The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

MY RATING: 5/5

CLOCKWORK ANGEL (THE INFERNAL DEVICES #1) BLURB: 

Magic is dangerous - but love is more dangerous still. 

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray arrives in England during the reign of Queen Victoria, something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Friendless and hunted, Tessa seeks refuge with the Shadowhunters, a band of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons. Drawn ever deeper into their world she finds herself fascinated by - and torn between - two best friends and quickly realises that love may be the most dangerous magic of all. 

MY REVIEW:

For some strange reason I have a lot of trouble reviewing books I love a lot. I think it may be because I have no criticism of them, so in only saying good things about the series I feel like I am gushing too much. For this reason I decided to do a review of The Infernal Devices series as a whole.

The Infernal Devices is a story of love, loss, friendship, family, sacrifice, and so much more; with kick arse characters and some pretty creepy antagonists. Cassandra Clare has a way with her characters, they always enchant me almost instantly; Tessa, Will and Jem, along with everyone else in this series, were no exception. I fall hard for characters, and I fell extra hard for these ones.

If you enjoyed The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare and have not yet picked up The Infernal Devices I would highly recommend checking it out! If you are a fan of emotional stories and/or steampunk I would also recommend you check this series out.

I could sing praise for this series forever. I have loved this series deeply and these characters will be in my heart for a very long time. Clockwork Princess was tragic and wonderful, it was sad and happy; I was lost between tears of heartbreak and joy in the end. There were also a lot of tears for the ending of a fantastic series. As always Clare delivers a beautifully imagined world and fantastic characters that you can’t help but fall in love with over and over.

There was nothing I did not love about this series, each and every book was amazing and I look forward to and hope for many more books by Cassandra Clare in both the near and distant future.

Jammie the Book Nerd

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Lack of Posts :(

Hi! 

Been a while since I've posted anything :( I just want to say a huge sorry for the lack of posting to anyone who actually reads my reviews. I have been massively overwhelmed with my school work at university so I haven't had much time to read a whole lot, let alone sit down and write a review. 

I don't know if I'll have time to get back to posting anytime too soon. I have exams and stuff coming up in month or so. But I promise that I will definitely start devoting some time to my blog once I'm on my school year finishes and I'm on my Christmas break :) 

Happy reading everyone! 

Jammie the Book Nerd

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One Year Blogoversary Giveaway Winner!

Hey guys!

The winner of my one year blogoversary giveaway is: 

Jess over at The Tales Compendium

Thank you so much to everyone that entered and all of my followers :D I have a great time writing stuff for my blog, so I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do. 

Jammie the Book Nerd

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Vote Adrian!!

So Adrian Ivashkov, Vampire Academy, is up against Will Herondale, The Infernal Devices, in the 2nd Annual YA Crush Tourney. And while I totally love Will, I am a bigger Adrian fan. He needs your votes!! This is going to be a seriously close competition, Will is in the lead right now, but go here and vote for Adrian! Please and thank you!! 

Jammie the Book Nerd
xxoo

Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan

MY RATING: 4/5

BLURB: 

Mel and Cathy and Anna have passed vampires on the street and sat near them in cinemas, but they don't know any. Vampires stick to their own kind, and Mel and her friends hang out with other humans - until a vampire boy in a bizarre sun-proof suit shows up at school and captures Cathy's heart. 

Mel is horrified. Can she convince Cathy that life with a vampire is no life at all? Should she? And then all her assumptions about vampires are turned on their head when she meets Kit, a boy who makes her laugh - a boy with a very unusual family history. . . 

Will Mel's staunch anti-vampire stance jeopardize her closest friendships? And where does Kit fit in? In the end, who will choose . . . Team Human? 

MY REVIEW: 

Before I read this book, I was honestly expecting it to be a cute, fluffy love story of sorts (well as fluffy as it can be with vampires anyway). Which there is absolutely nothing wrong with; Anna and the French Kiss was a story like that, and it is one of my favourite reads of the year. But Team Human is definitely not one of those stories; it had an intense mystery story line. Which I really enjoyed. 

For unknown reasons a mysterious vampire boy in a strange sun-proof suit turns up at Mel, Cathy and Anna's school. He immediately catches the attention of Cathy, a friend of Mel's who has always had an interest in vampires. Mel must decide whether to try convincing Cathy that being with a vampire is a bad idea, and in the process risk damaging their friendship or let Cathy be with someone that makes her happy, even if he is a vampire. 

I loved Mel's character, and how against vampire she is. I also loved her voice; the things she thought and said were hilarious. 

"Who choose the possibility of immortality over chocolate?" - page. 34

"They looked lost in each other's eyes. Like I would need to make a tiny eye map for each of them to be able to find their way out." - page. 113

I loved Kit's character; how clueless he was about humans was absolutely adorable. I loved all of the other characters as well. Kit's mum, Camille, was super sweet. Cathy was a bit two dimensional, I feel like her character wasn't very well fleshed out. And I liked Ty. 

The mystery side of this book was the kind where I couldn't really figure anything out. And while I liked that, it also annoyed me at the same time. I can predict the ending of books too much, but I really enjoy a book that keeps me trying to work things out, throughout Team Human I couldn't really come up with any theories. But I still enjoyed it, it was shocking and exciting at all the right moment for me. 

