All Things Halloween Review - House of Earth and Blood

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, # 1)

By: Sarah J Maas

Publication: March 3rd 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing

648 pages

Genre: New Adult, Fantasy

Source: Borrowed from the e-Library

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Goodreads description--Half-Fae, half-human Bryce Quinlan loves her life. By day, she works for an antiquities dealer, selling barely legal magical artifacts, and by night, she parties with her friends, savouring every pleasure Lunathion—otherwise known as Crescent City— has to offer. But it all comes crumbling down when a ruthless murder shakes the very foundations of the city—and Bryce’s world.

Two years later, her job has become a dead end, and she now seeks only blissful oblivion in the city’s most notorious nightclubs. But when the murderer attacks again, Bryce finds herself dragged into the investigation and paired with an infamous Fallen angel whose own brutal past haunts his every step.

Hunt Athalar, personal assassin for the Archangels, wants nothing to do with Bryce Quinlan, despite being ordered to protect her. She stands for everything he once rebelled against and seems more interested in partying than solving the murder, no matter how close to home it might hit. But Hunt soon realizes there’s far more to Bryce than meets the eye—and that he’s going to have to find a way to work with her if they want to solve this case.

As Bryce and Hunt race to untangle the mystery, they have no way of knowing the threads they tug ripple through the underbelly of the city, across warring continents, and down to the darkest levels of Hel, where things that have been sleeping for millennia are beginning to stir...

I picked up House of Earth and Blood twice before, and I had the hardest time getting into the story. Bryce and Danica start off the book as party girls. I don't support drug use. Clubbing has never been on my agenda. Relating to these characters was difficult. People said to keep pressing on, but sheesh...at 800+ pages, you have to press on a LONG time before action picks up. So much of this book is world building. And world-building takes a long time. Thankfully, I got this on audio from the library. I can tell you that is the only way I made it through this story. That being said, I can see myself re-reading this book and actually reading it instead of listening to it. Now that I know what happens, I think I could dive deeper into it. But I just had to experience it in as quick of a method as possible to begin with.

So much happens! The gist is that a pack of wolves is slaughtered. Bryce is friends with all of these wolves. One was her best friend. And one was a guy she was dancing around the idea of dating. Bryce is a shell of herself for about two years after it happened. But then someone else in the city is murdered in the same way. And Bryce is enlisted to help backtrack her friend's last steps in the week leading up to her death to see if she can help find who the real killer is.

Hunt is an angel who was part of the rebellion that failed. As such, he's now a slave. The city's governor, Micah--an archangel--owns him and uses him to assassinate his enemies. Hunt hates being a slave, but he's offered a deal that will bring his debt to next to nothing. All he has to do is solve the murder of Bryce's friend and who is doing the killings now. Hunt was a police officer of sorts who was part of the investigation into the original murder. He and his superior, Isaiah, were first on the scene.

Hunt and Bryce start out antagonistic. They aren't really enemies to lovers, but they don't fully get along at first. It takes a while for each one to see beneath the surface level that the other is trying to portray. Of course, they grow closer as they work together. But can each of them really be trusted, or are they both keeping secrets?

The biggest side character is Rhune, Bryce's half-brother. Bryce is half human, half fae. Rhune is all fae and in line to the throne. Their father is the Autumn King. However, Bryce hasn't been claimed--both because she's only half fae and because she has little magic. There are also witches, sprites, chimeras, and other species. Rhune and Bryce used to be closer, but they have drifted apart from each other after a fight of sorts. Both hate their father. The Autumn King has specific designs and plans for Rhune as his successor. But Rhune's fortune told him that his path isn't what his father hopes it will be. Rhune is keeping that fortune a secret.

Honestly, there is so so much that happens, and I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. Not to mention that I won't really know what all pieces will connect until I continue the series. But Sarah J Maas is a master of plot and weaving all of the little pieces into bigger details over the long haul. I will definitely continue the series. Since I listened to this on audio, I don't have any quotes to share with you.

House of Earth and Blood gets 4.5 Stars. Language and some spice is present, but I think more innuendo is used than actual scenes in this book as the relationships are so new. Poor Bryce has been through so much. Have you read House of Earth and Blood? What did you think? Let me know!

