The Mortal Instruments (Urban Fantasy)

Kudos’s to New York Times Best Selling Author, Cassandra Clare. “The Mortal Instruments Series” was awesome. 5 stars! I just finished reading the last installment, “The City of Heavenly Fire.” She does an excellent job of tying it all together; referencing previous items or events. Everyone’s stories tie up and others are just beginning. Yes, there will be a new series and yes, I will be reading it.

“The City of Heavenly Fire” (* Spoiler Alert*)

A rune that appeared to Clary in “The City of Bones” reappeared to her periodically and it is what she used to contain the heavenly fire. And yes, she did finally lose her virginity.

There were a lot of unexpected events in the last installment. Of course Sebastian and his army were the villains. There was downworlder betrayal. Mia and Simon both had special moments; not together mind you. Of course good wins over evil, but evil is never done.

The downworlder betrayal will extend into the next series and I can’t wait. By the way, we meet Magnus’ father in the “City of Heavenly Fire,” but it definitely had a price. Also, Simon and Isabel finally DTR’ed; for it to be snatched away again. Read it and find out the details.

If I had to point out a flaw/con, for me it would be the oasis (my definition) in the demon realm. Besides moments of bliss, what was its significance? I was expecting it to be used for something special, for them to go back there after they realized their dilemma. 

Anyway, good book overall. I would definitely recommend.

“The City of Bones”: Movie vs. Book

Now, what I don’t understand is how such a good book could do so bad as a movie. Granted, I liked the movie when I 1^st watched it. It’s what motivated me to read the book; I had to find out if they were brother and sister. Since the movie was 1^st for me, most of the characters look the same in my imagination. Except for:

§  Magnus looking a little more Asian then movie betrayed.

§  Isabel looking younger and daintier then the movie betrayed.

§  And of course Valentine who has light hair (almost white) in the book vs. the dark haired Valentine of the movie.

Events and concepts are even changed/altered in the movie. Differences include:

§  Simon being forcibly taken in the movie as a bargaining tool for the cup vs. him turning into a rat in the book and then mistaken for a vampire and taken back to their lair by accident.

§  In the movie all 4 shadowhunters enter the lair to retrieve Simon, whereas, the book only has Jace and Clary entering the lair to retrieve Simon (who is still a rat). This is also were Raphael (important vampire) is introduced. He reappears in later books, but is never mentioned in the movies.

§  When the werewolves came to assist at the vampire lair, Clary stabs Luke, but in the book it is Alaric that she stabs

§  Also the motorcycle that is driven away at the end…That was supposed to be a vampire motorcycle identical to the one that Jace and Clary (with Simon in pocket) drove off of the vampire lair’s roof; yes, it flies.

§  The movie shows demons entering the Institute and the portal being there as well, whereas, the book has the portal at a different location; Renwick’s, I believe. The fight is at this location and the wolves fight forsaken not demons.

§  At the end of the movie, Clary has the cup in the storage card. In the book, the card disappears as soon as Clary removes the cup from it. The book also ends with Valentine still in possession of the Mortal Cup.

While I’m looking forward to the next movie installment, I hope that they improve the story line making it closer to the book with a lot less deviations; I only listed a few from “The City of Bones.” “The City of Ashes” is rumored to come out in 2015. Now that everyone has read the books the criticisms will probably be harsher. Like I stated earlier, I liked the movie until I read the book. Will I go see “The City of Ashes” when/if it comes out? Of course. I just hope that I’m not going to be disappointed. 

Image and excerpt from: http://www.cassandraclare.com/

Cassandra Clare writes urban fantasy novels for young adults centering on the adventures of the part-angel demon-fighting Nephilim (also called Shadowhunters). Her first series, set in New York, is called The Mortal Instruments. It’s a six-book series starting with City of Bones, followed by City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls. The sixth book, City of Heavenly Fire, ends the series. Her second series is The Infernal Devices, set in Victorian London: Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince,and Clockwork Princess. And the third Shadowhunters series is The Dark Artifices, set in Los Angeles, centering on the characters Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstairs from City of Heavenly Fire, five years after the events of that book.

Highland Werewolf Series (Paranormal Romance)

I recently finished reading USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author, Terry Spear’s, “Highland Werewolf Series.” While this is the first 4 books in this series, it is also included in her “Heart of the Wolf Series” as books 7, 10, 11 and 14 respectively.

Terry presents the best take on werewolves yet! It’s not time travel or historical, but it kind of gives you the best of both worlds; wolves  that age slowly so that they’ve lived over a few centuries and still hold to that way of life meeting modern-day she-wolves to mate.

I have to give her 4 stars. Once I started I wanted to finish. Book 1 leads to book 2. Book 3 has an 18^th century prologue. Book 4 introduces new characters and each book is stand alone. The endings do not leave you hanging. 

