Torment by Lauren Kate

How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for? I am in love with this catch phrase for this book. It simply screams “This book is amazing. You must read it!” and I must say that I agree. Plus it is one of the best covers I have seen this year! I mean I am in love with that dress! Anyways, Torment is the sequel to the New York Times Best Seller, Fallen. If you have not read Fallen, Torment may be hard to get into. Torment picks up right where Fallen left off. Luce has been removed from Sword and Cross and is going into hiding. Cam and Daniel (fallen angels on different sides of the line) have drawn up a truce lasting 18 days. In this time period both sides will work together toward a common goal, protecting Luce from the Outcasts.

For her own safety Daniel and Cam agree to keep Luce at Shoreline, a school filled with Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. Here Luce begins to uncover the truth behind the Announcers (the shadows that have followed her all of her life) and her past lives. Luce is beginning to understand that it is not just her and Daniel who have been hurt by her many deaths. With each life there is a family that is left behind. Is it right for her to keep hurting those she loves? With this knew knowledge it is becoming harder for Luce to overlook Daniels half truths and his insistence that he can not stay with her now. Daniel may be her past and her present but is he really her future? Could Luce be happy with someone else?

Luce is a much stronger character in this book. She is not content with waiting around and just blindly taking orders anymore. More characters are introduced in Torment as well. Miles is a great addition to the series. He will have everyone questioning whether they should ditch their Team Daniel shirts for a shiny new Team Miles one. Shelby (Luce's new roommate) is brash, stubborn, and has a history of her own with Daniel and Luce, but she is also impossible not to love. Most of the characters from Fallen make an appearance in Torment but I was disappointed that there wasn't more Cam. I hope he plays a bigger role in future books.

The one thing that may seem frustrating is that like all series this is a cliffhanger. The next book will be Passion. It is set to release in Fall 2011. Passion will be a sort of prequel to the series. Once you finish Torment you may have a better idea of what exactly that could mean. I don’t want to spoil anything ;) Then Rapture will be released in 2012 to wrap up the series. So expect to be frustrated after turning that last page. :)

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

I finished City of Glass and I have to say that The Mortal Instruments is one of the best series I have ever read. City of Bones crushed me a little with the news that Clary and Jace were really brother and sister. I was stubborn though and I refused to believe it. I immediately ran over to pick up City of Ashes. City of Ashes was even more exciting then the first book in the series. It was in that book that I realized why everybody is always raving about Magnus Bane. He is a very….sparkly character. I of course was also driven crazy by the end of that book when Jace “lies” to Clary and says he will just be her brother from now on…You are killing me Cassandra Clare!

City of Glass picks up right after City of Ashes. Clary’s mother is still in her magically induced coma but now, thanks to Madeline, Clary knows how to save her and the only one who can help her is in Idris. The reader hears a lot about Idris in the previous books but we are never really introduces to it until this book. Despite Clary’s reasons for wanting to go to Idris Jace is determined to prevent her from going. Jace fears that Clary’s heightened Shadowhunter abilities will make her desired by the Clave. After an unexpected demon attack Jace manages to succeed in leaving Clary behind but ends up bringing Simon with instead. Let’s just say that the new Inquisitor is not too pleased to see a vampire come through the portal and he has some plans for Simon.

Jace may have succeeded initially but Clary being the determined person she is creates her own portal and ends up in Idris with Luke anyways. Shortly after arriving in Idris Clary meets a new tall dark haired boy who seems strangely familiar. Sebastian quickly offers to help Clary in her pursuit for the warlock who can help her cure her mother. Valentine is still moving forward with his plans to attack the Clave and Idris. He has the sword and the cup and now he just needs the mirror. The only way to defeat his demon army may be for Shadowhunters and Downworlders to work together. Putting aside there differences and petty jealousies may prove to be impossible. Only Clary seems to hold the key to uniting them against Valentine.

City of Glass is action packed and laced with declarations of love *squeal*. I can’t wait to continue this series with City of Fallen Angels which is scheduled to release April 5, 2011. At least I will have Clockwork Angel to tide me over in the meantime and I only have to wait 2 more weeks for it!

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

As I mentioned when I reviewed City of Bones, I am officially hooked. After reading the first book in the Mortal Instruments Series I was compelled to walk right over to my bookshelf and pluck the next one to devour and the situation is no different this time around. I have already started City of Glass this morning. I also thought that City of Bones was really well written but Cassandra’s writing style became even more fluid in her second book. Cassandra Clare has a way of making you feel like you are truly watching the story unfold in front of you. It’s like when you are watching TV and the killer corners the damsel in distress, she screams and then…..it flips to another story line/commercial. I felt like she did this to me a lot (and no I am not saying that there are commercials in the book lol). I was left going “Wait! What happened to *insert character here*?” and anxiously reading on to find out. The suspense is intense at times.

