“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 gas lit streets.  Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters, a band of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons. Drawn even deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated – and torn between- two best friends and quickly realizes that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.”

Clockwork Angel is the first novel in the Infernal Devices series and is the prequel to the highly successful Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare. Over the past few weeks I’ve been hearing reviews mostly to the tune of “ZOMG, SO GOOD”, in regards to this book. So, not that I needed much encouragement, having already been a die-hard fan of The Mortal Instruments, I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

The story is set in Victorian London and centers on Tessa Gray who has just arrived from New York to join her brother Nate after the death of their Aunt. Tessa barely sets foot on English soil before she’s kidnapped by The Dark Sisters – a wicked pair of warlocks who have hidden Nate and taken him hostage. In return for her brother’s safety Tessa is tortured into uncovering a shape shifting ability she never knew she had.

The Magister knew of it though. He is the leader of the Pandemonium Club, a mysterious club where humans and Downworlders (vampires, warlocks, faeries, werewolves) mix and he wants control of Tessa’s unique ability.

While uncovering murders linked to the club, Tessa is discovered and rescued by the Shadowhunters – Nephilim who are the children of Angels and humans who have sworn to protect humans from demons. Taking refuge at the London Institute Tessa enlists the help of the Shadowhunters to find her brother while she helps them uncover the dark plan to wipe out their kind…

When Clockwork Angel arrived in the mail I did a bit of a dance, I was that excited. I was Shadowhunter starved! A year had passed since her last book release and I was missing the sarcasm that Cassandra Clare does so well, and she definitely delivered. It took a bit of time in the beginning to adjust to the new time period and things took a bit of time to get going because a whole lot of groundwork needed to be laid before the story was able to gain some speed.

There’s no shortage of action in this book and can be quite creepy at times thanks to the evil clockwork minions of the Magister, made from the bodies of the dead. That, plus London’s notoriously bleak weather give the book quite a dark quality.

For me, Cassandra Clare’s standout talent as a writer is her ability to create such loveable, dynamic characters. The new characters we meet in this story are no exception. We see a few familiar last names – Herondale, Lightwood, Wayland, all being the ancestors of the characters were knew and loved from The Mortal Instruments (including Magnus Bane!) We’re also presented with a bunch of new characters as well.

It probably wasn’t until Magnus showed up though that I realized just how much I had missed the Shdowhunter world. He was his charming self as always and even though in this book his appearance was briefer than I’d have preferred, he was still great. Plus, it’s Magnus that leaves us with a great cliffhanger right at the end.

Our main character, Tessa, definitely has spunk.  She’s a lady with all the politeness and proper manners that go hand –in-hand with the time period, but when it comes down to it she puts up a hell of a fight and has a comeback for any snarky comment Will throws her way.

Speaking of Will; this guy is badass. His only downfall is that he’s also an a-hole. With his dark hair and blue eyes he’s beautifully sexy and has the kind of wit and classic one-liners that we’ve come to love from Jace in TMI. As Jace’s ancestor it’s clear that’s one of the character traits he’s passed down. Like most characters in this book, Will has a dark and mysterious past, which is apparently the reason he’s a jerk to most people and keeps them at arm’s length. Everyone except his best friend and parabatai, Jem.

Jem though, has dark secrets of his own, secrets which are destroying him from the inside out. He’s the only one who’s been able to get close to Will and balances out Will’s snark with his calm, soothing demeanor. With his silver hair and musical skills Jem’s a charmer simply by being a gentleman. He catches your attention with his subtleties.

The blurb hypes the three of them to be caught in a fierce love triangle but it’s not really the case – at least not in this book. It seems clear which of the two boys Tessa prefers (but if she was smart she wouldn’t…) but we’ll see how that’ll unfold in the next books.

There’s no denying there’s a well thought out plot here. Though it seems the plot moves Tessa rather than her driving the plot, it still twists, turns and weaves brilliantly, especially at the end – right when you think you know where everyone stands, it gets turned on its head which was really great. It was also great to see Shadowhunters from the perspective of a Downworlder, at times it made them appear very elitist and superior.

