is at stake, and it may require all of them to lay aside their turbulent feelings for one another in order to save summer as they know it.

To put it simply......I have a girl crush on Jenny Han.  I really do.  And yet I still can't describe the reasons why I love this series so very much.  Jenny totally avoids the second books slump and delivers another painfully accurate portrayl of how it feels to be a teenager in a head vs heart dilemma, with the twist of the two boys being brothers.  GASP! I love brother love drama!

I don't know how you can't read these books and NOT become so incredibly invested in what happens to these characters.  From Belly who is immature and sometimes rather damn annoying.  To Jeremiah who is lovely and quite simply one of the best friends a girl could wish for.  To Conrad who is beautiful but needs a serious slap to the face. To Steven the annoying big brother who I LOVE so hard.

Jenny Han is amazingly talented.  The storyline is one we have seen before and the pace of the story hits a few slow points, but with her writing ability and fully actualised characters, I was drawn into the book just as surely as I was with The Summer I Turned Pretty.  And sexytimes? OMG PREPARE YOURSELVES!

This books is perfect for people who:

Love contemporary fiction with characters that are silly and flawed and amazing and unique.
Like it when love triangles are done right.  SO right that you can't quite decide who YOU would pick.
Appreciate writing that packs an understated emotional punch.
Like hot boys.  PLURAL. NOTICE THE PLURAL.
Like to laugh and smile, even through tears
Understand that not everyone is perfect and we should never ever expect them to be

In conclusion, I love this series.  It's possibly one of my favourite contemporary series and I couldn't recommend it enough.  If you haveb't read the first book then WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOOL?! Honestly, such an amazing additon to a series I love.  Jenny Han you guys! She rocks! And I can tell we haven't seen the best of her yet and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.


p.s also, if y'all have read it.......Conrad or Jeremiah and WHY?

Review - Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Published by Mira
Published 18 January 2008


Summary - London, 1886 

To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor... 

For Lady Julia Grey, her husband's sudden death at a dinner party is extremely inconvenient, not to mention an unpardonable social gaffe. However, things take a turn for the worse when inscrutable private investigator Nicholas Brisbane reveals that the death was not due to natural causes. Drawn away from her comfortable, conventional life, Lady Julia is exposed to threatening notes, secret societies and gypsy curses, not to mention Nicholas's charismatic unpredictability......

I first came across this book when I cyber stalked Angie from Angieville because she is one of those people who never fails to recommend me books that I love.  So I did what any forward thinking person would do......I stalked her goodreads "read" shelves and purchased almost everything that caught my eye.  Silent in the Grave was one of them.  And did I love it? OMG YES!

Imagine you're hosting a rather upper middle class dinner party for your husbands birthday.  The party is full of guests all with high connections and even more money.  Then BAM your husband is on the floor and froth is coming out of his mouth.  Then BAM your husband is dead.  On his BIRTHDAY.  It all happens in front of a rather dashingly handsome gentelemen you have not yet had the pleasure of being introduced to, but you know will play some importance in your future.  I mean how could he not? What with those broad shoulders and dark smoulering eyes and hair falling on his face.  Yes you realise you shouldn't be noticing how ruggedly handsome this gentelman is what with your husband being dead on the floor, but a girl has needs too.  Then think about all this happening in the first frickin chapter and you get a little taste of the excitement Lady Julia Grey has coming her way.

Okay, so i'm not going to go into specific plot points because I think it's nice to let the mystery aspect of the story unwind.  This is a story full of mystery, covert glances and the unravelling of secrets.  Raybourn paints the life of a lady in the 1800's with ease, because I could easily imagine the horror of ladies being seen out unaccompanied with gentlemen, and how even the smallest show of affection makes people jump to the conclusion of marriage.  Y'ALL you wouldn't guess it but I would've loved to live in a time when ladies sat around drinking tea with no job to worry their pretty little heads with and learnt how to do useful things, like play the piano and draw.  Seriously, my reputation would've been in tatters but it would've been fun.

