The Bookish Babe: Cassandra Clare

I've started making the time to read more "me" books. The books that I've purchased or received and am reading without any pressure to review. But, I'm a bit spastic when it comes to not writing up a review, so I'm going to post several mini-reviews from time to time. They're not actually "reviews", but more a summary of my thoughts/feelings.

City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5)

Series: The Mortal Instruments #5
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 534
Source: Personal Purchase

The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon.

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

Let me just start by saying that I walk into every book Cassandra Clare writes, fully prepared to love it. It would take a train wreck of epic proportions to make me not love one of her books. I will admit, I was slightly disappointed with book four, City of Fallen Angels. I think that's mainly due to how FREAKING FANTASTIC City of Glass was. Seriously, I would have been completely happy if the story ended there. Not to say that I'm not happy to have more, but that book is kind of hard to top.

I loved City of Lost Souls. It was dark, suspenseful and morbidly funny. Cassandra Clare writes some of the best one-liners ever. Simon, Jace and Magnus all deliver sarcasm better than any other characters. The story was fantastic. With Jace being controlled by Sebastian, the emotional stakes were huge. And I will say that Clare is not afraid to go to dark and scary places. No character, no relationship is ever truly safe.

I do have two things I want to nit-pick on. First, the need to tell us, in every single scene, what every person, every surrounding smells like. There's only so many times I want to hear that Jace/Simon/Alec/Jordan smells like soap and some other "manly" descriptor. Really. Secondly, Sebastian has white/silver hair. We get it. You do not have to tell me in every scene how it contrasts with the blood that's in it or the darkness of his eyes. Sebastian = Evil. Got it.

Whew, I feel much better after that mini-rant. Having got that out of my system, I will still say that I desperately love this series. I'm so in love with the story, characters, the out-of-control feeling I get while reading them. City of Lost Souls ended wonderfully and I can't wait for the conclusion, City of Heavenly Fire.

Favorite Quote:

" 'I fell in love with you,' he said, 'because you were one of the bravest people I'd ever known. So how could I ask you to stop being brave just because I loved you?' " (pg. 523)

Series: Fallen #3.5
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Publication Date: January 24, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 201
Source: Personal Purchase

Unexpected. Unrequited. Forbidden. Eternal. Everyone has their own love story.

And in a twist of fate, four extraordinary love stories combine over the course of a romantic Valentine's Day in Medieval England. Miles and Shelby find love where they
least expect it. Roland learns a painful lesson about finding-and losing love. Arianne pays the price for a love so fierce it burns. And for the first -and last- time, Daniel and Luce
will spend a night together like none other.

Lauren Kate's FALLEN IN LOVE is filled with love stories . . . the ones everyone has been waiting for.

True love never says goodbye. . .

My heart. Ugh, you guys, I love the Fallen series so much. I know there are a lot of people who just don't get the appeal. They don't like Luce, Daniel, the story, etc. And that's fine. But I love it. I will admit that Torment was a bit of a letdown, but Passion totally brought me right back on board with the series and I have been dying to find out how it ends. When I learned Fallen in Love was going to be published, I was kind of thrilled, but felt it was superfluous to the actual storyline of the series. And though it doesn't actually move the plot along, Fallen in Love is a nice respite from the dramatics and gives nice insights into the characters.

The first story, Love Where You Least Expect It, is the Valentine of Shelby and Miles. Unlike a lot of fans, I haven't been overly fond of Miles and Shelby. They're nice kids who want to help out, but I wanted them to "be quiet so I can have more Daniel and Luce". But I honestly enjoyed this story. It was nice to see them get their own piece of happiness.

Next was Roland's story, Love Lessons. Roland has always been a big mystery to me. I've never understood his motivations. Though this story didn't overwhelm me, I did feel sorry for the poor guy. And though this was my least favorite of the stories, I do have a new appreciation for Roland.

Burning Love is Arriane's Valentine. Arriane has always been a favorite character of mine. She's a bit unhinged, and I like it. Think Kristen Ritter in the tv show Apartment 23. Arriane's story surprised me, in a good yet sad way. I guess I never considered her an emotionally serious character. I was wrong.

Last is Endless Love, The Valentine of Daniel and Luce. All I can say about this story is SWOON. If you love this couple, Endless Love is highly satisfying. It's so nice to see these two in a (short-lived) happy place. I don't want to say to much, but honestly, I got chills.

Fallen in Love was a gorgeously written, very romantic book. I don't know that it's absolutely necessary to read this before Rapture. But if you're a fan of the series, I don't see why you wouldn't want to.

Favorite Quote:

"Daniel and Lucinda were emblems of romance, ideals that every mortal and some immortals needed to believe in, whether or not they themselves were capable of making a connection so true. Daniel and Lucinda were an idea that informed the way the rest of the world fell in love." (pg. 69)

"Sometimes love needed a lift from its guardian angels, to get its feet off the ground. But once it made its first early beats toward flight, it had to be trusted to take wing on its own and soar past the highest conceivable heights, into the heavens - and beyond." (pg. 201)

Series: Fallen #4
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: June 12, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 448
Source: Gift

The sky is dark with wings . . . .

Like sand in an hourglass, time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Dark forces are after them, and Daniel doesn’t know if he can do this—live only to lose Luce again and again.

Yet together they will face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies . . . and angel dust. Great sacrifices are made. Hearts are destroyed. And suddenly Luce knows what must happen.

