Book Thoughts: City of Bones

Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments #1

[[I wrote this when I was 15 and am importing it for archive purposes only, but I *am* keeping it, because it accurately captures how much I loved it -- in a very 15-year-old way.]]

Okay, so I finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare today and it was soooo amazing. I LOVED it with a capital L-O-V-E-D. It was hilarious and witty but also really serious and action-packed and adventurous and fantastical (fantasy-ish...I guess the word is fantastical anyway).

So basically it's this girl named Clary Fray and she goes to the Pandemonium Club in NYC with her best friend Simon and she witnesses a murder. Except that she's the only one who can see the murderers and the body disappears into thin air. The murderers are Shadowhunters - demon killers. They're really shocked that Clary can see them, and they want to take her back to the Institute - pretty much their home base in NY. Except then Clary's mother gets kidnapped by a Ravener demon, and Clary almost gets killed. The Shadowhunters - Jace, Alec, Isabelle, and Hodge - bring Clary and Simon to their Institute, and there's a whole lot of adventures and excitement and mystery and action and it was completely amazing.

Yes, I'm ranting. Just a little. But it was an AwEsOmE book!

And a couple of my favorite quotes...

Clary: “Those girls on the other side of the car are looking at you.”

Jace: “Of course they are. I am stunningly attractive.”

Clary: “Haven’t you ever heard that modesty is an attractive trait?”

Jace: “Only from ugly people. The meek may inherit the earth, but at the moment it belongs to the conceited. Like me.”

Jace: “I wish you’d stop desperately trying to get my attention like this. It’s become embarrassing.”

Clary: “Sarcasm is the last refuge of the imaginatively bankrupt.”

Jace: “I can’t help it. I use my rapier wit to hide my inner pain.”

Clary: “Your pain will be outer soon if you don’t get out of traffic. Are you trying to get run over by a cab?”

Jace: “Don’t be ridiculous. We could never get a cab that easily in this neighborhood.”

Jace: “My one true love remains myself.”

Dorothea: “At least you don’t have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland.”

Jace: “Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting.”

There are others, but some of them contain spoilers, and the whole novel is freaking amazing and I definitely can't post the whole novel, so...GO READ THE BOOK!!!!

Book Thoughts: Kiss Me Kill Me

Title: Kiss Me Kill Me
Author: Lauren Henderson

[[As you will notice, this is a fairly old review, one of the first I ever did. I stand by my love for the series, though!]]

My first book recommendation of the summer is Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson. I picked this one because 1) I just finished reading the sequel, Kisses and Lies, and 2) it's a fairly quick but riveting read - something you don't have to spend hours poring over but can still enjoy.

Kiss Me Kill Me is about sixteen-year-old Scarlett Wakefield. She's a gymnast, and she's not exactly in with the popular crowd at her school. She dreams about kissing Dan McAndrew, her secret crush - which, as long as she's on the outside, will never happen. Naturally, Scarlett is excited when she suddenly gets invited to a party with the popular crowd. Especially because Dan is there. And then all of her daydreams come true - she and Dan are alone on the terrace, and they share a magical, wonderful, perfect kiss.

Until Dan suffocates in her arms.

Everyone assumes that Scarlett is somehow responisble for Dan's death. She transfers to Wakefield Hall Collegiate, a prep school run by her grandmother, to get away from the press and the hatred of the other girls at St. Tabby's - where she finds an anonymous note telling her that it wasn't her fault. And so, Scarlett sets out to clear her name and find out the truth behind Dan's demise.

Kiss Me Kill Me kept me turning pages until I finished and then longing for the sequel (which, as I mentioned, I just recently finished - it was just as amazing as the first). A wonderful combination of dark mystery and the drama of prep school life, and one I would definitely recommend.

Book Thoughts: The Summoning

Title: The Summoning
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Darkest Powers #1

The Summoning is about a girl named Chloe Saunders. She's moved around a lot since her mom died, and now her life is finally starting to calm down. She goes to a special school for the arts and dreams of being a filmmaker. Her biggest worry is that she hasn't hit puberty yet, and all of her friends have. Well, it hits - and brings more than just the normal teenage-girl problems.

Suddenly Chloe is seeing ghosts everywhere. When dead people in her school start demanding her attention and she starts talking to people who seemingly aren't there, her Aunt Lauren gets her put in a special group home called Lyle House.

At first Lyle House isn't that bad. But as Chloe gets to know the other kids - Simon, Derek, Lizzie, Rae, and Tori - she begins to suspect that there is more to this home for troubled children than meets the eye. Lyle House has a dark secret, and Chloe is determined to figure it out. But that may be more dangerous than she knows...

The Summoning kept me eagerly turning pages, and the ending left me waiting desperately for the release of The Awakening. Kelley Armstrong does an excellent job with this series, and I recommend it to anyone looking for some great dark fantasy.

[[If you can't tell, this is one of the earlier reviews I wrote. I can now add that books 2 and 3 were just as great!]]