Review on The Mortal Instruments #4 City of Fallen Angels

Although the war against Valentine is over, Clary and her friends problems are not over yet. After Simon is approached by Camille, one of the oldest vampires in the world, Simon’s life changes for the worst. Shadowhunters are getting murdered all over New York, and strange men in grey tracksuits are following him round. What they don’t know is that Simon now has the mark of Cain, meaning that anyone who tries to harm him would have the damage come back at them seven-fold  Simon, Clary, Jace and the Lightwoods must figure out who is killing the Shadowhunters and why Simon is receiving continuous threats to his life. But what they find out is not pleasant, and they must stop the person behind it before it is too late.

As the author originally intended to stop this series at book three, I was interested to find out what was going to happen next, as the previous story line had already been concluded, meaning that Clare needed to come up with a completely new problem for the characters to face. Although I loved this book, I felt as if the story line in the previous books was stronger. I also thought there should have been more issues needing to be resolved to go into the next book with, as at the end there is only one problem left. I also felt that some of the characters needed development. For example, near the start of the book, Camille is seen to be one of the most powerful and oldest Downworlders in existence, but as the novel progresses she seems to become weaker and less important. As there are only two bad characters who has survived at the end, I felt as if her character should have been developed further, as I am sure it will be continued into the next book.

Overall I enjoyed this book and will continue to read this series. I have enjoyed seeing how the characters have grown and changed through the course of the series, and how relationships have progressed.  It is nice to see how there are both gay and straight relationships, as in the majority of novels, all the relationships are between a heterosexual couple, and gay relationships are seen in a negative light, whereas the relationship between Alec and Magnus is seen to be no different to the one between Jace and Clary. The book is continuously exciting with lots of action scenes, and there is never a dull moment, as even the slower parts are interesting, as you get to learn more about the characters and the plot. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Review on The Mortal Instruments #3 City of Glass

Clary is determined to save her mothers life, but to do so she must travel to the glass city of Alicante in Idris, the Shadowhunters country. But things are not going to get any easier for Clary, as her father Valentine is determined to destroy all Shadowhunters who do not follow him. The Shadowhunters must make a huge decision, whether they are going to succumb to Valentine, or join leagues with the Downworlders, whom the Shadowhunters have been enemies with for years. Clary must help them to make the right decision, and declare war against Valentine and his army of demons. Meanwhile Jace must discover the truth behind his identity, and confront Valentine alone.

As I loved the previous two books, I have decided to continue with this series, as each book seems to be better than the last. As the author intended this book to be the last one in the series, it is action packed, with battles against demons and the deaths of some of the characters. The story that has been continued from the first two books comes to a climax at the end of the book. Some new characters are introduced such as Sebastian, who turns out not to be who he says he is, and the Clave become a part of the story instead of just being mentioned by the characters. All the old characters from the previous two books also return, such as Clary, Jace, Alec and Isabelle. I always enjoy returning to books that are in a series, as it is like continuing the journey with old friends. Most of the characters relationships also come together in the book, such as Clary and Jace, and also Alec and Magnus. I felt as if this needed to happen in this book, especially Alec and Magnus, as although before Clary finds out the truth, her relationship with Jace seems to be forbidden, the relationship between Alec and Magnus seems more so, as they are a gay couple. Although I am not sure if this would be frowned upon in Shadowhunter society, it usually is in the normal world. Also, Magnus is a Downworlder, whereas Alec is a Shadowhunter, and in the series before the Shadowhunters decide to join forces with the Downworlders in an attempt to destroy Valentine, they have always hated each other, as Downworlders have demon blood, whereas Shadowhunters have angel blood. This means that Shadowhunters see Downworlders to be no better than demons, although Downworlders have a soul whereas Shadowhunters do not.

As this was meant to be the last book in the series, I am interested to find out why Clare decided to continue with it. City of Glass brought the current story to a climax, so I am eager to find out what the characters will have to face next. This book also seemed to be the most unique out of the series so far, as I was not continuously comparing it to other book series such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings as I had been doing with the previous books. This was my main disappointment in this series, but the book had a good plot, and I read it late into the night on many occasions. If you like fantasy stories then I definitely recommend this book series.

Review on 'Holes'

Stanley Yelnats is sent to Camp Green Lake, a special camp to punish young boys who have committed a crime. The only problem is, Stanley has been falsely accused. He did not steal the baseball players shoes from the auction, they had simply fallen from the sky onto his head, but of course they did not believe that at the court. Stanley is forced to dig holes in the dry lake, five feet deep and five feet wide. However, Stanley soon finds out that the digging is not to build character as he and the other boys have been told. The warden is searching for something, and it is up to Stanley to find out what it is and why.

