Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Pages: 592pgs

The Story

Danger intensifies for the Shadowhunters as the New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy comes to a close.

If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it?

The clock is ticking. Everyone must choose.

Passion. Power. Secrets. Enchantment.

Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the final installment of the bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy.

The Review

Wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . did that just happen? At the end? Did that just happen? With her and - yes! Oh my god. It did happen after all. It happened, it happen, it happened! Look you guys, don't mind me right now because I have absolutely no idea what to say in this exact moment here (I'm so ecstatic and utterly speechless) but honestly CLOCKWORK PRINCESS is the best freaking book Cassandra Clare has ever written (she should be SO proud to be the one who'd written it) and I want to personally congratulate her - and thank her profusely - for writing such a mind-blowing, epic masterpiece and it's no wonder why it was one of my most anticipated book of 2013. Talk about . . . whoa. Again, did that just happen? Yes. It did.

Okay, never have I cried so much in a book before, nor laughed so much nor have I ever felt my heart break so much as well, especially when it comes to one book alone. But what's done is done and while what happened in the book turned out exactly like I expected it too (just not in the order it went in) but it was needless to say such a surprising book and I'm so glad my theories were correct. Well, most of them anyway. First this and that happened, then that and that and that happened . . . yeah . . . all I can say is that you will be crying, laughing, violent thrashing and loving what's about to come in this book and whether you're a Will or Jem fan - or heck even a Gabriel or Gideon Lightwood fan - you're going to fall helplessly in love with this book because it read like a Wuthering Heights and A Tale of Two Cities book. It just had everything I could possibly want in a book. Absolutely everything! It doesn't get any better than this ladies and gentleman!

Now let's talk about the characters! These characters are so close to my heart - they're almost like loved ones to me even best friends that I haven't seen in quite a long time - and it's so hard (incredibly hard) to let them go into their own little world and say goodbye to them forever. But . . . they will live in my memories and whenever I think about evil ducks, classic books, violin music, the London streets and madmen on the loose with killing machines . . . I will always think back to this amazing series and the characters within those books. So instead of me retelling over and over again just how amazing each and every character really is, I just want to say thank them personally and very quickly too if I can.

I want to say thank you to Tessa for being who she really is - both innocent, kind, true and never meaning to hurt anyone she holds dear to her heart. You're such a kind soul Tessa. You always care about people and while we don't always agree on everything you do nor with the choices you make (especially when it comes to your boys Will and Jem), but I'm going to miss you terribly. You and Will. You and Jem. You and everybody else!

To my Will, you and I have always been at our wits end when it comes to you and your feelings for Tess, but I want to thank you personally for being true to yourself in the end - a Will whose humor has always hit a high note for me, whose love of books is always appreciated, whose nickname for Gabriel 'Lightworm' was created by none other than you and mostly importantly whose love of Tessa never fades in its blazing glory. Thank you for being just . . . our Will and the Will who never forgets about being betrayed by a duck. I hope someday you will forgive ducks and they will forgive you because you really broke my heart in this book. In a good way of course (and a bad way too hehe)!

Now to Charlotte, to Henry, to Sophie, to Gideon, to Gabriel, to Magnus - and to pretty much every other character who is both bad and good - I want to THANK YOU ALL for being the soul and whole core of this entire book series and for always making me smile no matter what. You guys are amazing! One of my favourite casts of characters as well!

And last but not least, to my dear, dear Jem. Out of everyone, I want to thank YOU! Jem, I've been on your team right from the very beginning and you have grown up so much in this series! Never once have you changed yourself nor disappointed me in any way, shape or form. You are who you are and I love you for being . . . just Jem to me. Always a selfless and kind soul. And not to mention your never-ending love for Tessa and Will, which is something we always dream of having (this special kind of love and friendship) for those special people in our lives and when your weaknesses become your strengths . . . you are what I love about this series and I'm going to miss you like no other character before. Thank you for fighting until the very end and for making those die-hard Will fans have a tough battle with me when I talk about you forever and ever! And of course, I would like to thank you Cassandra Clare for bringing my Jem to life! You made this world a better place with Jem around! Hehe.

Overall, after everything we've been through in The Infernal Devices series, I have to say CLOCKWORK PRINCESS has shown us what an amazing author Cassandra Clare can truly be and that she really needs to pay for our therapy very soon, especially after reading this book. I literally just placed down the book after finishing it and smiled and cried and right now I can't just stop thinking about that GLORIOUS ending the author delivered to me - both sad and yet beautiful and yet true each and every way possible! I just loved it all and my heart is still breaking over it all! Tessa . . . Will . . . Jem . . . gosh I'm going to miss you like no other character before!

The Rating

5/5 stars

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Walker

Pages: 603pgs

The Story

In the riveting conclusion to the acclaimed dystopian series, a boy and girl caught in the chaos of war face devastating choices that will decide the fate of a world.

As a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people. Ruthless human leaders prepare to defend their factions at all costs, even as a convoy of new settlers approaches. And as the ceaseless Noise lays all thoughts bare, the projected will of the few threatens to overwhelm the desperate desire of the many. The consequences of each action, each word, are unspeakably vast: To follow a tyrant or a terrorist? To save the life of the one you love most, or thousands of strangers? To believe in redemption, or assume it is lost? Becoming adults amid the turmoil, Todd and Viola question all they have known, racing through horror and outrage toward a shocking finale.

