Review: Breaking the Rules

My Rating: ★★★★☆

     I've been a huge fan of all Katie McGarry's books, they have a special place in my heart. I read all of them and fell in love with the characters. I lived with them, cried and laughed with them, but mostly of all, I loved with them. So naturally, I was extremely excited when I heard that Echo and Noah will have a second book.

     Breaking the Rules is really sweet. Echo and Noah are back, and they're stronger and more mature. I think it is important to note that their evolution was notable from the beginning, given the fact that at times I felt like I was reading about two whole different characters. Sometimes I barely recognized them, but most often than not I was still reading about Echo and Noah.

     I think that this book is emotionally a bigger and heavier experience thanPushing the Limits. I also think that I preferred the first book over this, but still, I loved this one nonetheless. It was a bit frustrating at times, I have to admit. 

     Sometimes, Echo and Noah would just start fighting over such small, unimportant things that it made me realize how emotionally charged they both were. Noah, I think, was practically just waiting for Echo to realize that he was scum, making bad choices every now and then just to give her reasons to leave him.

     Echo, however, was an amazing character all the way. She stood up for herself, but she also tolerated Noah's little outbursts like a pro, like few girlfriends could probably tolerate from their boyfriends. She proved that she has grown immensely as a character and I thought that the author wrote her character with extreme care.

      Surely enough, there were ups and downs throughout the whole book, which took place entirely on a road trip. I also really liked the little part where Isaiah and Beth joined the story and the whole crew was back together. However, unlike previous books, this book was entirely Echo and Noah's. I thought that it was really nice. A sweet and romantic read, I recommend this book to all of those who have read the previous books!

Review: The Fall

My Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

     I was extremely excited to read The Fall, especially because lately I kept seeing and reading about it everywhere. The synopsis seemed interesting, the cover is nice and it is labeled a horror book. I don't usually read horror books but I absolutely love horror movies, therefore I was excited to read such a book.

     However, my enthusiasm was cut short. This book was awful. I didn't like it one bit. I think that it was the worst book that I have ever read. It was way too long and much too boring. To make myself absolutely clear, nothing happens in this book. Absolutely nothing.

      Meet Madeline Usher, who lives in a haunted house. A house that lives under a curse which practically forces her to live there, without ever being able to leave. And that's about it with this book. Basically, everything that happens in it is Madeline saying "this house is haunted", "this house is cursed", "I cannot leave this house", "I should not upset the house."

     I can't even begin to say how frustrating it is. I don't even know why I read it all. I guess that I kept expecting and hoping that something would actually happen, but nothing did. Madeline also has a brother, Roderick. They are twins, but he doesn't seem to believe or be affected by the house too much. Can you believe that the most interesting thing about this book is that there's an almost incest idea in it?

      I am extremely disappointed. I must say that when I started reading it, I was pretty pumped up, thinking that this book will be awesome and that it will make the hairs on my arms rise. It did not. I don't even know why this book is categorized as horror, because I think that even the story about the big bad wolf that stalks a little girl is scarier than this.

     I am stunned that I actually managed to finish reading it. I really regret wasting my time on it, but I guess not all the books that you read are good. I honestly don't recommend reading this book to anyone. I think it's best that you stay away from it. It's, unfortunately, a waste of time.

Review: Finale (Hush, Hush # 4)

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

     I'm going to go ahead and just say that Finale was better than its unworthy predecessor also known as Silence. But don't get me wrong, this book was about as good as that meal that you don't like but you're constantly forced to eat by your mother and you do it just to satisfy her. Who was I trying to satisfy while reading this book (or this entire series, while we're at it)? God only knows.

     All is well in Nora's world. Her big, bad daddy is dead - at her hand, mind you! - and she unexpectedly became leader of a big ass army, the Nephilim, responsible of leading them to war against fallen angels and getting them victorious on the either side. Just how convenient is that? And so cool! What could go wrong in putting the fate of hundreds of Nephilim in the hands of a seventeen year old girl who just learned that she's also descending from a bloodline of Nephilim?

     So that's about everything that's going on in this book. During about 3/4 of this book, all you'll get is Nora struggling to accept her Nephilim origin, battling the urge to gulp down on devilcraft, an almighty drink that makes her extremely strong and powerful, and trying to become the leader of this army, because she and her mother will otherwise die, thanks to the oath she swore to her dying (real) father. Doesn't this all sound like a soap opera? On top of it all, everyone in this book is Nephilim. Every single one, with the exception of Nora's mom and maybe the janitor in her high school.

     Moving on, everyone in this book is unbearable. Nora, Vee, Dante, at times even Patch and Scott. Let's not even mention Marcie, because unbearable is her middle name. And, because this is the final book, the conflict must be solved. And it is, in the last few chapters of this book. Literally. It all comes down to burning some feathers and when that fails, going for the most obvious way: slaughter between two supernatural races. Afterwards, all is well once more in Nora's world. And she and Patch may even be together for a little while!

