Review- Insurgent

Title: Insurgent

Author: Veronica Roth

Summary:

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

Review:

So… Again, this surpassed my expectations (and my expectations were very high!) The story starts right where Divergent stops (if you haven’t read that book, you MUST read it! its amazing too. See my review HERE)

Tris, Four, Caleb, Uriah, Christina… all of your (or at least MY) favorite characters from Divergent are back in all their glory… or lack thereof. The book is nonstop action. It goes from one point to the next seamlessly. Tris and the gang go to Amity to try to create peace and stay safe, and then to Candor as well. But that’s not it, you also learn SO much about the factionless. Which is good, because it was an issue I had with the first book… if so many don’t actually make the factions, then what??? They are just poor and lonely forever? Seems unlikely. Well, its explained better in this one.

You learn more about the Divergent and why its actually important! And why Tris is even cooler because she had aptitude for 3 not only 2 factions!

Jeanine Mathews is the Big Bad in this novel as well, but she isn’t the only one… (but don’t worry, I wont spoil any of the awesomeness with my post)

The characters, who you thought you MAY know well, you probably don’t. you learn so much more about each character and the depth of each of them is astounding. People you thought may not mean too much to the plot… really do!!

I still am Madly in love with Four (and I still hate the name.) He and Tris have a real relationship. Its not all lovey-dovey and perfect and dumb like so many out there. You can FEEL their love and loyalty to each other, while at the same time they still have their own REAL issues, like a real couple would.

Review-Intangible

Title: Intangible
Author: J. Meyers

Summary:

Twins Sera and Luke Raine have a well-kept secret—she heals with a touch of her hand, he sees the future. All their lives they’ve helped those in need on the sly. They’ve always thought of their abilities as being a gift.

Then Luke has a vision that Sera is killed. That gift they’ve always cherished begins to feel an awful lot like a curse. Because the thing about Luke’s ability? He’s always right. And he can’t do anything about it.

Find it on Amazon or Goodreads

Find J. Meyers at Twitter, Facebook, or Her Website.

Review:

So, I have been seeing this book all over the blogosphere lately, and was lucky enough to be offered a free copy for review from the author.

This story is so much!! Its about twins, Luke and Sera, who are the prophesied gifted twins that will either save The Realm or destroy it. Only, they don’t know anything about it.

You see, Luke can see the future, while Sera can heal people, but they just keep it to themselves. And then, all of a sudden, after 17 years of being hidden by the best friend/guardian Fey (yeah, ironic name since she is an Elf) all hell breaks loose and they are found and hunted down.

See, there is this Big Bad “Mother of the Damned” vampire, Lillith (so- officially I have to change the chicks name in my book, because every bad guy chick is Lillith now) and she is afraid of the Twins and sets out to capture and destroy them!!

That’s basically the story.

Now for the details.

1.       The characters ROCK! The relationship between Sera and Luke felt truly real!! I loved BOTH of their characters! I loved Jonas… and kinda am hoping he and Sera have a thing. Which… sure that would be kinda Twilightish and kinda creepy, but I HEART Jonas!!!

Review- Arcadia's Gift

Title: Arcadia's Gift
Author: Jesi Lea Ryan

Summary:
Most people who experience death don’t live to tell about it.

When sixteen year old Arcadia “Cady” Day wakes in a hospital after experiencing what can only be called a psychic episode, she finds her family in tatters. With her twin sister gone, her dad moved out, her mom’s spiraling depression and her sister’s boyfriend, Cane, barely able to look at her, the only bright spot in her life is Bryan Sullivan, the new guy in school. When Bryan’s around, Cady can almost pretend she’s a regular girl, living a regular life; when he’s not, she’s wracked with wild, inexplicable mood swings. As her home life crumbles and her emotional control slips away, Cady begins to suspect that her first psychic episode was just the beginning…

Review:

So… let me first start by saying that the author gave me this book in return for an honest opinion.
Thank you Jesi! You can find her on Twitter at: @Jesilea
On Face Book HERE
and Go check out her blog http://diaryofabibliophile-jesilea.blogspot.com/

BUT – we had some serious technical issues and it took me a while before I could ever actually read it!
(Curse broken Kindles and lack of money!! I don’t think I will survive much longer without a Kindle!!! Im pretty sure part of my soul was destroyed when it broke! )

Finally Jesi was able to get me a PDF file, and I started reading Arcadia’s Gift today!
Then I finished it a few hours later!!