The writing is fast paced and laced through with sharp observations and witty one liners.....it also made me want to talk like a lady at all times and to not use contractions for a while.  The language is intelligent and the prose is oh so beautiful that it was easy for me to imagine that Raybourn had indeed been born in this era and was tricking us into believing she is from the 21st century.  It was THAT GOOD.  

Juila.  Oh Juila.  I LOVED HER! She was smart and even though she was a lady of importance and from a family with extreme wealth and circumstance, she came across as one of the most amiable and approachable of them all.  And the fact that her family were completely CRAY CRAY made my heart swell.  I seriously think had this been set in the 21st century her family would range from civil right activists to punk rockers to porn stars.  Oh and Brisbane.  %*;£$^*$£ That is all.  Such an absorbing start to the series which I have since devoured.  Rayborun has herself a new fan.

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY.....and inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie.

Review

Huntress - Malinda Lo - HOLY CRAP Y'ALL THE COVER IS SO DAMN DROOLWORTHY

The Game - Krystyna Kuhn - Never heard of this one before today but I am liking the premise

Die For Me - Amy Plum 

Hunting Lila - Sarah Alderson - Oh my goodness this sounds ahhhmazing!

Swim The Fly - Don Calame - Saw a review of this on Steph Su Reads and she gave it five stars so when I got offered the title for review I was all YES PLEASE

Duty Calls, Dunkirk - James Holland

Borrowed from the Library

The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness - I KNOW, I know, it's a crime against YA that I haven't read this series yet, but I do own book two and book three in the series for some reason so I decided I want to give it a try!

Storm Born - Richelle Mead - I LURVE her YA series Vampire Academy and having not read any of her adult stuff I decided this was a fab place to start.  Reading this at the moment and SO frickin good!!

Okay that's all from me this week, but I will leave you this lovely photo as a reminder that alcohol may look pretty, but you will not look pretty the day after, hence no vlog.  Adieu.

Review - How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Published by Puffin
Published 30 June 2005

This is the kind of book that I want to hide in the freezer because even looking at the cover turns me into a complete wreck.  I've never read anything by Rosoff before now and it seems like this is just the beginning.   My brain can't quite process how a book can be so devastating and yet so beautiful all at once that the lines blur between them and it just is.  

Daisy is a smart, seemingly self absorbed girl, exiled from the Upper West Side to the English countryside to stay with her aunt and cousins, by a father that would rather start a new life with his "new family".  Except her English cousins are a bit wild; eccentric and in touch with nature in a bizarre way that Daisy can't compute.  The four cousins are Isaac, his twin brother Osbert, the adorable Piper and the unsettling Edmond.

Daisy is instantly intrigued and drawn into this world that only they exist in and soon they are left to fend for themselves as her Aunt Penn has to leave England to prevent or avert the war that is on their periphery.  So, five children in the deep of the English countryside are left to look after themselves.  And at first its this totally thrilling experience because HEY no adult supervision! But then the war breaks out and Daisy and Edmond find themselves fall in not-so-chaste-but-rather-really-frickin-illegal love and start to have incestuous sexytimes.

Daisy is a dry sarcastic character.  watching her navigate this new world she has been thrust into made my heart ache for the kid.  Her voice was snappy and quick and make me almost certain that I would find her completely hysterical.  Like her first observation of Edmond:

now let me tell you what he looks like before I forget because it's not exactly what you'd expect from your average fourteen-year-old what with the CIGARETTE and hair that looks like he cut it himself with a hatchet in the dead of the night, but aside from that he's exactly like some kind of mutt, you know that ones you see at the dog shelter who are kind of hopeful and sweet and put their nose straight into your hand when they meet you with a certain kind of dignity and you know from the second that you're going to take him home? Well thats him.

I'm telling you, HYSTERICAL.

The relationships between the characters, both Daisy and Edmond and Daisy and Piper are contracted in a way that makes you believe that they are real.  How even though you know Daisy and Edmond are cousins, it seems to drift away from you when you read passages when they are together.  And her relationship with Piper in particular makes me want to cry just because.

