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★★★★☆ My feelings remain pretty much the same, though slightly more apathetic this time around. I still really liked it though and I'm glad I read this series again, especially after reading The Infernal Devices, which I hadn't read the first go around. Some things made a lot more sense hah Maybe now that I've finished this reread, I can finally read Lady Midnight lol (Original review) This conclusion was everything I had hoped for and more: an epic adventure, exploring new and old terrains, ending old storylines and introducing intriguing new ones, and the journey was just as important as the destination in this final installment. All hope seems lost for our heroes, when the unthinkable happens--utter betrayal from a trusted ally. Lies from those who cannot lie. What are they to do when all that lays in Sebastian's wake is death and destruction? The character deaths and death-fakeouts were emotionally charged and effective, but the d...

★★★★☆ Honestly, my feelings about the plot and the characters remain the same as my previous reading, but I just couldn't stand those directly quoted paragraphs from either like three pages before or even from different books. Every time one of those showed up, I imagined those flashback scenes from Twilight set to the music of Christina Perri. Like, why not just say Clary remembered what he had said and leave it at that, or, idk, let me draw my own conclusions and connections for once? (Original rating: 5 stars) After the literary trainwreck of City of Fallen Angels, I had no expectations for this book, but my stubbornness kept me from not reading the next installment. I've never been more happy with how annoying I am. City of Lost Souls is just what a good YA dark fantasy book ought to be. The engaging plot, the twists and turns, the multiple perspectives, gave this book what its predecessor lacked: substance. Every character was actively advancing the plot ...

★★★☆☆ I actually liked this way more than I did the first time! I understand the issues I had with it initially, but found that they were either non-issues or just not a big deal. I was definitely a more impatient reader 2 years ago. What I thought was boring was actually pretty decent slow-build, and this time, I really liked it. It definitely had a problem with too many plot lines and perspectives, and could have been cleaned up and made more succinct, but it wasn't dreadful like I made it out to be. I had forgotten how much I love Simon's story line and how interesting Jace's dark side was. Considering that most of my reread of this series has resulted in a lower rating than before, I'm so glad that this one actually rose a star. Without a doubt, it's a filler book that had to introduce a new conflict in what was supposed to just be a trilogy, but I think it did a decent enough job of doing that without straying from the main themes of the series. (...

★★★★☆ I was almost tempted to leave the 5 star rating for this. Out of all of the first three of this series, it is by far the best, but also sometimes tends to feel like 2 different books. The first of those books is silly and lacks real stakes, but is entertaining enough. The second knows what it is and knows that it wants to tell a story, and best of all, it knows what story it wants to tell. Unfortunately, these two books don't mesh well. We have a protagonist who is an idiot. Said idiot protagonist does idiotic things, gets reprimanded for said idiotic things, and goes around said reprimands, never really learning her lesson. The book is asking us to believe that sometimes inherently bad things might not be so bad, but then says that those things were actually good all along, and that the really bad things make themselves known almost immediately. This wouldn't be a bad message if it didn't give me so much whiplash. But I did really enjoy it, and I love Se...

★★★★☆ After my re-read of City of Bones, I lowered what had been a 5 star rating to a 3 star. I went into this re-read expecting to have a similar experience. I'd already liked it less than the first book when I'd first read it, so I was quite surprised to find that I actually liked it. It's still a 4 star, but for entirely different reasons. Clary actually had a bit of a personality, though her priorities are all over the place. Jace's storyline was still the best, despite how much of a douche bag he is. I had a problem with the adults, though. They all behaved like caricatures of adults. They were so immature and short-sighted. They practically wore their motivations on their sleeves. I could probably take almost any scene out of context, not tell you how old the person was, and you would probably think they were 13 years old. Not that there's anything wrong with 13 year olds, but there is a huge difference between 40 and 13. I'm not sure why I ...