The Review

This third and final book of Patrick Ness's brilliant-epic-amazing-riveting Chaos Walking trilogy, MONSTERS OF MEN, had really pushed everything over the limit (I mean really, really pushed it with just about everything its got) and by the time I started this book, the sooner I finished it not even realizing just how quickly I read it to begin with. It was crazy I tell you and my god, my god, my god, MY GOD. And what a book this one was! It was action-packed, adventurous beyond belief, emotionally-driven by all of its characters, mind-blowing, and just to sum it all it up . . . it was just like . . . WHOA. Consider myself speechless.

First off, let's talk about Todd and Viola. Honestly these two are the real thing when it comes to main characters and are the main reason why I loved this series as much as I did. So really, it pains me that I never picked up this book series sooner than I did, even after hearing so much about them. I mean, where has this series been hiding all of my life? I want to know because when it comes to Todd and Viola they are one of the strongest characters I have ever met in fiction and even for very young teenagers with so much more to learn . . . they just have this personality that makes them seem quite older than they are and whether they are apart in the book or are working together against crueler forces . . . they still manage to pull through just about everything that is thrown at them and be this unstoppable duo team who are full of courage, heart, intelligence and love. And speaking of love, Todd and Viola's love for each other and their impeccable sense of friendship was one of the most sweetest ones I've ever come across and what I can I say? I'm obsessed with them. Totally obsessed and I'm going to miss them terribly because honestly . . . if they were real people I would be stalking them right about now!

As for the most hated character in the entire book, that being the Mayor, I have to say his character out of everyone had really surprised me in this particular book - at least in a sense that he wasn't what we always thought him to be like. Sure he is what a typical villain should be like and he perhaps never made any heroic attempts to become a better man for everyone else involved in this war going on around him, but I actually felt really sorry for the guy, especially when he started to treat Todd like a second son and make a replacement out of him for the son he had killed in the second book. Yeah . . . he's a different kind of man Mr. Mayor.

Anyway, I don't know why I liked him so much in this book because it was like he was begging for me to hate him, but you could just tell that he loved Todd and admired him so much for his courage in war, and how he kind of wished for him to be the son he always wanted to have, even in his own twisted ways. So I really enjoyed his character despite him being the villain and all. He was - and still is - always interesting to me and is one of my favourite villains til this day and to me he is almost like Javert from Les Miserables - someone who isn't entirely a meanie, just someone who is misunderstood. Well, mostly. It's like, after reading this book, the Mayor was saying to me . . .

Then there's that cliffhanger! Oh that cliffhanger of an ending killed me! Literally. While the ending - to me at least - felt like an open ending for a possibility of another book (though I highly doubt it) but I also think it's the kind of ending where we, as the reader, interpret it in our own way with what happened and in my mind the ending ended perfectly and in a way that surprised me. It was really cruel of course this ending, but mostly it was perfect and was quite clever too. Not to mention completely different to most endings in YA book series and I like that difference. It makes this book stand out even more . . . just . . . gah. I still can't explain my feels on this one without doing it justice.

Overall, MONSTERS OF MEN was so darn good and I can't even think straight because I'm mind-blown by everything that I have just read. So I'm incredibly happy with this book but I'm also incredibly sad too because this series is now over and I just don't know what to do with myself anymore . . . there's this void in my heart and I just don't know how to fix it! I just don't know.

The Rating

5/5 stars

The Passage by Justin Cronin

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Orion

Pages: 963pgs

The Story

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

The Review

THE PASSAGE was one of the most hyped up books of 2010 and I've been meaning to read it for a long, long while, especially after reading so many raving reviews on it. But, like with most good old books that we are dying to read, I've never quite got the chance to explore this awesome-sounding book . . . until now that is. So as of today, it is really simple to say that I'm kicking myself here because I wished I had picked up this book sooner than I did. Not only is this book cryptic, engaging, and even more terrifying than any other post-apocalyptic book I have ever read, but it's also one of the most epic books I have read in my entire life and let's just consider my own mind blown. Completely.

 

From a world-building perspective, while some elements of the book closely follow the post-apocalyptic worlds including titles such as The Road, I Am Legend and Dawn of the Dead, but what made THE PASSAGE so much different and stand on its own two feet (assuming books even have feet) is the way that it was written and the story that clearly channels all of the right elements to entertain readers, while also showing readers just what an awesome writer Justin Cronin IS. Honestly I think this book deserves every bit of praise it has been receiving over the past few years since its release because I have no words at all - and for once I'm actually speechless here, and there are no words that could possibly do this book justice anymore than what I am saying now.

 

The same instances go along with the characters as well. Both large and varied right from the beginning of the book, THE PASSAGE contains a large set of characters that are both human and infected alike, and not once did I get distracted by the many voices that we are soon introduced to: from the tragic young woman Jeanette Bellafonte, to the wondrous and completely faithful Sister Lacey, to the hardened FBI agent Wolgast and to the mesmerizing and unearthly young girl named Amy. They were ALL so in-your-face-amazing, especially this girl character named Amy who was such an addictive character when it came to reading from her perspective and she was my favourite character in the entire book since she was uber-amazing in every way! And, even for such a large book, I have to say that the author did such a splendid job in crafting his peculiar, odd world while still keeping each one of his own characters as engaging as the next one you will meet along the way. That is quite a talent I must say and boy I was a total sucker for it . . . I hanged off every word, every chapter and every page to be honest with you!

Overall, THE PASSAGE, the first book of an adult trilogy (yes two more books are in the works so let's hi-five each other in the glory of it all), is without a doubt the best book I've read this year and this review doesn't even begin to describe my many feels for this book alone. So if you're eager for a tale about a world that is already crumbling to the masses of ruin and utter devastation, and one that is erasing what's left of the human population along with it, then I would highly highly recommend this book to you all. It's just one of those books where you MUST READ before own our world meets the apocalypse (hopefully not too soon!).

The Rating

5/5 stars