For she was meant to be with someone other than Daniel. The curse they’ve borne has always and only been about her—and the love she cast aside. The choice she makes now will be the only one that truly matters.

In the fight for Luce, who will win?

The astonishing conclusion to the FALLEN series. Heaven can’t wait any longer.

I've been a huge fan of the Fallen Series since the beginning. Actually, Fallen is the first book I ever bought because of a review. (It was the Arkansas Democrat. Kate's husband is a native to the Little Rock area, which for some inexplicable reason makes me proud!) As a fan, I've been largely happy with the series as a whole. Even when I didn't love parts of the storyline, Kate's writing is beyond gorgeous and a true pleasure to read. I had no idea how she would wrap up the series, all I hoped for was a Happily Ever After ending.

I loved Rapture. The story was scary for someone who was raised with a very literal interpretation of the Bible. Very scary. The Bible does play a large part of the story, but only in a historical aspect. One of the things I love about the series is that it never becomes preachy. To the contrary, love is the divine power here.

What I was really looking for, besides love conquering all, was a full explanation and solution to Daniel and Luce's tragic love story. That's exactly what I got. Kate doesn't deal in generals here, the explanation for Luce's curse isn't glossed over or shrugged off. The curse goes back to the very beginning of Heaven, and it was extremely surprising.

The only part of Rapture that didn't feel fully explored was Cam. I've always loved Cam, even when he seemed irredeemable. I'm going to forgive this because I have a suspicion that Cam will return with his own series. If that's the case, consider me squealing with delight. I'll be the first in line for that story.

Rapture was gorgeous, beautiful, tragic, scary, sad and an overwhelmingly perfect love story. I was pleasantly surprised with the ending. I don't know how it could have ended any better. Reading The Fallen Series is one that I consider a true pleasure to have experience.

Favorite Quote:

"She basked in every reminder of how long and deep her and Daniel's love affair had been, even if the reminder was something small, like the cursive script that flowed along the centuries, spelling out Daniel as hers." (pg. 38)

"Arriane flung out a hand to help Luce up, pulling her so hard her feet shot off the ground. 'Dee's an old friend. And a first-class party animal, might I add. Got the metabolism of a donkey. She almost brought the Crusades to a grinding halt the night she seduced Saladin.' " (pg. 204)

(I'm leaving this very vague, because this is a huge part of the story.)
"Our adoration never diminished the Throne, but your love diminished me. I never meant to hurt you. I only meant to stop you from hurting me." (pg. 408)

So, last week, I went to the Cassandra Clare event in Brentwood, Tennessee, just a bit outside of Nashville. Cassandra Clare is one of my very favorite authors (Top Two), of two of my favorite series, ever. I'll admit, I'm partial to The Mortal Instruments series. But anyway, I love Cassandra Clare so much that I drove 5 1/2 hours, one way, to see her.

Going to the signing was also a great chance to meet one of my good Twitter/blogging buddies, Heather (@SPNHeather) of SupaGurlBooks. It felt like a blind date. The moment our eyes met across the crowded children's section of Barnes & Noble, it was as if we'd been friends forever. Heather is a complete sweetheart, and possibly the most hyper person I've ever met! Seriously, the makers of all the energy drinks need to get her in a lab and study her body chemistry.

Anyway...the time came. We were all anxiously, and painfully (it was crowded, there were no chairs and I am tall) waiting. I was talking to Heather, looking down, and happened to look up, directly into the eyes of Cassandra Clare herself! She was joined by Vania (@VLC_Photo) who shoots the book trailers AND Carson Nicely, aka Will Herondale from the book trailers. (Cue the Squees!) Every time I looked at him, I thought "Dirty Sexy Balconey Scene"! I had heard he was going to be there, but apparently a lot of the attendees had not, b/c there was a significant amount of panicking going on!

I have to say, the boy did look good. He stood beside Ms. Clare, smiling the entire time. He never looked put out, or as if the references to his anatomy bothered him in any way, and there were a lot fo references! He seemed super-sweet.

Cassandra was a gracious, funny and easy speaker. The entire session was a Q&A, with lots of great, thoughtful questions asked. I never asked a question, didn't really even try, but Heather sure did. The girl was bouncing up and down like a kid!

When the time for the signing came, apparently Heather and I missed the memo. We were sitting there listening, when all of a sudden everyone else had lined up and we were just sitting by ourselves, on the floor, in a virtual ghost town. When we got feeling back in our legs, we were the very last people in line. Knowing we had plenty of time, we went over and spoke to Vania and Carson, who gave us signed posters and we got pictures with Carson, who seemed so genuinely nice. The boy has an infectious smile, I smiled watching him smile. And what a good sport, women were asking to touch his abs, for him to take his shirt off. It was pretty funny.

After that, Heather and I went over to Starbucks, got drinks, and the line still hadn't moved. Coffee in hand, we prepared ourselves for the long haul. Within a few minutes, we were chatting with another attendee, Morgan, and after a few minutes, we discovered that we all shared a lot of the same Twitter buds. Such a small world! With the three of us chatting, the almost two hour wait to get our books signed flew by.

When it was my turn to get my book signed, I of course, froze. I couldn't think of one clever thing to say to Cassie, so I just stood there, mute. I did, however, get it together long enough to ask for a picture. She was awesome, and totally worth the over 11 hour round-trip.

Wow, this post was about 45 paragraphs longer than I intended. But I do want to include pics. And just so you know, Carson squeezed me extra tight on the shoulder. I think he knows a good thing when he sees it! ;-)