Iron King Review

Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pages: 363

Genre: Paranormal Romance

From: Library

Synopsis: Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.  From Goodreads.com

The beginning worried me.  It was awful.  Everything was stupid and unrealistic.  Then just as I was about to give up Meghan enters fairyland and the plot immediatly starts to pick up.  I was hooked.

          The adventure was awesome.  Everywhere Meghan went there was a new obstacle to escape; a new test of their strengths.  There were several points Meghan could have turned back but she didn't give up till she had her brother.  That's why everyone likes this novel so much it is the first adventure in a long while.  The one where you leave everything behind, go to a magical land, and fight evil dragons.  That's how classics like Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and anything else you can think of are.  I'm not saying this book is a classic, and that it will become timeless; I'm saying that it's a fresh change from all of the angsty romance.  Fantasy lovers have been wanting somehting like this, and Iron King is enough Romance to let lovers of that genre love it too.

          So just hold your breath and skim through the first few chapters till you reach fairyland then let the adventure begin.

Characters- 6

Plot- 7

Suspence- 7

Theme- 6

Mood- 7

Pace- 7

Cover- 8

Overall- 7- Beginning should have been better.

Sequel: Iron Daughter

Top Ten Tueday (18)

This is hosted by the Brooke and the Bookish.  I haven't done one of these in awhile so I decided I'm definitely going to do one not only this week, but I did this a day early.  Ha!  This week's topic is the Top Ten Bookish Websites/ Apps/ Etc.  (In no particular order)

1. Goodreads-  I go on here because they are a well updated site that seems to get more stuff faster, and they always have full summaries and great reviews!
2. Shelfari- You can create a shelf on this site that can be a widget on your blog.  I love this site and it's were I keep my TBR list and my up-to-date What I'm Reading List.  Whenever I'm online it's usually the first thing I go to.
3. Twitter- I follow tons of blogs and authors on twitter, and I think it's so cool to see what they're up to.  I remember when Margart Stohl and Kami Garcia posted that they were done with the third book of the Beautiful Creatures series.
4. Paperbackswap.com-  This place as a lot of books that you can get for a fairly cheap price, and some you can swap.  As a blogger I have tons of books that I need to get rid of and this is a good way to do it while getting something out of it.
5. Widget.com- This is great because you can get countdowns, and cool stuff for your sidebar.
6. Flickr- Free pictures, and no plagiarism.
7. RandomBuzzers- The Random House Teen website.  It has lots of giveaways, contests, and author Q&As.  It's very fun.

The rest of the spots were for Apps but I don't have any apps so I'm excited to look at everyone elses and get some of those.  Then I can get more ideas for my Website Weekend posts.  (which I am contuining).

Unearthly Review

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Publisher: Harper Teen

Pages: 435

Genre: Paranormal Romance

From: Barnes and Noble

Synopsis: Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Although only a decently creative story.  The writing and suspense were very good for a first book.  I read this book in three days.  It's a very light romantic read.  It was predictable at times, but there were a few unexpected twists.  Some I loved and others...
        The two boys in this novel Christian, a kind-hearted God who is every girl's fantasy, and Tucker, a farm-boy from a religious family who loves to be outdoors in the Wyoming air.  From the beginning I loved Tucker.  Although Clara went for Christian and didn't get along well with Tucker.  Tucker was a blonde (drool) outdoorsy boy, and if I had the chance to date him I  wouldn't hesitate.  Clare was kind of fake at times.  All of the characters were a little to good to be true.  It didn't really subtract from the story though. 
         I will read anything about angels.  But the angel part was missing.  Sure she had wings and angel powers, but there was nothing besides that.  This greatly disappointed me and I hope in the next book there's a bit more back story.

Characters- 6
Plot- 6
Suspense- 8
Theme- 6
Mood- 7
Pace- 8
Cover- 7
Overall- 6.8- Awesome, yet lacking.

Sequel cover revealed!!  Not a very good picture, but it the was the only one I could find.

In My Mailbox (3)

This is hosted by The Story Siren.  She posts every week which is pretty cool because I don't get enough books to post every week.  A lot of bloggers do videos, sadly I don't have a video camera so you are forced to just look at my list. 

Sorry I haven't posted for a long time, but I was on vacation and I went to Key West!  I had a lot of fun, and I almost was able to post, but I was too behind to scrape up a Website Weekend post.  I had a lot of books on my vacation and there were some I ordered from Paperbackswap.com that didn't come til after I got back so I have those too.

Bought:

• The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
• Spring Break by Katherine Applegate

Paperbackswap.com:

• Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli
• Tan Lines by Katherine Applegate (really great summer read)
• East of the Sun by Julia Gregson

Library:

• Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
• Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

So now that my little blog break is over I'll be working hard to post more often.  Thank you for be patient.

City of Fallen Angels Review

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Publisher: McElderry Books

Pages: 424

Genre: Fantasy

From: Barnes and Noble

Synopsis: The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And—most importantly of all—she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.
Someone is murdering Shadowhunters, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second, bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side—along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. Not to mention that he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls—neither of whom knows about the other one.
When Jace begins to pull away from her without explaining why, Clary is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: she herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.
Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

       Of course Cassandra Clare is a fantastic author and her books just get better as she gains more experience.  I love how she took elements and loose ends from her last book to create a whole new story.  Some  seemingly meaningless things popped up again as major plot points, and the Clockwork Angel appeared in many illusions throughout.  Especcially since Camile is a pretty major character in this book.
       All of the characters have grown so beautifully.  The littlest things about them that annoyed me in the last books were gone.  Jace of course is still the hottest guy in fiction.  Clary's realationship with him seems to have really blossomed and become real, proving to all the bad YA authors that there is more to a realationship than the angsty chase then break-up, then get back together. 
        And the villian!  This villan made Valentine look like a little boy playing with matches.  Wow.  I loved it.  My new favorite villan, after the White Witch.
       The suspence, Cassandra seems to have mastered the act of it.  Everything about it was perfectly crafted and planned that I didn't even realize it was happening (which you can always tell in other books) till she had changed scense on me and I wanted to go back!  Please tell me what happens next!
       This book had an interesting quality.  It was from Clary and Simon's point of view.  Simon has come a long way, and it was so interesting to hear his thoughts compared to Clary.

Characters- 9
Plot- 9
Suspence- 9
Theme- 9
Mood- 9
Pace- 9
Cover- 10- awesome cover
Overall- 9.2-  Loved it, best one yet.