Integrating Time: Hey there Subscribers!

I’m integrating this review blog with my home base, Bunny Ears & Bat Wings: Discovery Through Writing. Reviews will be posted there on Fridays. For a while, many of them will be familiar to Blackbird subscribers, but peppered throughout the transition will be new stuff.

For now, I’ll continue to post reviews here, but eventually this site might be phased out, unless I receive feedback that suggests I should do otherwise.

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City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (Book 2 in The Mortal Instruments series)

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

When I read City of Bones, the first book in this series, I was unimpressed but still interested in the story enough to pursue the series. It took months for me to pick up the second book, which I only did then because my husband read City of Bones and actually liked it. Neither of us appreciated City of Ashes, though. If it were up to me, I’d stop reading the series right here, if my husband hadn’t already purchased the third installment, City of Glass. So I’ll read that one, too, eventually. But unless City of Glass GREATLY exceeds the standards set by these first two books, I will be done with Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments.

The problem is that Clare has developed an interesting world, but she’s put next to no depth into her main character, and even less into her presentation. Jace is the only character who deserves any empathy, and even his descriptions are repetitious to the point that they’ve become predictable and boring. If I have to read one more time that his golden eyes are like a lion’s or that his blond hair looks like a halo in the light, I will throw the next book across the room.

In addition, not much happened in City of Ashes. The plot could have been summed up in a much shorter book. And the delivery was so uninteresting- despite the potentially interesting events therein- that the book put me to sleep almost every night I tried to read it. I don’t mean, of course, that I read it until I was so exhausted I fell asleep against my will. No, I fell asleep after a page, maybe two, when I hadn’t even been tired.

That being said, I am still, oddly enough, looking forward to Clare’s Infernal Devices series, because I’m intrigued by the setting. I’m giving her a lot of chances here. If Clockwork Angel is “bleh,” I’ll be seriously disappointed and yet somehow unsurprised.

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• City of Ashes, by Cassandra Clare (mrsaubergine.wordpress.com)

The Willing by C.S. Splitter

The Willing by C.S. Splitter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Willing is a fast-paced, action-packed thrill ride. It’s a story you’d expect from Vince Flynn, if he was tasked with writing an episode of Sons of Anarchy. Assassins, secret operatives, shady organizations, biker gangs- it’s all there. Amid the struggling balance between violence and justice is Tom Crayder, just a guy who wants to make some money and protect his wife, Jenny. Tom and his intriguing cast of supporting characters take you on an adventure through the darker side of normal, immersing you in a believable, detailed story with twists and turns you won’t see coming.

This was an entertaining read, and when I say that, keep in mind that I received an early review copy of this story. Understandably, paragraph breaks were inconsistent, typos were populous, and there was the occasional missing word- not to mention some grammatical errors. Also keep in mind that I’m an obsessive, compulsive editor. It’s not just my job; it’s something inherent in me. So while reading this, my inner critic was screaming in agony, and yet I enjoyed the story. So that fact alone should speak louder than anything I could articulate here.

In summary, this was my introduction to C.S. Splitter and I was thoroughly impressed.

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Bloodrose (Nightshade #3) by Andrea Cremer

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was the final installment of the Nightshade trilogy, and for fans of the series, it was certainly worth the wait. There is so much action and tension in this book- almost nonstop- that I doubt many readers could have been justifiably disappointed.

When I read Nightshade, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. The concepts were interesting, but it was too romantic, and too trivial a story for me to really claim interest. Despite that, I watched an interview with Andrea Cremer before Wolfsbane- book number two- came out, and she hinted that Calla’s romance (the clichéd drama of choosing between two loves- Team Ren or Team Shay?) would be put on hold. So I gave it a chance. I enjoyed it, like I enjoyed Bloodrose, but I still can’t get 100% behind Andrea Cremer’s writing style.

A lot of YA fiction out there presents teenagers as mature young adults, which, as I know from being a teenager once upon a time, is not always an accurate portrayal. Cremer strikes a delicate balance between childlike interaction and mature behavior in her characters. The childishness sometimes seems overdone, but I figure it’s intentional to show the pack mentality and behavior. Wolves are dogs. Even my grown dogs act like puppies sometimes. But in doing so, much of her witty or funny dialogue was ruined for me. A character would say something unusually funny, but then everyone would discuss that character’s sense of humor for a paragraph. It reminded me that Cremer’s characters were, indeed, kids, despite being thrown into very adult situations and being forced to make adult decisions. But that’s what makes YA fiction so great, so my complaint here really isn’t warranted.

The trilogy is a fun, interesting read, and its final conclusion in Bloodrose is completely unpredictable. I could not have imagined a better ending. Even if you’re still on the fence about Nightshade and Wolfsbane, Bloodrose will win you over. It’s the best book of the trilogy.

That being said, I’m unsure of this last title. Like Nightshade and Wolfsbane, Bloodrose certainly sounds cool, but is that all it is? Did Cremer really just pick a cool-sounding name for the last book, or did I miss something? In the first book, we’re introduced to the Nightshade pack and its alpha, the main character of the trilogy. Hence its title. In the second book, we learn more about the animosity between the two Guardian packs, the Nightshades and the Banes, and the union between Calla and Ren, a Nightshade and a Bane, respectively, comes to a breaking point. Hence the title. I cannot explain Bloodrose, though. Not even a little bit.

But it does sound cool.

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My review on Nightshade, Book One

My review on Wolfsbane, Book Two