Manga: The Mortal Instruments 2

The Mortal Instruments Vol 2 

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Having her best friend, Simon, kidnapped and being attacked by the vampires already seemed too much for Clary to handle. But when she realizes her hidden power and that leads her to what she has been searching for, the truth exposed might be something that she absolutely cannot accept...

Thanks to rat Simon going missing, we get to meet Raphael this volume and see the Hotel Dumont! We also have a nice amount of action this volume, right from the start, as we have to obviously rescue poor old Simon, but get caught up in a fight with the vampires and the wolves...because of course the wolves show up and get involved and start an all out brawl! 

I loved getting to see the flying motorcycle scene illustrated, along with seeing what Raphael looks like in this art style! Our love triangle also kicks off as we get a kiss and a confession from two different guys! 

The pace continues to move along nicely, we have the hunt for the Mortal Cup heat up and we get a lead, we meet Valentine and there's a shock betrayal. There's basically never a dull moment this volume as we have a lot going on, there's some plot twists and we get background on the Circle and what went down between Clary's parents and Luke, the Lightwoods and Hodge causing everything to be the way it is. I did really enjoy how that was done, and I was curious how that kind of background info was going to be brought in to the manga! 

The plot twists keep coming right until the end when we have a final one to shake things up, Clary is seeing things...or is she? The reveals in this volume are definitely going to make things interesting in the next volume as it'll change how some of the characters interact with each other and the dynamics of the romance. Plus my Malec should be kicking off soon! If memory serves me correctly, this volume wraps up the first book entirely and the next volume will be cracking on with book two! 

Manga: The Mortal Instruments

The Mortal Instruments Volume 1
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Cassandra Clare's bestselling series, The Mortal Instruments, is adapted into a graphic novel series!

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... 

So, for those of you who don't know, the artist for this manga adaption, Cassandra Jean, is the one behind those incredibly gorgeous Shadowhunter Tarot Cards which have been on my wishlist forever, and that I know a fair few of you guys have already! She's also behind the Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downworld too! 

There are some seriously gorgeous colour pages in this volume, with a page for each of the main characters and I was living for it, like I want to frame them they're so gorgeous! The detailing is really well done throughout the manga, as is the art in general to be honest. Cassandra has thrown her own unique twist on the characters, and each page features her own art style...but she really captures what I envisioned the settings and characters looking like! After the jolt to the system that is the TV show, it was nice to see an adaption that lives up to the books, and is exactly how I imagined it! I've missed the less high tech Institute! The characters have some brilliant facial expressions and reactions that convey plenty and add to each scene. Jace's in particular add an air of mischief to him and just looking at him, even when he's not saying anything, you get that vibe! The demons are nice and creepy too! 

There'a a nice fast pace, and the volume moves along speedily with great attention to detail, introducing us to each of the main characters. Another little detail is Clary and Jace. You can seriously see the size difference between the two of them and it was a nice little touch! I also really loved how this adaption shows you all the little details you might have missed or that you didn't really think too much about when reading the books, like Clary's drawings that are mentioned casually, get featured in this volume as you see her actually doing it, if that makes sense? Like when you read about her doing it you just kind of read it and then don't focus on it too much. It was nice to see one of her character traits highlighted! Characters facial expressions too, to a certain extent. You read how the characters feeling, but I personally didn't picture exactly how they'd be looking during this scene or that, it added another dimension to the story for me! 

There's plenty of humour, what did you expect really!? And the story pulls you in. There's an interesting world, it follows the books brilliantly and it's just a lot of fun all round! It really does put the TV show to shame on the adaption front! I can tell this is going to be a lot of fun, and I'm intrigued as to how many volumes it'll run for, and how many of the books it's covering! 

Volume One is all about getting us warmed up. We're introduced to the characters, the world, various elements to it and what's going on. The plot is just starting to kick off and next volume should really get going and go more in depth with the plot as we track down Jocelyn! There's some nice creepy and ominous moments throughout, but the ending really does end on an ominous note! I hate to play favourites but I really am loving this adaption! 

