City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

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 (Barnesandnoble.com).

I totally love this cover, cool hair. So this is the second book in The Mortal Instruments (TMI) series and it was awesome. I would say that it wasn't quite as good as City of Bones but still really good.

Clary and Jace are still torturing us in this one as they are still bro and sis. What's up with that? Some really interesting thing happen because of it though! And we meet Valentine in this one. For some reason I really want him to be good. I know that he's done bad things but he's Clary and Jace's dad. I want it to be some mistake that he seems so evil. Just like I keep trying to figure out some way for Jace and Clary not to be brother and sister.

The ending had me in a vice and I had to immediately read City of Glass. This series really reminds me of the Harry Potter series but more adult. It's really good. It'll suck you in.

Overall: 5/5

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing—not even a smear of blood—to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . . (Barnesandnoble.com)

I have something really huge that I must say but before I do I'm gonna give a SPOILER ALERT.

WHAT!?! They are brother and sister!??! No flipping way! I can't believe this part of the plot, I refuse to believe it even. I am holding onto hope that Jace and Clary are not bro and sis. Come on!! How can you do this to us Clare? They tongue tangoed!! This is utterly unnerving. It's wrong and on top of that I just...ugg.

END OF SPOILER ALERT

Now that my rant is over...I thought the book was really awesome. I love how Clare set up the first chapter. I thought that blue haired demon was going to be one of the main characters and then he wasn't. I also really liked how the book started out with all these words and made up things that Clare created that I had no idea about until I got more into the book and thought, oh I get it. I would rather an author start a book out assuming I will catch on rather than taking it slow like I am in grade school.

One other thing that I really loved about this book is that when the characters decided to do something...they did it. Imagine that. I don't like it when I am reading a book and the characters decide that they are going to do something and then go off into a million tangents and then eventually they do what they originally started to do in the first place. Or they don't even accomplish what they started out to do until three books into the series. Come on! A little more action and a little less talking please.

I can't wait to read City of Ashes to see what happens next. The plot, characters and writing are all really well done. This is a great start for the series and I am hooked.

Overall: 5/5

Jealousy by Lili St. Crow

It's a good thing Dru Anderson is fast. Because the sucker chasing her isn't slowing down--and he won't rest until he has tasted her blood and silenced her heart . . .

Dru's best friend, Graves, and her strange and handsome savior, Christophe, are ready to help her take on the ultimate evil. But will their battle for Dru's heart get in the way of her survival (Barnesandnoble.com)?

This was another good one in the Strange Angels series. In case you're wondering, I know I was, there will be five books total in this series and the fourth book, Defiance, will be out in April, 2011. Can you tell I am loving this series?

What I love about it: Dru, the Real World, Christophe. I know two of those three are characters but they are great characters. Okay, I love poor Graves, too.

The plot in this one is awesome. I kept thinking that Dru was a little slow with the whole Anna thing but I think that's the point. She would frequently push it out of her mind because it was really painful to think about.

After reading Betrayals I feel like I got betrayed because I thought Betrayals was going to be about Dru in school learning about the Real World. But we don't get to see Dru really in school until this book.

I really like reading about Dru's development. When is she going to bloom already? And for goodness sake what does Dru stand for? I love Christophe's character, too. There's still not enough of him in this book. I hope there's more of him in the next one. I think he should end up with Dru. What do you think? Team Chris or Team Graves?

The ending...THE ENDING! I don't want to wait for April to find out what happens to poor Graves. All Dru has is that stupid coat. I was definitely caught off guard by the ending. I am really excited to see Dru's defiance in the next book. Bring it Dru.

I love the cover but is that what Dru's hair would really look like? I keep picturing her hair as a big curly mess.

Overall: 5/5

Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols

This is part-two to an earlier post, The Boys Next Door (which is why I'm not including a synopsis, sorry!). This is the sequel to that novel. I really loved The Boys Next Door. Endless Summer was great, but not as good as Endless Summer. I think this is because there wasn't anything major in the plot for Lori. It was mostly just Lori and Adam being kept apart but a good story none-the-less.

Interestingly enough before I read Endless Summer, I thought about a sequel for Forget You. So, I emailed Jennifer Echols and she responded super fast! She is really nice! I usually don't email authors because most of their web sites will say that they are too busy to reply to emails. But lo and behold this excerpt from Jennifer Echols' email to me:

"I would never say never to a sequel. I didn't think I would write a sequel to The Boys Next Door, but I did eventually.

However, at the moment I can't imagine writing a sequel to Forget You. I design my romantic dramas to be stand-alone. The characters have big problems that they overcome (mostly) by the end of the book. A sequel would naturally be an anti-climax."

This made my day! I enjoyed Endless summer. I began to really like Lori. This book was a little Romeo and Juliet, as even Lori points out during the story. Who doesn't like a little R&J? I really liked the ending. This sated my summer-read craving for now.

You best believe I am going to read more of Echols' work. Next in line is Going Too Far.

Thanks Jennifer for writing me back!

Overall:4/5