Oh How I Love This Book.  I can't even describe it to you in sentences that will make sense, because I promise you, I DON'T even know myself.  Daisy's narrative is so easy to slip into, like one long stream of conscious thoughts rolling together right until the very end.  The story is simple yet unequivocally deep and thought provoking.  Her cousins are described as being otherworldly gifted: they can talk to animals, are in harmony with nature and can read peoples minds.  These small little seemingly magical/supernatural aspects just ARE, they are normal and never explained and that's accepted because you are immersed so much into Daisy's world that things that she doesn't question, you yourself don't question.

And war.  This unknown, inexplicable frightening war with enemies unknown.  A war that is haunting and disturbing.  A war that is violent and terrifying. How war can seem to children who have no understand of why such events would happen.  Daisy's narrative on this front wasn't all that reliable because she never seems to feel like the war touches her even though it does.  The violence of the war is never really brought to the surface until the end, but the effects are seen throughout.

And oh my gosh, can this woman write.  Completely and utterly mesmerising.  The lack of punctuation and only capital lets to show What Is Most Important made it a strange read but also one that I would want to re-read time and time again.  It's the certainty that we live in a world that is terrible and wonderful, but human relationships are the tethers that hold us down.  Sparse first person as it should be.  I love this book.  Compellingly beautiful.

Review - City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Published by Walker
Published 5 April 2011

WARNING.....it goes without saying is going to contain spoilers for the previous books, City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass.  And if you can't read on because you haven't read these books then i'm going to have to be really REALLY immature and say "NO we cannot possibly be friends EVAH until you come to your senses and read this series" or maybe we could be friends if you promise that you PLAN to read this series, because then we can squeal together when City of Lost Souls comes out in 12 months.  And you want to be my friend right?

Summary - The Mortal War is over, Clary Fray is back home in New York, ecited about all the possiblities before her. She's training to beome a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love her life, Downworldsers and Shadowhutners are all at peace at last. And most important of all Clary can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Cirecle, 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. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls, neither of whom knows about the other.

When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve iont the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself haas set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

I can't even explain to you how excited I was for this book.  I was beyond excited......so much so that I had three copies on order to see which arrived first and then I was completely frantic on release day that I ended up getting a copy from the store.  This is also how I ended up with four copies of City of Glass, because Cassie Clare is a EVIL GENUIS and I seem to live for the pain.

After the riveting and simply AHHHHMAZING climatic end of City of Glass, I was so absurdly happy with how things had worked out.  I like that issues were left unresolved and loose ends were left to fly free.  It made me feel happy that things would remain in the dark, I didn't need all the answers, I just needed an ending that felt true to the characters.  And that's what I got.  So when I heard that another three books would be added to the series I was equally apprehensive and fan girl crazy.  I guess what it comes to is this; I was happy for the series to end at City of Glass.  But now that I've read CoFA, I realised just how refreshing and intoxicating it is to read something entirely NEW about these characters I love and I guess if I had to have more books in the series, i'm happy with the direction she seems to have chosen for them.

YOU GUYS this book was so whacked out it made my head spin.  Honestly, I have some mad skills when it comes to predicting story lines and I literally was like WHAT THE WHAT most of the time.  I literally had no clue which direction or what path she was taking these characters and I just had to trust that she wouldn't totally ruin a series that made me want to start my blog in the first place.  Okay, so Clary is her fierce and fabulous self and has a lot more things going for her.  Like the fact that she gets to train to be a shadowhunter properly, she gets to embrace the side of her that she's wanted to embrace ever since she found out angel blood ran through her veins.  Plus, she gets to make out with a hot blond boy who most definitely isn't related to her.  BONUS.  It was also really strange to see her interactions withher mother, who was such an intergral part to the previous plot lines without really being in the story.  Her and Luke are way too cute.