Review: Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy

Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy

Rating: 4/5 

Buy or Borrow: Buy 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Simon Lewis has been a human and a vampire, and now he is becoming a Shadowhunter. But the events of City of Heavenly Fireleft him stripped of his memories, and Simon isn’t sure who he is anymore. He knows he was friends with Clary, and that he convinced the total goddess Isabelle Lightwood to go out with him…but he doesn’t know how. And when Clary and Isabelle look at him, expecting him to be a man he doesn’t remember…Simon can’t take it.

So when the Shadowhunter Academy reopens, Simon throws himself into this new world of demon-hunting, determined to find himself again. His new self. Whomever this new Simon might be.

But the Academy is a Shadowhunter institution, which means it has some problems. Like the fact that non-Shadowhunter students have to live in the basement. And that differences—like being a former vampire—are greatly looked down upon. At least Simon is trained in weaponry—even if it’s only from hours of playing D&D.

Join Simon on his journey to become a Shadowhunter, and learn about the Academy’s illustrious history along the way, through guest lecturers such as Jace Herondale, Tessa Gray, and Magnus Bane. These ten short stories give an epilogue to the Mortal Instruments series and provide glimpses of what’s in store in the Dark Artifices.  

I'm not going to lie, I was waiting to read these novellas until they where in a bindup because I'm impatient! I was so intrigued by this novella collection, after how the final TMI book ended, I think we where all left with questions and needing to know what happened next! I did wonder if Cassie might do a Shadowhunter Academy book series, but she gave us a novella collection instead! As it stands, I ended up reading Lady Midnight before I read this, which was fine, but I think it would have been a bit more exciting if you'd read this before Lady Midnight, as it'll get you excited for it with all the tidbits and hints! As it is, it did give me a huge urge to re-read LM plus it made me excited for Lord of Shadows, not to mention The Last Hours trilogy. After reading a couple of the novellas in this collection, I AM SO HERE for The Last Hours! I can't even begin to explain my excitement for this trilogy now! 

I loved the layout of this book, the quotes from the upcoming novella, the comic style pages at the beginning of each story...it added a nice sense of intrigue. As I started to read, everything came flooding back from the last TMI book and from Lady Midnight. I will admit, I do find it hard sometimes to keep all the family trees straight in my head, especially with the gap between books and how long it's been since I re-read some of them, so once or twice I got confused and had to google something to remember who someone was. 

Jace still cracks me up, he and Simon in this collection make me chuckle. I felt for Simon, and his predicament and I really had missed Simon's nerd humour. I loved George Lovelace! He was my new favourite character as I was reading! I will admit, I was worried for a moment and thought he was going to be a douche, but then he was just awesome! Following Simon to the dregs track and everything! Brotp right here! I really liked some of the other characters, Beatriz, Juliet, Marisol, Jon I just wanted to punch most of the time though! I genuinely lost count of how many times I wanted to sock him one. 

One of my favourite moments was Isabelle guest lecturing purely to threaten the girls away from Simon and George being like "We're just bros!". I cracked up so much! I really needed the doses of humour scattered throughout the stories! My favourites where usually the ones written with Maureen and Sarah though! Like for instance....The Whitechapel Fiend...WESSA! So much Wessa! And we got to see some of the other TID characters and oh my God....Jessamine! My feels...I can't even. I miss TID. I need to re-read so badly! We got to meet James....little bookish James. I'm so going to love him! Also....WHO'S GRACE JAMES? *wiggles eyebrows* We also got to meet the other TID children....Henry and Charlotte's, Gabriel and Cecily's, Sophie and Gideon's....I loved Matthew and James. I'm so genuinely excited to see more of them in TLH! GIVE IT TO ME NOW. 

So much happens in these novellas, there's Sizzy angst. There's Malec. My lord the Malec feels! The blasts to the past are authentic and vivid. I remembered how much I loved Jace and between him and Simon had many a chuckle while reading! Jace and Tessa...we don't get to actually SEE the scene which disappointed me greatly, but we did get to know it happened! There's more background to characters and events, like Mark and Helen and what happened with their father and the faerie. I can't even. All this time I thought the story was true, but then at the end....well...you'll see! 