We also get to see the role of women during the period from different angles from each of the ladies we meet in the book. From Jessamine who wants a more traditional life, to Charlotte who is bending the rules and pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable for a lady to do (and without a corset too!)

By the end there are still so many questions left hanging you double check the last page to see if there’s even a sentence or two more to answer at least one, but no such luck.

This is a stunning novel and it’s going to be an agonizing wait for the next book but I know it’ll be worth it. It’s a fresh take on a period piece so expect action, many lines of great, quotable dialogue, a bit of romance and plenty of Shadowhunter mystery. A huuuuuuge thumbs up!

Pages: 488
Publication Date: August 31^st 2010
Rating: :

Teaser Quote:  “That was enterprising,” Will sounded nearly impressed.

Nate smiled. Tessa shot him a furious look. “Don’t look pleased with yourself. When Will says ‘enterprising’ he means ‘morally deficient.’”

“No, I mean enterprising,” said Will. “When I mean morally deficient, I say, ‘Now, that’s something I would have done.”

The Real World is  frightening place.

Just ask sixteen-year-old orphan, Dru Anderson, a tough girl who has taken on her fair share of bad guys. She’s armed, dangerous, and not going down without a fight. So it’s going to take her a while to figure out who she can trust…

Dru and Graves finally made it to the Schola Prima – the djampir training facility she was originally supposed to head to when Christophe rescued her from the evil clutches of his dad. Now their finally here, Dru should be able to relax and let her guard down a little, right?

Wrong.

Although she’s obviously supposed to feel safe in an environment like this, Dru knows better. Someone is trying to have her killed, and until she figures out exactly who that is, she’s not trusting anyone.

Except Graves, of course. She trusts him with her life. Apart from her deceased family, she’s never trusted anyone so much, ever.

And Christophe. Even though she’s not so sure she should, Dru trusts him too. But she doesn’t tell this to Graves, who thinks there’s more than meets the eye to Christophe. Or maybe its just that he’s jealous of the hold that Christophe seems to have over Dru. So when Dru decides to be plain and clear about her feelings for Graves, she’s more than a little confused when he pushes her away.

He liked her, right? What was he waiting for?

And so starts the frustrating game that is Dru and Graves. He says its not the right time, that she’s got too much going on, and maybe he’s right. But that doesn’t make it any easier, lessen the sting of rejection she’s trying so hard not to feel.

Dru find opposition from Anna – the other svetocha living at the Scholar Prima – and things take a turn for the worse.

Then, almost as if it were right on cue, the vampire attack happens. They’re after Dru – that much is obvious – but they’re not discriminating who they take down in the process. Dru and her friends become injured, and Graves … well, he’s nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, the game changes, and all Dru cares about, all she can think about, is finding where he is.

Is he still alive? God, she certainly hopes so.

Readers are treated to a different side of Dru in Jealousy. Her strong, fierce exterior is shelved for a while as she tries to negotiate her feelings for Graves, and the mess that has become her life. She doubts herself, misses her family desperately, and searches for a little comfort in a cold, hard world that affords her none. She’s still that kick-ass heroine we’ve all come to know and love, but this time, her human, sixteen-year-old adolescnet side just shines a little brighter than it did in the last two books.

Jealousy is an outstanding addition to the Strange Angels series. Dru’s world is one I love to get lost in, time and time again.

Publication: July 2010 (available now)

Pages: 316

Rating::

Teaser Quote: He was full of surprises, my Goth Boy.

“Dana Hathaway doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, Dana decides she’s had it with being her mother’s keeper, so she packs her bags and heads to stay with her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn’t just an ordinary teenage girl—she’s a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie.

Soon, she finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone’s trying to kill her, and everyone wants something from her, even her newfound friends and family. Suddenly, life with her alcoholic mom doesn’t sound half bad, and Dana would do anything to escape Avalon and get back home. Too bad both her friends and her enemies alike are determined not to let her go . . .”