I know what your all thinking.  SEXYTIMES.  And holy hotness they reach pants exploding right offa your body levels.  I mean, I suspect if I met someone like Jace in real life my clothes would blow right off.  And Cassie knows how to bring the sexytimes.  And know what makes them better? The fact that the relationship dynamics have subtley changed and Jace seems to be a lot more open and vulnerable that his usual cool indifference that we saw when he tried to fight his feelings for Clary.  Now that they have nothing holding them back, they erm, don't let nothing hold them back.  

AND YAY!!! I missed all these characters......and Isabelle totally stole the show for me.  I liked Izzy from the beginning of the series, with her kick ass wardrobe and utter devotion to her family.  How even though she is the girl of the family and now the youngest *sobs* WHY CASSIE WHY MAX I LOVE YOU *sobs* she always is the one who seems to worry the most despite the outward image she projects, her love for them and her desire to do whatever it takes to keep them safe, is what makes her so endearing. 

Simon, oh Simon.  When you first started coming between Clary and Jace I wanted to face punch you.  Then you got turned and I felt real bad, and I still blame the Seelie Queen for that whole situation.  But really you have some of the blame too because you shouldn't have been showing off drinking fancy drinks at a warlocks party FOOL!  Okay, my heart went out to Simon because now on top of being the only dead person to walk in the sunlight, he also has the Mark of Cain which sounds like a royal pain in the ass.  His development was what made me keep turning the pages.  His internal struggle with how he could ever possibly embrace his new life made me want to wrap him him a hug.  This is the first time I have really acknowledged the fact that Simon is now immortal, that he was stay unchanging in a world that changes constantly and there is nothing he can do to change it.  No matter how much he wishes he could.

JAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEEEE take off your shirt!!! No, I'm just kidding! I'm not really but whatever.  Ah, you poor boy making me want to cry! So I'm used to sarcastic and moody Jace, self assured and confident Jace, but what I got is vulnerable and confused and lost, both to the people he loves and to himself.  Having found out that the man who raised you letting you think he was your father and taught you everything you know is hell bent on destroying everyone and everything you care about, you can't blame him.  Like Simon he is battling to come to terms with the person he was and the person he is now.  AND CASSIE SO MEAN THE PATH YOU CHOSE YOU EVIL WOMAN.  Inner demons gonna getcha! And that ending? &%*&T$!*^% Do you want my head to explode? DO YOU? Because it seems like you do. 

Nothing was held back, everything was thrown onto the table whether it was nice or horrid.  I really hope the characters find themselves and become the people they want to be and not the people they think they should be.  As usual, the story is fast paced and intense and manages to make you ride the full spectrum of emotions in the blink of an eye.  Can I wait for City of Lost Souls? SURE I CAN.  But only because it gives me longer to come to terms with having to say goodbye to these characters again.

In My Mailbooks

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren and inspired by Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie

Review

Miles From Ordinary - Carol Lynch Willians

City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare 

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight - Jennifer E Smith - Read this in one sitting and by read I mean I totally devoured it.  OMG YOU GUYS.  That is all I have to say at this second because I just did my mascara and I don't want it to run.....again!

Bought

City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare - YEAH, I got two copies.  I'm weird like that.  The lovely amazing fabulous Ginger @ GReads also got me the American hardback special edition that's signed and has the letter in it from Jace to Clary.  I get that on my road trip, which is in like FIVE WEEKS.  I KNOW.

So, yeah, I finished City of Fallen Angels this week and i'm a little overwhelmed.  I can't really decided whether Cassie is somesort of evil genius or just plain evil.  Either way, i'm digging both of these possibilities really because she's Cassie FRICKIN Clare, know what I mean? So if you read it what did YOU think about it? Let me know!! REALLY, please let me know because I have these whirlwind of thoughts and I need someone to clam me down before the shit totally hits the fan and the rest of my mind decides to join the rest of it, whose whereabouts are unknown to me.  so YAY books.  