I really hated Robert Lightwood but this book made me see him in a different light and made me feel a tiny bit sorry for him. I'd warmed up to him, basically! There where new ships to ship! Like Marisol and Jon...her interactions with him cracked me up so much! Definitely one of my favourite parts! But that ending. WHY CASSIE WHY. I can't even. I'd laughed my way through this book, through the feels. I was excited for a satisfying ending. But it all ended in tears. Of course it did. I should have known better! 

All in all Shadowhunter Academy is a brilliant collection of novellas that brings TMI to a close and sets up nicely for The Dark Artifices and The Last Hours! I loved getting to see more of the history of the world of the Shadowhunters and getting to see the TMI gang one last time...well..properly anyway! 

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Bookshelf Tour: Special Editions

Hey guys! 

It's time for another bookshelf tour! You guys voted over on my Twitter and wanted to see my Special Editions so here we go! Later than planned however, I had kind of a crappy week last week because stuff, and I just wasn't in the mood to edit the photos I'd taken and actually do the blog post, so yeah. This should have gone up last week but I was basically silent all week oops! 

So, there is one missing because it showed up the other day and it's all over my Twitter and Insta but I'd already taken the photos for this so I couldn't include it! These are all special or collectors editions that I have because I'm a sucker for a pretty book and can't resist them! 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Okay so this has been on my shelves for ages and I still haven't actually read it yet but I will I swear! This is  the collectors edition and you guys it's completely gorgeous! It's got sprayed edges, the dust jacket is a poster on the inside and the cover under the jacket is awesome too! Lookie: 

Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair anymore - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fan fiction she writes, where she knows exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life. Without Wren Cath is completely on her own and totally outside her comfort zone. She's got a surly room-mate with a charming, always around boyfriend, a fiction writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilised world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words...and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone. Now Cath has to decide if she's ready to open her heart to new people and experiences, and she's realising that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible. 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame Smith

Soooo I loved Pride and Prejudice and I mean....P&P plus Zombies...what could be better?! I have the regular paperback version, the movie cover and then this edition. Which is completely gorgeous. It's all red and it's got fancy endpapers, and just look at it. It's one of my favourites! 

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all new scenes of bone crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton- and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr Darcy. 

Divergent by Veronica Roth 

I'm fairy certain these where supposed to come in slipcases, but Waterstones just had them in shrink wrap so who knows, hence why mine looks a bit battered on the front! I still haven't actually read Divergent, I'm kind of hesitant because I've seen so many people complaining about the other two books and it's putting me off a bit but I can't resist a pretty book! 

For sixteen year old Tris, the world changes in a heartbeat when she is forced to make a terrible choice. Turning her back on her family, Tris ventures out, alone, determined to find out where she truly belongs. Shocked by the brutality of her new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her. The hardest choices may yet lie ahead...

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

I freaking love Game of Thrones okay, so of course I had to get this collectors edition! Except when I discovered this, it was all sold out everywhere and still is so I actually ended up buying this used, and as you can see....it's basically like new so I was lucky! I'm kinda gutted the publisher didn't do the other books but at the same time I'm glad because money! 

Do I need to do the synopsis? It's right up above this! It's readable right? 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Hunger Games, another "OMG I completely love" although I haven't re-read in ages. I only have one set now, the adult ones, but like the black minimalist ones not the new cool shiny ones! I did have two because I had the kids covers but I didn't like them all that much! So this one has a gorgeous slipcase, as you can see, and it's just all nice and clothbound and has cool pages! 

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Set in a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and Twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called The Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed. When sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sisters place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature. 

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

A beautiful edition of a classic up next, the publisher has done a couple of these and they're completely gorgeous and I need to get the others, I just haven't gotten around to it yet! So anyway, this isn't as fancy as the one I've seen on Tumblr with the legit strike patch for matches, BUT I love it anyway! 