This book has everything; humor, romance, mystery, it even has zombies! Bona fide they bite you, and you turn into one, zombies. I just thought that was fantastic. Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I would highly recommend it. I think the praise on the back by Maureen Johnson really sums it up beautifully. 

"If you love vampire books, this is the book for you - if you hate vampire books, this is also the book for you." 

Jammie the Book Nerd
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Across the Universe by Beth Revis

MY RATING: 5/5

BLURB: 

Amy has left the life she loves for a world 300 years away. 

Trapped in space and frozen in time, Amy is bound for a new planet. But fifty years before she's due to arrive, she is violently woken, the victim of an attempted murder. Now Amy's lost on board and nothing makes sense - she's never felt so alone. 

Yet someone is waiting for her. He wants to protect her - and more if she'll let him. 

But who can she trust amidst the secrets and lies? A killer is out there - and Amy has nowhere to hide. . . 

MY REVIEW: 

I LOVED this book! I couldn't put it down. I started it on Saturday night and then spent the whole next day reading it. I just wanted to know what was going to happen! The nerd in me absolutely loved all of the sciencey stuff. Don't let that scare you away though. It's not so much that it'd be confusing for anyone with no knowledge in science. Which I also really liked. 

Amy and her parents have been frozen and sent into space, travelling to a new planet they know nothing about. When for no apparent reason Amy is awoken from her frozen sleep 50 years early. Why was she woken up? Who woke her up? What's really going on? Godspeed is a ship full of secrets and lies. And it all comes down to why. . . 

The whole idea that this ship, Godspeed, had been flying for 250 years, that it has its own history of the people aboard it really intrigued me. I loved the writing of this book. I just felt like certain aspects of it were written amazingly (not to say all of it wasn't, there were just certain parts that stood out for me). I felt like Amy's consciousness while she was frozen was captured really well, I felt like I was stuck in nothingness with her. Conscious, but with no sense of how much time had passed, she had no idea if she had only just been frozen or if 300 years had already passed. 

I definitely loved all of the characters. I can see myself getting even more attached to them through the rest of the series. Harley broke my heart. I loved Elder; I am very interested to see how he'll handle things in the next book. I liked Amy's character except for a few things. Her childishness annoyed me a bit at times, saying momma and daddy. But I am also excited to see how she is going to react with what we learned about her at the very end of the book. 

So many secrets! I actually figured out exactly who the killer was about 80 pages in, but there was definitely lots of other stuff I would never have seen coming. I still can't stop thinking about it all. I don't know what else to say without spoiling everything. I went in not really knowing anything, not knowing what to expect and I loved it that way. I would highly recommend checking it out! I cannot wait to get myself a copy of the second book. I'll be keeping an eye out. 

Jammie the Book Nerd
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Arise by Amber Garr

MY RATING: 4/5
SERIES: The Syrenka Series Book 3

BLURB: 

With power comes the responsibility to accept its consequences. 

After the betrayal of those closest to her, Eviana Dumahl struggles to cope with her new reality. Kidnapped, broken, and confused, she is forced to engage in a war that will alter merfolk politics forever. With her estranged father leading the charge, Eviana has no choice but to stand by his side. Her continued existence hinges on the acceptance of the power growing inside her, even when that means embracing the family's dark lineage. 

Kain Matthew will sacrifice the world for Eviana. And he is not alone. As time runs out, her friends fight to save her life and theirs. An unlikely alliance gives them the edge they need to take a stand, although it keeps Eviana's heart trapped in the past. A new discovery explains some of her previous mistakes, but it may not be enough to stop her father's plans. Merfolk, selkies, and water sprites work together to save their kind, only in this final battle, not everyone will survive. 

In the striking series conclusion, Eviana will learn the true meaning of power, sacrifice, and love. 

MY REVIEW: 

Wow. That is an awesome synopsis. Well, first off. Arise is the third and final book in the fantastic Syrenka Series, so if you have not read the first two books you should because they are awesome, and if you want you can also read my review of the first book, Promises and the second, Betrayal. I loved Arise just as much as I loved the first two books. I am always worried about endings to series for some reason, but I think this was a fantastic ending.

Eviana is dealing with the recent betrayals of those closest to her, but now must also work out how to escape her kidnapper and get back to her friends and family to fight on the right side of the war. Eviana will discover new powers, love and how much her friends are willing to sacrifice for her and this war.

I really loved getting Kain's point of view in this book, for quite a few reasons. I love Kain's character, so it was lots of fun getting inside his head, and I love books with alternating views, it gives you more perspective on both of their feelings. Also it was good seeing what was going on with everyone else while Eviana wasn't there, which I am sure was the whole reason for it. I love all of the characters in this book and the whole series. I am a lover of developed secondary characters, and while the secondary characters weren't a huge part of this series, I felt like they were all really well developed with their own stories, without taking away from the overall story.

The end half of the book got really intense. I just had no idea what they were going to do, how they were going to get out of it and how everything was going to be resolved. On that note, Lucian was a seriously creepy antagonist. He was an awesome bad guy, but super creepy. I did cry at the end of this book, and then my sad tears changed to happy tears. Not that the sad thing became a happy thing, just a happy ending.

Overall Arise was a fantastic ending to a fantastic series! I have loved this whole series, and I would highly recommend checking them out.

Again thanks to the author, Amber Garr, for sending me a copy of this book.

Jammie the Book Nerd
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