November Wrap-Up

    Hey guys, sorry I took an impromptu, (but not really), break from posting last week.  I figured it was Thanksgiving and I could use a little time off, plus I was able to finish the rest of the paperwork I needed to complete to finish my colloquium, FINALLY.  Fingers crossed I get the OK from my pseudo-adviser sometime this week that I'm officially DONE with this Masters degree.  I'm also preparing to start my new job at a local library!  I had hope that my commitment and determination would pay off and I'm glad that it did.  I can't wait to start this new chapter in my life!  I can't believe how fast November went by and in that time I read a whopping 12 BOOKS guys!  12!!  That's the most I've ever read in a month!  Granted, most of those, (9), were Shadowhunter related, but still.  I don't think I'll be able to repeat that list until probably this summer when I have more time.  Plus I'm still suffering from a slight book hangover after finishing City of Heavenly Fire...  That being said, here are all the books I read this month.  I will try to keep it as concise as humanly possible and leave spoilers out, but I'm not promising anything.  This is going to be a long one, so bear with me...

(goodreads.com)

    The Night Circus:  I was supposed to read this book in October for Halloween because it seemed like that type of book, but I ended up running out of time.  I'm kind of glad that I read this book at the beginning of November because it's still had that eerie vibe to it, but with some romanticism thrown in.  This story was beautiful and enchanting, to say the least.  As the only real stand-alone book I read this month, it brought something different to the table that the others lacked.  I really had no idea where the story was going the entire time.  As you read through each section, you only get snippets of each time line and from certain points of view.  The story also takes place over a 30-year span of time, so that added to the intrigue.  The writing style kept me wanting more and the way the author alternated between the past and present was really interesting and effective for the story.  Not one of the characters came out and just said what was happening; you had to figure it out and piece it together for yourself, which I appreciated.  After reading a lot of YA, you get used to that standard plot structure, so it was somewhat refreshing to not know what to expect.  Each piece of the larger plot was revealed gradually and casually over time, which added to the suspense.  All of the characters were dynamic and interesting, each having a part to play in this "game."  Although the beginning was a little slow for me, it picked up towards the middle and I couldn't stop.  I also really liked the setting, 1800s/1900s, all over the world, but mostly London and New York.  The love story was beautiful and very unique.  Everyone should want a Marco in their life.  I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

(goodreads.com)

    Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess:  OH MY GOD THESE BOOKS.  I think I've mentioned this before, but one of my friends recommended The Infernal Devices to me after I tried and failed to get into City of Bones.  She told me this would hook me into the Shadowhunter world and SHE WAS SO RIGHT.  I read the first book, Clockwork Angel in October, so I wanted to finish the series this month.  Little did I know that this would spur the changes I made to the rest of my TBR list for November...  Clockwork Prince takes place after the events of Clockwork Angel, in which Will is attempting to rid himself of his "curse" through Magnus, who can summon the demon he needs to bargain with.  The book deals with Charlotte fighting for control of the London Institute, the Lightwood brothers training Tessa and Sophie to fight like Shadowhunters and everyone trying to figure out what Mortmain is up to.  I was actually moved by the introduction of Cyril, Thomas's brother, because he looks just like him.  I also really liked that Sophie had a chance to shine despite her deformity.  Because Will is still trying to figure out what's wrong with him, Jem and Tessa end up developing a connection that is apparently so strong that it results in engagement.  I think it's adorable, but I never saw Jem as a romantic interest for Tessa, at least at this point in my reading.  There is so much betrayal and heartbreak in this book!  Will wasn't as much of an asshole in this one, but he's still easily my favorite character in the whole series.  I will eventually make a list of all the Will Herondale quotes that amuse me and post it somewhere.  Tessa is also more tolerable in this book, which was nice.  The revelation about Will at the end was excruciatingly painful and my heart broke for him.  We also get to learn more about Will's family, which was a nice touch.  Overall I Clockwork Prince 4.5 out of 5 stars.
    Clockwork Princess DESTROYED ME emotionally.  Easily one of the best books I've read this year, on the same level as ACOTAR.  I can't even with this book.  I laughed and cried so much that I couldn't sleep.  Jem goes through hell in this book.  While Will is away trying to save Tessa after she gets abducted Jem apparently dies, leaving Will in inconsolable pain.  This is exactly how I felt: Jem dying and Will leaving him/saying goodbye...NO.  Will feeling Jem die and then going on a murderous rampage....NO.  Will saving Tessa and confessing his love for her...YES.  The battle where Brother Zachariah is revealed to be Jem and I COULDN'T KEEP THE TEARS IN MY EYES.  Saying goodbye to Jem a second time when he leaves to be a full-fledged Silent Brother...NO.  The worst part of this book, emotionally, was the damn epilogue.  I read the entire thing sobbing uncontrollably.  This book has action, romance, sabotage, sacrifice, secrets, family, etc.  It's everything I could have asked for in a book, and especially for the ending of a trilogy.  It caused the worst book hangover I've had since The Deathly Hallows.  5 out of 5 stars and then some.  ALL THE FOREVER FEELS.

