City of Bones

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare is book one of a trilogy. And not just any trilogy. No, a super amazing oh-mah-gawd-read-more-now trilogy. And from me, that's saying something.

It starts off in one of my favourite, yet un-visitied cities, New York. Actually, it stays in New York, but anyway. The main character, Clary Fray and her best friend Simon are going to a nightclub, Pandemonium, where she runs into some strange characters called 'Shadowhunters,' that only she can see.

After an embarrasing scene, she and Simon go back to their normal lives, or so it seems, until Jace, one of the shadowhunters shows up for Clary--she's not as normal as she thought, and Clary begins the adventure of her life, that explains her life.

This novel is full of twists and turns, some you see comming a mile away, and some that hit you in the side of the head with a such a loud bang, that if it were real, you'd be deaf. It's astouding, and the visual imagery is fairly fantastic.

The angst in this book is real, without being overdone, and from the first page you fall in love with the characters. [It helps that Clary's artsy & and redhead] (: It's witty and vivid, and really, I could go gushing on all day.

I will just as eagerly devour the next two books in the trilogy, and can't wait for more. I will definitely be on the look out for more Cassandra Clare books.

Wolf Tower

Ughh, super apologies everyone. School started and just blehh. Anyway, to what I know you have all been dying to hear! Book Reviews!

This is actually a -gasp- library book, part of the Claidi Journals by Tanith Lee. I first started reading this because a friend had checked it out and by literally the seventh page, I was hooked. [The friend in question I actually met (and havn't talked to since) while I was in a play, which was amazing and awesome and I got to be a mermaid! (: ]

Anyway, it's about Claidi, a servant -cough-slave-cough- girl. She's aprox. sixteen years old and has lived in the House for all of her life. The House is a big city in the middle of a harsh desert, or so they're told. She's a servant for Lady Jade Leaf, who she despises.

It's interestingly enough, told in first person, journal format. It's quite entertaining, it begins with her telling us that she has stolen a journal to write in. Her life is pretty much boring until a stranger in a flying machine crashes in the city, claming to come from the Waste. [desert] Before she knows what's going on, she's helping him escape, half in love, half not. We follow her though kiddnappings, bandits, sacrifices and betrayals.

It gripped my mind throughout the entire thing, I finished it super fast. I would read it again, and definetly recommend it, however, you'll probably have better luck finding it in a library than a bookstore because it is around ten years old. [Copyrighted in 1998 and published in 2000]

Well, if you've stuck by us, than lovelovelove to youuu<3

Elena over and out.

Apologies Cont.

Hello Readers, Admirers, Followers, (Worshipers?), Acolytes, Disciples, Advocates, Loyal Fans, and Good ol' Friends:

Terribly sorry about the lack of posting for July.  Ditto what Elena already said, I just wanted to make my statement. 

So yes, ditto Elena, close to the end of the month, I'll type up everything and post it. Please bear with me (/us) in this time of......posting....lacking....?

So put down the axe and pitchfork; close the window with the hate or spam emails you're about to send.  Do some yoga and build us a fan site while you wait.

It'll be worth it.

Yours,

Amilie 

Shatterglass

Hey guys. Remember when I told you I had favorite authors and that I was going to play favorites? Well this is one of them. Tamora Pierce is without a doubt one of the most amazing people in the world. Her books are the bane of my existance. No lie. [well, maybe a little lie, but she is the best!] I started reading her books in the sixth grade, because a friend of mine, [thank you to the forces-that-be] forced me to read the Alanna series. As Otulissa would say, "oh my glaux." [You have to be a GoGH nerd to get that] It was the BEST thing since SLICED BREAD! No lie. [And this time, I mean no lie.]

So anyway, onto the book. Shatterglass is the final installment of 'The Circle Opens Quartet' and blows my mind each and every time I read it, [about maybe eight or nine times to date] For those of you who don't know, the Circle opens follows each of the four amazing people, Briar Moss, Trisana Chandler, Sandrilene fa Toren, and Daja Kisubo [I spelled Sandry's first name and Daja's last name wrong the first time, I had to wiki. You'd think I'd know this by now.] as they get students and further study their magic and the magic of others. READ THE FIRST QUARTET and THEN this quartet, otherwise you won't get it, and you will leave confused and unfullfilled. Trust me I know. I actually had Street Magic way before I know who Tamora Pierce was, and the genius I was dealing with, and I read it and I was so confused. [See how big my library was, even as a child?] I only realized I had already read the book several years later, when I decided to give it a chance.