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books. 

Eragon by Christopher Paolini 

Eragon! I remember first reading this when it came out and then pre-ordering each of the hardcovers in to Waterstones! I love dragons okay, and this was one of my favourite books as a kid. Every time I do these bookshelf tours I'm like..I really need to re-read that because I haven't in ages, but this is even more so true with this one because it's honestly been like...forever! So I love pretty books, and this is one of the prettiest! It's all blue and  faux leather-bound with shiny gold all over it....just look at it! 

Fifteen year old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy- until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save - or destroy- the Empire. 

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Of course I got the fancy edition of Lady Midnight. How could I not? You guys know the story with Cassie Clare! Her books are some of the first YA I ever read and through them I got in to loads of other books and so on and so forth. Honestly, The Infernal Devices is my fave, more so than The Mortal Instruments, and Lady Midnight is on par with TID and I loved this book so much! I'm hoping the other two in the trilogy will be given the same fancy treatment! 

It's been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses. Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn't lead her in treacherous directions...

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Couldn't resist buying this edition of TKAM! It's gorgeous, and this year I finally read it and there's a discussion about it on YouTube and on my blog, because I completely loved it. I can't even. I'm so annoyed at myself that it took me this long to read it! Not entirely sure I'll read the sequel though! But this is a gorgeous clothbound and you all need it now! 

Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much. To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story, an anti-racist novel, a historical drama of the Great Depression and a sublime example of the Southern writing tradition.

BOOM! My fancy editions, as I call them! There's a couple more on my wish list that I'm hoping to get at some point in life! Let me know what you want to see next down in the comments! I think leather-bounds came in a close second? 

Review: Lady Midnight

Lady Midnight
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy! 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher, Simon & Schuster! 

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.

Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…

Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?

"The Law is annoying, but it is also flexible"

* SPOILER FREE, UNLESS YOU COUNT THE MENTION OF NEW CHARACTERS!*

Oh my god you guys...it's finally here! FINALLY HERE IN OUR ACTUAL HANDS! I'm so incredibly grateful that I got to read and review an ARC of the book because it was AMAZING! The first thing I'm going to say to you guys is that you need to read City of Heavenly Fire before you read this, and I think the Shadowhunter Academy books as well, I haven't read those because I'm waiting for the bind up, but I did watch a video on them so I know what happens! But yeah, once you've at least read CoHF you can dive right on in to Lady Midnight! 

The Shadowhunters Chronicles will always hold a special place in my heart. They are very dear to me and will always be one of my favourite series. I picked up Clockwork Angel from the library, completely loved it...and went out and bought CA as well as the first and only three TMI books out at the time, and then endured the waiting for each new book! I have fond memories of staying up all night reading Clockwork Princess with friends, going to a signing in London before the movie came out, and the moment myself and some friends realised we'd all read the books and where forever bonded over them. 

You can see why the books mean a lot to me, so hopefully you'll know that everything I'm telling you about this book is 100% true, because I've not been shy with my opinion about the show! I just want you guys to know that this review is honest through and through! Although...the book did remind me of everything wrong with the show....which may be a problem haha! 

Opening the book and reading the first lines gave me such a feeling of excitement and euphoria and kind of a little bit of nostalgia. I mean...this is a brand new Shadowhunters book with new characters, so I had some flashbacks to first reading City of Bones! I eagerly dived in to the book, excited to meet new characters. I'd loved the glimpses we got of Emma and Julian and the other Blackthorns in CoHF and I was excited to get to see more of them! 

The book opens up in a really cool location, with a new character who I thought was an odd choice for the prologue, but at the same time I figured there was more to it! There's a lot of recapping in the beginning, you will get spoiled for CoHF if you haven't read it! The events refresher was very helpful for me, if I had all the time in the world I'd have re-read everything, but I didn't, so I dived straight in. I remember most of the big events of CoHF but there where some things that had slipped my mind and I was reminded of! There's also a lot of what this means, and what this is which, while I already knew, did bring back in to the world quite nicely. But generally, there's no messing about, we're straight in with Emma and the plot of the book, the murders and so on. 