(goodreads.com)

    City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass:  Because of Clockwork Princess, I immediately forfeited the rest of my planned TBR for November and ran out to borrow the first three books in The Mortal Instruments series because I CAN'T STOP.  These are the first three books out of the six in this series and takes place in 2007 and 2008.  City of Bones introduces us to Clary Fray, whose mother is an ex-Shadowhunter on the run from her ex-husband, the evil and deadly Valentine.  Clary, through a series of unfortunate events which result in her mother's kidnapping, ends up running into Jace Wayland and his team of Shadowhunters, Alec and Isabelle Lightwood, (all descendants of the original Shadowhunters from The Infernal Devices, which makes this series even more fun to read).  In the first 20 pages or so we see Church, an immortal cat who was saved by Jem in one of the other books, so I'm immediately hooked after that.  I went over the similarities and differences between this book and it's movie/TV show counterparts in a previous post, so if you're curious about my thoughts on those, go check them out.  Overall I loved the book, even though I pretty much already knew what happened from watching the movie.  The world building in the book was spectacular and the setting in New York City was an interesting perspective that gave the author a lot to work with.  I wish some of the scenes from the book had made it into the movie, but hopefully the TV show will do it more justice.  I gave the first book 4 out of 5 stars.
    The second book, City of Ashes, deals with the aftermath of the Shadowhunter showdown with Valentine and the revelation that Clary and Jace are actually brother and sister.  If I had to pick a least-favorite book in this series, (which I wouldn't), it would be this one, just because it does read like a middle book and focuses mainly on the conflict between the Clary and Jace trying not to be in love with each other.  This is the only book where incest is OK with me because it's NOT REAL.  I felt the worst for Simon throughout this book because he got dealt the worst hand.  We also get introduced to a bunch of new characters, mainly vampires and werewolves.  There is a lot of contact between the Shadowhunters at the institute and the Downworlders.  Jocelyn is still unconscious from the first book, so Clary is living with Luke.  Because of Clary and Jace's new relationship with each other, they try to stay away from each other, which results in Simon going after Clary.  Jace is on the outs at the Institute because of his involvement with his father Valentine.  Jace is implicated in a lot of stuff he didn't do and nobody trusts him, (as usual).  We see a lot more of Magnus in this book, which I love because I need more MALEC in my life.  Simon becoming a vampire was the hardest to read because I just felt bad for everyone, not just Simon, but Clary and Isabelle too.  Clary's growing into her powers and ends up saving everyone in the end.  One of the mysteries of this book was Jace's true parentage, which is revealed in the next book.  I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.
    City of Glass was awesome to read.  It gave the first look into Idris, mainly the city of Alicante, the Shadowhunter home base, hidden to mundanes.  If you thought there was drama in the last book, this book tops that.  There's more incest, even real incest this time, with the introduction of Sebastian, who is revealed to be Clary's real brother and mostly demonic.  There was action, but we really didn't see much of it due to the focus on the lake scene.  I think reading how Clary has grown as a Shadowhunter through these three books in particular was enjoyable for me because at this point in the series, she's really come into her own.  I didn't particularly like how the author handled Jocelyn's return.  I thought Clary was a bit too dramatic and took out way too much on her mother at one time.  Everyone's self-loathing was at an all-time high in this book.  Again, Malec forever please.  At the end, Jocelyn reveals the truth about Jace's parentage and EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE.  I gave this book another 4 out of 5 stars.