ANYWAY, [I am so off track here, ;D] This is about Tris as she explores Tharios, an extremely well developed city where a conclave of mages come together, and Tris tags along with her teacher Niklaren Goldeye [another wiki for me] as he attends. She takes an interest in the famed glassmakers there, and meets Kethlun Warder.

Tammy once again stunns with her well developed city, populace, and still manages to tie in important parallels to today. [I don't always see them because I read for pleasure, and delve no deeper,] She mentions the city's intolerance for uncleanliness, has several very good witicisims, that apply to everyday life, and even though the novel touches some serious topics, she still manages to make me laugh now and again. I'm sure there is a word for the way the Prathmuni, [amazon this time] the 'untouchables and unseeables' are treated, and it's not good.

So I just googled it, [search engines are my friend] and apparantly it draws parallels to slavery in India. [Don't look at me for not catching that, I'm shallow, remember]

In conclusion, this is an excellently awesomely perfect book. One of my favorites. GO BUY IT NAO! Oh, and just some incentive, [don't worry, this doesn't contain spoilers. Just excellence]

The next lightening bolt hit Tris squarely.

She held up her arms; she laughed as the

bolt clung to her without vanishing, a

white hot ladder to the clouds. The braids

she had taken down exploded from their

ties, the hair in them twining around the

lightning that secured her to the sky.

[It's in the very front page of the book, the little peek they give you at the begining of the book of the middle of it]

Cheers!

Temple of the Dragonslayer

So this is a book I first got during my 'medieval-fantasy-adventure-omg-new-books' craze. [Actually, I think that's still ongoing] I read it an awful long time ago, so I don't remember much of it, except for one or two things that happen later in this series. The series itself is okay, I didn't buy past the first book of the spinoff. [It's Wizards of the Coast, what do you expect?] Anywhoo, about the book. The writing style is good, it's very descriptive, reminds me a bit of a roleplay, only better written with a better plotline.

The book starts off with Nearra, the main character, waking up in the middle of the road with no memory. Within the first ten pages, she gets chased by a trio of goblins, meets a dragon that wants to eat her, and gets rescued by a wizard. So maybe you think, 'hey, this is gonna be a typical damsel in distress book, I don't want to read this.' Well you'd be wrong. [Mostly.]

Although Nearra manages to attract quite a following of loyal friends, she is far from helpless. One of my favorite parts in the book is when she realized that although she believes and trusts every one of her friends, they all regard her as someone who needs to be protected, and she slightly resents that. She also has a little secret of her own, and she's not the only one. Almost all of her friends have their own problems, and some have alterior[sp?] motives.

[Oh, did I forget to mention that the whole basis of this is for Nearra to find some way to get her memories back? Yes? Well it is.]

It's also quite sweet in it's own little weird way. I will eventually read the second, but I've decided to write a wizards-of-the-coast fanfiction, [this book got me in the mood,] not about this, but because of a funny little list I came across, and I'm determined to break every rule :] Just the fact that it's Wizards-of-the-Coast breaks rule forty-five. It really is quite entertaining.

Velocity

So there I was. Walking down the asile.

His yellow aura and mysterious way of speaking drew me in at first. It was right then, that I knew I had to take him home.

After getting inside, I couldn't keep my hands away, every minute it was something new something exciting. 

I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time--

This was a stinking good book.

Velocity is delivered by Dean Koontz at such speed it will send you reeling and leave you satisfied. 

Funnily enough, the main character in this book is also named Billy-- Billy Wiles. He's a bartender in a local bar that has no official name. He finds a note under his windshield after a shift, leaving him with an atrociously difficult decision: disregard this note and do nothing, and an innocent woman will be killed. Involve the police, and a different innocent woman will be killed. 

What would you do?

The main plot is only revealed after the third page or so, where the book seemed to lose its luster, but Koontz sprinkled the next couple of pages with (incredibly giggly) humor, enough to send me coasting into the adventure that is Velocity. 

