City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Published on March 27, 2007

Genres: YA Fiction, Horror Fiction, Dark Fantasy Fiction, Paranormal

Page Count: 496

Source: Purchased

Format: Hardback

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Description: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.


Hello.

I realize that I am entering this world way later than most. I don't know how I managed to avoid this book for so long. A close friend of mine finally called me out on it and told me that I had to read it. I took her advice and bought a copy as soon as I could.

I could not read this book fast enough. It is full of these amazing characters and other worlds that most people would never believe existed. How would you respond if you saw something and you would swear that either your eyes were tricking you or you had just witnessed a heinous crime?  Worlds collide and you have no idea as to what may happen.

I cannot even begin to tell you how fantastic this book was. I found myself saddened when I closed that cover. Then I had that moment of bliss that one has when they read a book so good that they know they are going to live in that world for a while. Thankfully, I did not have to wait too long to read the next volume.

I am rating this book Five Blue Books because it was a wonderful way to start a series. It is proof that some people can know you so well that they can pick out the perfect book for you. I recommend it to anyone that will listen.


InkedBookDragon

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published on October 22, 1999

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, and Realistic Fiction

Page Count: 197

Source: Purchased

Format: Hardback

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Description: The first ten lies they tell you in high school.

"Speak up for yourself--we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication. In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.

Hello.

This book was one in a lot that I purchased and I wasn't sure what do think of it. The subject matter is so intense. High school is hard enough. Add in the trauma inflicted upon the main character and the way that the world treats her. Well executed approach to a difficult subject matter. Horrifying to think about something like this impacting anyone much less someone so young. 

I am rating this book Four Red Books. It was well written but there were times where it drug. I would recommend it.

InkedBookDragon

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Published by Delacorte Press

Published on April 5, 2016

Genres: YA Fiction, Contemporary

Page Count: 336

Source: Purchased

Format: Hardback

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Description: What if the person you need the most is someone you’ve never met?

Funny and romantic, this tug-at-your-heartstrings contemporary YA debut is perfect for readers of Rainbow Rowell, Jennifer Niven, and E. Lockhart.

Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week as a junior at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.

Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?

Hello.

There are some books that I pick up and cannot put down. Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum was one of those books. I was looking for something to read that I could relate to. I am a sucker for the underdog story. Girl comes to a new school and everything in her life has been turned upside down. She wants to fit in yet truly doesn't. She does her own dance in life. This makes it difficult for her to make friends. It also makes her a target.

There will always be those girls that go out of their way to cause other girls issues. They pick apart every thing different about them and try to belittle them at every turn. Poor Jessie. Nothing she does seems to be right. She needs an escape. She needs a friend. Enter a mysterious person determined to encourage her.

I cannot begin to explain how much I enjoyed this book. The characters are wonderfully written and we all know people like them. The overall writing was very good and flowed well. I am rating this book Four Red Books because it was predictable at times. That being said, I would definitely recommend it and will be reading more of the author's work.


InkedBookDragon