Book Review: City of Bones

City of Bones is written by Cassandra Clare, and is the first in the Mortal Instruments series.

Summary:
Clary Fray lives a totally normal life, until the night she witnesses a murder at a club with he best friend. The problem? Her best friend didn't see it, and neither did anyone else. Follow Clary on a journey as she discovers a totally different world that was right under her nose, and as she discovers he heritage... and who she really is.

Language:
B word, A word.

Romance:
Characters kiss. A few are homosexual.

Suggested Age: 
13+

My Opinion:
Heck yes. This book was so flipping amazing. Cassandra Clare has an incredible way of writing that draws you in, and you find yourself rooting for the characters in your head. Or out loud, depending on the situation. City of Bones was so incredibly awesome, even though I'm not a paranormal fan. It's amazing because it's not a paranormal book. It doesn't revolve around that, but it is in there. She wove it into the story without overdoing it, and I give her huge props for writing the first book I've ever read that did that.
Brava.
Go read the book.

Legos, Fingernails, and Brick Walls.

Let's talk about my biggest annoyance with books nowadays. Just because I want to.
Love triangles.
UGH. They're like slamming your head against a brick wall, while stepping on legos and listening to fingernails scrape down a chalkboard.
Painful.
I just... don't understand why people do love triangles. Some books like The Hunger Games, it's acceptable, but still not ideal.
Then there's books like Fallen, where I'm like, "No... a triangle doesn't really work here. But it wasn't completely butchered."
And then... there's books like Delirium/Pandemonium that fits my description above.
I just don't like love triangles. Especially not ones where the author makes you love one guy, and then she's all "LOL! JK! We're gonna introduce a new guy!" -.- Really?!
I just don't think love triangles are all that believable. Half the time they don't work or add anything to the plot. Authors throw them in I guess to have a more diverse range of people. Like, if you didn't like this guy, just wait! There's a complete opposite version of him coming up in thirty pages!
No.
You can't do that.
You can't please everyone. You can, however piss everyone off with your love triangles.
Just don't... I don't enjoy them. Nor do I know anyone who does.
I'm done ranting now. Thanks for listening. Go on with your lives :)

Book Review: Fallen

Fallen is written by Lauren Kate and is the first in a trilogy.

Summary:
Luce is spending her senior year at a reform school, while trying to run from the shadows that have tormented her all her life. While there, she feels strangely attracted to Daniel, a boy who makes it clear he wants absolutely nothing to do with her. But Luce knows he has a secret, and she is determined to discover it, even if it kills her.

Language:
Hell, S word, A word, B word.

Romance:
Luce kisses two boys numerous times.

Violence;
A girl is killed, a fight between two guys breaks out.

Suggested Age:
14+

My Opinion:
First. We must talk about the beautiful cover. The cover is what drew me to the book in the first place, and while the cover is gorgeous... the book was nothing short of a let-down.
Alright, here's the deal. There's a huge secret that's revealed like forty pages before the book ends.
Wanna know when I figured it out? Page 3.
THIS IS WHY WE DON'T NEED PROLOGUES.
Yeah. Sucky.
I just felt like the story repeated itself a lot, and Luce was like... annoying.
And the story was complicated.
And there was a love triangle.
Have I ever mentioned that I absolutely hate love triangles? I do.
I think that's all. All in all, I was disappointed.

Book Review: Pandemonium

Pandemonium is the second installment in Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy.

The Summary:
Lena has finally made it to the Wilds, only Alex is not there with her. Believing him dead, she sets off to help the Wilds, and finds herself right in the middle of a resistance war with an unlikely person by her side the whole time.

Romance:
Kissing, 2 people share a bed at one point.

Language:
Uhm... everything. The s word is used a lot.

Violence:
People are chained up for days and held captive. A boy is beaten across the face. People are hurt and killed.

Suggested Age:
13+

My Opinion:
GUYS. UGH. What... what... happened?!
One thing is perfect about the book: The title. It's go-go-go from the get-go, there's blood and running... and wait for it... the plot is so freaking hard to follow.
Plus... Lena just made me want to shake her!
Also, I think it was much like the first book... told from Alex's POV. At least, that's the way it turned out.
And that ain't cool.
It also isn't cool that the last book doesn't come out until February.
(Side note: I'm pretty sure Oliver wins the award for the most use of the word nausea. I wanted to hurl just reading about it.)

Also: Let's discuss the fact that, while the cover of Delirium was incredibly unique... Pandemonium and Requiem look almost identical...

Same earth tones used in the picture, same look on the girl's face... I don't know, but it's bugging me.

Book Review: The Scorpio Races

The Scorpio Races is written by Maggie Stiefvater.

The Summary:
Every year, in November on the island of Thisby, the Scorpio Races are held. These races consist of riding the vicious water horses that come out of the water every October to the end of the race. People die every year.
This year, Sean Kendrick plans to win for the fifth time in a row. He will ride the horse he loves to the finish. He will not care about any of the other riders. Until, he sees a girl on the beach training to ride in the race.
Puck Connolly, has to ride this year. For her family. She is the first girl to ever ride in the races, and she is totally unprepared.

Violence:
Between horrific water horses... and more horrific water horses, there's a lot of blood and stuff. Someone dies, and a horse is maimed for life.

Language:
Some crude slang.

Romance:
A few kisses.

Suggested Age:
12+

My Opinion:
I have a really hard time getting into books when the theme has nothing to do with romance for the majority of the book.
So, I did not have high expectations of this book.
I was blown away.
At one point, the author said something that I have said so many times, but never knew how to put it into words so I didn't look like lunatic.
That being said, I would have loved a) a teeny bit more romance and b) some more background on the island/water horses.
I'm a big background person, so the fact there was literally no background sort of bugged me.
But, it was an amazing book. :)