OMG- I was completely blown away by this book!!

So… Arcadia, aka Cady, is a twin, and then witnesses her sister die! I LOVE my sisters, and though they are a few years older than me, I could completely imagine how Cady felt to have her bestfriend, sister and twin die!!!

Then her whole family is falling apart, and on top of everything, she starts having these psychic type abilities- AND she is a teenager!

Crappy life, if you ask me!

And I totally could relate to her! I felt her emotions, and those of the other minor characters.
Im pretty much in love with Bryan, which is bad because not only is he a fictional character who has a serious medical condition, but he is only a teenager… Lame

So anyways, you follow Cady as she tries to deal with her family issues and the loss of her sister, and as she gets these new abilities. Epic journey and finale!!!
There was some crazy excitement going on… the romance was cute and fresh. The characters all felt real. (even though I didn’t like all of them) and The whole story was great!!

Things to mention:

Feature Follow # 18

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs! 

Q. Which hyped up book did you think was worth all the talk?

A. OH SO MANY...
Ill start with Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout (even though Im sure everyone is choosing this)
Also, Divergent FOR SURE!!! AWESOME book!
And the Iron Fey Series!!



What about you?
Also, let me know if you are a new follower so I can come follow you back :)

Self publish or Traditional Publishing

So…

As you may (or may not –if you are kinda new to my blog) know, I am not only a book blogger, but also an aspiring author. I finished my first Manuscript, POWER, in January and have been revising/editing it since then.

Also, I have been working on my second book, HOPE, while I was having my beta readers and Critique Partners read and critique POWER.

Now, I have revised POWER 3 times, and am about half way done with HOPE (with the first draft only!)

I think POWER is about as good as I can get it. I plan on reading through it one more time to look for ANY misspelling or grammatical errors I can find. (You can see my progress on my books HERE)

Then the plan was to self publish...

BUT-  I just kept thinking about what to do... Self publish or go the traditional route.

There is a lot of debate about which way is better, and which way is right. Really, I think both option has pros and cons.

 

So, here we go, Pros and Cons of Traditional vs Self  publishing.

Layoffs SUCK!

So… something very sad an unfortunate happened yesterday.

The company I work for just layed off 220 people, which is HUGE because I live in a small town. Many of my close friend and neighbors were laid off.  So many people have been affected.

Layoff definition from wikipedia.

Layoff (in British[1] and American English), also called redundancy in the UK, is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or (more commonly) a group of employees for business reasons, such as when certain positions are no longer necessary or when a business slow-down occurs. Originally the term layoff referred exclusively to a temporary interruption in work, as when factory work cyclically falls off. The term however nowadays usually means the permanent elimination of a position, requiring the addition of "temporary" to specify the original meaning

Quote from the News:

“Tim Zipp, the company’s senior vice president, said Tuesday the eliminated jobs are part of a restructuring of the company necessary to address changes in the way Medicare pays for the scooters and wheelchairs the firm sells.”

“The cuts represent approximately 10 percent of The Scooter Store's workforce, which now numbers about 2,100. About 1,400 currently work at its headquarters, company spokesman Tim Zipp said.”

Review- the Covenent Within

Title: The Covenant Within

Author: R.A.R. Clouston

Summary:

Most people dream, many experience déjà vu; some believe in reincarnation. But what if it really was possible to relive the lives of your ancestors?

American CEO, Jack Sinclair, is tormented by dreams of people he doesn't know and places he's never been, making him wonder if he is going insane. A phone call from a psychiatrist in Edinburgh wakes him out of another dream. She tells him that his estranged twin brother has committed suicide. Filled with mixed emotions, Sinclair travels to the Orkney Islands off northern Scotland to attend the funeral and soon discovers troubling circumstances surrounding his brother's death. To uncover the truth, he journeys into the shadowy world locked behind the veil of consciousness via what the psychiatrist calls genetic memory. This vast ancestral inheritance is passed down through DNA and surfaces only in dreams, déjà vu, or visions of past lives. With the doctor's help, Sinclair relives dramatic events from his distant past and discovers a dark secret about his family that traces back to the hill called Calvary. Throughout, he is pursued by unknown killers, and by another force of evil from which he cannot escape: the beast of his onrushing insanity.

