Movie Posters for CITY OF BONES. Only a few months to go!

Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series is one of my favorites, so I am REALLY excited for the City of Bones movie coming in August! I recently came across some of the gorgeous character posters, and I feel a need to share my excitement by showing them to you :-)

They're not all the way I pictured them, but I'm not going to be a hater, so bring on the movie awesomeness! (Please don't be disappointing like, ahem, that other movie series based on that other really successful book series!)

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Also, for a few exhilarating hours, The Faerie Guardian found itself keeping company with City of Bones on a UK Kindle Store bestseller list. NO FREAKING WAY! It's fallen down the list now, but TFG enjoyed its few hours basking in the glow given off by the fabulous COB and trying not to pass out from excitement.

Bite Size Book Reviews (2)

Take a look at three of the books I read and enjoyed recently :-)

Title: Poison
Author: Bridget Zinn

This is my kind of story - fantasy, kick-ass heroine, some humorous moments, a bit of romance, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Plus the adorable magic pig. Who doesn’t love that?!

THE GOOD: I liked the idea behind the magic of poisons and how they can been mixed and diluted for different effects. In fact, I would have enjoyed seeing more of that! The occasional flashbacks were slotted pretty seamlessly into the main story, providing back story in bits instead of one large info dump. Most of the characters were believable, and I especially enjoyed Fred, who made me want to laugh out loud on several occasions!

THE BAD: There were some plot "twists" I saw coming, and some I didn't. One in particular could have been foreshadowed better, as it seemed to come out of the blue and wasn’t entirely believable. The pacing started off well, but after about halfway, the tension sort of … dropped.

THE PRETTY: As others have pointed out ... Have you noticed the similarity to the poster for Snow White and the Huntsman?! Anyway, I still like the cover :-)

THE BOTTOM LINE: Overall, it was an enjoyable story. I’d probably recommend it to a younger YA audience.

Title: Cinders & Sapphires
Author: Leila Rasheed

This review is based on the SNEAK PEAK from NetGalley (which, of course, ended at a VERY interesting moment!).

I am a major fan of Downton Abbey, so there was a good chance I was going to enjoy this. And I did! There's intrigue right from the first page, and characters you'll be desperate to know more about. (There are quite a few of them to keep up with, but if you pay attention in the beginning it's not too difficult.) The chapters flip between different characters, so you get to watch the dramas of the two different worlds (the servant one and the lord-and-lady one) play out at the same time beneath the same roof.

If you're concerned that you're just going to be getting a book version of Downton Abbey with different names, never fear. So far there is no hint of similar story lines.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I would very much like to read the rest of this book!

Title: Shadowhunters and Downworlders
Author: Many awesome names
Edited by: Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare's shadowhunter world is one of my top favorites, up there in the ranks of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings (for me, at least!), so I take any chance to read more about it. This book is a collection of essays from some fabulous authors who have come together to share their insights into the awesomeness of the shadowhunter world and its characters. Some serious, and others humorous (and others, admittedly, long-winded and a teeny bit boring), these essays go deeper into the ideas, worldbuilding and relationships that have made this series such a success.

THE BOTTOM LINE: This is a MUST-READ for any die-hard Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices fan!


(Thank you to NetGalley, who provided all three of these ebooks)

Favorite Book Quotes

I've been lurking around Goodreads a lot lately. I love seeing what other people are reading, discovering new books, checking how many people have added Guardian to their to-read list, finding new people to connect with, and "liking" my favorite quotes.

Then one day I was like, Hey. I have a book on Goodreads. I should add quotes from Guardian too! So I did. And if you're at all interested in checking them out, you can find them here ---> Quotes from Guardian.


Most of my fave quotes from other books are sharp-witted, snarky comebacks from one character to another. Cassandra Clare, especially, is good at those (well, I think so!).

“Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?”

“If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked.”

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

“Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?”

“Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself.”

“At least,” she said, “you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland.”

“Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting.”

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

“Don't.” Clary raised a warning hand. “I'm not really in the mood right now.”

“That's got to be the first time a girl's ever said that to me,” Jace mused.

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

“We came to see Jace. Is he alright?"

“I don't know,” Magnus said. “Does he normally just lie on the floor like that without moving?”

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes

“Not everything is about you,” Clary said furiously.

“Possibly,” Jace said, “but you do have to admit that the majority of things are.”

~ Cassandra Clare, City of Glass

“Ah,” said a voice from the doorway, “having your annual ‘everyone thinks Will is a lunatic’ meeting, are you?”

“It’s biannual,” said Jem. “And no, this is not that meeting.” 

~ Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

“It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them. Reading your words, what you wrote, how you were lonely sometimes and afraid, but always brave; the way you saw the world, its colors and textures and sounds, I felt--I felt the way you thought, hoped, felt, dreamt. I felt I was dreaming and thinking and feeling with you. I dreamed what you dreamed, wanted what you wanted--and then I realized that truly I just wanted you.”

~ Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

“Ladies and Felines,” he stated grandly, grasping the doorknob, “Welcome to Tir Na Nog. Land of endless winter and shitloads of snow.”

~ Julie Kagawa, The Iron King

“Oh, we're playing nice now? Shall we have tea first? Brew up a nice pot of kiss-my-ass?”

~ Julie Kagawa, The Iron King

What are some of your favorite book quotes?

Book Review: Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

Reaction at end of book: Aaaargh!! Why is Cassie Clare so damn good at torturing both her characters and her readers?! But despite the fact that my heart is breaking for two particular characters, I loved this book!

