LITTLE UPDATE

Hello, hello, hello! I know I've been MIA for awhile and I apologize, but you know... Let's just say, life happened. Anyhow, I have been doing a lot of reading and listening to audio books, but not so much playing video games unfortunately. Here's an update on what I've read and listened to recently and I'll eventually review them more in depth.

Books:

 Loved it!

    It was okay

              It was pretty good.

 Loved it!

      It was okay.

 Loved it!

   Loved it!

Audio Books:                                          

 Loved it!

                It was pretty good.

                               I was disappointed by this book.

 Disturbing...

Nina xx

                                                                 

                            

Book Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

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

Synopsis: In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

Review:  Let me just start by saying that Forever was not as bad as Linger. The Wolves of Mercy Falls series was doing nothing for me so far and I didn't expect much for this book, but I actually enjoyed this novel by Stiefvater. It was definitely more action driven and the plot was  interesting! There are things that bothered me throughout the series, particularly the way people act when they found out ''wherewolves'' are real and the way most of the teenagers in this town seemed to know so much about science, chemistry and biology is just weird and a  bit to convenient. All of those aspects are definitely present in this book. Aside from that, I liked how time was a big part of the book, timing was everything. One would miss the other by seconds and it was so frustrating at times! I must admit though, my favorite characters weren't Grace and Sam but Isabel and Cole. To me, they felt real and believable (though the hole rock star thing kept reminding me that this was a story). I enjoyed reading about their rocky relationship and they both were full of surprises. Grace and Sam were...  they were dull and too soft and it got on my nerves. About the ending, now the ending of the series was satisfying for me, but I know not everyone agrees with me. It's pretty much all I can say without spoiling it for you guys. So overall, The Wolves of Mercy Falls  is not a series I would reread , I'm not saying I regret reading it but I do regret buying the books.   

Nina xx

Book Review: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

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

Synopsis: Once Grace and Sam have found each other, they know they must fight to stay together. For Sam, this means a reckoning with his werewolf past. For Grace, it means facing a future that is less and less certain.

Into their world comes a new wolf named Cole, whose past is full of hurt and danger. He is wrestling with his own demons, embracing the life of a wolf while denying the ties of a human. For Grace, Sam, and Cole, life is a constant struggle between two forces--wolf and human--with love baring its two sides as well. It is harrowing and euphoric, freeing and entrapping, enticing and alarming. As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?

Review: This review will be short and sweet because I don't have much to say about this book. It took me about three to four months to read it... Which tells a lot. I  didn't want to pick it up because it seemed nothing really happened in this novel except for the introduction of a new great character, Cole St-Clair. I've finished this book two months ago and I can't even tell you what was the plot or the story. The only reason I didn't quit on this series is because I already bought the complete trilogy and I don't like to waste my money, so I read it. I honestly think you could read the first and the third book and not miss anything crucial. This is just my opinion and the only way to find out if you'll like it is to read it!

Nina xx

Audio Book Review: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis: 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?

My Review:  For the third audio book, it was a different woman who read the story and it bothered me a little at first. I prefer when they use the same person throughout  the hole series, but eventually, I forgot all about it because the story was so good. City of Glass was by far my favorite book of The Mortal Instruments. The pacing was great, there where a lot of unexpected turn of events, there was drama, romance action, and comedy, I mean come on, what's not to love about this book! In the first two novels, I often thought Clary needed a reality check because she was childish, extremely impulsive and selfish at times. She caused so many problems and I was always thinking, why isn't there anyone who puts her in her place!?! But finally, someone did in book three yeah! And then Clary slowly became more responsible and rational and I enjoyed following her personnel growth through this book. I do not know if City of Glass was supposed to be the last book in The Mortal Instruments, but it could've been. Everything came together at the end and I would've been satisfied if the saga ended with this third book. If you haven't read the series yet, I do recommend it even though I didn't really like the first book, because it definitely does get better with book two and three. 

Nina xx

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