Review: City of Lost Souls

City of Lost Souls marks the fifth book in The Mortal Instruments series. The same to hit the screen last year with Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower. This time, Jace finds himself attached to Sebastian by the evil Lilith -- whose spell is so strong that if one suffers so does the other. Now that Sebastian plans to raise a war against the clave, Clary will have no choice but to defend both sides and protect her love.

It's quite impressive to watch Cassandra Clare maintain the tension and intrigue all the way into book 5. She does this swiftly, filling the gaps with Simon's woes of his estranged relationship to his mother, and Alec's unease with his boyfriend's immortality. Most importantly, the story didn't feel exaggerated in any way or prologued for the sake of word count.

Sadly, due to the unpopularity of the first film, the sequel has been postponed. Fans can at least rejoice that the books are now all in print and reread them at their own pleasure.

Feature and Follow Friday: Hands of Time

Parajunkee / Alison Can Read

FEATURE & FOLLOW FRIDAY

Once you answer be sure to leave me your link so I can follow you back

Q: If you had a time machine where would you go?

I would travel back in time -- no doubt about that. As a good citizen of the world, I would stop pointless selfies, bad hair cuts. And cooks who don't wash their hands.


Here are a few books about time travelling you might enjoy:

Review: The Rules for Breaking

The crazy ones are always in for the long run.

Turns out the FBI had a mole in the crew, causing Anna (formerly known as Meg) and her family to live in chaos for the past years. But what are the odds the corrupt agent was working alone? This time around Anna and Ethan won't have to deal with family secrets and backstabbing foes. Instead, they are taken hostage, tortured, and dressed up...?

Sadly, this sequel to The Rules of Disappearing, doesn't stand to it's predecessor. Two thirds of the book are spent locked in vans and buildings, while Anna's sister, Teeny, is mostly there to launch her own spin-off. Elston did try to instill the family life through all the action by creating a plot line for Anna's mother -- and hence providing the novel with well-done emotional scenes.

A great addition for YA thriller fans.

Top Ten Tuesday: To define is to limit

 

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

TOP FAVORITE CLASSICS

An odd thing about this week's topic, is that I'm currently reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time.So far so good, but it doesn't feel right to add it to my list just yet. 

Animal Farm

George Orwell

Don't trust a pig!! Guess that saying not only applies to relationships but farms as well.

Gone with the Wind

Margaret Mitchell

I so give a damn about this book. It is extremely long (used to be that way back then) but meaningful. 

Pollyanna

Eleanor H. Porter

Taught me to see life through a more positive light.  

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

My favorite classic by far. Dark and disturbing, should appeal to all who refuse to accept old age.

Which book made your list?

Review: The Book Thief

In Zusak's The Book Thief, Death narrates a story that changed him forever. It appears a little orphan girl, Liesel, triggered his humanity as he sees her adapt to an outspoken adoptive mother and a kiss prone neighbor, but also to the political changes in Germany, 1939, that leads the family to hide a young Jewish refugee.

Although, many have seen the talented cast in the film bring the well-adapted script to life, the book remains deeply poetic, and worth every page and tear. Liesel's struggle to fit into her new life, especially to learn how to read and write despite the insults from the other kids, was inspiring. She doesn't learn to prove them wrong -- she develops a love for books -- staying up late every night with her Papa studying words. Every character had their moment, including Rudy, who gets told off for painting himself with mud to look like his favorite runner only to receive a disappointing lesson on racism.

I leave you with the official movie trailer