Category: Urban Fantasy
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
(Cover picture courtesy of Gripped Into Books.)
A murderer is loose in New York City…
…and the victims are Downworlder children. Clary Fray and her fellow Shadowhunters have a strong suspicion that Valentine, Clary’s father, may be behind the killings. But if he is the murderer, what’s his true motive? To make matters worse, the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, has been stolen, and the mysterious Inquisitor ahs arrived to investigate, with his eyes vigilantly targeted on Clary’s brother, Jace.
Clary will need to face some terrifying demons and even more terrifying family decisions. No one said that the life of a Shadowhunter would be easy.
It’s rare that the second book in a series or trilogy is better than the first book (see Catching Fire), but Cassandra Clare has managed to pull it off. City of Ashes has twice the suspense, romance and surprises of City of Bones.
It has many of the clichés of the first novel, but these are given some interesting spins that kept me on the edge of my seat (especially in Chapter 9: And Death Shall Have No Dominion) up until the very end. City of Ashes may be my favourite book in The Mortal Instruments trilogy, but it does have its flaws. Clary could still be substituted for any YA protagonist and Jace is still the stereotypical super hot but icy love interest. The only redeeming thing is that we get to see many other characters’ points of view, which gives them a bit more depth than in the first book.
We see a bit more of Valentine, which I really like. Many of the villains in YA fiction are neglected and end up having what I like to call Dr. No Syndrome: they’re just evil with no explanation or the explanation is really unbelievable. No one really thinks of themselves as a villain in real life, so why should it be any different in fiction? Valentine really thinks he’s doing the right thing and the perverted logic he uses makes it sound like he is the true hero, even if his actions do not match up. I think many YA authors would do well to study Cassandra Clare’s enigmatic villain.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
(Cover picture courtesy of Michael Scott’s website.)
The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly seven hundred years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.
The records show that he died in 1418.
But his tomb is empty.
The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It’s the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world.
That’s exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won’t know what’s happening until it’s too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.
Sometimes legends are true.
And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.
Do you love mythology? History? Fast-paced adventure? Then this is certainly the novel for you!
Michael Scott masterfully intertwines history and legend together to create an action-packed, magical thriller that will keep you reading until the early morning hours. This great start to a superb series combines elements of Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian mythology to create a believable, magical universe.
Up until the end of the novel, everyone’s intentions seem clear to Josh and Sophie Newman. But everything is not so clear by the end as they begin to realize nothing is in shades of black and white anymore. They discover powers they never knew they had, meet figures of legend and learn a lot about themselves. Filled with interesting points on life and plot twists, The Alchemyst is a highly recommended read.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
(Cover picture courtesy of On the Bookshelf.)
Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit in to Jessica Packwood’s senior-year “get a life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchanged student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But Jessica has never even been kissed—how can she possibly commit herself to a long-term relationship? Or an eternal relationship, for that matter?
When I first started reading this book, I thought it would be another YA novel that jumped on the Twilight bandwagon. Boy was I wrong!
Beth Fantaskey’s novel is the thought-provoking, yet semi-hilarious story of Jessica Packwood, a high school girl just starting her senior year. Her plan is to get a life and become popular, but things go horribly wrong when the European exchange student, Lucius Vladescu, shows up on her doorstep, bringing back dark secrets from Jessica’s past. Jessica is really a Romanian vampire princess who was betrothed to Lucius at birth. Throughout her senior year, Lucius helps Jessica build up her confidence and they slowly fall in love.
Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is a wonderful novel that stands out from the hundreds of other vampire novels. My favourite part of it is when we get to see Lucius’s correspondence with his uncle back in Romania. They offer a great insight into his personality, especially his rapier wit. Although there are many great things about this novel, there is one thing I do not like. Jessica takes a very, very long time to believe Lucius is a vampire, even when there are huge clues all around her. Maybe it’s just me, but when someone shows you fangs that weren’t there before and the people who have taken care of you since birth tell you this person is a vampire, I would clue in to the fact that things are not all that they seem.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
The Wish List by Eoin Colfer
(Cover picture courtesy of tabbed books.)
Cast out of her own home after her mother’s death, Meg is a drifter, a troublemaker. But after a botched attempt to rob an old man, Meg ends up in a very sticky situation. Her soul is up for grabs as the divine and demonic try every underhanded trick imaginable to claim it. Meg’s only chance to redeem herself is to help the old man she robbed fulfill his list of last wishes…before time runs out.
Eoin Colfer is probably best known for his Artemis Fowl series, but The Wish List deserves equal recognition, in my opinion. It is a wonderful, occasionally hilarious tale of forgiveness and redemption. The Wish List is a book that can be enjoyed by the young and old alike.
It starts off with Meg, the protagonist, and Belch (her accomplice) robbing an old man, injuring him badly. When Meg hesitates and wants to stop the burglary, Belch fires a shotgun at Meg, which explodes the gas tank behind her and kills them both. This may sound like a horrible beginning to a YA book, but it gets a lot better. Meg’s list of good and bad deeds is completely equal, which means she has to go back to Earth and help the old man she injured fulfill his bucket list (aka, his wish list) in order to get into Heaven.
While Meg helps atone for her bad deeds, we learn more of her story as well as why both the devil and St. Peter are battling for her soul. Of course, Eoin Colfer uses his creativity to create very interesting versions of Heaven and Hell. He also uses his writing prowess to make a plot twist and turn in such a way that the ending will leave you pleasantly surprised.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
(Cover picture courtesy of In Between Writing and Reading.)
My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.
All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys and keep on being ordinary. I don’t even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.
Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won’t leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a “special home” for troubled teens. Yet the home isn’t what it seems. Don’t tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my classmates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It’s up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House…before its skeletons come back to haunt me.
Do you like urban fantasy but are sick of all the clichés that usually come with it? Well, have I got the book for you!
The Summoning starts out as a typical urban fantasy novel: the protagonist, Chloe, seeing something no one else can see. But soon the plot twists and Chloe ends up in a group home where all is not as it seems. When Chloe learns the truth about Lyle House, she decides to act, but is betrayed by someone she thought was her friend.
Chloe is a realistic and believable character with flaws that will help readers identify with her. She can be kind and caring, but also selfish and petty. It is these seemingly contradictory characteristics that make her such a complex, believable character, which is what Kelley Armstrong was going for.
The only thing I think fell short was the fact that there was never really an adequate explanation for the source of Chloe’s powers. It may just be me, but I like it when writers explain the source of magic in their books. It makes the world-building seem a bit more complete. What do you think? Do you like it when writers explain magic to you?
I give this book 4/5 stars.