This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.

Waiting on Lord of Shadows

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices, # 2)

By: Cassandra Clare

Expected Publication: May 23rd 2017 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

704 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Nephilim, Angels, Shadowhunters, Faeries

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Goodreads description--Sunny Los Angeles can be a dark place indeed in Cassandra Clare’s Lord of Shadows, the sequel to the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Lady Midnight.

Emma Carstairs has finally avenged her parents. She thought she’d be at peace. But she is anything but calm. Torn between her desire for her parabatai Julian and her desire to protect him from the brutal consequences of parabatai relationships, she has begun dating his brother, Mark. But Mark has spent the past five years trapped in Faerie; can he ever truly be a Shadowhunter again?

And the faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the demands of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late.

I don't usually feature a book 2 in a series before finishing book 1, but I am reading Lady Midnight right now, and I don't forsee any reason that I wouldn't finish it. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

World After - Review

World After (Penryn & the End of Days, # 2)

By: Susan Ee

Published: November 19th 2013 by Skyscape

320 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Angels, Dystopian

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

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Goodreads description--In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

World After picks up almost immediately where Angelfall left off. Penryn’s just waking up from being paralyzed by the scorpion sting. Raffe thinks she’s dead—everyone around her thinks she’s dead. And so when she wakes she’s pretty much treated like a freak who’s come back from the dead. It just so happens that Paige, Penryn’s sister, is also treated like a freak because of the surgeries that the angels did on her. And then well, Penryn’s mom pretty much is crazy. So that rounds out their whacky family.

And to add to the crazy, Paige can’t keep any food down. Penryn’s afraid of what exactly Paige might have a craving for. And as a result, Paige sets out on her own and Penryn has to go hunting her down again. In the meantime, Raffe is still trying to get his wings back from Beliel while keeping his new demon wings a secret from the other angels.

I have to say that I didn’t love World After as much as Angelfall because Penryn and Raffe are separated for the majority of the book. We all know that I’m a sucker for romance. I mean 95% of the books that I read I’m looking for that romantic relationship. So Penryn and Raffe not being together wasn’t as enjoyable for me to read. Penryn was lucky enough to experience some of Raffe’s past memories through his sword which is still in her possession. The sword is now bonded to Penryn, and as part of the bond the sword is determined to teach Penryn how to use her properly using some of Raffe’s memories as teaching exercises. This showed Penryn more of Raffe and only served to increase her feelings for him.

I really enjoyed the moment that they finally reunite, and I actually liked the fact that they didn’t just jump into “everything’s okay now” mode because these two still have a lot to work out between them before they can have a true relationship. I loved seeing the trust and dependence that’s already built up between them. And I can’t wait to see how this plays out in End of Days.

Favorite quotes:

-It’s painful to see that people prefer a bad guy who looks like an angel to a good guy who looks like a demon.

-Sometimes, I just have to let go and let my inner Mom out.

-“A true warrior would have retrieved her sword first before doing personal business.” “I’m all about personal business. Every battle I have is personal.”

World After was a good middle book for a trilogy. It wasn’t nearly as good for me as Angelfall because of the amount of time Penryn & Raffe spent apart, but I look forward to that not being the case in End of Days. I don’t know that the overall storyline progressed much in World After, but I wasn’t annoyed or frustrated through the entire reading of it either. World After gets 4 Stars. Have you read World After? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on The End of Days

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

End of Days (Penryn & the End of Days, # 3)

By: Susan Ee

Expected Publication: May 12th 2015 by Skyscape

344 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Angels, Science Fiction, Dystopian

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Goodreads description--End of Days is the explosive conclusion to Susan Ee’s bestselling Penryn & the End of Days trilogy.

After a daring escape from the angels, Penryn and Raffe are on the run. They’re both desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes inflicted by the angels on Raffe and Penryn’s sister. As they set off in search of answers, a startling revelation about Raffe’s past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all.

When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other?

I just posted my review of Angelfall this week. My review of World After is set to publish on May 7th. So it just made sense for End of Days to be my Waiting on Wednesday pick this week. What are you waiting on? Let me know!