     With all this being said, I am extremely pleased and happy to say that I finally finished this series. I don't know how I made it to the end, but I did and I am so relieved. I was so ready for it to be over. This series was, unfortunately, a major disappointment in my reading experience. As much as I tried to like it, I couldn't. I honestly feel like I've wasted too much time reading it and I think I can safely say this is one of the worst series I've read this year.

Review: Silence (Hush, Hush # 3)

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

     I don't know how to say this gently, so I'll just say it: this book was awful. I absolutely hated it. I really, really don't want to be mean but I just couldn't bring myself to like this book one bit. It was exasperating! I literally wanted to scratch at my eyes and rip my hairs out every time I read a chapter.

     First of all, the good things about Silence. I have to be honest and solemnly thank the author for making this a fast read, otherwise I don't think I could've been able to finish this book. I'm not kidding. Thank the heavens that the writing style was easy to follow and that the overall action was extremely easy to read.

     Also, let me just point this out: thank God that there wasn't a love triangle! That's about the only good thing about this series, overall. Love triangles are usually cheap, corny and frustrating and this book didn't have it, which I can only praise it for. 

     Now, moving on, I must say that I was frustrated during 3/4 of this book. Really, memory wipe? Okay, that's actually pretty cool if you think about it. But, really, Patch would rather let Nora mumble alone in complete darkness - or, silence, if you wish - than fight for their future and fight for her? Granted, Nora is a terrible person but still. Patch swore up and down that he loved Nora and that nothing would keep them apart, and yet, here he was ready to just let go of it all. 

     I'm honestly getting mad just writing this review. Seriously, we're book 3 into this series and I don't know if there were 100 pages combined of Nora and Patch actually being together, without fighting or "letting go" of each other. This is not okay, not at all! I've said it before and I'll say it again - drama is alright. Everybody likes it, everybody wants to read a little of it and maybe even shed a few tears. But this book just went over the top. And don't even get me started on Vee - worst bestfriend of all times.

     On the other hand, I have mixed feelings about the action. The truth is, this book didn't keep me interested too much, which is why my mind kept slipping when reading it. Therefore, I don't really remember much of what happened, except the basics. I know that at times I felt like nothing was really happening. However, things changed a bit towards the ending and it all felt a little more fast-paced. 

     To sum this all up, I'm not going to pretend that this isn't a fit of rage where words start pouring out of me. Yes, I am very mad with this book. Yes, I am also very unimpressed and still wondering how on earth I was able to finish it but mostly, I'm wondering what would make someone want to read the final book after reading this one?

Review: Crescendo (Hush, Hush # 2)

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

     When I read a series, I usually expect the second book to be at least somewhat better than the first one but this wasn't the case with Crescendo. I really tried to like this book - this series, to be honest - but I feel completely on the outside when it comes toHush, Hush. Everyone said it was an amazing series but it really didn't get to me at all.

     So, the initial conflict is gone, everything is well in Nora's life and she and Patch proceed to live a normal life, happily in love like two teenagers. Um, nope, wrong book. That's what you would expect from a book like this, no? And maybe that's exactly the reason why the author chose a different path for this sequel. And I would be okay with that because everyone likes some dramatic twist of events in a romance, except this one was so poorly done that I literally rolled my eyes at least once per chapter.

     Marcie Millar? Seriously? I get it, everyone hated her from the beginning of the story and introducing her even further to the plot will make readers despise her even more, but why should she be involved with the fantastic/paranormal stuff that's going on in this book? It just didn't make sense at all. Of course, the author provided explanation for it but it still felt unnecessary to me.

     On the other hand, the character of Scott brought some interesting conflicts to the book. Even though he was very frustrating or even exasperating at times, I think that without him the book would have been much more dull. Naturally, it was obvious from the beginning that his involvement would be bigger than the author initially let on, thus I suspected from the beginning that he was supernatural. His introduction was interesting but predictable. 

     I was expecting something much more interesting from this book when I first started reading it. The fact that things got more heated towards the ending didn't make up for more than half of the book which was extremely boring. I wanted to see more of Nora and Patch but instead I got more of Nora/Scott and Patch/Marcie, which was not interesting. At best, it was frustrating, and not in the good way.

     Overall, this book was quite boring and frustrating most of the time but it did have some good parts. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good either. I guess that if you started reading this series, you could continue and read Crescendo as well but don't get your hopes up - this book won't make you turn page after page in the urge of finding out what happens next.

Review: Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush # 1)

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

     I started reading Hush, Hush at the beginning of this month, having meant to read it for quite a while now. I thought it was going to be amazing, mind-blowing, heartbreaking and whatnot. It wasn't. At least not for me. I don't know why, but for some reason I had really high expectations from this book, and unfortunately, they were not met.

     The first thing that I'm going to say about this book is that it reminded me a lot of Twilight. I read all four books in the Twilight series and I didn't really like them. Okay, maybe I did at first, but that's because I was like 14 back when I read them. Now I realize that they were terrible.

