Long time, no see! I know it's been awhile since I last posted, but I'm really glad I made the decision to cut back on blogging, (unfortunately). It's bitter sweet because, obviously, I'd rather be writing about a ton of cooler things besides management techniques and reference sources, (OK, my reference services class is actually pretty neat). That being said, I did want to make time to address the books I did get to read this month. Sadly, it was still a little less than I had hoped, but I'm actually in the middle of a book right now, so I'll mention that one as well. Then I'll sort of review what I think of
Shadowhunters so far. Let's get to it!
The first book I tackled this month was
Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes. This is the second book in the
Falling Kingdoms series that I started last month. I'm really enjoying this series and where it's going so far. For some reason I can't place, I find Lucia to be annoying, but I'm sure that will subside eventually... I'm also not one of those people who hate Magnus, (how can I possibly hate ANYONE named Magnus?!?). I think he's just misunderstood; he's been physically and emotionally abused by his own family, so why wouldn't he be vengeful? I am a bit disappointed that Magnus can't seem to hurt or kill anyone unless it's from behind. I guess I was just expecting a little more effort from him, but I would still chose him over Jonas. Jonas bugged me in this book and it was probably because he NEVER LISTENED to ANYONE. A lot of people died in this book, so I'll be curious to see how the rest of the series unfolds from here. I ended up giving this one a
4 out of 5 stars.
The second (and final) book I read this month was
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor and it was a breath of fresh air for me. It's so different than anything I've been reading that I was intrigued from the start. I think I'm starting to experiment more with what the kids call "urban fantasy," which is what this is. The book takes place in Prague, so I have no idea what Prague looks like, but it seems like the most beautiful place in Europe from the way Taylor describes the place. I also like that our female characters, Karou and Zuzana are quirky, eccentric students living their own lives. The way they talked to each other reminded me of the way I used to be in high school, so I loved that take on their friendship. I also liked the romance, being very much star-crossed lovers. Honestly, I can say that I didn't see anything in the second half of the book coming at all. I knew something was strange, but I was totally blindsided by the reveal towards the end. I'm curious about the other two books in this trilogy, so when I find time, I will definitely be finishing it. I gave this one
4 out of 5 stars as well.
The book that I'm currently reading is
Prudence by Gail Carriger and it's the first book in her
Custard Protocol series. This series is actually Carriger's newest, having written
The Parasol Protectorate series, the original series to which
Custard Protocol is the sequel. Prudence is the daughter of the protagonist of the original series, so I went back and forth for awhile to see which one I would read first. Upon starting this book, I do wish I had read
Soulless and the other books in that series prior to this one because it seems like this book just starts and doesn't explain how anything works regarding the world, people's personalities and actions. Everything just seems expected, so I wish I had some tether to the original characters to make this one seem important. I do enjoy the Victorian-century wit, very similar to that of
The Infernal Devices, so that at least is familiar and enjoyable. I'm not that far in yet, but I'm going to try to finish it soon so I can get into
A Gathering of Shadows, which should be in my hands by tomorrow and
Lady Midnight, which I should have hopefully sometime next week! (SQUEE) I also grabbed
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard from my library before it went out on the shelves, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get into that with the other two looming over me.
OK SO SHADOWHUNTERS SHADOWHUNTERS SHADOWHUNTERS
So I know I haven't updated my feelings about this show in awhile after my initial underwhelming reaction to the pilot, but at this point episode eight premiered tonight, (NO I haven't watched it yet and it's KILLING ME SLOWLY), and the series has improved greatly, in my eyes. I think the way they're handling the plot twists and changes is admirable and they've been subtly adding more and more lines from the book, which is great! My favorite characters, by far, have been Alec and Simon. They are honestly the best people to play those two characters and they are always on point in personality. It's like they were meant to be those characters. I'm also really enjoying Magnus and all of his bedazzled glory, so I'm hoping Malec is worth the painstaking wait.
There are two things that I haven't seen yet from this show that I think should have happened by now because they're extremely important to the books. Although Jace has mentioned Demon Pox already, he has yet to play the piano! I know this probably doesn't matter for some people, but his playing the piano is part of his softer side that Clary needs to witness. It also ties him more to Will Herondale, which is extremely important to me, considering all the name dropping the show is doing from TID. It doesn't seem like much, but I would just like to see Jace at the piano at least once please. The second thing that is bothering me is that Clary has made absolutely no runes! She actually seems to forget the ones she's learned so far, so what's up with that? Clary's special ability is supposed to be her ability to create runes and have them work really well. She almost seems like she has no idea what she's doing most of the time. We also never saw her pick up the book and study any either, so I'm wondering how she's learning all of this stuff to begin with. I'm still not 100% in love with the show yet, but it's steadily getting better for me, and that's all that matters.
What do you guys think? What do you think of the show so far? (we're already more than half way through!) What's missing for you or what could they add from the books? What do you hope to see from a season two, if it happens? Personally, I'm praying for BROTHER ZACHARIAH Y'ALL. Let's discuss in the comments. Thursday I'll be talking about my March TBR. Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.
