City of Ashes

Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare [Author Website][Shadowhunters Website][Facebook][Twitter]

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Series: Mortal Instruments, Bk 2

ISBN: 9781416972242

Length: 453 pages

Obtained: Personal copy. I don't remember where or how.

Why this book?:

I had just finished the first book in the series, City of Bones, and I was curious, plus this was extra shelf space once I've read it.

Comments:

I don't know if it is because City of Bones was a debut book, or if I just wasn't clicking with the world-building, but I felt like this book was an improvement on the first.  I could relate more with the characters and actually ended up reading City of Ashes in one 3-4 hour sitting.

In book 1 Clary is scrambling to figure out what on earth is happening and recover her kidnapped mother.  In this book Clary is focused on stopping some ritual serial killings while figuring out her scrambled emotions.  I do have to be honest, the scrambled emotions part was so much better that bk 1.  There was a line by Jace that I found especially amusing and made all those scrambled emotions a little easier to swallow.

“I don't want to be a man," said Jace. "I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can't confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead."

Anyway, I'm sure I'll be reading book 3, City of Glass, soon.  I made the mistake of reading the sneak peak for it and I own it.

City of Bones

Title: City of Bones

Author: Cassandra Clare [Author Website][Shadowhunters Website][Facebook][Twitter]

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Series: Mortal Instruments, Bk 1

ISBN: 9781416955078

Length: 485 pages

Obtained: Personal copy.  I don't remember how I got it, though I'm sure it was used.

Why this book?:

As usual lately, I was looking to clear shelf space by reading something that has been in my TBR forever.  As the first in a series for which I have 3 (rather hefty) books, this seemed like a reasonable option.

Comments:

I have heard positive feedback from those who love this series.  And I've heard negative feedback from those who disliked it.  So I didn't know what to expect going in.  It wasn't hard to get into, which was a concern prior to starting it.  But I did think quite often throughout, "This book is LONG.  When is it going to end?"

I liked Clary well enough, but didn't really care about pretty much any the other characters.  I suspect this is part of what made it difficult.  She was having all this confusion about these characters that I didn't like or trust and rather thought she'd be better off avoiding.  On the other hand I understood she had a quest that she couldn't really do on her own.

Anyway, it must have hooked me more than I thought, because I went into reading the second book that same evening.

Fallen

Title: Fallen

Author: Lauren Kate

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Copyright Date: 2009

Print Date:

ISBN: 9780385907606

Pages: 452

Series: 1st in the Fallen series






Book Description (from back cover):

 WHAT IF THE PERSON

 YOU WERE MEANT TO BE WITH

 COULD NEVER BE YOURS?

Comments:

Ah, what to say about this? I heard great things about this. Most of the blogs I follow have very positive reviews for it. So please keep that in mind as you read the following...

It's long. I don't mean page length (though it's that too), but the story isn't very fast paced. I read it in a day — I read most books in a day — but I think I'd have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been so drawn out. The pace picked up suddenly at the end, but not much was resolved (something of a cliff-hanger).

I read somewhere that this is a four book series. I guess this was the introductory book. It introduced characters and let the reader discover the world/situation, but that was about it.

After all that, I guess I should say I didn't hate this book. It was interesting, I did enjoy picking out which characters were "good", "bad", somewhere in between, etc. But I tend to prefer a series that has some story wrapped up in each book, and I didn't really get that here. That being said, I probably will read the next book, Torment.

Angel with Attitude

Title: Angel with Attitude

Author: Michelle Rowen

Publisher: Warner Books Paranormal Romance

Copyright Date: 2006

Print Date: August 2006

ISBN: 0446616990

Pages: 347

Book Description (from back cover):

When you're hot for a demon, you might as well kiss your halo good-bye...

Falling naked into the killer whale tank at MarineLand is always bad news, but it's a real bummer when you've just been kicked out of Heaven. Former angel Valerie Grace is determined to reverse her banishment—Earth's just no fun. Her best friend is a slightly perverted human-turned-rat (note to self: never cross a powerful witch) and she's being tailed by a sexy Tempter Demon named Nathaniel who's trying to lure her to Hell with kisses that are almost worth the trip.With the talking rodent sneaking peeks down her shirt and Nathaniel getting more irresistible every minute, this ex-angel has only one hope: find the stolen Key to Heaven and go home. Then the oddest thing happens—Nathaniel starts to show signs of loyalty and love. And soon Val is asking herself if it is such a bad thing to have the hots for a demon.

Comments:

I won a book of my choice from Michelle Rowen's backlist ages (well, months) ago. At the time, that meant one of the first 3 Immortality Bites books (Bitten & Smitten, Fanged & Fabulous, Lady & the Vamp) which I already owned, Angel with Attitude, or Countdown (published under the name Michelle Maddox). I decided on Angel with Attitude because it sounded like a lighter, more humorous book. When it arrived, it was set aside with my other autographed books, away from my other books. I'm sorry to say I ::whispers:: forgot it. Anyway, I suddenly remembered it.

It was a pleasantly light read—complete with angels, demons, and talking rat (originally a human). It was mostly focused on Valerie and her self-appointed mission and some fun Reggie the human-in-a-rat's-body interaction. Nathaniel was there, but...

It wasn't as much about a relationship growing as the individual Valerie Grace growing. That isn't a bad thing, but it's not what I normally expect from a book labelled romance. However, I'm happy I chose it and I'm glad I finally read it.