     Nora and Patch might just be one of the most exasperating couples in the history of YA books. I hated Nora and I liked Patch, but I still think that their romance was awkward. Everything seemed forced to me and I just couldn't enjoy it. I finished the book pretty quickly because it's an easy, fast read and I continued with the series with the hope that it will progressively get better but it didn't.

     I don't know what it is about Hush, Hush that makes everybody love it, but I seriously didn't. I thought that Nora was at times just horrible, I couldn't stand her for the majority of the book. She was weak, silly and insecure and no matter what she did, she always got in trouble. It was like she lacked a brain. I get it, the hot fallen angel must rescue you because that's romance and so on and so forth. Actually, no, I don't get it. What's with all this damsel in distress business?

     And I thought that things would change throughout the story but they did not. Also, Nora and Patch didn't have much interaction or romance development during all the events, but suddenly, at the end of the book, they were this amazing couple. No, I really don't get it. I think that it's a bit sad because this book had a potentially interesting plot, with the fallen angels and nephilim.

     So I'm going to end my review here because this is quickly turning into a rage session of writing and I didn't mean to be so mean. To summarize, I didn't think the book was awful, but I really didn't think it was good either. The only reason I gave it three stars instead of two is that there are worse books than this one out there that I already rated two stars.

Review: Deliverance (Defiance # 3)

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

     Deliverance is the final book in the Defiance trilogy. While I really enjoyed this series, the last book wasn't quite as good as the previous two, at least in my experience. It took me quite a while to finish reading it because I felt like the story kept dragging on at certain points instead of just developing further.

     What I disliked most about this book was Rachel. I get that she was weakened and that she felt awful most of the times, but in every few chapters she would pass out or come too close to giving up. I feel like the only way she got through was with the hope that either Logan or Quinn would come for her. My feelings were that she wasn't the same, strong character that we got in the beginning and we were instead left with a shadow of what used to be Rachel.

     I didn't care much for the characters in this book. Logan and Rachel felt plain boring and dull, there wasn't as much of Willow and Quinn as I would have liked, and the only one keeping things interesting was Ian. Which was why I was sort of annoyed and disappointed that, in the ending, Ian chose the "classic" exit: redeem yourself and tragically sacrifice yourself so that the others remember you as a hero and not for all the atrocities that you've committed. 

     What I also disliked about this book is the fact that Logan kept going on about how all that mattered to him was to save and get Rachel back, but it didn't seem to me like he was busting himself trying to rescue her. In fact, they only found each other towards the ending of the book, and that was also because Rachel managed to escape and try to make a run for it through the Wasteland, hoping that she will find Logan and the rest of their small team.

     One last thing that I'll complain about in this review is that there was a big lack of action AND romantic scenes. Because the author decided to continue the story with the two lead characters separated, the lack of romance was guaranteed from page one. The only thing that saved the story progress was the dual POV, which, granted, was there from the first book. 

     Overall, I was a bit disappointed with how this series was wrapped up. This book was not at all interesting and it felt completely boring and dragged on most of the time, but I rated it three stars because it wasn't, in all honesty, horrifying.

Review: Defiance (Defiance # 1)

My Rating: ★★★★☆

     A long time ago, I saw this book on a list here on Goodreads and I really liked the cover, but I forgot its title. Ever since, I've been looking for it and when I finally found it again, I was very happy and wanted to read it right away. So, when I first started reading it, I was expecting something entirely different. I usually prefer science-fiction over fantasy, and this book was more fantasy than science-fiction. Still, I was impressed with it and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would when I realized it was a fantasy book.

     Defiance is a fantastic dystopia, in which the society is under the control of a tyrant with absolute power. The main characters are Rachel, an eighteen year old girl whose father has gone missing, and Logan, one of Rachel's father's most trusted persons and Rachel's old crush. 

     When Jared, Rachel's father, doesn't return from his assignment, he is declared dead. But deep down, Rachel believes that her father is still alive and would do just about anything to prove it. Except that the Commander won't allow her to do so. When Rachel tries to escape, things become more complicated. Logan is assigned her protector, instead of Oliver, the second thing Rachel has to a father. Rachel is outraged, because she still resents Logan for his rejection when she confessed her feelings for him, two years earlier.

     The two of them have an unsteady relationship but will learn to settle their differences aside in order to work towards the same goal. Rachel realizes that she needs Logan and that he is the closest thing he has to a family, now that her father is gone. Logan realizes that he wants to be close to Rachel and is confused when he feels attracted to her, but quickly dismisses his feelings for her.

     When Rachel and Logan strike a deal with the Commander to venture into the Wasteland in search for the package that Jared failed to retrieve, Rachel believes she can finally go in search for her father and escape the Commander's cruelty. But the Commander has different plans and when he throws Logan into his dungeon, Rachel is forced to start her journey with Melkin, one of the Commander's most trusted men. 

     Rachel leaves on a journey of a lifetime, feeling confident that she will find her father alive and also being very sure of herself - what the Commander doesn't know is that Rachel has been trained by her father and knows how to fight, defend herself and survive in the Wasteland. Thus begins an excited story about finding yourself and escaping cruelty, all while trying to set things right.