Review:

So… this is not a book I normally would read. I don’t like any books that delve into anything religious or with Christianity, because too often they go against my own personal beliefs.

BUT- My mom told me she loved it… so I read it.

And it wasn’t half bad.  The story follows a man on his journey to discovering what happened to his now dead brother. The way he finds out? By going through his ancestors memories that are buried in his DNA. It’s a really awesome concept!!

To think that every person leaves a mark on their DNA, with memories that had a huge impact on their lives, is a great idea. And the author pulls this off well. You believe that Jack Sinclair (the Main Character) is going through his dreams to relive parts of time that his ancestors lived. The science and technology sounded real enough to me... but im no scientist.

My first Guest Post!!!

Title: An Abundance of Katherines

Author: John Green

Summary:

From Amazon:

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. He's also a washed-up child prodigy with ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a passion for anagrams, and an overweight, Judge Judy-obsessed best friend. Colin's on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which will predict the future of all relationships, transform him from a fading prodigy into a true genius, and finally win him the girl.Letting expectations go and allowing love in are at the heart of Colin's hilarious quest to find his missing piece and avenge dumpees everywhere.

Review:

This is my first John Green book. Since people kept talking about him, I just dropped by the school library and picked out the first one that stood out.

While I wasn't blown away by John Green's brilliance (although I'm holding out for some of his other books), An Abundance of Katherines is definitely a stand-out. It's more of a light-hearted deep than a heavy deep, with a comedic light shone on nearly every incident.

Although the more serious scene are a sharp contrast. Those moments linger.

The prose is also different. For example, the footnotes, which provide everything from translation of Arabic and French to plain old elaborations. The last novel I read with footnotes tried too hard to be an overwrought Lemony, but John Green doesn't try to be Mr. Snicket. Green's his own writer, thank you very much.

Colin isn't like the other male protagonists I've read about over the last year. Colin's a former child prodigy. He sprouts out facts and anagrams. He shows some signs of being an Aspie. And despite being a bit of a jerk, it's hard not to like him based on hard he yearns to leave his mark in the world. Oh, and he pulls a fast one near the end.

Don't forget the side characters! Hassin never takes anything seriously. Lindsey is a more snarky foil to Colin.

Now, a few elements dulled the book. For example, how more than once scene has only dialogue and therefore became harder to follow, along with the tendency to put more than one line of dialogue in the same paragraph, but none are without a purpose.

By the way, this book has some suggestive elements and cursing, it never goes beyond PG-13.

Rating: 4 stars

I would like to thank Chihuahua Zero for coming to my blog and for writing this review!!!

He can be found blogging about writing and reading over at The YA's Dogtown, with consistent tweets at @chihuahuazero

Everyone should go check him out!! :)

Feature Follow #17

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs! 

Q. Which hyped up book did you think was not worth all the talk?

A. There are two books that come to mind immediatly.
Wither- which was a HUGE disappointment for me (see review here)
and Hush, hush- which I couldnt figure out why everyone was talking about it, BUT I did end up liking the story and Patch after reading Silence! (See my review here)



What about you??

Make sure to let me know if you are a new follower so I can follow you back! :)

ARC Review- Ironskin

Title: Ironskin

Author: Tina Connolly

Summary:

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

ARC Review:

Ok, so I first have to say that I don’t normally enjoy steampunk, and this was the first steampunk book that I actually finished. I also need to say that I have never read Jane Eyre. I know the story and have probably seen a movie before, but I have never read the book.

Also, when I received this book, I didn’t know that it was steampunk  OR that it was a retelling of Jane Eyre.

SO- That being said, Ill offer my review now.

Review - Divergent... (YES, I finally read it!)

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Summary:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Review:

WOW… so where do you even start with this? I will say, that at first I was skeptical, not only because everyone said it was good and like the Hunger Games (which I LOVED) and it just didn’t seem likely that EVERYONE liked it, but also because of the premise. The story is set in the future, I guess, and everyone is split into 1 of 5 factions of Virtue (this is the part that sounded weird and made it unlikely that I would like it.)