Once I started reading I was completely thrown head first back in to the world of the books like I'd never been away. The world and settings where vivid, the Shadow Market comes to life welcoming you back, and then you're in a brand new institute, spotting the differences between it and the New York institute and excited to see what happened to it after CoHF. Each and every single setting in the book is vivid and atmospheric, and pulls you in to the book, from the institute, to the Shadow Market, to the various locations around LA. All are vividly described and imagined, each has it's own atmosphere, different to the others, that ensures you're completely absorbed in the world of the book as the world rises up around you. We even get to explore new parts of the world, there's new elements added in to keep it fresh. I love how it's a world we all know well, but we're still getting to see new parts of it! It honestly felt like coming home being back in the Shadowhunter world and quite honestly? I feel like Lady Midnight is on par with The Infernal Devices, which I love more than life itself!

"I'm a shadowhunter. Quip fast, die young." 

I enjoyed the fact that our first glimpse of Emma was through someone else's eye's as a full blown Shadowhunter, and seeing how different she was to in CoHF, she's set on revenge for what happened to her parents, and I can't really blame her. We get a nice refresher on the Blackthorns and their personalities before they make an appearance. I loved seeing how each of the characters had changed, or stayed the same or done some of both since CoHF, and it got me so excited to see more of them in the rest of the book! This talk of characters may take a while, I warn you...

First off we get a few new characters which isn't really all that surprising is it?! We have the curious Kit and his dodgy dad. We have Cameron Ashdown, who we don't actually see that much...poor guy. We have Kieran, a rather interesting character, he's one of the faeries and man do I want to know more about him! Malcolm the ever forgetful warlock that we met in CoHF, I remember wanting to know more about him! Gwyn I found equally as interesting, I get the feeling he isn't as evil and bad as everyone thinks he is. I'm thinking we'll see more of him! 

Those are small fry, some incredibly well written secondary characters, equally as full of depth and just as mysterious as our main characters. I've gotta say I love our main characters old and new! We have Cristina, Emma's new BFF, she made me laugh, she had a mystery to her, I loved the friendship between her and Emma, not going to lie. She was so willing to help Emma and be there for her after not knowing her long at all! Diego we didn't see much of, but like...he has made a love situation very confusing for me. Dammit. I thought he was going to be an ass, but he's actually kind of awesome. Once he gets the facts, he just kinda unquestioningly throws his lot in with the Blackthorns. 

Speaking of Blackthorns, I enjoyed getting to know all of them on a deeper level than in CoHF. They're a great bunch of characters, they all work well together. They're like Emma's family, and they're so willing to help her. Each has a different personality, and different strengths and different things going on that are going to be amazing to watch play out and see how things end up! Especially with Ty, because I'm so worried about his character, because of how he is and who the Clave is, but then at the end I was like "awwwww Ty's got a friend!". Mark was kind of difficult for me. I felt for him, really I did, but Julian is one of my faves and I wanted to smack Mark sometimes, and he goes through such a change over the course of this book, I'm excited to see where his character goes next!

Julian broke my heart in this book. He really did. He does so, so SO much for his family, and then there's the Emma thing and the Arthur thing and he's dealing with all of it all on his own. He's had to be a parent to his siblings, and at some points in the book I felt like his siblings didn't appreciate it, I mean it's not their fault, they don't know all he does, but he does enough that they know about and Ty was being so bratty at one point and poor Julian! Then him being all worried they'd hate him and like Mark more because Mark can have fun with them because he's not telling them off. I mean..since the age of 12 Julian's been their sole carer and my heart broke so many times in the book for Julian and how he was treated and how he felt. Don't get me wrong, Julian cracked me up, he's just as snarky as Emma and a complete badass and kind of scary at one point, but I felt for him SO much. 