(goodreads.com)

    City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire:  I thoroughly enjoyed these last three books in the series, more so than the first three I think.  Even though they are all connected and go together, I feel like they are split up three and three.  After the abrupt death of Valentine at the angelic hands of Raziel, you'd think there wouldn't be another antagonist running around who's just as bad, but you'd be wrong.  Sebastian is our new villain for these three books and boy, does he give Valentine a run for his money.  Crazy shit is happening this time around!  Also, the sexual tension is ridiculous for the next three books, so get used to that.  There are also a lot more references to the past, (The Infernal Devices), especially with the introduction of Brother Zachariah, (I literally squealed with joy when I read that he had come back).  Clary gets to test out her improved fighting skills as well.  The premise of City of Fallen Angels is about Jace coming to terms with his vulnerable status after being brought back to life by Clary through the angel Raziel.  Jace keeps having nightmares in which he murders Clary, so although they can now be together without it being weird, it's still weird.  We get introduced to the Praetor Lupus, (Simon actually mentions Lupus as an autoimmune disease in this book and I couldn't believe it!), and one of it's members, Jordan Kyle.  Simon and Jordan become friends and it's so cute!  Everyone has to deal with Lilith, who is a raging bitch in this book.  In the end, poor Jace gets taken over by a now resurrected Sebastian, as if everyone's lives couldn't get any worse...  I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
    City of Lost Souls was interesting.  Jace, under the control of Sebastian, ends up kidnapping Clary and taking her all over Europe, which is actually kind of nice.  Despite the fact that it's not entirely Jace in there, he still loves Clary and will do anything to make her happy and keep her safe.  I actually even kind of liked Sebastian for a minute in this book because he seemed almost normal.  All throughout this book, I really just wanted someone to tell Alec about Will because he kept coming up and I was like SERIOUSLY JUST TELL HIM I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT WILL AGAIN IT'S BEEN TOO LONG.  But it never happened...  Magnus was the star in this book, in my opinion, although the Malec breakup was torture.  The sexual tension was AWFUL in this book, like just BONE already, OK?  Towards the end of this book my heart broke, not because of anything to do with the main characters, but because of what Brother Zachariah, aka Jem, said about love and immortality, (I can feel my heart ripping apart again just thinking about it).  And JACE HAS WILL'S COPY OF A TALE OF TWO CITIES THAT WILL GAVE TO TESSA AND I'M SOBBING.  I can't even...  4.5 out of 5 stars.
    Last, but not least, City of Heavenly Fire.  I was torn reading this one because I really didn't want this journey to end.  I wanted to prolong my suffering until January when I can have more Shadowhunters and then March when Lady Midnight comes out, but oh well.  I cried in the first 200 pages of this book, again because of Brother Zachariah, when he saves Jace and becomes cured, thus returning to his mortality.  They talk about parabatai and Will and I cried real tears.  I wasn't expecting Brother Zachariah to turn back into Jem so soon, but I'm kind of glad it happened when it did.  There was a lot of action and danger in this book, which I appreciated.  Everyone is back in Idris because of demons overrunning other institutes.  We also get introduced to Emma Carstairs, Jem's descendant and a future member of the Los Angeles Institute, along with the young Blackthorns, (this book sets up Lady Midnight, which is the sequel book to this one and takes place in 2013, five years after the events of this book).  We get a lot of back-and-forth points of view, from Clary and the gang to Emma to Simon, etc.  Malec is everything!  Clary and Jace finally proved their love to each other, in a cave in the middle of a demon realm...how romantic!  A lot of characters died as well, which was so sad.  I cried again towards the end when Magnus and Simon were going back and forth to see who would sacrifice themselves so the group could go home.  The ending wasn't nearly as powerful and heart-wrenching as Clockwork Princess, but I'm glad Tessa got to talk to Jace and I'm glad Tessa and Jem ended up walking out together, (and taking Church with them).  I really can't wait until the next book comes out.  I haven't been able to shake the Shadowhunter fever out of me.  4.5 out of 5 stars.

(goodreads.com)