At the age of 16 you must decide to stay with the faction you grew up with (where your family is) or leave (everyone you love) to go to a new faction. But in order to enter a faction as a member, you have to first go through initiation, which is different according to which Virtue the faction has. (Example- the Selfless faction of Abnegation has to volunteer for a month, and the honest faction of Candor has to go through extensive lie detector tests and answer every personal question they can think of in front of everyone so you never have to feel like you must hide something or lie)  

BUT if you FAIL initiation (like MANY do) then you are factionless- which is horrible. You are poor and friendless and community-less. Basically its REALLY bad.

So… weird, right? At the WISE (see the sarcasm there??) age of 16 you know enough about yourself and the world to decide the rest of your life??? I don’t know about that.

BUT even though it doesn’t SOUND amazing, it really is!!!!

Its not like the Hunger Games to me, but it is amazing. You follow Beatrice (who later is just Tris) as she leaves Abnegation (the selfless) to join the Dauntless (the brave). See, at 16 you take this test which advises you which faction to choose, but for a very small group of people, the test is inconclusive because they could conceivably fit into more than one faction. These people are Divergent. Tris is Divergent…

At first you don’t really know what that means to the story, just that its not a good thing because the leaders don’t like it. Tris decides to be Brave… Initiation is CRAZY hard and a few people die and you already know going into it, it is impossible for everyone to make it.

Then you realize the Bigger picture and Tris has to step up to the plate. And it just gets crazy good. Man, I could go on and on about this book, but I really don’t want to spoil it. I guess technically this already has a few minor spoilers… but nothing you don’t learn at the beginning of the novel.

Success is Mine.

This week has been very successful for me.

I finally started writing again!!

Last week i wasnt able to write at all due to a special project I was part of at work... So now that its over, I was able to write again.

I wrote an awesome 6000 words this week. YES... sometimes I can write that much in ONE day... but this week I didnt JUST write. I also read a lot too!!

I read

City of Ashes and City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

and also

Matched and Crossed by Ally Condie!!

And on top of reading and reviewing those four books, I was still able to write 6000 words!!!
So... as I said, feeling pretty successful!

And now Im reading Divergent and its... AWESOME!!!

Also... now that Amazon has released their newest Kindle, I plan on replacing my sad broken one!!! (I SOOO cannot wait!!!!)

Feature Follow #16

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

Q:What book(s) are you reading right now? What do you think of it?

A. Well... you arent going to believe it. But right now, at this moment, Im not reading anything.

I started reading an ARC of The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa, but then my Kindle broke...

So... I started reading Hourglass by Myra McEntire...  but then stopped because I couldnt get into it. Its still sitting at my desk at work.

Then I read the Mortal Instruments Series and Matched and Crossed...and wrote reviews.
So.... now Im reading nothing.

I have been writing for the last 2 days (and today too) and when I write, I dont have time to read. 

Tomorrow Im starting Divergent.

Let me know if you are a new follower so I can follow you back!!!

Beautiful Blogger Award

I've been nominated for the Beautiful Blogger Award by Erika Anderson! Thanks for nominating me!  I'm honored to accept this award. I've been following Erika on her blog and I know her from Goodreads. She is young, and very nice. Her blog is still VERY new, so everyone should go over there and check her out at Living for the Books!
Rules:

1. Write a little something about the Beautiful Blogger who nominated you with the award. See above. Don't forget to visit her blog!
2.  Share 7 things about yourself.

So here's 7 things about me that you probably didn't know:

1. I wish I had more time to read!! 
2. I'm currently writing several books, and hope to have the first Book out before the end of this year!
3. I'm a Mom and my children are my life.
4. I love where I live, but wish it was fall/winter more often! The heat SUCKS! 
5. I have written all of my books while at work! Shhh dont tell my boss. haha.
6. I Love to eat and am not picky at all! Which sucks... because I eat way too much.
7. I love blogging and wish I would have started YEARS ago!!

