City of Ashes

City of Ashes grew me on a bit the more I read. At first I was bored but things slowly got better.

At times I got seriously annoyed with Clary, I just wish she was a bit older. She does not act fifteen most of the time and I got sick of how she was treating her best friend Simon. I still feel like I have not seen much character development with Clary but at least I saw some.

Jace is far more interesting then Clary for me maybe because he reminds me of Will from The Infernal Devices. I actually feel bad for Jace and thought he was getting way too much grief in City of Ashes. I hope that changes in future books.

I still like Magnus the best, I think he is my all time favorite character from the series.

The writing slowly seems to be getting better which is something I hope continues. I do want the whole odd vibe about being brother and sister between Clary and Jace to stop being freaky. That part really turned me off from the series. Despite that I do want to read City of Glass.

Phoenix Rising

I really wanted to love Phoenix Rising since I have been struggling to find a good steampunk series. Having heard nothing but amazing things bout Pip Ballantine and tee Morris's writing I took a chance and asked the local library to get a copy of Phoenix Rising. Sadly it was all I could to do to make it to the halfway point before just skimming to the end.

Eliza Braun is far from a proper woman and loves dynamite. I wanted to fall in love with Eliza and she is the reason I kept trying to enjoy the story. I really disliked the story line so much I cannot really think of what to write about Eliza.

Wellington Books came off as a fun character who Eliza would have tons of fun turning into a rebel but I did not really see that happen. Instead Wellington was kind of boring and felt like he was not fleshed out as a character. Instead put in to be more comic relief in parts.

Overall I did not end up caring about the characters or what was happening to the people in London. It was steampunk and did pull in aspects of traditional steampunk but the overall story line was not to my taste. I will not be continuing the series.

City of Bones

After reading all of Cassandra Clare's released work but The Mortal Instruments series I figured it was time to give City of Bones a try.

Clary was an interesting character and I have hope for her growing in the series. One of my downfalls with her was the way she saw things since she was an artist I wanted to see more of that in her way of viewing the world. I also wish she had been a bit older, her maturity level jumped up and down a good deal which I hope was just used to someone learning how to write a compelling character.

Jace seems like he has a lot of depth to him but that it will take a long time to get to know him. I like that about him, I love learning about characters in layers. At this point I like Jace more than Clary.

Alec and Isabelle sort of drove me crazy. I was not fond of their attitude towards outsiders. Plus it seems a bit odd that Jace is open to mundanes and his foster siblings are so against them.

The writing bothered me at times and I did see a few grammar mistakes. I have liked the later writing by Cassandra Clare more so I am hoping the series will improve in that regard. It grabbed my attention enough that I want to keep reading.  

Friday 56: Phoenix Rising

This is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

1. Grab a book, any book.

2. Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.

3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. 

4. Post it.

5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most Friday 56 post.

 

Phoenix Rising ebooks 56%:

"She is merely a tool," he replied coolly, "and like many tools in a work shed, some are very dangerous if not handled properly." 

Illusionarium

Oh my hunt for a steampunk novel I came across Illusionarium. 

I instantly adored Jonathon, working hard to be a surgeon he is not the usual type of male I come across in books. Studying science to learn how diseases and medicine work with his father who is renowned through the land as a brilliant medical professor Jonathon is stunned and in awe when the King arrives asking for help. A black death is plaguing the land killing all women who become ill on the sixth day. The Queen has fallen ill from it and thus the King is demanding a cure from Jonathon's father. With a time crunch the King says fantillium will be the key to making the cure in time. Using fantillium time can be controlled by a master illusionist and the cure found. Jonathon happens to fit that description. 

From the start I fell in love with the world Heather Dixon wove, from the elegant writing to the stunning characters I did not want the story to end. Sadly around the seventy percent mark things started to fall apart. The plot began to repeat itself and it felt like I was reading parts I had already read. Even the world became less appealing and it felt like things were just sort of thrown together in the end. While their was a conclusion that left no major questions I just was not happy with the overall ending. Huge build up for something major and suddenly just the end which was disappointing.

The Friday 56: Illusionarium

This is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

1. Grab a book, any book.

2. Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.

3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. 

4. Post it.

5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most Friday 56 post.

Illusionarium ebook 56%:

"A knight," said Anna, a curve of a smile on her face. "So, chivalry really does exist. . ."

Friday 56: Magonia

This is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

1. Grab a book, any book.

2. Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.

3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. 

4. Post it.

5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most Friday 56 post.

 Magonia ebook 56%:

"I've no more love for Maganwetar than you do, but you'd have bought disaster on us all." 

Once Upon A Time: Red's Untold Tale

I am a huge fan of Once Upon A Time so when I saw Red's Untold Tale I could not resist reading it. Sadly I was disappointed overall.

I expected more from Red, in the show Red was willful and determined none of that really came across in Red's Untold Tale. Instead Red was a meek character who was clearly fearful of her Granny's wrath. While this fit for the flashbacks where Red was thirteen it did not work well when she was seventeen and going about her life. Parts seemed highly repetitive as well and I kept wondering if I had read that part already. I did like how it was displayed how much Red loved her Granny. The other part I liked was the hints of other fairy tales mentioned in the form of stories. I thought it was a creative way to add more of the show into the book.

The writing was alright, it was repetitive and the real action did not start to occur until the end of the book. The best part is the lovely cover and idea of a fun story. I doubt I will give another Once Upon A Time story a try since Red's Untold Tale was so dry.