★★★☆☆ Original rating: 5 stars Wow, this was way worse than I remembered it being. This series and this book hold a special place in my heart. It was the thing that got me back into reading, after essentially only reading assigned books during high school. It was fun and intense and I really liked it. That was 2 years ago and oh boy have things changed. Maybe I'm a new person. Maybe my 2 years of vigorous reading have altered my literary priorities. Whatever the reason, I found this to be very poorly written, with awkward pacing and inconsistent characterization. Clary's convictions and opinions fluctuate scene by scene; the only consistent idea she has is that Jace is hot. And speaking of Jace, his behavior makes absolutely no sense!! Their "love story" is built on him quoting Wikipedia and standing next to her. That's not romantic in the slightest. Isabelle's character felt contrived and like Clare was trying too hard to make ...

★★★☆☆ Well that was... interesting . Not at all what I was expecting. It read like a fanfiction, and I think you know the kind I'm talking about.

This tag was created by Vivien Reis on her YouTube channel in anticipation of her upcoming novel, The Elysian Prophecy . 1. Secret society - A book you love but no one else talks about Definitely Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. While it got some fame after it's film adaptation, no one even knows that there's a prequel and a sequel, with another on the way that are equally good, if not better! 2. ‎Voices - A scary novel that gives you the chills! I Am Legend by Richard Matheson is honestly so chilling. The imagery is so vivid and the themes so profound 3. ‎Blood crystals - A book with red on the cover A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab I'm currently reading this and loving it, and the US Tor cover is just so minimalist and stunning. Red, black, and white are my absolute favorite cover colors, so having all three just makes me so happy ❤❤❤❤ 4. ‎Kidnapped - A stand-alone novel you love Though at some point it might have a sequel, The Host by S...

★★★★☆ A pleasant, fun adventure with lots of laughs, smiles, and a few almost-tears. All-in-all, a nice series conclusion, though without the backbone of The Mortal Instruments, I definitely would not have liked it much, and do not like it nearly as much in comparison. There wasn't as much story to tell, unfortunately, though the characters grew on me.  The death of Jessamine was an actually pleasant surprise from a literary standpoint ( I'm not a sadist ) as Clare pulled the same trick, or a very similar one at least, in City of Heavenly Fire with Isabelle's almost death, but obviously didn't follow through, leading to a rather undefeatable, unnecessarily powerful main team. By comparison, the losses in this book were just satisfying enough to warrant my mention. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★★☆ T hough it started off slow and didn't pick up until rather far into the book, I found the characters truly growing on me for that first time. The explorations of Will's backstory were great and emotional. I found that by the end of the book, in that last scene, I was smiling giddily because of how happy I was with these characters and their progressions. I had low expectations for this book, and though many of the issues I had with it's predecessor were equally present in this one, the characters really came through in this one, and quite made up the difference. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

Avg. ★★★☆☆ Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy ★★☆☆☆ The Lost Herondale ★★★☆ ☆ The Whitechapel Fiend ★★★ ★★ Nothing but Shadows ★★★☆ ☆ As usual, the dialogue of these stories is always painfully unrealistic and lacking the wittiness of Simon. The Evil We Love ★★★ ★ ☆ Pale Kings and Princes ★★★ ★★ Bitter of Tongue ★★★ ★★ The Fiery Trial ★★★ ★ ☆ Born to Endless Night ★★★☆ ☆ Angels Twice Descending ★★★ ★★ I'm  sobbing  so freaking hard omg why? Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★☆☆ For those of you who have already read The Mortal Instruments and liked it, I suppose reading Clockwork Angel will be a somewhat pleasant, somewhat unpleasant deja vu. For starters, it involves a girl from New York who is introduced to the Shadowhunters by a hot headed, obvious love-interest Herondale. Doesn't exactly prove Cassandra Clare's versatility, does it? The world building that Clare crafted throughout all six books of TMI never seemed too rushed, though I admit it got rather exposition-y at times; whereas, Will Herondale literally hands Tessa a book of Shadow World 101 that she spews verbatim at the reader only a few chapters in. Besides that, the plot didn't really stand on it's own. I know Clare was a fan fiction writer before writing TMI, but making a fan fiction out of your own story? It's just a City of Bones copy that got a period piece twist. It wasn't until more than half way through, when the clockwork automatons became...