Angelfall - Review

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, # 1)

By: Susan Ee

Published: May 23rd 2013 by Hodder and Stoughton (first published May 21st 2011)

326 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Angels, Dystopian

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

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Goodreads description--It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain.

Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.

When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back...

Angelfall has been on my TBR list for years. Due to the release of End of Days, Angelfall and World After were both available for review through NetGalley, and I snatched them both up. And I’m so glad that I did. I hate that I didn’t get End of Days, but you know how that goes.

Angelfall starts out with Penryn, her sister Paige, and their mother. The world has been taken over by angels. The angels have caused a lot of destruction and a whole lot of death. So when Penryn & family witness an angel’s wings being cut off by some other angels, it surprises everyone that Penryn jumps in to save the angel. Really she’s hoping to cause a distraction so her mother and sister can escape. While Penryn is trying to save her family, Paige is trying to save Penryn which results in Paige getting kidnapped by one of the angels responsible for cutting the wings off the other angel. What happens is that Penryn ends up with this dying angel on her hands, her sister is kidnapped, and her mother is missing.

Angelfall reminded me a lot of Under the Never Sky. For one, Penryn and Raffe would consider themselves enemies—or at the very least, not on the same side at all. Yet, they end up on this journey together. Penryn is trying to find her sister, and Raffe needs to get his wings sewn back on. Enemies become unlikely, temporary allies. Having someone’s back on a journey because you need them for some task or end result leads into some gray territory. And when someone saves your life (multiple times), I imagine that you can’t help but form some kind of trust in them.

Raffe and Penryn run into a camp of resistors trying to organize the remaining human race into a unified attack against the angels. Raffe has to keep his angel identity a secret, but it’s hard not to root for this camp at the same time.

I loved the slow build to Penryn and Raffe’s relationship. Penryn isn’t sure where they stand for the majority of the book. They have this tenuous relationship. Trust isn’t solidified. And I loved it. The uncertainty of how the other person feels makes for one of my favorite story dynamics. Raffe knows what happens to angels who fall in love with humans, and even more than that, he’s witnessed what happens to the humans who fall in love with angels. So now you add forbidden to the potential romance mix. Raffe can’t let anything happen between them no matter what either of them thinks or feels.

Of course there’s more going on beyond the romance in the story. What’s happened to Paige? Is she still alive? And if she is, will she ever be the same? Why did another angel cut Raffe’s wings? And why are the angels the bad guys? Will the Resistance make any headway?

I will say that I don’t love the idea of angels being the enemy. There’s a difference between angels and demons and for an angel to be agnostic is just beyond incomprehensible for me. So I found that to be slightly annoying. And then similar to the direction of Supernatural, it seems like God is MIA. I realize that this is a fictional story, but I’ve been less and less tolerant to anything that feels irreverent to me lately.

Favorite quotes:

-Forget plans. I don't have enough information to formulate a plan. My instincts will have to do. And my instincts tell me that Raffe is mine.

-"My friends call me Wrath," says Raffe. "My enemies call me Please Have Mercy."

-I just want to be an ordinary girl living an ordinary life.

-It seems to be our fate to continually pass our debt back and forth.

Angelfall was such an enjoyable read for me. In the middle of the biggest reading slump I’ve experienced since I started blogging, Angelfall was a light in the dark. It was easy to get through and a quick finish for me. I enjoyed the slow build of Penryn and Raffe’s relationship and that they even still have much further to go. I enjoyed the other mysteries going on as well. I look forward to continuing the series and will be picking up World After as soon as possible. Angelfall gets 4 Stars. Have you read Angelfall? What did you think? Let me know!

From the Ashes: City of Glass

From the Ashes is a feature here at Somewhere Only We Know where I re-read books that I read before blogging and finally review them.

City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, # 3)

By: Cassandra Clare

Published: March 24th 2009 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

541 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Angels, Demons, Vampires, Werewolves

Source: Personal Library

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Goodreads description--To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of the New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.

City of Glass is going to be hard for me to review without spoilers. First off, the prior two books have had the major conflict going on about whether Jace and Clary are actually brother and sister or not. This was my biggest concern going into City of Glass the first time through. I wanted so bad for them not to be siblings. I mean for one if they turned out to be siblings I was going to feel slightly grossed out—more than I already did just reading about them potentially being siblings. I can’t tell you which way the book went. I can only tell you that if this aspect bothered you then just keep reading.