     I really liked Defiance, and the only reason I gave it 4 stars is because I believe that the next two books will be greater than this one. I can hardly wait to finish this series and I really, really hope that my expectations will be met, because this book became very dear to me and I don't want to be disappointed by it.

Review: Panic

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

     I heard about Panic a long time ago but just couldn't get myself to start reading it, for no particular reason. But one day, I was bored and didn't know what to read and instead of going to my want-to-read list, guess what I did? I found a particularly popular book and decided that I should read that instead of what I'd been meaning to read for a long time.

     Bad decision! Why, you ask? Well, this is the first Lauren Oliver novel that I've ever read and I honestly didn't like it that much. I know that the author has released a lot of books, all of which are extremely popular and so when I heard that this book was written by her, I wanted to give it a shot. But I really, really, didn't like it all that much.

     The characters? I don't know how I feel about them. Sure, I liked Heather and the fact that she was so determined to compete and win for her little sister. I also liked how Dodge was playing for his incapacitated sister and for revenge against the person who got her that way. But I really felt like the other characters, Bishop and Natalie, were there for no reason. When I saw that the book was written in dual POV, which was Heather and Dodge, I thought for sure that the romance would be between the two of them, which would have made a lot of sense. But guess what? It wasn't. 

     I thought that the whole Heather-Bishop and Dodge-Natalie thing was forced. None of it felt natural or real to me, the romances were too fake and not at all detailed. I know that the book wasn't a romantic novel, but still. The whole romances felt rushed to me and I couldn't get myself to care about the characters all that much. Maybe it's just me, but in this sort of book, that is also a standalone, maybe the author should have focused on the game itself and left the romance out.

     Now, about Panic. It sort of felt like some kind of Hunger Games,Divergent combination to me. Even the game itself wasn't described in too much detail. It was all just teenagers competing for a 60-something thousand dollars in all sorts of ridiculous challenges that put their lives in danger, and occasionally some of them would die. Without spoiling, because it's obvious from just the dual POV, in the end all the competition consists of Heather and Dodge - only one of them can win. 

     All I can say about this book is that it felt a little too rushed, too little detailed and, all in all, unimpressive. I can't rate it any higher than two stars and it's not my intention to be mean. I just didn't like it. However, I do think that the author has a lot more potential and I'm somehow sure that her other books are better - which is why I'll still give them a chance when the time comes.

Review: The Elite (The Selection # 2)

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

     The Elite took me on an emotional rollercoaster and I have mixed feelings about it. While I did like this book, I didn't really like it quite as much as the previous one. The main reason was that I found America to be extremely annoying in this sequel. And the reason why she was so annoying was that she kept switching from loving Aspen to loving Maxon, and so on and so forth. 

     It was really frustrating that she was always jealous of the other girls and of Maxon getting closer to them while she kept pushing him away. As soon as Maxon seemed to get sick of her swinging moods, she went back to Aspen. I found it horrible that she always kept Aspen waiting and hoping for her just in case things didn't work out with Maxon. 

     The King was really frustrating throughout this whole book as well, but at least he kept things interesting, although everything was pretty much predictable. However, let's all take a moment and appreciate the King's presence, otherwise this book would've been completely pointless. I did, however, love the Queen. I liked her from the beginning to the end.

     So in The Elite, there's only 5 girls left in The Selection and the competition is tougher than ever. Prince Maxon seems to connect with the other girls more and more, America keeps losing attention due to her infuriating stupidity, and every girl begins to up their game in the struggle of obtaining the crown, the title and Maxon's heart. This book mainly focuses on the horrible love triangle that is Maxon-America-Aspen and I fail to see the dystopian setting, except for extremely minor parts where a little bit of conflict arises.

     After reading the first book and absolutely loving it, I was highly disappointed with The Elite. I was expecting more of the dystopian environment, more conflict but instead all I got was America's whole I-don't-know-who-to-chose drama. She kept saying nonsense about true love and whatnot, when in reality, she had no idea what love was. 

     Overall, I was not impressed with this book and I'm sad to say this, because after The Selection, which is now officially one of my favorite books, this was a major disappointment. I read it all because I don't like abandoning a series halfway in, unless that series is completely awful and horrible - and it's not the case with The Elite. I mean it was bad, but not that bad. Personally, I read this because I was curious as to where to story was headed and because I loved the first book. So I can only give it three stars and hope that the final book, The One will be more satisfying.

Review: The Giver

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

     I'd been meaning to read The Giver for quite a while now. I first came across this book when it was chosen as a monthly read in one of the groups I'm a part of but didn't read it that month as I had other books planned. The main reason I finally read it was that the movie they made after it was finally released and I definitely wanted to see it. But, most of the times, I like reading the book before seeing the movie, and so I started reading it a few days ago, before I go see the movie.

     I will admit to one dirty secret of mine: sometimes, when I read a book, I do tend to select it by the cover. So, when I saw the cover for The Giver I was a little bit intrigued. A Young-Adult book with the cover of an elderly man? Then I read the description and found out that the book is actually about a child rather than a young-adult, and so I put it on hold indefinitely. Now, after having finished reading it, I am glad that I finally did. 