My thoughts after calming down:

My overall impression of CLOCKWORK PRINCE is that I enjoyed it waaay more than its predecessor, CLOCKWORK ANGEL. I mean, please don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed CA. It was a fantastic story. It just didn't... wow me like the MORTAL INSTRUMENTS books did when I first discovered them. But CP? Yeah, it wowed me. It wowed my freaking socks off! (or it would have if it was winter here and I'd been wearing any socks).

CA was all about setting up the story and introducing the characters. And they were awesome, and I loved them (except maybe Will. He crossed the line into complete and total jerkville). But CP went into a lot more depth. There was far more character development. The story was told from just about every character's point of view, and every point of view was interesting! There wasn't a single character's story that I wanted to skip through.

There were a few hot scenes that made me want whip out my fan and cool myself down a little (balcony scene anyone? And Jem's bedroom? Whew!). Loved those! And, in true Casandra-style, there were a lot of squirming, heartaching, how can you do that? moments. But you know you love those ;-)

Bottom line: totally freaking awesome book.

And one more thing: After reading CA I thought I'd never be Team Willl. He was just over the top rude and downright cruel. I was always and forever Team Jace. But after reading CP, after seeing the world through Will's eyes and discovering the motivations behind everything he does... I've done a 180. It's a close call, but I think I can say I'd pick Will over Jace!

Teaser Tuesday (19): Clockwork Prince

 
Title: Clockwork Prince
Author: Cassandra Clare

  "I promise to charm the dickens out of him," said Will, sitting up and readjusting his crushed hat. "I shall charm him with such force that when I am done, he will be left lying limply on the ground, trying to remember his own name."

  "The man's eighty-nine," muttered Jem. "He may well have that problem anyway."


I almost laughed out loud when I read those lines ;-)




Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Follow the link for instructions!

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GUARDIAN is now on Goodreads! And while I was having fun playing around on the Goodreads site, I added my darling baby to three lists:

Indie Books - Paranormal Cover Love (#108 out of 199)
Amazing Covers of 2012 (#162 out of 255)
New Series 2012 (#12 out of 45)

It would be awesome (read as: pleasepleaseplease!) if you could vote for one (or, you know, all!) of those lists! Especially the New Series 2012 one. Since it's short I have a good chance of actually getting somewhere on it!

I also have a countdown widget now. Pretty cool (and a little scary!) to see the time ticking away until GUARDIAN is officially available to all... If you're interested in adding the countdown widget to your sidebar, copy and past the following purple text into an HTML gadget under the Layout tab on your blog. Thank you!!

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.widgetserver.com/syndication/subscriber/InsertWidget.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('7644e9df-bec2-4159-b829-ff2d7b7d7361');</script>
<noscript>Get the <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/i/7644e9df-bec2-4159-b829-ff2d7b7d7361">Countdown Creator Pro</a> widget and many other <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/">great free widgets</a> at <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com">Widgetbox</a>! Not seeing a widget? (<a href="http://support.widgetbox.com/">More info</a>)</noscript>

Book Review: Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare

Magic is dangerous--but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by - and torn between - two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all. 

(Summary from Goodreads)

Do you have favourite authors? Authors whose writing you love? And it almost hurts when you read their work because it's so good? And you kind of want to weep because your own writing falls so far of their standard?

Yeah.

For me, that's J. K. Rowling and Cassandra Clare.

I love the shadowhunting world! And this latest installment did not disappoint (though if I had to choose I'd say I prefer THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS to THE INFERNAL DEVICES). There is so much beautiful and original imagery in Cassie's writing, her stories really come alive for me. And her characters always come across as so real! I think that's the part I love the most - the people. Like them or hate them (if you thought Jace was a rude, opinionated smartass, wait till you meet Will Herondale!) there is always an undeniable depth to them. 

And the mystery... and the twist you never see coming... Love it all!

I definitely recommend this :-)

Teaser Tuesday (1): Clockwork Angel

Title: Clockwork Angel

Author: Cassandra Clare

"Many who have gazed upon me have compared the experience to gazing at the radiance of the sun."

"If they mean it gives you a headache, they aren't wrong."

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read.
• Open to a random page.
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!
• Share the title and author too so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Parcel in the Post - Clockwork Angel. FINALLY!!

My most anticipated book this year has finally arrived! The first in Cassandra Clare's INFERNAL DEVICES series,

CLOCKWORK ANGEL

My online book store let me down by not being able to get hold of it after I ordered it, and since I'd already paid for it I had to just wait until they could get stock... But now it's here :-)
I love the little angel on the front!







Have you read CLOCKWORK ANGEL?
Did you like it?
(If you didn't, I don't want to hear about it!)

Have you read any of Cassandra Clare's other books, from the MORTAL INSTRUMENTS series? You must!

High on Fiction

A good book is like a drug…

It sucks you in, pulls you under. You lose track of reality. It consumes your thoughts, you want to get back to it all the time, need more, need more. And when it’s over and reality hits – wow, what a low... You just NEED MORE!

“City of Bones” is just such a book. 

(And “City of Ashes”… and “City of Glass” too. Of course.)

It has everything: adventure, mystery, romance, fantasy, action, it’s witty, it’s sexy and, to top it all off, it’s wonderfully well-written. I would caution you though… these books should come with the following label:

If you haven’t read any of these books, do yourself a favour and go out and get them. You’ll have the fantastic advantage of not having to wait for the second and third book to be released! And after that you’ll have less than three months to wait for the first instalment of Cassandra Clare’s next series – “Clockwork Angel”. (After that, however, you’ll be joining the rest of the fans in desperate anticipation of the next book…)