City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare

The fourth book in The Mortal Instruments series follows on the storyline from the original three books once our characters have returned from the Shadowhunter home country of Idris having defeated the evil Valentine. While I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that are stoked there are more books being written in this world that Cassandra Clare has created, I am not one of those super psyched people. Don't get me wrong I did thoroughly enjoy the trilogy that came before this book, but I felt that the story was done and I have happy to leave it there. This new extension and angle have put a twist on it all to keep it fresh but still lack a little for me.

Again having listened to this on audiobook I was truly disappointed by the two narrators, Ed Westwick and Molly C Quinn. The surprising thing, even to myself, is that I love Ed Westwick. I think he is amazingly talented and as soon as I heard him speak I was in a whirlwind trying to pin point where exactly I knew the voice from and when it clicked who it was I was so happy. However the excitement didn't last very long. I found that both narrators seemed to miss the beat and emotion of the text they were reading and their different pronunciation of names and places from all the previous books made me so furious that I found myself correcting them every single time throughout the entirety of the book. For me, this put such a downer on my listening experience, that I fear it has even dampened my feelings for the story itself.

This story took a long time to get anywhere and was mainly focused on the character Simon, who I thought was a little boring even if he is a downworlder now. Then once it did start to flow at a decent pace it felt to me like it was rushed with a few story lines being avoided so that there could be yet another book to conclude everything. The final few minutes of this story were so infuriating that it has made me seriously question whether or not I want to listen to the last book in the series.

There are good fun characters in this story, why didn't Clare follow them instead of making them bit characters who only appear when the main boring characters we follow need something from them. That especially would have made this post trilogy storyline a little more exciting and enticing. More Issy and Magnus to spice things up in the final instalment please.

City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare

This being the second book of a trilogy was quite surprising to me.Normally the second book doesn't really do a whole lot except set up the story for the third and final part of the story, and while it does do that it also has its own story that hold its own weight. I actually found this book to be more interesting that the first one. I'm not sure if that was because I already knew the characters or the world in which the story was written, or even if I thought it was just a better story. All I know is that I enjoyed it more, I felt like more happened.

Sure the story did jump around from character to character to follow all the story arcs that were going on, but there weren't too many to follow that you lost track of what was going on. Plus I am used to that sort of writing style from other books I read. The introduction of new parts of the 'downworld' was great and interesting and even fun. Having now brought these characters and races into the mix there is so much potential in what can be done in book three City of Glass.

Having a different narrator on the audio book made a large difference too. I found the reader of this book more involving and I didn't feel as though the book went for the full 12 and a half hours, whereas City of Bones dragged on.

Very interested to see where the story goes as I have many questions that need answers. Starting the third and final book tomorrow.

Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

This book had a lot of potential when I first heard of it, enough to make me buy it and want to read it. But then it sat on my bookshelf for the next 3 years. Each time I finished another book and had to choose my next one to read it always looked a little less enticing, especially when I read the back jacket. It has a blurb the similar as Twilight, where it doesn’t really tell you much about the book and so doesn’t pique your interest.

To be honest, what made me take it off my shelf and finally read it was the fact that the movie was coming out. I had to read it before I saw the movie, otherwise if the movie was bad it would deter me from reading the book to see if it was any better.

I started on it in the hope that I would remember the reason for buying it in the first place. The beginning was a little slow and seemed disjointed. I put that down to there being two co-authors on this book. Being as it was my first co-authored experience, I decided to try to not put as much emphasis on this as I normally would a disorganized novel. However it still did annoy me. Further into the book I was either more into the book that I didn’t notice as much or there was a better flow.

The story started to pick up and I grew to like the characters. Like, not love. I felt I didn’t get enough of them to love them; no history, no in depth explanation, no quirky humanising character flaws. But the story continued and I kept reading for its potential.