I’ll be honest; I picked this book by its cover. I think in the summary all I saw was “faerie”, “runaway” and “Avalon” before the cover caught my attention and I went “Ooooooooo, I’ll take it!” Often, that’s not a good plan but luckily this time it worked pretty well.

Dana Hathaway has had enough. Enough of having to deal with her alcoholic mother, enough of being the parent, enough of being embarrassed, of constantly moving and enough with her current life. She’s particularly had enough of not knowing the truth about her father. When Dana’s mother fell pregnant years before, she ran away from the city of Avalon and from big shot Fae Seamus Stuart – Dana’s father, to go into hiding and keep Dana away from the Faerie world and its politics.

Avalon is the only place where the mortal world and the Faerie world intersect, and that’s exactly where Dana runs away to in order to meet her dad and escape her former life. Little does she know that her rare status as a Faeriewalker as a result of being half human, half Fae is a coveted position and she’s just walked into the middle of a political war.

Glimmerglass is the first young adult novel by Jenna Black and is the first in the Faeriewalker series. I found the writing to be really engaging and even though it is a fantasy book, for someone who hasn’t read any books about Faeries, I found the concept and rules of the Faerie world easy and quick to grasp. The events in the book mean the characters are always on their toes and it’s very go, go, go.

Soon after arriving in Avalon, events bring Dana to meet sibling Ethan and Kimber. Ethan is of course, gorgeous even by Fae standards and there’s an instant attraction between the two.  His sister, Kimber is guarded and hostile when she and Dana first meet but soon enough a friendship blooms. But what are their motivations for getting involved with Dana?

Our main character Dana is a sixteen year old girl trying to find the parental support she’s been lacking all these years. She’s quite a strong character, having to deal with one crisis after the other but one that also makes mistakes that are true to her age. She’s aware of herself and when she’s being stupid or whiny, but recovers fast, especially when it comes to her potential love interests. She can get a bit blinded by her hormones, but I guess she is sixteen, so she’s forgiven.

I was glad to see that the times when I would think “Oh man, I would freak out and cry if that happened to me” Dana did do that (but without coming across as a baby), which made it more real as opposed to characters who push on tear-free through impossible situations. Perhaps the only weird thing was Dana’s love of Victoria’s Secret and that she reads “dirty” books….haha, uh…awkward.

This book is full of twists mainly with whom exactly Dana can trust and whose side should she be on. No character in this story was two dimensional, each had a definite personality and it made for great reading, with Finn being a personal favorite. By the end you still don’t know who you can trust and can’t trust which gives a great lead (as well as other unanswered questions) for the next book.

Great start to a new series! I’ll definitely be checking out the next book in the series, Shadowspell when it comes out early next year.

Pages: 294

Publication Date: August 2010

Rating: :

Teaser Quote: “How many of us are there?” I asked, because there was no point in arguing I wasn’t a Faeriewalker. I wished I could convince myself I’d been hallucinating earlier, but I knew what I’d seen.
I felt, rather than saw, the look Ethan and Kimber exchanged.
“The last one before you died about seventy-five years ago.”

During a live chat, Cassandra Clare, author of The Mortal Instruments Series, revealed that following the April 2011 release of City of Fallen Angels (#4 in the Mortal Instruments Series), another  two books will follow – City of Lost Souls (2012) and City of Heavenly Fire (2013.)

The prequel to this series, The Infernal Devices, Clockwork Angel will be released August 31st 2010.

Very exciting!

Junior high really sucks for thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod. Bullies harass him, the principal is dogging him, and the girl he likes prefers his best friend. Oh, and Vlad has a secret: his mother was human, but his father was a vampire. With no idea of the extent of his powers, Vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. When a substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, Vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. But then he faces a much bigger problem: he’s being hunted by a vampire killer

Vlad Tod hasn’t had the easiest life. Orphaned three years previously, he lives with his later mother’s best friend Nelly, a nurse, in the quite town of Bathory. He’s the favoured target of bullies, embarrasses himself in front of his crush and now his favorite teacher has gone missing….Oh, and he’s half vampire, and his strange new substitute teacher possibly knows his secret…

Until recently Vlad thought he was the only vampire left until a recent string of disappearances makes him realize that not only is he not alone, but someone’s after him. Vlad is also only just discovering his abilities, since his vampire father died before he could share his knowledge, Vlad is on his own as he comes to understand just what he can do as well as the fact that among his kind, being a half vampire is not just unique, but unheard of.

