Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Release Date: August 31, 2010

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Magic is more dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosse the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld, where vampires, warlocks, and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, who are members of a secret organization called the Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa’s power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by--and torn between--two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm’s length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

I’ll say this now, and I’ll probably say this again in this review but, I love Cassandra Clare and the stories she writes. They are simply amazing and quite addicting. Every time I pick up one of her books I wanted to do nothing else then just sit there with it and read it until I’ve gone through it all, and even then I want more. The same thing happened with Clockwork Angel. Even before I started reading I knew I would love it just because of how much I had loved the three books of The Mortal Instruments series. To put it simply, Cassandra Clare and her story most definitely did not disappoint.

All Tessa Gray wanted to do was go to England so she could be reunited with her brother, the only family she had left. But when she gets there, things definitely don’t turn out the way she expects them to. After having been held captive for weeks by two women calling themselves the Dark Sisters, Tessa is rescued by London’s Shadowhunters and taken in at the Institute. From there, things don’t really get easier for Tessa. She still has no idea where her brother is or what is happening to her. With the help of new friends Tessa will learn that there are some things in life that are a lot more difficult and dangerous than they appear, like magic...and love.

There are so many good things to say about Clockwork Angel that I don’t even know where to start. Cassandra Clare has always, in my opinion, had an amazing story-telling ability. Every time I read one of her books I am transported to a whole new world. I feel like I can see and live everything the characters go through. And every time I never want to leave, that’s how good the world Clare creates are. There is something almost magical about her writing that captures you and keeps you prisoner until the story is over. And if you’re like me, you just want to stay there even when the story is over.

Clare also creates these amazing characters. I loved Tessa from the start. Even though she wasn’t always at her best, she almost always put others before her which is something I can’t help but admire. She was always blaming herself for things that weren’t her fault but that just shows how much she cared about the others around her. I especially loved to see how she grew throughout the story. At the beginning she appeared as a scared little girl, but by the end she would hold her ground and I was proud of her for it. I didn’t expect she would become someone this strong and I loved her for growing so much.

Will and Jem. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure yet if I’m Team Will or Team Jem. I loved both boys so much. Sure, Will would often get on my nerves but then there would be moments where he was the most caring and compassionate person and I just couldn’t help but love that about him. It’s easy to see he’s afraid of opening up but he would just gain so much if he did. I have big hopes for Will in the future, mostly that he’ll learn to open up and not be scared to get close to people. Jem was just so caring and gentle in everything he did, it was so hard to picture him being a Shadowhunter and seeing him in the middle of battle. It was almost like he didn’t belong there. Seeing how much he cared about Tessa and how he was with her sometime made me wish I were Tessa. I honestly loved both boys and if I had to choose I would have a very hard time.

With Clockwork Angel, Cassandra Clare has once again written a magical story that will transport readers to another time and place whether they want to or not. There’s no use in resisting, this book will take you to places you never imagined were possible

Speak Loudly

As many of you may have heard, there is a recently published article (find the full article here) about certain YA books that is causing quite the uproar. Authors, readers and bloggers have been voicing their opinions on Twitter and their blogs about whether or not Dr. Wesley Scroggins, the author of the article, is right in suggesting the banning of these books. Obviously everyone is quite angry about this and I have to agree with them. People who work to ban books annoy me to no end.

I’ll be honest from the start, I haven’t read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson or Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler but they have both jumped to the top of my TBR pile. Even if I haven’t read either of the books, I know enough about them to know the accusations against them are ridiculous. Who in their right mind would call someone getting raped “soft pornography”? If this is how Scroggins views rape, then he’s the one with the problem. And when he mentions “drunken teens also [ending] up on the beach, where they use their condoms to have sex” in Twenty Boy Summer, I’m not sure where there actually is a problem. Would he rather unsafe and unprotected sex be advertised?

I honestly don’t understand why some people think they can ban books and no one is going to say anything about it. Who do they think they are, believing they know what’s appropriate for some people to read? This man is obviously deluded if he thinks the teens who read these books don’t know about issues of rape, sex, and drunken parties. Even if they didn’t affect me directly I knew all about them. Just because I read about something doesn’t mean I’m immediately going to go out and do what I just read about and I’m sure most people feel the same way. It’s really naive to think that people are that easily influenced.

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with books that are more explicit or graphic. If you don’t want you or your kids to read them, then don’t but don’t do anything that’s going to stop others from reading them because that’s just wrong. There are some great books out there that can explain things that parents don’t feel comfortable explaining or just don’t know how to explain. So many times I’ve found answers in books that I couldn’t find anywhere else. Even my parents turned me to books when they weren’t sure how to go about explaining something to me and I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. It would be really stupid to stop others from being able to go to books to get their own answers.