Here's the 7 blogs that I'm nominating:
1. Ariel Avalon
2. Sweet Books N Things
3. World of Books
4. Blog of a Bookaholic
5. Ebony Black Lines
6. Rally the Readers
7. #BookNerd

All of these blogs are amazing and I go to them regularly!!

Giveaway Winners!!!

Thank you to EVERYONE who participated in my First giveaway!

Today the giveaway closed...

and the winners are:

VERONIKA

and

DANIELA

Congrats guys!!!

I will email these two and they will have 24 hours to respond or I will choose a new winner!

Review: Crossed

Title: Crossed (Matched #2)

Author: Ally Condie

Summary:

Rules Are Different Outside The Society.

Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky–taken by the Society to his sure death–only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons. On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of a rebellion. But even as Cassia sacrifices every thing to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again.

Narrated from both Cassia’s and Ky’s point of view, this hotly anticipated sequel to Matched will take them both to the edge of Society, where nothing is as expected and crosses and double crosses make their path more twisted than ever.

Review:

So… as I was reading this book, I was amazed by how slow it felt. Nothing huge ever happened. There was no climax. They were travelling alone, in the outer provinces… to what? Find each other. Well they found each other in the middle of the book… so where is the climax?

I will say, that the book did get better once they found each other. You found out some things about each of them, Ky and Cassia, and even Xander (who makes a brief appearance)

There are new characters, Indie, Hunter towards the end, and Eli. I liked Indie at first, and I guess if you lived like she did you might be like her, but by the end of the book I had decided I didn’t like her.

I was bothered that Ky and Cassia sound the same, as you are reading. Neither of them have their own voice... they have the same thoughts and emotions, or lack thereof. I found myself often having to go back to the beginning of many chapters to see if it was Ky’s or Cassia’s POV.

Review- Matched

Title: Matched

Author: Allie Condie

Summary:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Review:

So… to be honest, I was not expecting to like this book very much. I recent read Delirium and heard this book was very similar, but that it wasn’t as good as Delirium. So, my expectations were very low. I don’t know if that’s why I enjoyed the book so much, or not.

To be fair, there are a LOT of similarities between the Delirium series and this one… Main Character is a female, young and naïve. Thinks that her perfect society is perfect and spotless only to slowly uncover the truths behind the twisted government. Love interest that then tears down the walls of the world the main character has believed in her whole life.

But really that’s it. I really liked the way the author put together this world. It seemed real to me. There are a lot of dystopian novels out there, and so often the world is unclear or not explained well enough, but that isn’t the case here. I don’t know how the world got to the point it is in the story, but I still believed it when I was reading it.

I have also heard that this story mirrors another called The Giver, but I never read that one, so I don’t know. Either way, I will stop comparing this book to other books and just review This one.

Review- City of Glass

Title: City of Glass (The mortal Instruments #3)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Summary:

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?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the final installment of the New York Timesbestselling trilogy The Mortal Instruments

Review:

Well… im a little overwhelmed by these books. Especially this one!

So far I have loved every single one of them, but in City f Glass, you finally got some answers!! And I mean, ALL the answers! Really I feel like this series could have been a Trilogy and it could be over. There is no cliffhanger; no nothing to make you think there is more to the story.

(I found out later this was meant to be a trilogy, and Cassandra Clare then later decided to expand it and write 3 more books to the series, though the next 2 books have received some CRAZY bad reviews... Despite that, ill still read them because I love the characters and I do want to see where they go)

Review: City of Ashes

Title: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Summary:

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

Review:

It seems like there is always so much going on in these books. So much action, so many questions, and so much everything.

You follow the gang again, Jace, Clary, Simon, Luke and Isabelle as they look for and fight against Valentine. Valentine has a plan to do something crazy with the Angel Sword, in which he needs the blood of four downworlder children, 1 fairy, 1 vampire, 1 werewolf and 1 warlock. And the gang needs to stop him before he does and can then control an army of demons to bring down the Clave.

There are some new characters this time, the werewolf Maia, who I think will come back in the next book, and Imogen the Inquisitor who is at times ruthless and crazy, and then at times strong and fearless.

You learn more about Jace and Clary and what their father did to them, I guess while they were still in utero. I like this twist, and cant wait to learn more about how they are special.