My first reading of City of Glass was years ago. I’m talking 6+ years ago. I’m surprised that I’m just now re-reading this series as it has been a favorite of mine for quite some time. But I do remember that there were aspects of City of Glass that I predicted fairly early on. I think one of the biggest twists was pretty easy to spot, and especially so since this was a re-read for me.

There’s so much going on in this book, and so many storylines have to come together starting from hints that were dropped in City of Bones and City of Ashes all the way through this book. Each character has a part to play and each part is of great importance. Alec and Magnus—while I like each character individually—officially annoyed me with this book. I guess truly Alec isn’t really my favorite at all. I enjoyed seeing Isabelle and Simon draw closer in this book. Even though this doesn’t spring into anything romantic at this point, I liked seeing them have a special sort of bond. All of the side characters: Luke, Amatis, Jocelyn, Sebastian, Maia had much to contribute to the book and the series up to this point. Each one feels fully fleshed out.

And of course we get more backstory on Valentine & Jocelyn—how she could even fall in love with a man like him. We find out more about the Circle. And we see why Jace and Clary have abilities and talents that no ordinary shadowhunter has. I liked that while Clary was involved in the final battle and saving the day, it wasn’t because she all of a sudden knew how to fight. Clary worked her magic in a way that was completely legit to who she was and what she can do.

There was one aspect involving Jace and a lake and a wish that I remember feeling like was too easy the first time I read this, and I can’t say I really felt any differently during this read-through. Especially considering the ending of Clockwork Princess.

***Highlight for spoiler: I do find it interesting that the major conflict throughout the first three books of this series revolves around Clary/Jace being in love with each other who they think for a period of time is their sibling. But yet when we find out that Jace isn’t Clary’s brother—instead Sebastian is—it still turns out that Sebastian has a twisted fetish about his sister in a very physical way. Of course we don’t know the extent of that at this point, but it’s there. End spoiler***.

I wish I’d taken notes on my favorite quotes, but since I was listening to an audiobook version this time through I decided not to worry about that. Audiobooks can be really hard to quote from sometimes.

All in all, City of Glass was a really good book. It was thought to be the series ender for The Mortal Instruments series until Cassandra Clare decided that these characters’ stories weren’t finished. I love how each piece of the puzzle from book 1, City of Bones, all the way through this book is tied together and means something. Very little is included that does not have a specific purpose. And even though I would have been happy with this book ending the series, I do think Cassandra Clare picks the right threads to pick back up and carry on with through the remaining three books. City of Glass gets 4.5 Stars. Have you read City of Glass? What did you think? Let me know!

10 Reasons Why I DNF'd Lailah by Nikki Kelly

Lailah (The Styclar Saga, # 1)

By: Nikki Kelly

Published: October 7th 2014 by Feiwel and Friends

352 pages

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires, Angels

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

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Goodreads description--The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.

On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely ally – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.

In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?

Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.

I made it about 30% into Lailah before DNFing it. I don’t DNF often, but I’m trying to get better at it. Not because I want to DNF more, but truly because I don’t have as much time as I’d like to read, and so I really want to focus on books that are bringing out all the good feels for me and not the frustrating ones. Let me preface this review by saying that my sister-in-law read and reviewed Lailah and really enjoyed it. She gave it 4 Stars. Here’s a link to her review if you’re interested in seeing a different opinion. That being said…here are 10 reasons why I did not finish Lailah:

