Review: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Series: The Infernal Devices #1
Author Info: Goodreads | Wikipedia
Published: August 31, 2010
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 479
Age Group: Young Adult
Format I Own: Kindle e-book
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: 3/5


I've been wanting to read this (or The Mortal Instruments) series for quite a while, considering they're quite popular and the story seemed unique enough to spark my interest. And now that I've finished Clockwork Angel, I'm not completely floored by it, but I did still enjoy it. But I'm perhaps thinking that maybe I picked the wrong book to read first, and maybe I should have started with City of Bones. I picked Clockwork Angel to read first because it's story comes first, in timeline order. But I got the feeling while reading this that it assumes I have already read at least the first Mortal Instruments book. I felt like there might have been some things left out. For example I didn't quite understand exactly why everyone was doing what they were doing. I think maybe there was some back story that was told in City of Bones/Glass/Ashes that if I had read those first (considering they were published before Clockwork Angel) that maybe I would have had a better understanding of the plot.

This book was still enjoyable though, I felt that most of the characters were really unique. I took a liking toward Jem, wasn't sure whether to like or dislike Will, and I couldn't stand Jessamine. Every time she spoke she made me dislike her. They only character that bored me was Tessa. I felt she was just very flat and boring. Nothing at all interested me about her, save for her ability. And I still enjoyed the story even though I felt there were things that were left out. There were lots of plot twists and shockers, especially towards the end, that I didn't even see coming.

I may or may not continue on with these series, I think if I do I'll read them now in publication order instead of timeline order. Maybe then I'll have a better grasp of what these novels are about. And of course I'd also like to know, what's up with Will? Why is he the way he is? What secrets is he hiding? Those questions alone compel me to want to read more.

Review: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Series: Vampire Academy #1
Author Info: Website
Published: August 16, 2007
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 332
Age Group: Young Adult
Format I Own: Kindle e-book
Purchase: Amazon

When I first heard of the book, I was constantly seeing it being compared to Twilight, and considering I did enjoy Twilight, I thought I should probably read this too, even though I'm not a huge vampire lover or anything.

I didn't really enjoy this book much at all, and usually when I'm not enjoying a book, I don't focus all my attention on it, and let it consume me, so I probably miss a lot of important factors, keep that in mind when reading what I'm about to write.

I found this book to be... a little too young for me. I'm only in my early 20's, but when reading this, I felt like I was in high school again with all the catty girls, gossip, and sex references galore. If this hadn't been a vampire-themed book and it just focused on a bunch of normal teenagers, I would have felt like I was just reading some 15 year-old girls diary.

I also felt like there was a lack on any real plot. Usually when I read a book I notice the main focus of the story pretty early on, but not with this. It wasn't until I got to the end that I got a better understanding for what the plot was, and perhaps found it a bit more interesting as well, but at that point I was more focused on finishing the book, rather than what was going on.

Rose just seemed like your stereo typical high-school girl to me. She was boy crazy, kind of slutty, wanting to drink even though she's underage, and had a foul temper. However the foul-tempered thing didn't bother me too much, because with that I also felt that she was quite badass, but that's about the only thing I liked about her.

The last thing I want to point out, is that I felt this book was ridiculously inappropriate for being YA, mostly because of the language, but also again, sex references and underage drinking. I'm pretty sure that if this was 8-10 years ago and I had asked my parents if I could read this book, they would surely say no if they knew what was in it. So I wouldn't have been allowed to read it as a teenager, and found it to be too juvenile as an adult.

Overall, I know these are very popular books and tons of people like them, but I had high expectations for this book, and they were not met at all.