Emma I completely loved. She's got Jace's level of snark. Like...wow...looks like he rubbed off on you in CoHF! Jace is such a bad influence you guys! She trains so hard, to be the best she can be, she's a complete badass, and she's determined to find out what happened to her parents. I admired her so much, she was such a strong character and then at the end, the very end of the book...I was like wow. Not many people could do that for someone else. She may just be my favourite actually! She was hilarious and made me laugh loads, and she has like no tact sometimes, it's brilliant! 

We all know how well Cassie writes characters and it's never been more obvious than in this book, we have such a wide range of characters, both main and secondary and each one comes to life before you. You can picture them, practically reach out and touch them, and each one has so much depth to them. Secrets to be found out, motivations and so on. They're all such well created characters that they feel real. 

I'm not going to lie to you guys, after CoHF I pretty much shipped Emma and Julian before I even started reading the book and this book made it so much worse. I shipped them SO BADLY! I thought I knew pain with my precious Wessa...I was wrong. Cassie has done this romance so perfectly, to make you ship them, and then inflict the maximum about of pain she can on you. Each of her romances has had problems and obstacles, but not quite like this. This is up a level. They are parabatai and romance between two parabatai is forbidden. There's an incredible twist to it as well that had me raging at the book! I felt the connection between the two of them, you watched Emma realise her feelings, compared to Julian who already had them, and you watch the two of them and you're kind of cheering but at the same time you're like "no don't" because we all know the consequences if they get caught. It was truly heartbreaking. You could feel the emotions and the angst between them, and you so badly want them to be together...but at the same time, it's so dangerous and impossible. I'm fully convinced Cassie has a way out of it so they can be together but I'm foreseeing a hell of a lot of angst between the two of them. Like Emma at the end of the book, I mean...that's so not going to end well and it's going to hurt my heart. 

It's such an interesting angle on the romance, and there's been mentions before of how it's forbidden and I had a feeling Cassie was going to go there one day, but she's completely blown me away with the romance and all the obstacles to it. Emma and Julian's relationship both romantic and otherwise just feels so natural and I loved their banter, but this one's going to hurt like a b***h. 

"This is about me, not you. I am sick of you."

Speaking of romance and ships....there's so many ships to ship in this book. I don't even know what to ship. I have one ship but then Diego shows up and I'm like...NO I SHIP YOU AS WELL I CAN'T HAVE TWO SHIPS FOR THE SAME PERSON. Honestly, I have no idea who's going to end up with who, but there are so many good ships, with so many good things to them that you kind of end up shipping them all. Although I'm currently torn between two ships and hoping the next book will help me out a bit. Actually thinking about it...that's a lie...I root for one slightly more than the other! I don't think any of them are going to be all sunshine and rainbows any time soon! 

While I'm talking about characters and ships...the pure amount of pterodactyl style screeches I emitted while reading was ridiculous. Why?  Because, as most predicted, we see a fair amount of some of our favourite characters from the other books. I got so many feels it was insane. So many. I mean every mention of events from other books, or every time a character was mentioned had me squealing, but then a character would actually appear and I'd be out of control with my feelings, shall we say. We get some incredibly awesome updates on characters and their relationships and what's been going on with them, expertly threaded in to the plot. 

We also get some flashbacks to events that show us more of not only the characters in this book, but characters from previous books that I thought was a nice touch. They broke up the narrative and added to the story to round it out and give you more information on a past event, than just throwing it in the dialogue. You get the characters feelings, and thoughts as well. I'm fairly certain they're scenes we haven't seen before, but I didn't re-read CoHF so I could be wrong. Each has such a significance to the story of this book and the characters, and is always there at the right time to fit with the narrative and where the story is going. 

I love the multi POV's, letting you know more about the characters and really get to know them, as well as their motivations and thoughts. Their opinion on other characters and so on. We get mostly Emma but I LIVED for Julian's. The changes are smooth and keep with the flow of the book, each character has a distinctive narrative. Each narrative adds something to the story, and t the characters and it's just perfectly done. I liked how Julian's in particular had a tendency to have a more artistic narrative, art terms and colours and so on. It was a nice touch! 