1. The beginning was very confusing. It’s not that I have to have things figured out all the time, but during the action sequences in the beginning of the book, I kept feeling like the author was leaving out information. Like how a character makes it from point A to point B. I didn’t highlight any of these in my kindle so I don’t have any specific examples, but there were several times that I had to stop and go “wait, what just happened?”.
2. I was very confused about Lailah’s connection to Gabriel. I didn’t make it far enough into the book to find out what their actual connection stems from, but I did ask my sister-in-law. The prologue really threw me off and had me thinking some really far off ideas about Gabriel that was giving me the creeps. Even after my sister-in-law told me it WASN’T what I was thinking I still found that I couldn’t really find it in me to root for these two.
3. There’s at least somewhat of a love triangle. Now I will say that love triangles in and of themselves do not bother me…IF they’re done well. But like I said I couldn’t root for Lailah and Gabriel, I didn’t feel like I could root for Lailah and Jonah at this point either. The idea of a love triangle in this book was bringing about some major sighing from me.
4. Then there’s the fact that Lailah herself is WAY overly dramatic. (See what I did there?) She’s a bit whiny. You guys know the difference between drama and melodrama, right? Well Lailah fell onto the side of melodrama for me. Just her reactions to everything seemed over the top.
5. The name dropping—iPhone, Chanel, Dior, Mini Cooper, etc—was driving me bonkers. Anytime an author uses brand names, current popular television shows or movies, popular bands, etc…the book is automatically zoned for a specific time period and generation. And readers outside of this time period/generation will have trouble relating. Books like this will never be considered classics.
6. PLUS inconsistencies. There’s the fact that Gabriel gives Lailah an iPhone. She says (I’m paraphrasing) “You’re giving me an iPhone…that’s like the most extravagant gift anyone’s ever given me. I love it!” and then the very next moment he tries to give her his credit card for emergencies. Well now she’s all “I can’t accept that. I HAVE to pay my own way. Or at least pay you back.” And I’m like “Oh so you can accept the $600 iPhone, but not take the credit card?” Seriously?
7. Character stupidity. There are at least two pureblood vampires after Lailah and yet she’s like “I can’t stay here at your safehouse. I have to go back to work.” Because tending bar is so much more important than her life??? Oh wait…she has to pay her way. Maybe that’s why her job is so important.
8. More stupidity/inconsistencies. Gabriel and his group of reformed vampires live in a “safe house” yet Brooke has a PINK MINI COOPER? Because that’s inconspicuous. (I wish you guys could see my face right now.)
9. Plus there’s the “female” that keeps popping in to save Lailah. I want to read about characters learning to save themselves in the moment. Having some invisible or shadowed force or being constantly swooping in to save her from danger is just not that appealing. She, also, conveniently keeps forgetting to mention this female to Gabriel.
10. The writing in general. So this isn’t the worst writing ever. It’s not like epically bad or anything like that. The writing just lacks maturity. Nikki Kelly throws in a few too many adjectives and adverbs. Each sentence is packed with them. Instead of pulling me in, hooking me, and creating a desire to devour this book, I ended up getting pulled out of the story by the writing, feeling apathetic when I wasn’t drowning in frustration, and wanting to put this book down. I found myself highlighting passages in my kindle every page or so and making notes like “ugh” over and over.

And that’s that. It wasn’t awful, but Lailah definitely frustrated me. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t a win for me. There are others who have enjoyed it, so I probably just wasn’t the right person for this book. Have you read Lailah? What did you think? Let me know!

All Things Halloween Review - Passion

Passion (Fallen, # 3)

By: Lauren Kate

Published: June 14th 2011 by Delacorte Press (first published January 1st 2011)

420 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Angels, Demons

Source: Borrowed the paperback from friend, Paula (Thanks PB!)

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Goodreads description--Luce would die for Daniel.

And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn't need to be that way....

Luce is certain that something - or someone - in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime...going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel...and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history. Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames...forever.

Sweeping across centuries, PASSION is the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series.

I borrowed Passion from my friend Paula somewhere around 2 years ago! (More like 3 at the time of this posting.) WHOOPS! Super bad friend, I know. My bad. I was torn between wanting to finish this series and knowing that I wasn’t excited about this book in particular. I initially liked the idea of two people (okay one person and one semi-fallen angel) being soul mates, continually being reincarnated (or the human continually being reincarnated), and finding each other lifetime after lifetime; however, a couple of things have made this subject not as appealing as it once was. 1) Being a Christian sometimes I find it annoying that angels in fiction never seem to behave in reverence to God as I believe they would in real life. Obviously there are true fallen angels in real life, yet that is the difference between angels and demons. And my point being that there for a while it seemed like every “angel book” I read seemed a bit too rebellious and too far fiction for me. 2) YA Paranormal books where something supernatural brings the characters together yet the characters can still choose to fight their supernatural connection began to abound—at least in my own reading. Like the too far fiction of angels vs. demons, I began to question what the point was of having a supernatural connection to another being if those characters weren’t going to end up together. 3) I really hate time travel books. I’m really not 100% sure WHY I hate time travel books, but I’ve yet to read one where I didn’t find it annoying. So all of that sums up how I felt about starting Passion and why I put it off for so long.