Each book is full of ancient castles, manor houses, kilted highlanders and even includes a ghost. On the flip side, they’ve included modern day appliances, cars and cell phones. The clans still live by their ancient codes and the main characters meet she-wolves that have adapted to modern-day society and lack a pack/clan of their own. The plots include the alpha wolf struggle to tame the alpha she-wolf.

If I had to claim a flaw, I would point out the enemy from book 1 stating that he set-up the MacNeill clan to lose money through investments. The problem is that in book 2, where the investor appeared, the investor didn’t know that they were a werewolf clan. There is the possibility that the investor didn’t actually know as they didn’t physically meet and the investor was just forwarded to them, but there was no mention of book 1’s enemy in book 2. That was an opportunity to tie it together that she missed.

I assumed that that book 4 would marry off the last quadruplet, but Terry introduces a neighboring clan with triplet brothers; marrying off the clan chief to the manor’s owner. The clan chief happens to be a good friend of Ian’s, from book 1, and his mate happens to be Ian’s mate’s best friend. So, of course, the MacNeill’s are not forgotten.

The 4 book set sold by Amazon features an excerpt from book 5, Highland Wolf Christmas. The focus returns to the MacNeill family and the last quadruplet. Of course I’ll be downloading that next. Good read. Would definitely recommend to all highland/werewolf/paranormal fans.

Picture and description clipped from:
http://www.amazon.com/Highland-Werewolf-Boxed-Heart-Wolf-ebook/dp/B00NT4ISQM/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416260851&sr=1-2&keywords=heart+of+the+highland+wolf

Book Description:

The Highland Werewolf Boxed Set contains the first four books in Terry Spear's Highland Werewolf series.
In Heart of the Highland Wolf a modern werewolf laird and a beautiful red female werewolf enter into an intrigue involving the laird's secretive clan, an ancient relic, and a romance novel. Has this wiley female met her perfect hero?

In A Howl for a Highlander the driven Duncan MacNeill has left his highland home to chase a thief into a tropical paradise. When he meets lone wolf and botanist Shelley Campbell on Grand Cayman Island, he'll discover just how tempting paradise can be.

Scottish Cearnach MacNeill and sexy little American werewolf Elaine Hawthorn collide, quite literally, on a foggy Highland road in A Highland Werewolf Wedding. Now they're stuck with each other while they wait for help to arrive, and it's going to be a delightful, steamy and devilishly funny wait.

She's never been to Scotland, but when werewolf Colleen Playfair learns she must spend a year and a day in the highlands learning to manage her new estate, she's up for the challenge. But she did count on the stubborn Grant MacQuarrie whose clan has been managing the castle for the last three centuries and will do anything it takes, including taking Colleen to bed, to convince her that nothing needs to change in A Hero of a Highland Wolf.

The Turning (Urban Paranormal)

Amazon Bestselling Author:
APRIL M. REIGN

“The Turning”. Ooooooo. The title sounds scary, but the book was not. I was expecting danger lurking around the next corner suspense, but only experienced the "what's going to happen next" suspense. Definitely not a thriller or a standalone book. Don't start reading unless you plan to finish the series because the ending leaves you hanging.

The prologue pumped me up. I wanted to read this book based on it alone. I have to break this book in thirds. The first third was slow; I continued just to finish. The second third picked up a little to the point that I wanted to know what was going to happen next. The last third was the juiciest.

This book was lacking something that I can't name yet as far as details are concerned. I haven't decided whether the lack was an amateur move or a calculated one. Too much detail could've made it corny; this way you have a little more freedom with your imagination. I can't complain too much though; Not sure I could've done it better. The author also did a good job of not giving everything away. She alludes to things, but you don't know exactly what it is until the characters do.

There is a bombshell that is dropped at the end though (I won't spoil it for you). Goodreads gave this book 3.54 stars. I'd give it about 3 stars. Book two promises to be better though; the action has already started!

Psst! Book one is currently free on Amazon…

Synopsis:

Apollo and Amaya Shelly are twins, living deep in the forest of Stockwood Washington and away from civilization. Raised by their father and under the protection of their leader, Maximiliano, Apollo and Amaya live what they consider a normal life with the Sanguis clan.

Three days before their 18th birthday, the twins discover that their “normal” existence is anything but normal: their father and the Sanguis clan are vampires. Worse yet, they learn that an agreement was made that would predestine them to become vampires on their special day.

In a chilling race against time, the twins uncover a secret that could destroy their lineage and alter their existence. Whether past or present, family or clan, the line between good and evil can easily blur. . .

. . . Especially when they are bound to darkness

(picture and synopsis clipped from http://www.aprilmreign.com/#!the-turning-series/c1kh4)