Predictably, the plot is very complex. There's a tonne of different threads that all come together and are woven in to the book, there's a load of plot twists and turns and surprises to keep you guessing. Some that make you laugh and cheer, some that make you cry and some that make you want to throw the book if you could bear to part from it. There's plenty of action and mystery, I feel like this was like...CSI: Shadowhunter Edition. A kind of murder mystery with Shadowhunters and demons and so on, but that might just be me being weird! 

Cassie spends a while setting up the book, and then the end portion of the book...it's just plain explosive. There's more shocks than the rest of the book so far, mixed in with all the action. And when I say shocks I mean, staring open mouthed at the book, and not sure if you want to cry or be angry or both. Honestly, Cassie's ability to throw something at you out of the blue, something you'd never even imagined is like her super power or something! As well as writing so much pain and angst but still leaving you wanting more! Lady Midnight is also expertly tied to the other books in the series, I love how Cassie links all the books together in subtle ways as well as more obvious ways, it's always fun to stumble across a link and get all excited about it! 

Cassie's set up for the next book is flawless, there's so many threads left, as well as new ones woven in right at the end. The ending itself is so heart breaking, and it's not going to go well in the next book. I could envision all sorts of things happening in the next book and then I read the epilogue and my brain just completely blanked except for the words "Oh f****" in giant capitals flashing like a neon sign. I can't even with the wait for the next book, seriously you guys! 

Lady Midnight is a completely, and utterly brilliant opening to what's going to be an explosive and shocking new trilogy. Cassie brings to life not only the shadow world, but Los Angeles itself and you find yourself right there with Emma and co. It's 669 pages, an incredibly huge book...but you still didn't want it to end. All the intricacies to the plot, that we loved in the other books are present here, along with plenty of links to the other books. Lady Midnight is full of surprises, it's funny, it's heart breaking, it's got a fantastic pace, a brilliant set up. There's plot twists all over the place that you won't see coming. You just need to brace yourself. Lady Midnight will make you feel the full range of emotions, including making you want to throw it, scream and cry and rage a little bit. It's PERFECT. 

The wait for the next book is less perfect. However, there's a nice little surprise at the book of the book I believe. It lessened the pain for me momentarily before I was like "WHAT DO YOU MEAAAAAANNNN?!". I'm warning you all now...take a day, whack a " do not disturb " sign on the door, hoard some supplies, and get this read in one go. I had to put it down and it was really, really hard. 

If any of you have read Lady Midnight, I NEED to discuss this book, so for the love of the angel, DISCUSS IT WITH ME! Comments, Twitter, GoodReads, Tumblr, wherever. I just need to discuss! 

Books I'm Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving guys! 
I'm not American, and therefore don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I do have American relatives and around this time of year I always end up contemplating what I'm thankful for! I recently did a photo challenge day for "thankful" and I thought it would be a nice idea to do a post of books that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, and there are quite a few for various reasons, so I've tried to narrow it down a bit! 

1. Harry Potter
I really do try not to use this for EVERY post I do, but it's so hard because it's such a huge part of my life! You've probably all heard the story from me, you know, I always read a lot as a kid, but Harry Potter stepped it up a notch for me really, I really got in to reading through it. It was the first time I experienced eagerly awaiting the next book in a series, and the first time I went to a midnight release. I remember going at midnight to get Deathly Hallows and starting to read it immediately, having a nap basically and then getting up and finishing it. 

2. The Mortal Instruments & The Infernal Devices
Again, I'm fairly certain I've mentioned this before in one guise or another but it's also been a huge part of my life. I actually stumbled across Clockwork Angel at the library and ended up immediately going and buying my own copy, and then the first three Mortal Instruments books. I stumbled across these at a rather....blah time of life. I was in a reading slump, I wasn't as in to it as I used to be. I was still reading but I didn't have that "OMG have to read, the feels" kind of thing. There was no passion and this brought it all back. Not to mention rocking up to a festival and meeting friends of a friend and immediately bonding over these books, and fingerling about it and basically meeting one of my best friends. We all read Clockwork Princess together in one night and it was glorious. 