At some point after the middle something must have changed without me being aware, as I found myself wanting to continue reading when I really had to go to bed. The last quarter of the book was very good, it had a nice pace to it but I would have preferred the climax to be a little more long winded than it was. It seemed to me that the end was planned but rushed in it’s execution. More in depth descriptions would have been appreciated to make you feel like you were there, not just reading about it. That’s it, I felt for the whole book that I was reading about the story rather than experiencing it.

Then there was that ending, that last paragraph/stanza that made me so angry. It’s sort of the like the end of a big budget movie when you are satisfied with the story, but they add this little lose end in there to make a sequel possible if it makes enough money. Exactly how I felt about the ending of the book. It left me with a huge sour taste in my mouth. Not happy Jan. However I have found myself today researching the sequels and adding them to my to-be-read list on Goodreads. I just hope that they live up to the potential of the story.

Rapture - Lauren Kate

While this book did have an ending that was easy to spot from book 2 (Torment), it was still very entertaining and a great read. I sped through it very easily as it was written well and easily. All the characters I had grown to love over the last three books featured and all had their own part in the story. 

There was a slight twist near the end that I didn't see coming until just a little while beforehand, and that is just another reason to love this book and the author. Even when you think you have it all figured out, there is a little bit more to add.

Rapture neatly wraps up the series, while still leaving it open for tangent series to be made from it (which I personally would love to see happen as I enjoy the world the books are set in). Also what is great is that you don't have to have read Fallen in Love the novella 3.5 that come out after Passion but before Rapture to help tide fans over and it also gave more history into some of your favourite characters.

A solid 4 stars, great for a weekend read along with the entire series. 

The Maze Runner - James Dashner

This is a book that has been sitting on my nightstand for a while now. I thought the idea of the story was good, but it just never made it to the top of my pile. That is until Nadine read it and told me that it was amazing and that I had to. So as soon as I finished the book I was reading I pulled this one out and went at it. My first book of 2011 for my +11 in 2011 reading challenge, The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Boy am I happy I did. What a great book. You begin just as much in the dark as the main character Thomas, as he wakes up in a dark cold elevator. Then being introduced to a strange and heavily structured society of teenage boys surrounded by an ominous maze through which Runners search everyday for an exit. The catch is that the walls move every night. Along with Thomas, you learn that one boy arrives a month, every month, as it has always been. Until one day the elevator brings forth the unthinkable.....a girl.

Jaki's review from Goodreads

Wow, this book was pretty friggin good. I was thinking the whole way through, trying to work out the maze too. The I read the last paragraph and .... pow. I need to get the second book, and quick!

Out now in hardcover, The Scorch Trials.

 

Inside Out - Maria V Snyder

Trella was born a scrub. A nobody. Squashed in with a thousand other nobodies in the lower levels. Her whole life is devoted to cleaning the pipes of "Inside" so that the Uppers can live perfect, hassle free, uncrowded lives. Or so the scrubs believe.

When the latest Prophet arrives in the lower levels spouting stories about Gateway, Trella is not in the least bit interested. But her friend Cogon falls hook, line and sinker for the

tales. Trella wants nothing more than to climb back into the pipes away from everyone, but is compelled to get the proof needed to prove the prophet, Broken Man, is a fake and save Cog the heart ache of more false hope.

Craziness ensues pulling Trella along with it as she becomes the unwitting face of a rebellion.

Explore the wonderful and intricate world Maria V Snyder has created with Trella as she works her way through the pipes into areas not known to both Scrubs and Uppers alike.

Jaki's Review

This amazing story has a similar flavour to Stephenie Meyer's The Host as both stories are set in a small dystopic world that you get to know very well through the main characters

adventures. Trella is a fantastic main character. She has great depth and qualities that most people will be able to identify with. While not perfect, Trella is flawed, as we all are. She has low self worth, as do all the Scrubs, droned into them from the Pop Cops who maintain order in the lower levels. She is not content with her place in life and is reluctantly ready to change that.

A very good well rounded read, and just remember there is a sequel coming out in May 2011. Outside In.