Review - Beige by Cecil Castellucci

Published by Candlewick Press
Published 8 May 2007

Summary - Now that she’s exiled from Canada to sunny Los Angeles, Katy figures she’ll bury her nose in a book and ignore the fact that she’s spending two weeks with her father — punk name: the Rat — a recovered addict and drummer for the famously infamous band Suck. Even though Katy doesn’t want to be there, even though she feels abandoned by her mom, even though the Rat’s place is a mess and he’s not like anything she’d call a father, Katy won’t make a fuss. After all, she is a nice girl, a girl who is quiet and polite, a girl who smiles, a girl who is, well, beige. Or is she? 

I first saw this book over at That Cover Girl and the cover just spoke to me....I mean look at it. that guitar, that pink on the stark black background.  That GUITAR.  I have always wanted to be able to play the guitar! and I can a little but my skills are majorly lacking.  Then I read the synopsis and as soon as I saw the words The Rat and "aging punk rocker" I was like HEYO.  Sold.  And people say blogs don't sell books.  Pssssh!

Honestly? I fucking loved this book.  I like really loved it.  I think I even cried and it's not even that sad of a story, but i cried regardless because it's just that good.  So Katy is a serious, serious girl.  She's quiet and reserved and quite restrained.  Then POW she's thrown into the LA punk scene to spend the summer with her dad, aka The rat whilst her mother goes on an archealogical dig in Peru.  Imagine this; you like order, you like things to run smoothly, you like your summer to be filled with mall trips and sleepovers with your BFF.  Then somehow you end up in an apartment that's full of junk, that smells majorly funky, with your crazy ass dad who doesn't seem to have given a shit about you for the whole of your life.  Then you kinda know how Katy feels.

Castellucci makes my toes curl with envy, at her ability to make every character seem truly real.  Every single character is extreme and in your face.......all in different ways, from the weird and the kooky, to the calm and utterly cool.  They are all well developed and each shone in a way that made me want to believe that they were real, that I could hop on a plane to LA and go sit on the boulevard with them, then head out to go see Suck perform.  And the way Castellucci shown us the punk lifestyle from an outsiders perspective was mesmerising.  I could almost feel the music pounding up through my feet, almost feel the ghost of sweat tricking down my back, bodies pressing into me.  

Lake with her absolute certainty that she would one day be a true punk rocker like her dad Sam Suck.  Lake is what you would expect a punk rocker's daughter to be like; she's grungy and totally into the music and much too cool.  Whereas katy is her complete polar opposite, even though they share this fundemental thing that makes them most likely to be alike.  And man The Rat, I freaking LOVED The Rat, in the fact that he reminded me so much of my own dad.  How he was forever trying to make Katy feel comfortable, trying way too hard to win her affections.  And he never changes, in the fact that he doesn't change who he is for his daughter, but you can see that he really has the big heart and he wants her to accept him for who he is.  

And the music.  OH MY GOD THE MUSIC.  It spoke to my heart.  I love punk rock.  Beige is a book that everyone can find something to love, whether it be from the exceptional writing, or the larger than life characters.  This is one of those coming of age stories that gets it right, it dwells on personal growth and development and doesn't wrap up in a bright pink box with a shiny bow.  It wraps up like real life and I loved it.

Dear Fellow Crazies

The following picture is self explanatory re my blog silence.

In My Mailbooks Avec la Chant

In My Mailbox is hosted by the lovely Kristi @ The Story Siren and inspired by the fabulous Alea @ Pop Culture Junkie.

Review

Becoming Nancy - Terry Donald

Darkness Becomes Her - Kelly Keaton

Prisoner of the Inquisition - Theresa Breslin

Bought

Eat, Prey, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

Dark Road to Darjeeling - Deanna Raybourn

MAJOR MAD PROPS goes to Capillya for introducing me to Valentine by Kina Granis which I attempt to sing to you guys.......because y'all I know how boring vlogs can be and I hope it makes you laugh, even if it's at my expense.  MAJOR CHEESY GRINS ALL ROUND.

Review - Jane by April Lindner

Published by Poppy
Published 11 October 2010

Summary - Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, an iconic rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer, and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance. But there's a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane's much-envied relationship with Nico is tested by a torturous secret from his past.