3. The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings
I came to this sooooo late, like the films had been out for a while, I hadn't even seen them and then one day I just had the urge to watch them....and I loved them. Being the bookish person I am, I then immediately went and bought the books and started to read them, except for The Hobbit which I'd had on my shelf and hadn't really started it. These books basically got me in to fantasy which got me in to a lot of other books that I love that I probably wouldn't have picked up without reading LOTR! 

4. The Hunger Games
I have a confession to make...I had the books...but I didn't read them until I had seen the first film. Sorry guys! I ended up reading all three in pretty much three days. These books, I can't even. So perfect, so many feels and I'm kind of including this because I just saw the final film the other day and it gave me feels and I was just kind of so amazed to be involved with the wait for films and the excitement, it was like Harry Potter almost hahaa. No but this was the first Dystopian book I had read and I ended up reading SO MANY good books because of it! 

5. The Princess Diaries & The Mediator
Okay so these two are my favourites, but pretty much every Meg Cabot book got me through my teenage years. Either with pure escapism, or the humour or in some cases with some sort of advice or something that I could take from the book and use in my own life to sort a problem. Made those years a bit more enjoyable! You have no idea how excited I am about a new Mediator book coming out! Not to mention the Princess Diaries one that I STILL haven't read! 

6. The Covenant 
So, I stumbled across Half-Blood on Amazon, and of course, it was only published in the US so I have the original covers, and the books are a bit unwieldy if I'm honest, but I LOVED them! You all know I love mythology and Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, and this one was right up my street. I re-read this series, or the Lux whenever I need a pick me up. I actually didn't read the Lux until last year. LAST YEAR! I really do suck! Half-Blood was a gateway drug, I swear, I was hooked. Eagerly waiting for each new book in the series. I've read every single book of hers except for the ones she's written under J. Lynn and the Lux spin off book which I haven't bought yet...shhhh! I'm currently reading Oblivion and I'm just like....you know. I freaking love these books. They really do instantly lift my mood. I probably should have had this as number one but I didn't really do a ranking order just random!

7. Throne of Glass
These are just...I can't even. I got sent the third one to review, and I already had the other two on my TBR, so I finally got around to reading them all and I just fell in love straight away and they have such a place in my heart. The fandom, admittedly did have a falling out over Queen of Shadows but still. The story, the richness of it. It's like eating a really nice, rich slice of chocolate. You never want it to end, and you're savouring every bite, and then you're gutted because you scoffed it too fast. Perfection. 

8. Shadow Falls 
This is a series I always rave about, but no-one else seems to have really read. It's kinda creepy, what with all the ghosts, but it's got everything good you love in a book. It's one I really am due a re-read of to be honest, it's been a while! I've got the last two books of the spin off trilogy to read, everyone was going mad about the ending of the second book so I decided to show some self control for once, and wait until the final one was out to read it! I read these at a really crappy time in my life, and just got completely lost in them. 

9. Jane Eyre
I read this at school for my English GCSE. Never before had I ever read a classic. Well. I'd kind of read Dracula and The Secret Garden but it was more of a "it's free with the paper, and I have nothing else to read" kinda thing and I don't think I actually finished Dracula. So, this one was the first classic I read all the way through and actually liked. I read ahead of the class and everything and got way too in to the essay for the coursework. If I hadn't read this at school, I probably would have no classics on my shelf and wouldn't have read any others! 

10. The Diviners
THIS SERIES. There's only two and the sequel was out this year and I re-read Diviners and oh my god. I get SO pulled in when reading Diviners that I end up swaying towards a Diviners style when doing makeup and getting dressed and everything. I go full 1920's it's insane. I even went crazy for the Lair of Dreams review and made a playlist with all the songs and a few other finds, to go with it. These genuinely suck me in the entire time I'm reading and they're so decadent and kind of creepy and just completely glorious and I was really falling out of love with Historical kind of books and then BHAM. Historical setting AND kids with powers AND  a ship that I ship so hard I'll probably be emotionally compromised if they don't work out. 

What books are you thankful for?!