At least half, if not more, of the books I’ve read in my life could probably be banned for some reason or another. I also own many books that have been banned in parts of the world. But those are also some of the best books I’ve read in my life. So don’t ban books just because you’re not comfortable with them, you could be preventing someone from reading what could be their favorite book.

Think about this, are you really making people happier when you’re banning books? Or are you just making so many more people angry?

In My Mailbox (1)

For the first time I have decided to participate in the In My Mailbox weekly meme. In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. It's a post where we write about the books received during the week either for review, from the bookstore or contests and swaps.

(All links go to the books' Goodreads page)

For Review:

- What I Learned From Being a Cheerleader (Middle Grade) by Adrianne Ambrose + signed stickers

- Haint Misbehavin' (Middle Grade) by Maureen Hardegree

Thank you to Bell Bridge Books for both of these books and to Adrianne Ambrose for the signed stickers!

Won:

The DUFF: Designated, Fat Ugly Friend by Kody Keplinger

Thank you to ReadingTeen and their weekly Second Hand Saturday giveaways!

Bought:

- Losing Faith by Denise Jaden (I've already started reading it and am loving it so far!)

- Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

So that's what I got in my mailbox this week. What about you?

Book Blogger Hop (11) & Follow Friday (3)

It's that time of the week again. Another week has gone by and once again Friday has come, and with Friday comes the Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday.

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely Jennifer of Crazy-for-Books. Every week over 300 book bloggers hop from one blog to the other and discover new blogs. Everything I discover wonderful new blogs and meet lots of new bloggers who come by and visit my blog.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

IN HONOR OF BOOK BLOGGER APPRECIATION WEEK, LET'S TAKE THE TIME THIS WEEK TO HONOR OUR FAVORITE BOOK BLOGGERS AND WHY WE LOVE THEM.

This is kind of hard to do, there are so many blogs and bloggers out there that I love to go visit. I don't even know where to begin in choosing which ones to talk about here. I guess I won't limit myself to just one and will mention a few. I only just started blogging a little over two months ago so I don't know that many bloggers personally but there are still some blogs I love. So here goes:

- The Story Siren - basically she is amazing. I love her blog and her reviews are great. If I'm not sure about a book I can almost always go see her blog to get a better idea of if I would like it or not.

- 21 Pages - this blog essentially looks awesome. There are great reviews and posts about books but I first started loving this blog because of its look (yes, I can be that superficial).

- Flippin' Fabulous-A Reader's Record - this blog is actually quite new but already I love going to visit it just to see what is happening over there.

- Every Last Page - Danielle and I essentially started blogging about the same time and I originally found her blog through the hop. Since then I keep going back just to read her thoughts on books.

There are so many other blogs I could have mentioned, but I'll stick to those four for now. If I were to write down all the blogs I love, I probably would still be doing it by this time next week!

Follow Friday is also a weekly meme for book bloggers. This one is hosted by Parajunkee's View each week. I haven't been taking part in this one as long but so far I've met lots of wonderful people through this hop as well.

UPDATES

I have been back in classes for a week now and feel like all I am doing is reading about Communication, Political Science and Political Economy. I try to find as much time as possible to read books I can actually review and so far it doesn't seem too bad, but then again the school year has just started. I will try to post as many reviews as I can but posting more than one a week is going to be tough, some weeks just getting one out there could be difficult.

All this to is say that I may not be posting as much as I did over the summer but I will not stop, just slow down a little bit.

Enjoy your weekends!

Waiting on Wednesday (7)

Once again it's time for my weekly Waiting On Wednesday post. For those who don't know, Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely Jill of Breaking the Spine where we all share what upcoming book releases we are excited to get our hands on.

As some of you may have noticed from the last four reviews I have posted, I am now a huge fan of the Vampire Academy series. I have read the first four books and just need to head over to the bookstore to get the fifth. So going with the whole Vampire Academy thing I have going on right now, here is the upcoming release I am really excited for.

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy #6)

From the publisher:

The astonishing final novel in Richelle Mead's epic series.

Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate sacrifice. Now, with Rose on trial for her life and Lissa first in line for the Royal Throne, nothing will ever be the same between them.

So yeah, I am more than excited for the release of Last Sacrifice and probably will even be more so once I get my hands on and read Spirit Bound.

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead will be published December 7, 2010 by Penguin/RazorBill.