     The Giver was an interesting book. The fact that it was dystopian gave it a plus in my experience. Although, I see that people loved it and thought it was amazing, I will not be as generous. I think it was an alright book, but I fail to see what was so extraordinary about it. I liked the story. It was somewhat different from all the other dystopian books. Granted, it seemed like an utopia at first, and maybe that's why the impact was bigger, but it felt different, in a good way. Maybe one of the things that bothered me was that the characters were children, and it's hard to imagine children in a dystopian world. But, the awful truth is that if the world ever goes wrong like that, age won't matter. I guess it's hard and unpleasant when you think about it.

     I can't say that I had a favorite character in this book, seeing as how short it was. There wasn't enough time, or better said, enough story, for me to develop strong feelings for any of the characters. However, I did like The Giver and even Jonas, presumably because they were the two main characters, the ones we got to spend more time with. 

     Even though I can't say that I loved this book, I really liked the concept of it. I thought it was different, fresh, innovative. I liked the idea of a world without color, without emotion, without the simple concept of love, pain, fear. I thought it was well written and well thought. I do not plan to read the rest of the series, at least not for a while, but I enjoyed reading The Giver as it was a very different reading experience for me.

Review: City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments # 6)

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

     City of Heavenly Fire, the final installment in this very overrated loved series, wasn't as good as City of Lost Souls, at least not in my experience. But, after a month, here I am. September 1st came with my decision to finally start reading The Mortal Instruments which, at that point, had already created huge hype around it.

     Twenty days later, here I am, having finished all six books. I expected much more from the final book, but I guess some things are just not meant to happen. I didn't like this as much as the previous book but at least it wasn't as bad as City of Fallen Angels. My problem with this book was that it was way too long and it felt too dragged at certain points. While it did have quite the action, I felt like it took forever until something actually happened.

     This must have been the book I spent most time reading in the series. I felt like it was never going to end. My biggest concern with City of Heavenly Fire was that there were like a lot of pages of build-up for something big that was going to happen and then a few pages where it actually happened. It was so frustrating! Now, all this, happened for a reason and that reason was the introduction of other characters. So, my question is, why did Cassandra Clare feel the need to introduce the character of Emma and all of her friends/family in the last book of her series? I felt like it was really pointless. I couldn't bring myself to care about this girl one bit. Of course, I still felt the same way about Maia, Jordan, Jocelyn, Luke, which is what I kept saying for the last three books in the series or the second trilogy.

     From my point of view, these characters kept dragging the story endlessly, and while I understand the presence of Jocelyn or Luke, seeing as how they were Clary's family and they were there from the beginning, I really didn't understand the point of introducing Emma in the story and giving her so many chapters in her point of view. However, I did like the story in this book. I think that I could have given it 4 stars instead of 3, had it been shorter and straight to the point. 

     When I first started reading these books, I thought for sure that my favorite couple would be Clary and Jace but it turns out that I actually loved Simon and Isabelle all this time. Clary and Jace's romance just didn't do it for me, their characters felt too childish and immature at times and I didn't care much for their relationship. But Simon and Izzy were amazing and I was furious at the end of the book, when Simon had to give up his happiness for the rest of them. Fortunately, it all worked out in the ending and he and Izzy got their happy ever after. I also really liked Alec and Magnus' relationship, I thought they were really cute.

     Having put all my thoughts into this review immediately after I finished reading City of Heavenly Fire, I can honestly say that I am glad that I 'm finally done with these books. While I did rate the previous book 5 stars, this series is definitely one of my least favorites. I tried really hard to love the books but I just couldn't see what was so amazing about them. I think that they were alright, but not extraordinary. I'm really not trying to be mean about the books or the author. I think her writing was amazing. I just didn't get hooked up with the story. I'm happy that I managed to finish The Mortal Instruments seeing as how I considered giving up at some point but I also don't think you're going to miss out too much if you skip this series.

Review: City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments # 4)

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

    The fourth book in The Mortal Instruments series has to be the worst. I keep reading this series in the hopes that something amazing will happen that would make me praise it like so many people do, but so far I have been disappointed. The previous book, City of Glass was slightly better than any of the other books and I managed to give it 4 stars. After I finished reading City of Fallen Angels I gave it 3 stars, but writing this review I had to reconsider and give it 2 stars because I really didn't like this book at all.

One of the first things that I have to say about this book is that it was boring. It took me more time to read it than any of the previous books in the series and at points I felt like it just kept dragging on when I really wanted it to be over. Now, I understand that this book was meant to be the first part in a new trilogy that continues the first trilogy (what?) but I think sometimes it's best if we let things end the way they were supposed to end in the first place.