I found this book entertaining and was surprised by the plot twist at the end of the novel. It was nice to see that Zero, who at the start of the novel was quiet and shy, ended up becoming an important character to the plot, and was the one boy who was willing to help Stanley, although at first Stanley believed the rest of the boys that Zero was stupid. However, Stanley soon discovers that although Zero is illiterate, he is a fast learner, and although he has never learnt to read or write, he is brilliant at maths, and is also the fastest at digging holes. Zero also helps Stanley in his journey of discovering the wardens secret of why she wants the boys to dig holes. I also found it interesting how the plot changed back and forth from what Stanley was doing to what happened 100 years ago to his great great grandfather, and how the end of the novel tied the two stories together. The sub plot of the curse was also interesting, as although the curse was not definite, I found it interesting how once Stanley had ‘lifted’ the curse, things started to go well for him and his family. Although it is a childrens book, I feel that adults would also enjoy it and learn the lessons of friendship and honesty that the book teaches.

Review on 'The Land of Stories'

Twelve year old twins, Alex and Conner inherit a book of fairytales from their grandmother for their birthday. However, it is not an ordinary book, as one night when Alex is trying to sleep, the book starts to glow. Alex discovers that it is a portal into the fairytale world, and when she accidentally falls into the book, Conner has no choice but to go after her. The twins soon discover that although the fairy tale world has all the good characters they had read about, it also contains the bad ones, and soon run into various creatures such as goblins, trolls, the big bad wolf pack, and most terrifying of all, the Evil Queen. The only way for them to get back home is to collect various items from the Kingdoms, and join them together to trigger the Wishing Spell. However, the twins are in a race against time, as the Evil Queen is also looking for the Wishing Spell items. Conner and Alex must find all the items before the Evil Queen if they ever want to get back home.

Although this book was wrote for children, I absolutely adored it. I am a big fan of Chris Colfer, and when I found out that he was publishing a book I just had to read it. The book is action packed, full of suspense and humorous. The original stories of the fairytale characters have been cleverly interwoven into the world of The Land Of Stories, with each Kingdom being ruled by queens such as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Cinderella. As I loved reading fairytales as a child, I found it interesting how Colfer had interpreted what had happened to the various fairytale characters after the original stories had ended. I also enjoyed how the plot progressed, and the information about the twins father before he had died integrated into the story further on. Although there were many plot points that I figured out myself long before the twins, there was one that I did not figure out at all, and that tied up all the loose ends. I also enjoyed the fact that although Colfer intends on making The Land Of Stories into a series, the first book did not end on a cliff-hanger, and everything was figured out. Overall the book was brilliant and Chris should be very proud for having such a successful debut novel. I am looking forward to future instalments in this series.

Review on 'It's Kind Of a Funny Story

After 15 year old Craig Gilner gets into the best high school in Manhattan, he realizes that he is an average student who receives average grades. He struggles to keep up with his work load, and slowly sinks into a depression,  eventually causing him to have suicidal thoughts. After calling the suicide helpline, Craig checks himself into a psychiatric hospital, where he meets other patients with their own problems, such as a girl who has cut her own face and a man who seems to have a limited vocabulary. With the help of his new friends, Craig is able to locate the source of his problems, find a hobby that helps with his depression and decide what he is going to do when he leaves the hospital.

This book is similar to some of the others I have read recently, such as ‘The Perks of Being A Wallflower’ and ‘Grow Up.’ However, although ‘Grow Up’ also dealt with teen depression, It’s kind of a funny story takes this problem a step further, with a teenager actually contemplating suicide, and checking himself into a mental hospital as a result. I thought the plot was interesting, and as the author had actually spent some time in a psychiatric hospital himself, it is possible that Craig has similar experiences. The book focuses on the fact that just because you are going through a hard time in your life, you should not end your life because of it, and you should never be embarrassed to get help. I think the book sends out a strong positive message to teenagers who could be in a similar situation as Craig, and the author captures the struggles of a typical teenager perfectly.

Review on 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret'

Hugo is a 12 year old boy. When his father dies in a fire, he is forced to be his uncles apprentice and work inside the walls of a train station in Paris, helping to keep the clocks working. However when his uncle mysteriously disappears, Hugo is forced to keep the clocks running alone, with his only distraction being to fix the automaton his father had been working on before he had died. With the help of his friend Isabelle, Hugo fixes the automaton and discovers a secret drawing, which helps him on his quest to find out who Isabelles godfather really is.

I thought this novel was really unique, as it is told through both drawings and text. Although it is similar to a graphic novel, it is not quite the same as some parts of the story are told through pictures alone with no text to accompany them, which gives it almost a cinematic feel. I thought this way of presenting the book was well thought out, as the books main focus is the history of film, focusing on film maker Georges Melies, who we learn from the book made over 500 films, his most popular film being called ‘A Trip To The Moon.’ As well as being greatly entertaining, the book is also educational as the reader learns real facts about film, such as information on the life of Georges Melies and also a few other facts, e.g one of the very first films, a train pulling into a station, which caused the audience to believe they were going to get hit by the train, as they had never witnessed anything like it before. As I enjoy non fiction being combined with fiction, I thought this was a clever way of doing it, as fictional characters were combined with the character of Georges Melies, whose story in the book was accurate to real life events.