Sunday 23 October 2011

City of Glass - Cassandra Clare (2009)

This book also came in the in the box set that I bought of this series. I really enjoyed this book, just as much as the previous books in the series.

This book was just as well written as the previous books but this book had a lot more fighting and wars. My favourite character in this book was Magnus, he was pretty hilarious in this book and he helped out Clary when she needed it. I also thought that when Alec came out to his parents, Magnus' reaction was very entertaining.


This book starts with the Lightwoods going to Idris without Clary because Jace lied to her as he didn't want her to go. Clary then draws a portal rune to take her to Idris and Luke follows her to protect her. Because of wards on the city, Clary lands in Lake Lyn, the lake that Raziel came out of to give Jonathon Shadowhunter the mortal instruments, however the water drives people insane and Luke takes her to his sister's house where she heals her. Clary then goes to see Jace where he yells at her for coming, while there she also meets Sebastian and Aline, who are cousins and are who the Lightwoods are staying with. Sebastian takes Clary to Ragnor Fell who will help her mother, however he has been killed and Magnus is there in his place and tells Clary she must retrieve the Book of White from Jace's childhood home. Clary and Jace get the book, however when they return to Alicante a massive war is going on because Valentine has destroyed the wards around the city and demons are running wild. Jace, Clary and Alec go to free Simon from the prison he was put in as the building is on fire. While there they also free Hodge, whho tells them that the Mortal Glass is Lake Lyn however he is then killed by Sebastian who runs off. Max was also killed by Sebastian that night and the Lightwoods are devastated. Jace goes to find Valentine through tracking Sebastian, however we learn from Jocelyn, who Magnus revived, that Sebastian is Clary's brother and Jace was Stephen Herondale's child. Clary makes a rune that binds downworlders and shadowhunters together so they can share each others abilities in battle, then Clary goes to Lake Lyn to stop Valentine. Valentine binds her up and then Jace comes to save her after killing Sebastian, however Valentine kills him first. Clary then draws a rune over the summoning runes that Valentine drew so when Raziel is summoned he kills Valentine and lets Clary have one wish. She wishes for Jace. The books ends with all the characters, friends again, and watching the celebratory fireworks together.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare (2008)

This book came in the same boxset as the first one and I enjoyed it more than the previous one. Which means a lot.

This book was written from many different perspectives which was really interesting. I also liked how the author started including more about all the different "downworlders". I thought the development of Clary and Jace's romance was kind of gross, but well written, and I loved the development of their special abilities. I think my favourite character in this book would have to be a tie between Alec and Luke. I saw a lot more of Luke's love towards Clary and his whole pack, and Alec's character development and romance with Magnus Bane was very entertaining to read.

Clary and Simon are now dating and Jace is kicked out of the institute by Maryse. The faerie queen wants a conference with Jace to see what he knows and to discuss things, however faeries are very tricky and make Clary have the "kiss she desires" before she can leave. Simon kisses her, however Jace is the one who must, which upsets Simon and he runs off to the vampires to see if he was turning into one of them. He wasn't, but by going into their lair they attacked him and turned him into a vampire. Valentine needs the blood of a werewolf child and a vampire child, so he takes Simon and Maia as revenge on Luke. Luke, Clary, Jace and Magnus go to rescue them from Valentine's ship, however he has thousands of demons at the ready and a massive battle ensues, Jace is about to be killed when the rest of the shadowhunters come to help him fight. Simon is almost dead and needs blood to survive so Jace lets him drink some of his blood then they go to find Clary who was taken by Valentine. Jace gives her her stele and with her newfound abilities she draws an "open" rune on the ship which tears it apart. The book ends with Simon realising he can now go in the sun, Jace moving back to the Institute, and a shadowhunter telling Clary she knows how to heal her mother.

Friday 14 October 2011

City of Bones - Cassandra Clare (2007)

I read this book because Mac said that she thought I would like it after she read it. I saw a box set of the first three for thirty dollars at kmart so I decided to get them.

I quite enjoyed this book, it is very different to the other books in the young adult paranormal genre as it has many different types of creatures. I thought it was well-written and included many rare words which I had to look up in a dictionary which is always good. My favourite character, although it might seem a little cliche, was Jace, I found him hilarious and his personality was really intriguing until the end when he was all weird. I definitely enjoyed this book and will probably have to buy the fourth, fifth and sixth books later.


Clary is a normal girl who can see people that no one else can see. She soon learns that they are shadowhunters, and that she must be one of them as she can see them. Her mother is kidnapped, and Clary learns that she was also a shadowhunter and was married to another shadowhunter called Valentine who turned bad and started a massive war and has now returned. Clary then works with the shadowhunters Jace, Alec and Isabelle to find the mortal cup before Valentine does. They get the cup and Jace and Clary fall in love. Jace and the cup then get stolen by Valentine, and Clary goes to rescue them and she learns that Jace is her brother, who her mother thought was dead.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (1985)

I had to read this book for english and I found it surprisingly good. We got to choose between four different texts and I'm glad that I chose to read this one.

Although this book is written from a child's perspective, you hardly realize that at all as Ender thinks and acts way beyond his years. The plot of this book was interesting and well written, however I found that there was a little too much political jargon to find that part of the story at all interesting. Although this book is from a child's perspective, it deals with some very gruesome themes and there is a lot of psychological warfare and torment going on, which I found very full on and a little scary at times. My favourite character was Colonel Graff, you only get snippets of his life and his experiences however I really got the sense that he was a lovely person who truly cared about Ender.


This book is set in the future where an alien invasion of "buggers" fifty years ago has the world training children to be the commanders and soldiers in the next battle. Ender Wiggin is six years old and human kind's only hope of survival as he is a child genius. He quickly passes through battle school and moves to flight command where Mazer Rackham, the only person to have defeated the buggers previously, becomes his teacher. He soon goes through many computer simulations and on his final test he must go through a simulation in which there is a planet in the middle of battle. He defeats the simulation by exploding the planet, however then he learns that all the simulations were real and he had just killed all the remaining buggers. He and his sister Valentine then go in the "first colony" to live on the bugger planet and Ender discovers a fertilized bugger egg, ready to be hatched whenever. He takes it with him as he and Valentine go to explore the galaxy.