Because it’s been so long since I read Torment, starting Passion left me a bit confused. I’m sure I still missed some connections between the previous books and this one, but that’s okay. I got the gist of the story. Truthfully on top of my other hang ups I’ve already discussed, Luce was beginning to get on my nerves with how much she was questioning Daniel and their relationship. Granted, Daniel was never really a fountain of information for Luce and often left her with more questions than answers in the past. But when you’ve lived thousands of years constantly being reincarnated and continually falling in love with the same person over and over again, how do you question that deep down. And also truthfully I skimmed a lot of Luce’s narrations. However, the further I got into the book and the more Luce learned about her past lives with Daniel, the more willing I was to dig in a little deeper instead of just skimming the surface. Luce learns some critical things about her love for Daniel and about his love for her, but it sure seemed like it took her a long time to learn them.

Daniel, on the other hand, I was more able to connect with. I can’t remember if he’s ever really had a narration separate from Luce in the previous books, but I felt like I was able to see him as a character much better through Passion than Luce. I will say that I liked the contrast between Daniel and Luce. Whereas Daniel’s love has continued to grow for Luce throughout each incarnation, Luce’s love for Daniel has had to begin anew each time. Daniel has all the information of lifetime’s past, but Luce is essentially a blank slate. Luce wants Daniel to share his information with her so bad, yet Daniel knows that doing so in the past has essentially caused her death and he wants to get as much time with her in this lifetime as possible.

I pushed myself to continue to read this one when I might have otherwise put it down because I wanted this officially read, marked off my list, and given back to Paula. That being said, if I needed to put this one down more frequently it probably would have resulted in a lower rating. Each incarnation that Luce or Daniel traveled back to was a bit of the same thing over and over. “Oh no, you’re dressed for the wrong time period. Must find you some proper clothes.” “Oh look, there’s your former self.” Watch from a distance or meld into your former self to experience everything first hand. “Oh look, there’s Daniel’s former self.” Make out. “Whoops, you died….again.”

Passion was better than I expected it to be. It wasn’t as bad in all of the areas as I expected. Lauren Kate’s angels and demons, even Lucifer, appear to have a reverence for God or at the very least, there seems to be certain underlying rules that were more true to life than many other YA paranormal fiction I’ve read in the past. Luce and Daniel remain true to their love for each other in every reincarnation which makes their supernatural curse bond serve a purpose. And while Luce’s travels to the past were a bit of an annoyance to me, I’m glad she was able to learn the lessons she needed to learn. Daniel’s trips back were a bit less frustrating in general.

Passion gets 3 Stars from me. I can’t say I loved this book, but it was more bearable than I was expecting it to be. And finally I can cross this one off my list and move on to the series ender, Rapture. Have you read Passion? What did you think? Let me know! *Side note, I really like all the covers for this series, minus this one. I’m not sure if it’s the girl herself or the way the cover was done, but she looks a bit fake in this picture. Anyone else see what I’m seeing?

This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.

Series DNF # 2

Alright guys…it’s time for another Series DNF post. I’m learning to lighten my TBR load by culling through the books in which I’m no-longer interested. While I still love to complete things (series included), there’s just not enough time in my life to read all the books that I want. And I’m purging the ones from my TBR list that I’m no longer interested in. These posts aren’t designed to put these books down at all. I’m sure these books have been wins for some readers, but I just haven’t connected. I don’t feel like I can fully let these books go until I do some kind of post about them. So here we are:

Up first…The Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I read both Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness, but Beautiful Darkness was like pulling teeth for me. But now it’s official. I no longer plan to finish this series. That means I’m DNFing Beautiful Chaos and Beautiful Redemption.

Next…Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. I know there are bloggers out there that just love this series, but by the time I made it to Fragile Eternity I was pretty much done. However, I’m just now finally writing off the remaining books in the series. DNF’d: Radiant Shadows and Darkest Mercy.

