June Wrap-Up 2016

Another month over! AHH! This month aka Shadowhunter month, I read a total of 3 books.

1. City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare ★★★★
   Paranormal, YA, Urban Fantasy
   
2. Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1) by Cassandra Clare ★★★★.5
   Paranormal, YA, Steampunk
   I have a review for this book here
   
3. Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare ★★★★★
   Paranormal, YA, Steampunk
   I have a review for this book here
   
   Overall, I feel like I had a good reading month despite all the madness that’s been going on in my personal life lol. I’m happy I enjoyed the books I read. Happy reading everyone!

Clockwork Princess – Spoiler Book Review

Title: Clockwork Princess (Book Three)
Series: The Infernal Devices
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Steampunk
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Again, this will be a spoiler book review because it’s the third book in a series. Plus I suck at non spoiler book reviews for sequels.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Danger and betrayal, love and loss, secrets and enchantment are woven together in the breathtaking finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices Trilogy, prequel to the internationally bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

My Initial Thoughts Right After I Finished:

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE AFTER READING THIS TRILOGY???!!!!

My Thoughts Now That It’s Been A Few Hours Since I Finished:

• 
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• I am legit sitting here with tears in my eyes because I can’t believe its over. I am the type of person that when people tell me I’m going to cry over a book, I don’t cry. However, I’ve been a sobbing mess since I finished this one.
• That epilogue broke me into so many pieces. They all had their happy endings and the fact that it all connects with The Mortal Instruments…it’s really beautiful.
• I felt like Tessa, torn between the two, Will and Jem. I came to love Will in book 3. He’s such a beautiful person. I was really in shock with Jem becoming a Silent Brother but that epilogue changed my life.
• I NEED MORE!!!!
• The Herondale’s, Lightwood’s, and Fairchild’s persist once again and that makes me so happy.
• Cassandra Clare is a beast, she did an amazing job with this book.  The writing was beautiful and the plot was delivered.
• My baby Sophie becoming a Shadowhunter and got married with Gideon!!! Cecily and Gabriel! I SHIPPED THEM SO HARD!!
• I shipped everyone to be honest.
• This book is very quotable
• My heart broke for Will when he felt the rune for his parabatai disappear. I cried so hard because I thought like Will that Jem had died.
• Jem, oooooooo my Jem!!!
• Magnus Bane!! Although we didn’t see much of him, he was so important. He must feel like he was reliving everything again in TMI. Magnus is such a beautiful person.
• CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I freaking love that cat.
•  Tessa, she’s so strong. I love her.
• The female characters in this trilogy is so important and still relate to our time and women rights and what we go through as females.

I can’t really say much anymore except that this is now one of my favorite trilogies and I loved everything about this book. I will definitely continue with part two of The Mortal Instruments and the rest of the Shadowhunter world.

All the stories are true

Clockwork Prince – Spoiler Book Review

Title: Clockwork Prince (Book Two)
Series: The Infernal Devices
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Steampunk
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
This will be a spoiler review because it is a 2nd book in a series.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

My Initial Thoughts Right After I Finished:

I WAS A SOBBING MESS AFTER READING THIS BOOK!!!!!!! I was freaking out for all my precious babies: Charlotte, Henry, Tessa, Jem, Will, ALL OF THEM!!! I didn’t want anything happening to them. I was so scared.

My Thoughts Now That It’s Been A Few Hours Since I Finished:

• CAN WE DISCUSS THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN CHARLOTTE AND HENRY?!?!?!?! I WAS LITERALLY SOBBING!!!!!!!
• My heart is literally torn between Will and Jem. I am team Jem but ugh I feel for Tessa.
• WILL!!!! He never had that curse and ugh I feel so bad for him because his heart got shattered right after he had gotten the good news that the curse was a fluke.
• I love how Cassandra Clare portrayed these characters, I felt all the emotions.
• Jessamine! WHY GIRL??? JUST WHY?!?! I was kinda rooting for you too but you just had to be sucked up with Nate and his dumbass.
• MY PRECIOUS BABY JEM!!!!!! I LOVE HIM AND I WISH TESSA FELT THE SAME FOR HIM!!! TESSA I KNOW YOU IN LOVE WITH WILL BUT FRIENDLY LOVE JEM!!! I SEE YOU BOO!!
• Heart eyes for Gideon and Sophie! I literally squealed when I read this.
• CECILY AT THE END!!! I FREAKING KNEW IT!!! I just knew she would find her way to the institute somehow.
• I had the biggest freak out at the end. I thought one of my precious babies was going to die but everyone was safe *big sigh*
• Where the hell is Mortmain?!?!
• Total shock with Benedict Lightwood and his traitor ass, I was so not expecting that at all.
• I have no complaints about this book, it was freaking great!!!

Clockwork Angel Book Review (Non-spoiler)

Title: Clockwork Angel (Book One)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Steampunk
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Took me forever to finish this book but I really enjoyed it more than the first book of The Mortal Instruments.

Synopsis of Goodreads:

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

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

My Initial Thoughts Right After I Finished:

I NEED THE SECOND BOOK. WHY WOULD THE EPILOGUE FINISH LIKE THAT? HOW DID PEOPLE WAIT A YEAR FOR THE NEXT ONE?!?!?

My Thoughts Now That It’s Been A Few Hours Since I Finished:

• If you don’t want to read The Mortal Instruments, you don’t have to. I feel like this series is great enough to read without TMI. The author describes things in the Shadowhunter world that would make sense for a person who hasn’t read TMI.
• I loved the female dynamic in this book. I feel like we have way more female characters in this first book vs. City of Bones and I loved the interactions. Except for Jessamine, there’s always a Jessamine somewhere.
• The author’s writing is a lot better in this book. I feel like she matured in her writing with Clockwork Angel. I also feel like you can tell that she did her research for this setting in 1800s London. The descriptions and the way I saw everything in my head was amazing.
• Team Jem. Listen I don’t have a ship yet because I feel like everyone is discovering themselves in this book but I don’t like Will and he better pull heaven on earth in Clockwork Prince to get me on his team.
• I loved seeing how Cassandra Clare didn’t ignore the way women were treated back in the 1800s but also how she made it very clear that within Shadowhunters, women were equal (sorta but don’t want to spoil).
• I loved how the plot was a total surprise for me, I didn’t expect anything!
• Clare makes you feel for these characters. Charlotte, Tessa, Henry, Jem, Will, Jessamine, Sophie, Thomas, just all of them!!! I want to hear all their individual stories. While reading you get some of their stories but I know there’s more to that. Hope

I’ve already started Clockwork Prince. Have you read this book? What did you think?

Thursday Quotables

Welcome to Thursday Quotables! A meme hosted by Book Shelf Fantasies. This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week. Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

This weeks quote is from my current read, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare.

“One must always be careful of books,” said Tessa, “and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.”

Currently Reading

Before I get into this can we just admire this beauty:

Annnnnd I’m back!

Okay so I’m currently reading Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare and I’m about 31% into it according to Goodreads. I am really enjoying this book a lot more than I did City of Bones. I’m comparing them because they’re the first book in a series that are set in the same world.

A lot of people who personally know me have told me that I would love this trilogy way more than The Mortal Instruments. Let’s see if that’s true.

So far I’m loving the female characters and how Cassandra makes a point that although this is set in the 1800s, women in the Shadowhunter universe are equal as men. And the Shadowhunter men treat the women as such.

I’m loving the writing in this book and the setting so much! I feel like I’m there in London in the 1800s wearing these beautiful dresses.

So no complaints as of yet.

Have you read this trilogy? What did you think? And if you also read The Mortal Instruments, did you read it by publication date?