Things you probably don't know about me -

I am a total classics fiend.  Charlotte Bronte? Check.  Jane Austen? Check.  Charles Dickens? Check.  Frances Burnett? Check.  Lewis Caroll? Well, I suspect you get my meaning now.  I mean, I totally LURVE them.....I was that kid, the kid in class who was EXCITED to read the classical books, I was the kid who had the overused library card and thought Mr Darcy was quite possibly the most sexist man in all the universe.  OKAY, maybe not that cute, but definitely on par with Leo DiCaprio, my teenage crush.

I love cocktails.  HA, you knew that already!

I totally can't handle re-tellings of my favourite books.  I just can't.  They can be so mindblowingly good that they blow my socks right off and I will still be shaking my head saying...NO, DON'T LIKEY!! Because why mess with something that's already perfect, i just don't get it.  My brain won't compute the information.  That's like saying well that blond guy is hot but I think...NO JUST NO DON'T MESS WITH PERFECTION.

I seriously LOVE classic retellings when transformed into TV shows or film.  Pride and Predjudice a la Colin Firth emerging from the lake dripping wet? YES PLEASE.  Jane Eyre with Mr Rochester having this dark tumbly hair and seriously sexy scowl? YES PLEASE.  Ten Things I Hate About You, with Heath and Joseph? YES, HELL YES YES YES!!!

SO.....it seems that the things we didn't know about me are the things that affected my enjoyment of Jane, because y'all I LUFF Jane Eyre.  I love the red room and the evil cousins and evil aunt.  I love the angst and the hotness and the utter absurdity of Mr Rochester and his hot and cold nature.  And I think that's where my problem lies, I just love the original too much that I was contasntly comparing Jane to the original, when I honestly should've been enjoying it for what it was.  

This is Jane Eyre with a modern twist.  So Jane is this 19 years old girl who has to take a job as a nanny to an aging rock star Nico Rathburn, because she has no money for college tuition.  And then BAM, all the other story lines in Jane Eyre are moulded into something new and fresh that a younger more modern audience could appreciate.  I mean, rock stars are notoriously hot bad boys.  If I had the chance to live under the same roof as one, i would toally be all over that like white on rice.  And this story is bizarre in the way that it seems really seperate from the original, how subtle differences can make it maybe not seem so much like a re-telling.

I will give Lindner mad props, where props are due, DAYUM this woman knows how to write.  Her descriptions are lush and wild and totally grab hold of you.  they make you feel like your sat on a back porch of some huge house and listening to music as the wind blows through your hair.  WHICH IS GOOD.  It's not hard to be drawn into the story, and I can see people really falling in love with these characters, but for me it was hard to emerse myself because they just didn't call to me in any way.  

Jane is sensible and smart and always tries to make the right choice and is real quiet. And that just completely made me bored, because she's nothing more than what she is, just a quiet girl.  And by god she was dull.  And Nico was a total fuckhead.  I get that Mr Rochester was a fuckhead too, but man, he's Mr fucking Rochester, he is allowed to be a total creepy weirdo.  Nico is also a rather shockingly bad name and I laughed everytime I read it and I just couldn't allow myself to be attracted to this arse who thinks he's fabulous.  I would not allow myself to crush on a guy called Nico, shallow but true. And then the romance comes along and its like, yeah i'm quiet and shy and don't really talk all that much but SURE weird rock star guy who I don't even know that well, SURE we can SPOILER.  And I was like ARE YOU KIDDING ME? BARF BARF BARF.  Total in your face rather forced fake romance that made me feel like I wanted to be sick on my stripy shoes. 

I conclusion, when I want my Jane Eyre fix, I'll pull out the original.  Completely underwhelmed. Major sad face.

HOWEVS, I am the only person it seems who wasn't enamoured bu this luke warm duo, so here are some links to positive reviews, because just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean it don't work for others YO!

Angieville - Review
Good Books and Wine - Review