Now, the first thing that came through my mind at the end of City of Glass was "Clary and Jace!" and so I was excited to read this book and see how things progressed with the two of them. Guess what, they only ever got worse. I tried, Itry so hard to like these books, I try so hard to like Clary and Jace as a couple but I just can't! Jace got worse in this book for no reason at all. The author made him to be the strongest of them all and in this book he was so weak, so whiny, so very unlikable. Clary, as usual, had no idea of what was going on around her and she was just as clueless as ever.

Another character that genuinely got on my nerves in this book was Jocelyn. Don't get me wrong, I understand that she's a mother and her number one concern is her daughter but I just hated her. I never liked her from the beginning but after a point I realized I hated her, simple as that. I also didn't care much about Luke, Jordan or Maia so I felt like the introduction of their points of view was useless and boring.

I know that by now I must seem like a hater of this series. This is my fourth review regarding it and still I don't have many good things to say. So maybe I'm wrong and this series truly is amazing but I just can't see it. If that's the case, I guess I'm alright with it. I don't have to love a book just because the rest of the world does. And I mean it when I say that I really try to grow to love this series but I simply can't. I just fail to see what's so extraordinary about it. 

However, I grew to like Simon more in this book and I thought it was good that we got more of him, seeing as how so many people complained about his character. I liked that he was basically invincible with his Mark of Cain, and that made the things all the more interesting. In the end, I guess he was the hero, even for a short time, seeing as how he saved Clary's life and destroyed Lilith. 

All in all, I didn't like this book. At all. But seeing as how I read four books so far, I don't want to give up on the remaining two. I will read them through the end just because I don't like to start something and leave it unfinished. However, I really don't have high hopes from this series anymore. 

Review: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments # 3)

My Rating: ★★★★☆

     City of Glass, the third book in The Mortal Instruments series, originally meant to be the end of the series, finally got better than the previous books. There, I said it. I finally found a better book in the series and I can finally write a more positive review. I guess that it was worth the wait.

     One of the first things that I liked about this book was Clary and Jace. Obviously. You can definitely say that their relationship in this book was very intriguing, and some say it was even disturbing at points. But since I already knew that they weren't actually related - which is finally revealed at the end of this book, I actually enjoyed all those passionate scenes between them. Their relationship was pretty rocky in this book as well, and Jace was his usual jerk self, while Clary didn't know anything about anything, as usual. But those nice, intimate moments between them were worth it. And the ending finally paid off!

     Another thing I would like to note is that Alec became significantly better since the second book and it only got better in this book as well. He and Magnus were really funny and adorable at times, and I think that his different attitude towards Clary made me like Alec more. Izzy was her usual kickass self, and I loved her in this book as well. The new character, Sebastian, wasn't much of a surprise for me, unfortunately, because I already knew about him (I read some spoilers a while ago, without intending to). However, I was surprised when I found out that he wasn't actually Sebastian Verlac and was only posing as him. I thought that he had taken a false identity and went by that name now, but it turns out that Sebastian was a real person after all. His behavior seemed fishy to me from the very beginning. 

     Clary was a bit annoying in this book. She just couldn't keep her mouth shut about anything. After Jace told her that she was a disaster for him and the other Shadowhunters, I understand that she was hurt and everything but did that really mean that she had to run to the first person to come to her help? Clary was foolish enough to spill secrets to Sebastian, the kind of things that you wouldn't just tell anyone you just met. I also hate how she is so weak and everything. I mean sure, she has a great gift with runes but her lack of training drove me crazy, even in her final face off with Valentine. 

     But I can finally say that I liked this book! It was definitely better than the first two, more intriguing and more interesting. There was a lot of action, many interesting moments between the characters and decent conflicts that kept my interest during the whole book. I also liked the return of Jocelyn and her relationship with Luke. But I think what I liked most about this book is the reveal about Clary and Jace which all of us were expecting and the awesome ending. The only reason I didn't rate this book five stars is because I somehow expect it to get better in the next installment. Fingers crossed!

Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments # 2)

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

     City of Ashes continues Clary Fray's story after the recent events that led to the disappearance of her mother and the discovery (later) of her self induced coma. Upon having fallen for each other and after finding out that they are brother and sister, Clary and Jace's relationship starts to worsen. 

     So, like the previous book, this one wasn't that good either. I've heard plenty of people saying that the story got significantly better in this book as opposed to the first one, but that wasn't the case for me. In the beginning, it was still very, very slow paced and I almost had to force myself to keep reading it. Eventually, it got better but not much. 

     One of the main problems I have with this series and that has resurfaced during City of Ashes is that nobody ever seems to want to help Clary train as a Shadowhunter, which she just so happens to be, and then they all get angry and complain when she gets attacked and they have to save her. Especially Jace. I mean, come on, you don't want her to be part of this world but she automatically becomes part of it, and then you get angry when she can't defend herself without training that you refuse her? 

     Also, I didn't really like Jace in this book. I understand that he was very frustrated to have finally fallen in love with a girl only to discover that she was actually his sister. But that doesn't mean that you have to be an asshole about it. Clary was having a tough time about it as well, but she didn't take it out on him like that. Jace became annoying and whiny in this book and that was very unlike him.

