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Monday, December 17, 2012

Book Review: City of Glass (#3 The Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare



My Rating:
Book: City of Glass (#3 The Mortal Instruments)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publication date: September 1st, 2009
Synopsis:
To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the final installment of the New York Times bestselling trilogy The Mortal Instruments

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Book Review: Beyond the Eyes by Rebekkah Ford


My Rating:
Book: Beyond the Eyes (Beyond the Eyes  #1)
Author: Rebekkah Ford
Publication date: June 3rd, 2012
Synopsis:
Paige knows evil exists in this world, but she never imagined it would want something from her.

After a ghostly voice whispers a haunting message to seventeen-year-old Paige Reed, Paige’s life takes a nightmarish turn. Unwilling to tell her friends about the supernatural occurrences happening in her life, Paige feels more alone than ever–until she meets Nathan Caswell.
Nathan is not only hot, but seems to peer into Paige’s soul, evoking a magnetic energy between them that cannot be denied. But he’s no ordinary guy. He tracks dark spirits, and becomes alarmed when they set their sights on Paige.
And then there are the two power-hungry dark spirits who believe Paige can find King Solomon’s magical ring for them, because when her father was alive, he was close to finding it. If Paige doesn’t comply with their demands, they’ll kill her.

Paige is forced to dig deep into her father’s past and unearths shocking secrets about him and his bloodline. With the past and present colliding, Paige is only sure about two things in her life: she needs to outwit the dark spirits to stay alive, and she’s completely and helplessly in love with Nathan.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Book Review: Delirium (Delirium Book #1) by Lauren Oliver


My Rating 
Book: Delirium (Delirium #1)
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publication date: February 1st, 2011

Description from Goodreads: They say that the cure for Love will make me happy and safe forever. And I've always believed them. Until now.

Now everything has changed. Now, I'd rather be infected
with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.



My Review:

Wow... How a book can drastically change your mind from doubting and almost disliking it to irrevocably falling in love with it! I read Delirium right after finishing Matched, which from my review one may notice that it was not one of my all time favorite. I was unsure if it would be a smart move to read Delirium straight after Matched, due to the similarities other bloggers spoke of... but in the end I am happy that I did!

The characters really spoke out to me. I want to prevent referring and comparing this book back and forth with Matched, however I must say that the characters in Delirium was a refreshing change opposed to the characters in Matched. Lena, the protagonist, started off to be a shy, soft spoken and introverted character. Her best friend Hana had all the 'shine' and beauty which Lena envied and didn't believe she had herself. This portrayed her to be self doubting and self conscious. The two characters lived as and in contradictory life: Hana was tall blond and beautiful; outgoing, daring, confident and brave; rich, educated and had (almost) everything to her disposal -- whereas Lena was living in a poorer neighborhood, was an orphan, doubtful and believed herself to be not ugly but neither beautiful; and she was cursed for a damaged reputation which was put on her by her mother who was a Sympathizer and a former victim of the Love desease.

In the society they live in, they believe Love is a disease and if one 'catches' this disease, they will experience several symptoms which in turn will lead to hysteria and then death. It is therefore mandatory that every member of the society undergoes a special treatment after they reach the age of 18, to eliminate the "Love disease", also known as Amor Deliria Nervosa.

What I found so magnificent of this book is how Lauren Oliver described Love and its 'symptoms' which in Lena's world is portrayed to be very negative. From my own personal experience, I know how it feels like to be in love; but also how it feels like to be neglected by love, to experience heart sickness and unfortunately as well a broken heart. The manner in which Lauren describes the feelings of someone being in love, or having lost love, is so realistic and believable. What I also found so interesting was how Lauren successfully referred to the past as the present we live in now, and how things used to be and how they have changed in Lena's society. It made it that much more dramatic and intriguing and I found myself genuinely believing and feeling for the characters and what they were go through.

At first, I was afraid that Delirium was going to be another slow paced book, which honestly in the beginning it was, but it wasn't unpleasant and it did not make me want to give up on it. I enjoyed the relationships and the connections between the characters and how they evolved to be something genuine. The developments of the characters was not rushed and the emotions felt by the characters were intensely real. The relationship between Lena and Alex was so heartfelt, I always felt excited when they were together off to doing no good, risking their lives to be together, nurturing their love and slowly, and initially indirectly, rebelling against the society.

The rising action and climax of the plot was incredible, and it had me totally consumed and gripping on the pages of the book lusting to find out what would happen next. I was completely perplexed on how this book came to an end, and I almost feel embarrassed to admit this, but the ending was so frightening, exceptional, moving, and heart shredding, that I was sobbing before I could read the last few words of the final paragraph.

I did not give this book a complete 5/5 stars rating due to the fact that it had a slight slow paced start and due to the delayed rising action in the book which only at that point made the book more interesting to me; but it is definitely a must read for those readers out there who enjoy a beautiful, hopeless romantic, and thrilling book set in a dystopian society so well depicted by the author!

If you would like to purchase this book please click the Amazon Button below!

You can also get it in Kindle Edition by clicking here Delirium