Reading Hiatus

I've decided I need to take a break from all the reading I've been doing. It's not really something I really want to do but I'm forcing myself!! There are other things I need to be doing, and since I can't just read a little, I have to completely stop for a bit. 

I've already been going at it for 3 days and I haven't read anything bookwise since I started :) Doing so good so far so I'm hoping to keep it up. Not that I've accomplished much. So far I've:

- plugged in my TV. Yes, I haven't turned on a TV since May I think?

- researched some grad programs. Not English Education ones but Creative Writing ones. See English Ed. is what I want to do but CW is so enticing!

- got some Christmas shopping done.

- cleaned my room.

So nothing spectacular. I really need to get grad school stuff done so I can start reading again! 

Anyways, in the meantime I think I'm going to revamp my blog. I'm getting bored with it. 

Hope your all having a great day :)

Maybe I'll blog more now?

Review: Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices #1)

Title: Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices #1)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
(After reading it a second time I would probably only give it a 4 star, even though I gave it a 5 the first time, so 4.5.)

Goodreads Summary:
Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still. 

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos. 

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own. 

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

My Take:
This review is written after reading the book for the second time. I'm really glad I decided to read this book again because I realized so much more the second time through! 


First, the Infernal Devices is SO much like The Mortal Instruments. Supposed love triangle, the heroine finding out she's not who she thought she was, a jerk of a love interest and the shadow hunter world. 


When I first read this book this is what I thought about it:
- amazing!
- I HATED Will. Asshole. 
- *loved* Jem :) 
- The story was kinda unpredictable
- the ending took me by surprise


After reading it again, I came to these conclusions:
- I like Will more. He's still a huge ass, but he's tolerable. Clare better have a good reason for making him this way. But I can't imagine what would be worse than what Jem's gone through, and he's not like Will at all.
- I'm more in love with Jem. I mean seriously, he's the boy I would pick, especially for Tessa. She seems too sweet to put up with someone like Will.
- I hate to say this, but there is no love triangle. Tessa isn't into Jem at all :{ All her thoughts are Will, Will, Will. No Jem and it breaks my heart. Jem likes Tessa, but Tessa doesn't see anything more in Jem. It's just him trying to win her affection. 
- There was too much detail in some parts. Got boring to read those parts.


There are still a lot of questions left unanswered like: What is Tessa? What happened to the villain? What is the villain exactly? There are more too but they would be too much of a spoiler to ask. 


Will definitely be reading the next book, but I really hope Tessa uses her head. Bad things happen to people but giving an excuse to be a dick is going to be pretty tough.

Review: Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3)

Title: Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3)
Author: Richelle Mead
Rating: 4.25 of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:
Is Rose's fate to kill the person she loves most? It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. She has dark flashbacks in the middle of practive, can't concentrate in class, and has terrifying dreams about Lissa. but Rose has an even bigger secret... She's in love with Dimitri. And this time, it's way more than a crush. Then Strigoi target the academy in the deadliest attack in Moroi history, and Dimitri is taken. Rose must protext Lissa at all costs, but keeping her best friend safe could mean losing Dimitri forever...

In my personal opinion, this isn't a very good description of the book. It skips SO much inbetween!

My Take:
Blind-sighted. That's the best word I have for this novel. Everyone in the story, including myself, were completely caught off guard. I thought something like this would happen, but THAT? 


Rose and everyone else are back at the academy. Rose starts seeing things and she isn't completely sure they are real. She's keeping things in and trying so much to help Lissa, that it's starting to drive her crazy. Literally. And her temper tantrums aren't what I'm talking about. We see those too, but things are different this time. 


Lucky for me, and Rose, the love story in this book intensifies. I have to admit that I thought something that happened between them kind of caught me off guard. But I'm glad it happened.


The rationalization of why help couldn't have been offered at one point has me second guessing how much I thought Richelle was following a try story and not making things go in her favor. Like when something could obvious go the good way, but the author makes some lame excuse as to why things can't go smoothly. Or even the opposite, when things go too smooth when they shouldn't have. I got a hint of that in this book, and it bothers me.


Rose's character develops through the roof in this book. She did a lot of growing up in the last book, but this one, she does even more. She feels like such a different character than the first book and even she realizes it. I have to say I like this Rose much better. 


The instances with the queen were amusing. I thought what happened with her would fill future books, but now I'm not so sure. Adrian and Christian full some pretty great scenes and we get to hang out with Christian more, which I always like! 


I read someone else say something along the lines of how after the ending of this book, they couldn't see how anything could fall into place for Rose's future, and I have to agree. I can't either :/ I know Richelle can make it happen because author created their own world, I just hate it when they break their own rules, or make exceptions of their characters. I think that might happen soon and I'm really not looking forward to it. Even though it would make the situation SO much better, I just hate to see it. 


I should have cried like my family pet just died at one point in this book, but I didn't. I'm trying to keep my hope up.


Thank goodness I have the next book already. If I had to wait a whole year for the next book, or even six months, someone would be hurtin!

Clockwork Prince Release!

So yesterday Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare was released!! 

Finally!

Clockwork Angel  is the first in The Infernal Devices trilogy. This series is kind of a prequel to The Mortal Instruments series. I would highly recommend you read both, ASAP. 

Sadly, I haven't gotten my hands on my copy yet because it's in the mail. But once I get it, I probably won't be putting it down for a while :)

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, though 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.