I'm in the process of cleaning my house right now, and when I was reading this, I had to tell myself, "Five more minutes, five more minutes....Then I'll clean."

No. There was not a  "five more minutes" thing. I couldn't put it down. 

Koontz's enters you into an entirely believable world of suspense and tension. His descriptions do not leave you lost; they allow you to use your imagination while still telling you exactly going on. The world he leads you though is believable and the dialogue is strong and gripping. 

The only vice is that some parts are revealed a bit too early for my taste, killing some of the suspense aspect that I love. However, when the pieces float to the surface, they float easily and fit in wonderfully with the story he has spun. 

The ending is sad and leaves you wanting more. Not too much more- Koontz doesn't leave too many loose ends, however, there are some that I'd like to see tied up. 

Now that I think about it, an epilogue would've been nice. But thanks anyway, D. K., it's a good read.

-Amilie ;]

Ocean City M.D.

Tom Croft starts Billy Lee off fishing.

Tom Croft is the author of Ocean City M.D. and Billy Lee is the main character, a guy in his 40's that writes for the local junk newspaper.

Croft has a very distinctive writing style, and right away I knew reading his book would be an.... experience.

He starts the book with Billy Lee fishing.

As the title says, it takes place in Ocean City, Maryland. Croft also happens to be from Maryland, where I was born and used to live, so this book was more personal than the average novel to me. 

Okay, readers, before you start jumping on me, I will say it flat out: I am trying very hard to keep this review more about the book, but I do have to mention Croft's writing style. As one who pays some attention to spelling and punctuation, I could not help but notice the frequent misspellings, odd punctuation, and the occasional malapropism that he used. I have to wonder whether his editor shot herself in the midst of trying to proofread the book! It wouldn't surprise me!

He also did not use italics in speech, but instead felt the need to CAPITALIZE AND/OR UNDERLINE EVERYTHING THAT ANYONE PUT EMPHASIS ON! It's obvious he didn't know how to bold words, otherwise I'm sure there would've been a great deal of that too. 

(Maybe Croft strangled the editor when she told him he couldn't bold every other word...?)

He also often felt the need to elongate and misspell (this time purposely) word too, to, I presume, show a speech style, but it often left me thinking how immature he seems writing in this style.

Readers, what does it make you think when you read someone going, "Heeyyyyyyyyy" and "Nooooooooooooooooooooooo" and "Mowa Wawer"? Please comment and tell me.

The characters are interesting, do not get me wrong. They are very real in the sense that they don't always seem to know what they are doing, but are often very boring or incredibly rash. Now, if someone reads this and tells me, "Oh, they're just realistic characters," I'd like you to know if that's what you consider realistic, I consider them the type of people who should be tested for bipolar disorder.

Billy Lee starts off the book having not spoken to his ex-wife in ten years, but before the 70th page, she's called him up, they've talked about their feelings, had dinner, spent the night together, and are even making plans for the future. 

Well, frankly, this just all seems like one huge coincidence.

Croft also takes huge deviations from the main story line, jerking you back and forth between problems in Billy Lee's life.

The synopsis on the back of the book tells you practically everything you need to know, and I often found myself flipping back to it to make sure I was reading the book I thought I was reading; Croft has so many things going on in this guy's life at once.

It takes 204 pages (out of 260, mind you) to find out what the crap is going on (if you don't read the synopsis), and when Billy Lee says, "You mean I'm finally going to find out what the [expletive]'s going on?" I jumped off the sofa and said, "Finally!"

Even after the plot has totally unfolded, Croft feels the need to go on. And on. And on. 

If I hadn't already wasted about 2 1/2 hours reading, I would've put the book down and left the last three chapters to my imagination, but I decided I was going to see this thing through.

It has a happily sad ending, incredibly predictable though. Croft jerks the reader's leash around though those last 3 chapters quite a bit before he finally types 'The End'.

Maybe I haven't given the book the justice it deserves.

It's descriptive-- sometimes too much.

The characters are nice-- when they aren't acting erratically.

You're able to tell what's going on all of the time, but the important question is, will you really care?

-Amilie ;]