City of Ashes

Summary: [I’m really lazy right now. So here’s the summary from the book] Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what’s normal when you’re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who’s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn’t ready to let her go—especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary’s only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil—and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings—and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

Summary: Ok, that’s a really crappy summary. It doesn’t even skim the surface of this book, but I’m too lazy to think of another one. All right, first I must make my claim that I am still in love with this series. However, I did not enjoy this book as much as I did its predecessor, City of Bones. In City of Ashes there are a few moments that Clare teeters dangerously on the line of fanfiction. One particular example of this is [SPOILER ALERT] when Simon becomes a vampire. I thought this was a ridiculous plot twist and a bit unnecessary, but I lived with it. When she revealed that he could stay in sunlight after drinking Jace’s blood [which by the way is a very obvious way of showing what Valentine did to his son, I think], then that plunged the event into fanfiction territory. Another example of this is Maia. As if we all couldn’t tell that something is going to happen between Maia and Simon. Great idea, (I mean hey I write a VampirexWerewolf story) but...very fanfiction-y.[SPOILER OVER] That being said, I did enjoy this book and I got very into it.

Like City of Bones, it is very fast paced and very in-character. It was amusing and witty—I was laughing out loud at many points in the book. There were plot twists that, again were a bit fanfictoin-y, but enjoyable in the least. I’m still fighting for Jace and Clary to not be related and I really don’t think they are. This book just strengthens the argument. Heh, and if you want to talk about a cliffhanger the ending of this book is most certainly one. I’m very eager, along with I'm sure all of the Mortal Instruments fans, to go pick up City of Glass to see what happens to our beloved Jace and Clary.

Rating: 4/5

Reviews from the Pros:

“Hold on tight for a smart, sexy thrill ride.”-Libba Bray

“A gorgeous fantasy that’s so good, it’s dangerous.”-Holly Black

Inkdeath

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
Summary: [This is taken from the side of the book—there is no way I can summarize this book] Ever since the extraordinary events of Inkspell when the enchanted book Inkheart drew Meggie and her father, Mo, into its chapters, life in the INkworld has been more tragic than magical.
The fire-eater Dustfinger is dead, having sacrificed his life for his apprentice Farid’s, and now, under the rule of the evil Adderhead, the fairy-tale land is in bloody chaos, its characters far be yond the control of Fenoglio, their author. Even Elinor, left behind in the real world, believes her family to be lost—lost between the covers of a book.
Facing the threat of eternal winter, Mo inks a dangerous deal with Death itself. There yet remains a faint hope of changing the cursed story—if only he can fill its pages fast enough.

My Review: I loved this book. Plain and simple, I loved it. Part of me can see why this book is classified as a children’s book and the other part of me cannot fathom it. It’s a children’s book because very simply this book is a fairy tale at its best. There are evil manipulative villains, noble hearted robbers, a fair maiden and her two princes, giants, fairies, and monsters. Although, if I were a child I would get nightmares from this book!

Anyways, as I said I love this book. I love it because it is a fairy tale it’s an amazing story and it keeps you turning the pages through the entire thing. I did like how it switched points of view because it was nice to see how all the characters took their points of views on things. That being said, I love how Funke weaves in the art of story making into an actual story. She seems to acknowledge how a story can sometimes take its own form and go on without an author’s consent. The Bluejay was one of my favorite characters and Mo’s dual personality is completely believable. Now here comes the but! The only thing I object to is that Meggie seems to fall out of the story. She has been denounced to staying at camp and waiting as her father does all the fighting. It’s a little disappointing in that aspect.
[SPOILER!] As for the Doria and Meggie thing? I am so happy! Farid was being a jerk-face to Meggie, so Meggie deserves Doria. I would also like to point out that in the back in the “An A-Z of the Inkworld” it says that Farid is “fond if Meggie” but Doria is “in love with Meggie”. So obviously she made the better choice. {Spoiler OVER!]

Overall, this book is absolutely fabulous. If you are really looking for a fantasy book that will just take you into its covers, it’s this one. You will be rooting for Mo and Dustfinger the entire time!

Rating: 5/5 I could read this series over and over again. I also love that at the beginning of each chapter there are quotes from famous books!

Reviews from Pros:

“...Funke's storytelling is as compelling as ever...” –Kirkus Review

Go pick up this book up it is a good story! Maybe not a world-changing read but a good fairy-tale/fantasy nonetheless. Now I’m off to read City of Ashes!
-She Who Reads A Lot