Eighth Grade Bites is the first book in the Vladimir Tod Chronicles. Like most first books in a series we’re introduced to the characters and storyline with the promise of the big action happening later down the line. Don’t get me wrong, the last chapters of this book have action but this book mostly sets up the foundation for the next installments.

Vlad himself is a good character and besides the vampire aspect he’s a typical fourteen year old boy. He’s got his best friend Henry, he’s shy around girls and isn’t the biggest fan of school. It would have been good to see him explore his powers in a bit more depth; we touch on the fact that he can read minds, hover and has a telepathic connection to Henry after biting him when they were eight. He’s a believable character who’s still coming to terms with the loss of his parents and is slowly growing into his personality.

The storyline itself felt a bit brief and at the end the events happen quite suddenly. At points, time goes by quite fast and we skip over weeks and months without realizing it so the pace feels a bit odd with things going at an even pace in the beginning then picking up a lot of speed towards the end. The book, at 181 pages isn’t very long so a lot of the story didn’t have the kind of development it could have had particularly when we get a look into the vampire world Elysia.

This story has a lot of potential and I have a feeling it really picks up in the following books. I’d recommend it to the younger readers in the YA category, particularly for the boys, it has the right length, right amount of action, horror and humor to ease them into reading.

Pages: 181

Publication Date: August 2007, scheduled for release in Australia August 2^nd 2010

Rating: :

Teaser quote:  “Morning, sunshine”
Vlad blinked at her. “Morning, sulfuric acid”
“Pardon me?”
“Well isn’t it kinda wrong to call a vampire ‘sunshine’?”

In Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love — the light and the dark, the warm and the cold — in a way you will never forget.

When Linger kicks off, Sam finds himself in quite the situation. Their temperature is still cold enough to keep the wolves tied to the forest – and Beck, his father-figure-type – is still lost to the wolves as well. So is Grace’s friend, Olivia. So when a wolf/kid shows up in his house well before winter’s grasp should have let him go, Sam can’t help but wonder why.

Cole is brash, outspoken, conspicuous, and not exactly what Sam wants around right now. Not that there is ever a right time for someone like Cole to come crashing into your life, but it just seems that Sam’s patience has worn a little thin of late. Cole is charming in that in-your-face-annoying kind of way, but he won my heart in no time, just like he won Isabel’s.

In the absence of her brother, Isabel is going through some stuff in this novel and finds comfort in the least likely of places. Cole irritates the hell out of Isabel (and just about everyone one else, too) but she’s unable to resist his charm. Will they get together? Well, that depends on your perspective, and your definition.

But I know that you’re all dying to hear about Sam and Grace. Sam and Grace keep that innocence that makes their relationship so unique, but at the same time, they take their relationship to a new place of finality, a new place of permanency. For me, reading about Grace and Sam has always felt more like I was reading about two adults, rather than two hormonal adolescents. This time around, though, I think its safe to say that Grace and Sam make choices that very much resemble the stubbornness that teen relationships are so often littered with. It was great to see them in such a way.

I guess you’d probably act all crazy if you thought you were losing the one person you love more than life, too. And that’s exactly how Sam sees it. That’s exactly how Grace sees it. It’s exactly how I saw it.

Linger is a solid second chapter in what is possibly the best young adult werewolf tale of our generation. Grace and Sam stay true to their characters, and we even get to see them grow a little, too. It’s always so great to learn new things about your favorite characters after you thought you already knew everything there was to know. These characters will touch your heart, make you weep, and hollow you out on the inside all at the same time.