     On the other hand, I didn't really like the whole Clary and Simon thing. Sure, it's the biggest cliche of all times, the two bestfriends finally falling in love with each other and starting a relationship. But I don't feel like that was the case in this book. Their relationship didn't feel genuine at all to me and I thought that Clary was almost forcing herself to love Simon. I'm glad that they decided to remain friends in the end because their friendship is one of the greatest things about this series.

     However, there were things I did like about this book. For instance, Magnus Bane is quickly becoming on of my favorite characters in the series. He's really funny and a big help to the Shadowhunters at most times. I also liked the addition of the Inquisitor, not because she was nice, which she obviously wasn't, but because it made things a bit more interesting. Her personal vendetta sure did screw up a couple of things but at least it made the plot intriguing. Also, I liked Jace's "sacrifice" when Simon had to turn and I definitely liked the final battle with Clary, Jace and Simon facing Valentine.

     City of Ashes was probably as exciting asCity of Bones and I didn't love this one either. I guess it's just not meant to be. However, I want to finish this series and so I will keep reading the sequels and hopefully, they will get better.

Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments # 1)

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

     I was very reluctant to read this series as first. Why? Because it has vampires and werewolves and while I used to read a lot of these books when I was younger, at some point in my life I grew so sick of them that I really couldn't be bothered to read anything with vampires and werewolves again. Meanwhile, the hype for this series kept growing stronger and I found myself wanting to see what it's all about. So I discovered that there was a movie made after this book and I decided to watch it. Bad move! Why? It's easy. Not knowing what this book was all about, I really enjoyed the movie.

     I started this series last week and when I finished reading City of Bones, I was very confused. The book and the movie are nothing alike. It's like two completely different stories. No wonder the movie flopped, which is sad really because three books in, I kind of want a series of movies for these books. Anyhow, as I was reading this book I kept searching for similarities between the novel and the movie and I found few. But the story seemed interesting enough, so I carried on.

     City of Bones is a very interesting book. The protagonist, Clary Fray, finds herself in the middle of a world she never knew existed. Shadowhunters, Downworlders, Angels and Demons. Clary never thought any of this was possible before, but after recent events she seems to think otherwise. One night, Clary witnesses a murder in the local club where she and her best friend, Simon, were going for fun. But when she realizes that neither Simon, nor the rest of the people in the club, seem to be able to see the murderers, she begins to question everything around her. 

     Odd things continue to happen to Clary after the events at the club and eventually, she meets Jace. Jace is the Shadowhunter that Clary saw commit the murder that night at the club. After being attacked by a demon, Clary finds herself in the company of the mysterious boy who insists on taking her to the Institute, where he and other Shadowhunters live under the guidance of a man named Hodge. Eventually, Clary begins learning new things and the most important of them all is that the world she thought she knew is not what it seems. 

     Overall, I liked this book but that's just it. After hearing all the amazing things about the series, I really wanted to love the books. I wanted them to be shelved with my favorites. And I really tried to love 
City of Bones but honestly, I didn't. Maybe one of the reasons was that I had already seen the movie and so the major plot twists weren't major at all. I'm not sure, but I really didn't find this book as extraordinary as everyone makes it out to be.

     I don't even know for sure how I felt about the characters. There were times when I liked Clary and times when I didn't. I actually liked Simon and I really don't know why so many people keep complaining about him. And Jace? Well, even though I found him pretty badass and funny, and his sarcasm was one of the best things about this book, Jace is a jerk. The way he acted with Clary for most of the book, before he fell in love with her, was just horrible. I loved him and I hated him.

      Also, City of Bones was really slow at times which made it kind of boring considering how long this book is. The characters are definitely likable in a weird way, as in even if they're annoying or mean, they make the plot interesting. So, even though Alec seemed like a jerk for most of the book, he was interesting because of his loyalty for Jace and his sister. Isabelle was likable from the very beginning because who doesn't love a badass chick? 

     That being said, City of Bones wasn't a great read but it definitely wasn't a bad one. I'm glad that I decided to give the series another chance and kept reading the sequels because things get more interesting in the following novels. So, if, like me, you read this book and thought meh, I definitely recommend checking the sequels at well because they might surprise you in a good way. They definitely surprised me.

Review: Desire (Brightest Kind of Darkness # 4)

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

     Brightest Kind of Darkness is one of the first books of the genre that I have read and I loved it so much that I was extremely curious to continue reading the sequels. It shortly became one of my favorite series. Nara is one of my favorite protagonists of all time so I like reading and experiencing her story. When I finished reading Destiny, I thought to myself what kind of a cliffhanger is that? And it was an epic one, at least from my point of view. And so I was very excited to hear that a fourth book, namely Desire will be released.

     However, my excitement quickly faded. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to buy this book as soon as it came out and that resulted in me postponing it endlessly. Finally, about a month ago I got my hands on it and I was really happy to get back to the story. But by that point, I was missing a few details and the hype of finding out what happens next. 

