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Review: The Mortal Instruments #1: City of Bones

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare is the first book in The Mortal Instruments series. A young adult paranormal novel about a secret world and a hidden past.

Clarissa "Clary" Frey and her best friend Simon inadvertently plunge into a secret world of demons and vampires and werewolves.

Jace looked confused, then shrugged. “Most myths are true, at least in part.”
“I’m starting to get that.”

“All the myths are true,” said Pangborn, and Clary felt a small shiver go up her spine. “Or have you forgotten even that?”

“But Jace,” she said. “All the stories are true.”
She didn’t hear him laugh, but she felt it, vibrating through his rib cage and into her fingertips.

Jace is the darkly enigmatic, attractive Shadowhunter that introduces Clary and, by default, Simon, to the Shadowhunter world.

“We’re called Shadowhunters. At least, that’s what we call ourselves. The Downworlders have less complimentary names for us.”
“Downworlders?”
“The Night Children. Warlocks. The fey. The magical folk of this dimension.”

Clary's mother is attacked and goes missing and it's up to Clary and her new Shadowhunter friends to rescue her mother and find the Mortal Cup before the evil Valentine gets it.

The legend of the origin of Shadowhunters is that they were created more than a thousand years ago, when humans were being overrun by demon invasions from other worlds. A warlock summoned the Angel Raziel, who mixed some of his own blood with the blood of men in a cup, and gave it to those men to drink. Those who drank the Angel’s blood became Shadowhunters, as did their children and their children’s children. The cup thereafter was known as the Mortal Cup.

Valentine broke the greatest Law of all—he took up arms against his fellow Shadowhunters and slew them. He and his group, the Circle, killed dozens of their brethren along with hundreds of Downworlders during the last Accords. They were only barely defeated.

The story will draw you in and make you feel right along with the characters. Their happy is your happy and their heartbreak will be your too! This is my second read of this book and I enjoyed it just as much, if not more, than the first time. That may have been because I have seen the movie based on the novel in between reads and now have actors and faces to pair with the characters.

Read an Excerpt

And the movie cast is...

Review: Divergent #0.1: The Transfer

The Transfer: A Divergent Story by Veronica Roth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Transfer: A Divergent Story by Veronica Roth is the first in a four part short story series told from the point of view of Tobias, AKA Four.

A very good point that I saw in another review on here, this is listed as a prequel to the Divergent series but it is NOT meant to be read BEFORE Books 1 or 2. I would reccommend reading this series in the order that they were published or you will be in for some spoilers AND confusion.

We go back a couple of years in this book from where we first met everyone in Divergent, and we get to see what happened starting immediately after Four's aptitude test. We meet Tori again (she also administered Beatrice's aptitude test in Divergent), we see behind the scenes at the Easton home and the abuse he suffered at his father's hands, we see the choosing ceremony, his first day of initiation into Dauntless, and how he came by the name Four.

When a series is as addicting as this, and as well loved, these tiny tidbit views into the world and people in it are precious.

“You’re the one who has to live with your choice,” she says. “Everyone else will get over it, move on, no matter what you decide. But you never will."
-Tori

“Don’t worry about me handling the pain,” I say. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”
- Four

“My name is Four,” I say. “Call me ‘Stiff’ again and you and I will have a problem.”
- Four

View all my reviews

Here are our characters from this novella, as cast

in the movie of Divergent that will be released

in theaters March 21, 2014.

It's finally starting to get colder and wetter here in FL . . .

I was just chatting with a FB friend today who lives in England. She was reminding me just how fortunate I am to live in "Sunny Florida" instead of England where the weather is "CRAP"! It's now raining outside and is starting to feel like fall.

I have been inspired this past week to get back on track with my cross-stitching, blogging and whatever else gets me out of my bubble. I even made it my LNS on Saturday for the sit-and-stitch. Yay! My mom was watching my daughter so I didn't have to worry about her running around the store trying to touch everything. So NOT the place for little kids. 

My LNS owner has a preview chart from one of her fave designers that we are all stitching up so the designer can pick one for the cover. I'm not sure if I should mention the designer so mum's the word for now, but I will take pics and post when I've confirmed I can. 

I also got SUPER adventurous and purchased a knitting project. I have not knitted a thing since I was 11 (now 32) and don't know what possessed me, but it is soo much fun, and I remembered the basics quite quickly. Now I just have to learn things I never worried about as a kid.  I am knitting leg warmers. Don't quite need them in FL, but I love them and they're fairly easy for something to get back into.

I also signed up for a super crazy challenge - not quite sure why - but I read about it on another persons blog and thought it sounded fun. Here's the information/blog post "Crazy January Challenge" in case anyone else is interested. And here's the original blog where I first learned of it.

I have many of my finished project pictures up on my page over at The Stitchers Village but I have yet to post any on my blog. I will eventually.

Well I guess that's all for now.

Oh - I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - and it was AWESOME!

So here's yet another cool movie poster and a picture of my daughter drinking a ButterBeer (So Yummy).

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

I absolutely love Channing Tatum and for that reason alone I read the book and watched the movie. I am too overly emotional to truly enjoy melancholy romantic films/books, but despite the sad tone to this story, it was quite good. I hope you enjoy as much as I did, of course who wouldn't enjoy watching Channing Tatum?

While John is on leave in his hometown, he finds Savannah, a college student visiting the town. Although love was unexpected, it doesn't mean they didn't find it. With the knowledge of John having to leave for the army, their love still lives, until his re-signs on due to the 9/11 attack. Troubles invade and their love put on hold. One cannot bear it anymore; can the other? 

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

I've read the books, listened to the books, and seen the movies, and this series just keeps getting better and better. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm completely hooked. I know that there are people that criticize and say Kristin Stewart can't act, Robert Pattinson smells. Who cares, I love the dynamic they have in the movies, maybe because I loved it in the books first. So here is a little something I would like to share with you all.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

"After Bella recovers from the vampire attack that almost claimed her life, she looks to celebrate her birthday with Edward and his family. However, a minor accident during the festivities results in Bella's blood being shed, a sight that proves too intense for the Cullens, who decide to leave the town of Forks, Washington for Bella and Edward's sake. Initially heartbroken, Bella finds a form of comfort in reckless living, as well as an even-closer friendship with Jacob Black. Danger in different forms awaits."

I do have to say that New Moon is my least favorite of the Twilight movies so far, but I still like it and would like to share it with you.

Twilight

Bella Swan has always been a little bit different. Never one to run with the crowd, Bella never cared about fitting in with the trendy, plastic girls at her Phoenix, Arizona high school. When her mother remarried and Bella chooses to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she didn't expect much of anything to change. But things do change when she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen. For Edward is nothing like any boy she's ever met. He's nothing like anyone she's ever met, period. He's intelligent and witty, and he seems to see straight into her soul. In no time at all, they are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance - unorthodox because Edward really isn't like the other boys. He can run faster than a mountain lion. He can stop a moving car with his bare hands. Oh, and he hasn't aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he's immortal. That's right - vampire. But he doesn't have fangs - that's just in the movies. And he doesn't drink human blood, though Edward and his family are unique among vampires in that lifestyle choice. To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. Somehow or other, they will have to manage their unmanageable love. But when unexpected visitors come to town and realize that there is a human among them Edward must fight to save Bella? A modern, visual, and visceral Romeo and Juliet story of the ultimate forbidden love affair - between vampire and mortal.