Although she’s still a fairly young and fresh writer, Maggie Stiefvater’s prose reads like that of an age old pro. Her imagery and descriptions paint a picture so vibrant and colorful I felt like I was sitting front and center in a cinema. There are four points of view in this installment, and each character’s voice is unique and distinctive enough that following their individual journeys is easy as eating pumpkin pie.

A very impressive novel from a very impressive writer.

Pages: 368

Publication date: July 2010

Rating::

Teaser Quote: “If being a wolf was scientific, not magical, then it had to follow rules and logic. And the fact that the new wolves changed at different temperatures at different times… it didn’t make sense.”

“Ruby has always been an outcast. The least loved daughter and the school freak, Ruby’s future is a bleak one. Until one day the strange but endearing Finn Gallagher tell her that she was selected for a special program. A program that would have changed her life and made her dreams come true.
Except that it got cancelled. Because Finn accidentally ruined it. Consumed with guilt, Finn tell her his biggest secret: he’s from another world. Determined to give Ruby and adventure, Finn takes her into Rhodon, a world that exists parallel to her own. Rhodon is an extraordinary place where no one is a freak, where the sky is pink and the people are special.
Inexplicably, Ruby discovers that she has abilities just like the people in this new world, and for the first time in her life she belongs. She makes friends and Finn’s family treats her as one of their own.
But there is a cost: if she stays she risks the lives of the people that have come to care for her, because Ruby’s unique powers have attracted the interest of people that would stop at nothing to control her.”

Rhodon is the first book in the The Rhodon Saga and the debut novel from Australian author Elise K. Ackers. The story follows fifteen year old Ruby Masters as she struggles through her day to day life. Not only is she a social outcast, her own adoptive family barely tolerate her. On the last day of school before summer break she meets Finn Gallagher, a strange but kind boy who seems intent on following her around.

But Finn was sent by the Dream Weavers, an organization that, backed by sponsors, creates life changing opportunities for selected people of Kyanos (or our world as we know it). He’s been sent to retrieve Ruby to start her on a program that will make all her dreams come true, however, things become complicated when Finn messes up the plan and Ruby’s program becomes scrapped. Wracked with guilt at leaving Ruby to return to her sad life Finn shares his secret, he’s from a parallel world called Rhodon and to make up for ruining her world, he’s going to smuggle her into his.

Once they make it through to the other side Ruby changes from the square peg trying to fit into the circle that she was in her world to someone that might actually belong. It soon appears that not only does she fit in but Ruby has extraordinary powers – ones that could get her and her surrogate family into a lot of trouble.

Rhodon was a big surprise to me, since the cover and summary don’t do the story justice. It was an engaging and captivating read that’s like a sci-fi version of Harry Potter. It’s a story about love, identity and belonging on many levels and really shows the importance of human connection – both emotionally and physically, where even holding hands is deep and powerful. As well as this, Rhodon definitely has plenty of adventure, especially when Ruby starts to embrace her powers, and fights back against people who’ll want to use them against her will.

Emotions were shown in a unique way – not just expressed by the characters but in Rhodon emotions were visible through color, which lay all your emotions on the table and in some ways, can be used against you. How can you be deceptive when your thoughts are shown on the ink you write with?

The Gallagher family were really beautiful characters, displaying the depth of love, family and togetherness in the best way possible. Finn’s family and Ruby’s family are in harsh contrast to each other and further emphasize just how incompatible she was with her world. Ruby was a great character, and praise goes to Ackers for giving the main character such a natural and believable train of thought, where not only was it realistic but the reader was coming to the same conclusions at the same time as Ruby.  A special mention has to go to Olive though – for a bunny, she’s got a lot of guts.

I’m eagerly anticipating the next installment of this series.

Pages: 306
Publication Date:  Late 2010
Rating::

Teaser quote: Ruby bit her lip. Her insides felt cold and her stomach heavy. “This is big, isn’t it?”
Finn nodded. “This is bigger than all of us.”