I wasn’t impressed with Hex Hall. Had I read this book 3-4 years ago I probably would have been a fan, but at this point in my reading career I’m just not. So Demonglass and Spell Bound are getting DNF’d.

I recently DNF’d The Scorch Trials. The Maze Runner wasn’t a complete bomb but wasn’t a complete win for me either. However, since I didn’t love The Maze Runner and I just wasn’t connecting to The Scorch Trials, I went ahead and decided to DNF the rest of the series. The Death Cure and The Kill Order included.

I totally thought I'd pushed myself through all of these books. I was so proud that even though I didn't love the series I had still managed to read them all (Crave, Covet, & Consume). But apparently another books was released earlier this year, and I have absolutely no desire to pick it up (Capture).

The following don’t need much disclaimer. I read and decently enjoyed book 1 in each of these series, but too much time has gone by since and I find that I no longer care much about what happens next, or I'm just not interested in pushing through them.

Angel Fire (Angel, # 2) and Angel Fever (Angel, # 3) by LA Weatherly (my review of Angel Burn)

Symbiont (Parasitology, # 2) by Mira Grant (my review of Parasite)

Witchfall (The Tudor Witch Trilogy, # 2) and Witchrise (The Tudor Witch Trilogy, # 3) by Victoria Lamb (my review of Witchstruck)

Invaded (Alienated, # 2) by Melissa Landers (my review of Alienated)

Demons (Seers, # 2) and Guardians (Seers, # 3) by Heather Frost (my review of Seers)

What do you guys think? Are there any books here that you would really suggest I push through? Do you guys like these kinds of posts? Let me know!

From the Ashes: City of Ashes

From the Ashes is a feature here at Somewhere Only We Know where I re-read books that I read before blogging and finally review them.

City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, # 2)

By: Cassandra Clare

Published: March 25th 2008 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

453 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires, Werewolves, Angels, Demons

Source: Personal Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

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Goodreads description--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?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

Despite The Mortal Instruments being a favorite series of mine, I have only read each book once—until now. I’m actually surprised that this series hasn’t gotten a re-read from me sooner, but until starting my From the Ashes and Upon Further Review features, I felt guilty for re-reading because re-reads didn’t benefit my blog any. Well now they do, and I think it is way past time for me to re-read this entire series. Here’s my review of City of Bones in case you’re interested in checking that out.

One thing that hit me while reading City of Ashes was truly how much of the details of this story I’d forgotten. While I remember the most major plot-points, I’d forgotten almost ALL of the little details. Usually with my favorite series, I know them backwards and forwards. But since I haven’t re-read this series until now and my original read through was somewhere close to 5ish years ago, I just don’t have this series ingrained as much as I’d like. I guess I actually forgot some big things too because I totally forgot that we meet Maia and Jordan in City of Ashes. I also forgot that Valentine had white hair. I mean I knew Sebastian had white hair, but I totally forgot about Valentine having white hair too. And while Jace’s sarcasm and wit is one of the things that stood out to me upon first reading, this time through, I was reminded how funny Simon actually is too.

One of the best things about City of Ashes my first read-through was wondering whether Jace and Clary would turn out to truly be brother and sister or not. I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t finished the series though. I remember being slightly sick to my stomach while reading City of Ashes for the first time because IF, just IF, they really did turn out to be brother and sister then that would be kind of gross. I was praying that they weren’t, because I didn’t think I’d want to read the series if they actually turned out to be brother and sister. And this was made even more awkward and uncomfortable the first read-through with how adamant Jace was that he didn’t care if they were brother and sister or not. Jace even tells Clary that they can be together anyway. And Clary bless her heart still obviously cares about Jace in a way that isn’t sisterly, but she can’t go there with him. She can’t disregard something so major just to indulge her desires. The whole thing is super awkward and the real driving force for me behind the first three books in the series.

Speaking of super awkward, Simon…bless him! Simon saw Clary’s feelings for Jace beginning to develop in City of Bones, but when it was revealed that Clary and Jace are brother and sister, he decides that it’s now or never to jump on the feelings that he’s always had for Clary. Obviously, Clary can’t be with her brother. So why not take this opportunity to step up and show her how he feels. While I won’t say that Clary was encouraging exactly, she definitely wasn’t discouraging to him either. She kind of let Simon take the reigns despite feeling a bit apathetic to the changes he’s bringing to their friendship all while knowing that the heat just isn’t there the way it was is with Jace.