    The Exiled Queen, The Grey Wolf Throne and The Crimson Crown:  After finishing The Mortal Instruments series, I didn't want to read anything else, but I forced myself to keep reading, if only to cure my book hangover.  Although I'm still sort of stuck on it, I've found that I'm slowly recovering due to this series.  I read The Demon King awhile ago and I was still interested in finishing the series, so I decided to read the rest of them this month to help get my mind off of The Mortal Instruments.  This series follows a young princess-turned-queen named Raisa as she tries to right the wrongs of past generations of Gray Wolf Queens.  She runs into a street rat named Han Alister, who discovers he's a wizard descendant from the Demon King himself, an ancient story that began the laws of the land they live in today.  Han and Raisa's paths cross more than once until they're hopelessly in love with each other.  The Exiled Queen takes place mostly in Oden's Ford, a neutral country where students go to learn either wizardry or military skills.  Raisa fled her homeland to escape an arranged marriage to Micah Bayar, a wizard with ulterior motives, fueled by his powerful father, The High Wizard.  Raisa is accompanied by her best friend and Captain of her guard, Amon Byrne, who was once in love with Raisa.  While Raisa is studying to become a better queen, Han and his best friend Dancer are trying to fit in with the other noble wizards, being ex-street lord and clan bred respectively.  I liked the change of scenery of this book as we leave Fellsmarch Castle in favor of traveling south to Oden's Ford.  I thought the back-and-forth of perspectives worked well for the story line.  Amon is King Awkward in this book, especially with Raisa and especially after he announces his betrothal to another woman.  I'm glad Raisa was able to make real female friends who won't stab her in the back like they do at court.  Han is all about magical revenge and learning as much as he can before he has to go on his secret mission.  There was a lot of tension between Han and Micah, as usual.  Crow was an interesting character, but he was very mysterious, which made me nervous for Han.  I had a hard time figuring out if he was good or bad.  Raisa ended up getting kidnapped, albeit not forcefully, and sent back to the Fells, with Han in close pursuit.  I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.
    The Gray Wolf Throne saw Raisa fight for her life and her way back home as she's pursued by a million assassins.  There's a lot of traveling in the first half of this book, but not as much as there was in The Exiled Queen.  I don't enjoy the travel sequences, but understand they're necessary.  At least she gets shot at in this one.  Han rescues her at the cost of his own health, (as usual), and then he finds out that she's a princess and IMMEDIATELY gives her the cold shoulder.  I really wanted to hit him for being absolutely unreasonable to Raisa after it took her all that courage to tell him the truth.  Especially after she found out her mom was just murdered, I mean COME ON.  I have no idea what Han's plan really is, but he seemed confident enough.  The way Raisa just walked right up into her mom's memorial service like BAM.  The awkwardness was so rewarding, especially because I felt like I could see the look on Lord Bayar's face.  The tension between Han and Raisa was awful after her reveal.  Poor Amon too!  He's all alone now, the precious cinnamon roll.  Even though I knew Amon had no chance with Raisa, especially because he gets physically ill when he touches her, I was still somehow torn between him and Han.  Near the end, everything got really crazy really fast.  Dancer confessed about his father and I was like WHAT?!  Han gave Raisa a replica of Hanalea's betrothal ring and it was SO ADORABLE.  Raisa was crowned Queen of the Fells and all is great but NO WAIT it's not.  4 out of 5 stars for this book.
    The last book, The Crimson Crown, was a great ending to this series.  Everyone was all over the place.  There was action, romance, suspense, betrayal, (I think there was a chapter in each of these books titled "Betrayal" or something).  Han is one smooth operator in this book, even right at the beginning!  There isn't really a break from the action; everyone is always doing something.  The setting varied from the Clans to the castle to the battle to the slums to the wizard fortress.  Han threw some major shade towards the wizard council in this book!  At one point, I was like, "OH NO HE DIDN'T."  It was one of those things where you're reading it as it's happening and you're like OH NO, this is going to be so embarrassing!  Han's such a smug little POS that it works for him, which makes me love him even more.  Raisa really can't catch a break in this book.  At one point she's just like, "SCREW you guys, go kill yourselves for all I care," (seriously, she said almost those exact words).  I honestly didn't think Han could pull off his plan, especially after he got imprisoned.  Poor kid...  In the end, I'm surprised everything worked out.  It was almost too easy for everyone.  Dancer uses his power, which is apparently extremely rare, even among wizards, Han saves everyone and Raisa agrees to sacrifice herself for the millionth time.  The ending seemed a bit rushed to me, although I'm glad it was a happy one.  Like, where was Han when Raisa went to meet him in his warehouse?  Did he actually write the note that led her there or is Nightwalker just really good at replicating handwriting?  I didn't get that part at all.  This series got progressively better with each book and I appreciated the slow build to the end.  I gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars.  Now I get to start the next series, which takes place a generation after the events of this one.

    OK, I think that's everything!  Believe it or not, this was me condensing these book reviews so that it's not ridiculously long, but I still don't think I did a very good job.  Thursday we'll chat about my December TBR, which will be a lot shorter, but won't include comic books this time.  Since I had to leave my job at the comic book store to start my job at the library, I won't have access to as many comic books, so it'll have to be on a limited basis.  They have some graphic novels at the library, so I'll have to take a look and see what I can come up with, but until I come up with a plan, I'll go back to just books for now.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.