I'm currently:

Listening: Audio book City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Reading: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Playing: Bioshock (I know, I know! It's taking me forever to finish it...)

Craving: Poutine

Nina xx

Audio Book Review: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

***** There will be spoilers for the first book in the series, but none for this one! *****

Synopsis: 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.

My review: First of all, I was hesitant buying City of Ashes because I liked the first one but I didn't love it and to my surprise, I thought this book was a lot better than the first one. The story was read by another woman and I did like the way she told the story better . At the end of City of Bones, you learn that Jace is Clary's brother and I was so surprised. You see it coming but you think, there is no way the author is going to go there because they have such strong feelings for each other and they did kiss... But it went there and this is actually the thing that made me buy the sequel because I was just too curious to know what was going to happen in City of Ashes. Through out the hole book, I was screaming please let him not be her brother!!! They love each other!! And I know Simon is a very nice boy and would make a great boyfriend, but come on! He is the best friend that makes you think of a brother... In this book, there was action, romance, deaths, surprises, demons, blood, happiness, sadness, passion, I loved it! This series has become my guilty pleasure. I listen to it when I do my dishes, while I'm on the bus, and even at work sometimes! The story holds it self, there where no moments when I thought there were contradictions in the plot. It's not the fighting against Valentine and the ''mean'' Downworlders  that captivated me, it was more the relationships that developed between the characters that intrigued me. There are a lot of unanswered questions  in this novel and that is what makes you want to jump immediately to City of Glass, the third book in the series. I intend to read the hole series, but I heard the sixth book doesn't come out until 2014 and normally, I don't like to wait that long for books to come out and I wish I could make the five other books last longer, but now that I've started  The Mortal Instruments series, I just can't stop myself.

Nina xx

Book Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

 

******** There will be no spoilers in this review *********

Synopsis: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

My review for the first half of the book:  At first, I didn't love the story for  three reasons. The first thing was that the chapters were so short and in each chapter the narrator changes so you keep going from Grace to Sam, Sam to Grace, Grace to Sam but sometimes, the chapters were 2 pages and at times I couldn't remember who was telling the story which brings me to the second thing I disliked. For me, it took some time to feel like I knew the characters because you switch so fast of point a view that I felt almost detached from them. The third thing that bothered me was that I felt everything was going too smoothly. The people that learned the truth about the wolves seemed to accept it way to easily. When Grace finds out about Sam, she is way to calm to my taste. Yes, every teenage girl wishes a paranormal romance and imagine tons of scenarios but if I found out the wolf I cared about so much was actually a teenage boy , I would freak out like crazy. And a lot of people learn their secret and I remember thinking, how on earth did they kept that secret for so long and eventually, will the hole town know !?!  But then it got a lot better...

My review for the second half of the book: In the second half of the book, I finally felt like I knew the characters and felt for them. The story became more solid, there was a lot of action going on and I could not put the book down. I wanted so badly to know how it would end and let me tell you, I wasn't disappointed. I'm glad I didn't forfeit reading this book in the beginning because now, I actually can't wait to read the second and third book in the series.

Nina xx