One of the bigger things I forgot was the desperation that Jace feels. He’s so alone. He’s found out that his father is still alive, and he’s also a maniac set on destruction. He’s lost the possibility of being with the one person for which he’s developed the strongest feelings he's ever felt. While Clary can still be in his life, she can’t be with him the way he wants. And he’s lost his adoptive family as well. Although Isabel and Alec still have his back, Maryse has been cold to him since the revelation of him being Valentine’s son. Even Jocelyn who is supposed to be his real mother that he never knew he had is in a comma, and he finds that he just can’t connect to her. He feels like he’s lost and floundering. And I forgot how young he feels in this book. Jace even reaches out to Luke because Luke is essentially the only person left. His last option.

There were a couple of moments when I feel like having read City of Heavenly Fire things didn’t add up. Magnus makes a comment in City of Ashes about how he’s never seen one of the Night Children rise, but in City of Heavenly Fire we’re told that Magnus is the one who was there when Raphael dug his way out of his grave and offered him some donor blood to drink. Also, this one can probably be explained away, but the attack on the Silent City in City of Ashes doesn’t really explain how Brother Zachariah survived—apparently along with some other Silent Brothers—despite the statement being made that all the Silent Brothers were murdered by Valentine in this attack. That one was minor, but these are the kinds of things that bug me.

The scene at the Seelie Court is one of my all-time favorite scenes in the series. And if you have already read City of Ashes but haven’t read that scene from Jace’s POV on Cassandra Clare’s website then go read that as soon as you’re finished reading this review. I have no idea why that scene from his POV didn't make the final cut.

I find Cassandra Clare to be one of the most quotable authors that I’ve read over the last 5 years or so. So please bear with me while I share some of my favorites:

-"I don’t want to be a man," said Jace. "I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can't confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead."

-"That’s sweet," said Maia. "That he loves his sister like that." "Yeah," Simon said. "It’s precious."

-"And you don’t think we’re smart enough to know the difference?" asked Simon. "I don’t think you’re smart enough not to get turned into a rat by accident."

-“That you freed a possible criminal by trading away your brother to a warlock who looks like a gay Sonic the Hedgehog and dresses like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?”

-"I knew it," he said."You want to kiss me, don’t you?” (Jace to Simon)

-“You can close your eyes and think of England if you like.”

-“You shouldn’t have kissed me like that.” He had been leaning against the door frame; now he stood up straight. “How should I have kissed you? Is there another way you like it?”

-"You heard what the Queen said. She thought she was doing me a favor." ... "She wasn’t wrong."

-"It doesn't matter how many times you say it. It'll still be true." "And it doesn’t matter what you won’t let me say, that'll still be true too."

-"I remember you saying that growing up happens when you start having things you look back on and wish you could change. I guess that means I've grown up now."

-"Clary, I'm telling you he made his own decisions. What you're blaming yourself for is being what you are. And that's no one's fault and nothing you can change. You told him the truth and he made up his own mind what he wanted to do about that. Everyone has choices to make; no one has the right to take those choices away from us. Not even out of love.” "But that’s just it," Clary said. "When you love someone, you don’t have a choice."

-“Any uncle of yours is an uncle of mine darling sister...” –this one fittingly reminds me of Jamie and Cersie from A Song of Ice and Fire

-“I wish I could hate you.”

Like Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, there is so much that I want to discuss that falls into the category of spoilers. I don’t want to ruin anything for any readers that haven’t finished this series, so I’ll just say that I want to say so much more than I already have.

I feel like I’d be remiss without saying that I could do without the Magnus and Alec relationship. I’ve discussed how I feel about that before. I love each of the characters individually—especially Magnus—but the relationship doesn’t work for me.

City of Ashes is full of angst but the good kind. There’s emotion, forbidden and otherwise. I love the characters. I love the world building. And I even love the conflict, despite how awkward and uncomfortable it can be. City of Ashes gets 4.5 Stars. Have you read City of Ashes? What did you think? Let me know!