City Of Fallen Angels ~ Cassandra Clare

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

*deeeeeep, cleansing breath*

Unpopular opinion:
I would have been happier if Cassandra Clare had left the Mortal Instruments series at a trilogy.

There. I said it.

In my opinion, City of Glass was a perfect ending to Jace and Clary's story. Yes, there were a few loose ends left dangling, but I found the ending to be a sweet glimpse of the HEA I envisioned for two of my all time favorite fictional characters.

And then I read COFA. And boy did my happy little bubble burst in spectacular fashion.

The characters from the first three books that I loved and rooted for, here became whiny, miserable brats. Chief among them being Jace. My beautiful, messed up, cranky-pants Jace. Yes, his character has never been a ray of sunshine in the series, but in COFA he turned positively bipolar.

Yes, I realize that Jace was dealing with a lot of issues in this book. But the constant flip-flopping with Clary was just annoying as hell. One minute he's saying all these sweet things and telling her how he's afraid of losing her, and the next he blurts out "I can't be with you. I can't even look at you." Say what?! There were several instances where Jace was sweet one minute and a d*ck the next. No wonder Clary was such an emotional basket case in this book.

But, it wasn't just Jace's mood swings that bothered me. Simon....smart-ass Simon who has seemed to annoy every other fan of the series apart from me up until this book...even he was a miserable shell of his former self. Again, yes I know he was also dealing with some major changes in his life, but the amount of whining done in this book by Simon (and Jace. And Clary.) was just overwhelming.

Gah. I hate having to say things like this about a Cassandra Clare book. But, this has been the only one out of the 6 books I have read by her that I truly wanted to rip to shreds upon finishing.

Hopefully things get back on track in City of Lost Souls.

Nevermore ~ Kelly Creagh

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't even have words right now to express all the emotions i have after finishing Nevermore.

It has been so long since I was this excited about a book. Since I was so caught up in a story that all I wanted to do was read. All I wanted to do was be in that world, as creepy and unsettling as it may have been. I wanted to be there....and Creagh totally made me feel like I was right in the middle of all the nightmarish beauty that was Nevermore.

There have been countless reviews detailing the plot (which is beyond brilliant and original, especially in the YA genre), so i will settle on just giving you a quick rundown of what I thought of the book as a whole.

The world building was perfectly done, and Creagh's gorgeous, almost lyrical writing style is perfectly suited to this gothicly nightmarish fairy tale.

As for the characters. Holy hell. Where do I even start? I went into this almost expecting Isobel to be this perfectly blonde Barbie doll, and was just hoping I would be able to read the book without her annoying me too much. Imagine my surprise when I realized within the first few pages, that Isobel was so much more than just a pretty face. She was a strong, kick ass character that I ended up loving deeply. And Varen...well, I am not exactly sure what it is about him that made me fall under his spell, but he also ended up capturing my heart.

One of the BEST aspects of Nevermore, were the shadowy Dreamworld characters. I will freely admit to my unexplanable love for Pinfeathers. He has to be one of the most memorable and strangely endearing (???!!!) villains I have ever come across. I don't understand why I ended up loving his creepy character so much...but there it is. Also, I will own up to a slight fangirly crush on Reynolds. He's a badass who has a lot to answer for...but a badass nonetheless.

Bottom line, this was one of the most incredibly imaginative, and obsessively readable books I have found in ages. Definitely one of the best books I have read all year, and in fact one of my all time favorites as well.

It is fitting that Nevermore, much like the characters of Isobel and Varen, ended up being so much more than I expected. I can't wait for the sequel!


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The Dead do Not Improve ~ Jay Caspian Kang

The Dead Do Not Improve by Jay Caspian Kang
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I usually skip writing reviews of books I don't like. But, since this book was provided in exchange for a review...here goes.

To be blunt, I didn't like anything about this book. There were no likable characters. Not one. The plot was disjointed and pointless. The writing style was self-indulgent. It was just a mess.

The main character decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor he can't stand (whom he lovingly nicknames "Baby Molester") after she is killed by a stray bullet while she sleeps. There is really no reason as to why he decides to take this investigation on in the first place, other than possibly out of boredom.

Also, this book takes place in San Francisco, which happens to be one of my favorite places on earth. The main character's at times obvious disdain for both the city and it's citizens was both off-putting and whiny. I mean...if he hated it so much, why not leave? I got the impression that his main joy in life was pontificating on how superior he was to everyone else around him. Not exactly a selling point in my opinion for for any kind of enjoyable reading experience.

Bottom line: A front-runner for my least favorite book of 2012.

(This book was provided by Edelweiss/AboveTheTreeLine.com in exchange for an honest review)