     In the fourth book in this series, Nara and Ethan are finally together in the long run. We get to see them live their lives as normally as they can and we get them see to spend pretty much all of their time together. And while that is awesome, because I love Nara and I love Ethan and I love Nara and Ethan, that's pretty much all that happens in this book. There is no real conflict, not much drama and certainly not a lot of action. Sure, there are a couple of demons making their life hard every now and then but nothing too serious.

     I guess that the author wanted to show us a glimpse of Nara and Ethan's romance, since all the previous books have had bigger conflicts and a lot more action and now she wanted us to see them spend their lives together. But because of that, the book felt pretty boring to me. I am really sad to say this because I really was expecting a lot more from this book. I kept reading it and telling myself surely something will happen in the next chapter but, unfortunately, I kept getting disappointed with each chapter. 

     However, I have to say that I did like Nara and Ethan getting closer and their relationship growing stronger. And while I did find the majority of the book pretty boring, I did think that the ending was awesome. When I finished Destiny I thought that was the mother of cliffhangers but I was wrong. Thiswas the mother of all cliffhangers. And so, because this book was a major disappointment for me, I lost much of my interest in this series. However, I am planning to read the final book when it comes out, just because I love Nara and I want to see how her story ends.

Review: Fifty Shades Trilogy

     Like I said a while ago, I have a couple of reviews pending. I have been thinking whether I should make this blog post or not and, finally, I decided that I will. I know that when I first created my blog, I specifically mentioned that I would only post about Young Adult books and I have. But every now and then, I like to read other kind of books, namely New Adult or Adult books, but that rarely happens.

     Lately, there's been a huge hype concerning the controversial trilogy of books that we all now know as Fifty Shades written by E.L.James. The opinions differ: there are some who loved those books and others who keep saying that they are complete garbage. I resisted the urge to read them for so long and then, when news of the movie surfaced, the internet exploded again. There were articles, news and posts about Fifty Shades everywhere. Finally, I gave in and decided to read the books. I have decided to post a review for the entire trilogy and not for each book. Keep in mind that these books fit in the Erotica and BDSM genre when you read my review.

OVERALL RATING: 2.5/5 

 

• Book One: Fifty Shades of Grey; my rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Book Two: Fifty Shades Darker; my rating: ★★★☆☆
• Book Three: Fifty Shades Freed; my rating: ★★☆☆☆

     Anastasia Steele  is a literature student whose life is about to change completely. When her friend, Kate, gets sick and can't make it to a very important interview with Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc CEO Christian Grey, Ana feels forced to go instead, for the sake of her friend. But Christian Grey is nothing like Ana has ever expected him to be. Not only is he very powerful and rich, but he is also young and very handsome. In the beginning, Ana finds him intimidating but most of all, intriguing thus developing a mysterious attraction towards him all of a sudden. When she walks out of his office, Ana is convinced their paths will never collide again but Christian finds himself drawn to her and they meet again.

      And so begins a very strange relationships between the two of them. While at first, Christian tries to push Ana away from him, he realizes he can't stay away from her and neither can she - so they start a relationship. But Ana eventually finds out that Christian is not who he seems to be; he secretly practices BDSM.. He can't be the boyfriend she wants him to be. But Ana can't let go of him no matter what - she continues to feel drawn to him. So Christian convinces her to sign a contract that will make her his submissive. Things seem to work at first, but eventually Ana decides that this isn't the life she wants. After many arguments and reconciliations, their relationship hits a breaking point when Ana realizes she can't take anymore - she breaks up with Christian and leaves.

      What follows is chaos. Neither Ana nor Christian can live without each other anymore but they also can't seem to live with each other. Eventually they make up and Christian promises to change for her. And he does and for a while everything seems to go great for the two lovers. But Christian is too controlling and too overprotective of Ana, at times treating her like an object that belongs to him, and Ana is too weak to stay away from him even if she doesn't approve of his ways. As a mysterious new character comes into the story, everything changes. Ana's new boss, Jack, seems to be a decent man at first. But he turns out to be a creep and that often makes an argument for Christian and Ana. 

     After many pages of the same nonsense, fighting and then making up, promises of change that are broken at every turn, obsessive Christian and whiny Ana who only complains but doesn't act, the two of them seem to work everything out when Christian pops the question. And so, Ana unexpectedly becomes Mrs. Grey and everything is alright between the two of them. Until everything goes wrong again and they keep having the same arguments over and over again: Christian's inability to open up to her, his habit of not telling her anything, his former lover Elena, Ana's creepy boss and her docile behavior. But it's a romance book so everything has to end perfectly, and it does. Which is a bit cliche and cheesy if you ask me, for this kind of book to have that ending.

     Overall, I found these books to be alright and nothing more. They weren't great, I don't know what all that hype was about but maybe I just prefer other kind of books and the trilogy wasn't really my thing. What I disliked most about these books is that Christian often treated Ana like an object, like she wasn't allowed to even think for herself, let alone speak and that Ana was so obsessed with him that she rarely objected at all. The books were a very fast and easy read but I don't feel like I have improved my reading experience at all after having finished them.