After the devastating realization that the guy she loves is her long lost brother, Clary is left feeling like the rug has been ripped out from under her. Everything has changed. Clary is a Shadowhunter, her best friend Simon is in love with her, her mother is in a magically induced coma, her biological father is a evil mastermind, and her mom’s best friend (her father figure) is a werewolf. Yep, I think we can say that Clary has her hands full at the moment.

Jace is also crushed to learn that the girl he loves is really his sister and he is not who he always thought he was. Now the second of the Mortal Instruments is stolen and the Clave thinks that Jace may be aiding his father, Valentine, in his pursuit. Now Downworlder children are turning up dead, drained of blood. Can they clear Jace’s name and stop Valentine before he can execute his plan?

Cassandra Clare really ups the stakes with this one and I love her for it. But Can I just say that in life when ever you want to tell someone something and they say “No, me first” DON’T LISTEN! Jace and Clary, you are killing me! I never thought I would be saying, “Who cares if you are brother and sister, you are clearly meant to be!” I know I am one sick puppy….lol Don’t be like me and put this book off any longer. If you have not picked it up run, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore/library and grab the series. You will not regret it. I know that I don’t!

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Clarissa Fray “Clary” is expecting a typical night out with her best friend Simon when she heads to the Pandemonium Club. Clary certainly was not expecting to witness a murder, but she can’t deny that the strangest part about the situation is that no one else can see them but her. Clary is quickly thrown into a world that she never knew existed, where Shadowhunters are responsible for ridding the earth of demons. Jace, Isabelle, and Alec are Shadowhunters and they are just as surprised as Clary that she can see them. After all Clary is just a mundane human right?

When Clary’s mother is taken and Clary is attacked by a Ravener demon it is Jace who saves her and brings her back to the Institute. It becomes evident that Clary is not a “mundie” and her mother has been hiding more then she could have imagined. Now Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Alec, and Simon all have there part to play in the search for the Mortal Cup, Jocelyn Fray, and the truth.

I must admit that I was not happy about how a few things turned out (If you have read this you know exactly what I am referring to), but I am confident that it will turn out to be false. *clasps hands and prays “Dear God don’t let it be true”* Other then that little glitch I absolutely loved this book. It has a lot going on so it is almost impossible to put down. In fact as soon as I finished the last page I headed straight to the bookshelf to grab “City of Ashes.” I think my favorite character is Jace and not just because he is gorgeous. You can tell that he cares about Clary a lot as the story progresses but based on the hints to his background it is apparent that he has been conditioned to view love as a weakness. He fights his feelings and hides behind is cocky attitude to keep from being hurt (think about the falcon story).

To be honest I think that all the characters are really well developed within this series. The reader is really able to climb into their heads and understand why they are the way they are. Like so many other books this one was recommended to me a long time ago and I kept pushing it back. I really regret not reading this sooner. Sorry Ollie I should have listened to you!

Feel free to tell me who your favorite character is and why? I would love to discuss. Also no spoilers but if you can tell me if the “situation” gets better in book 2 I can stop mourning it…. lol

Oh and BTW – Most of you will laugh at me but now I get the whole MundieMoms blog name…I know I am not the sharpest tool in the shed lol

Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia

I have been anticipating this book for months. I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. It had a great plot that really drove the story. I couldn’t seem to put it down. My one criticism for the book was the length. I think that it could have been a little longer (and not just because I wanted more to read). I thought that the interactions between Teagan and Garreth could have been more descriptive and I would have liked to here Garreth talk more about what it is like to be in a "human" body.

Teagan McNeel is your typical seventeen year old girl. She lives with her single mother, hangs out with her best friend Claire every weekend, and trudges her way through high school. Then the dreams start. She feels like she is being watched. She is also confused by how differently she responds to the dreams. Sometimes she is left feeling warm and comforted, while others she is cold and scared. At least they are only dreams….or are they? When they suddenly start to happen at school Teagan thinks that she is loosing her mind.

Then the fantastically gorgeous new guy Garreth Adams pops into her life. He is perfect in every way and she is shocked that he seems to have his sights set on her. What Teagan doesn’t know is that Garreth is her Guardian and he is here to protect her from his enemy Hadrian. Hadrian is the (also stunningly gorgeous) dark angel plotting to enslave all Guardians and by proxy, their human charges. The conflict that Teagan has between her love for Garreth and the pull she feels toward Hadrian opens the door for an interesting sequel. Which is on its way, but once you read Angel Star I’m sure you will agree that it can’t come soon enough! So If you haven’t already make sure to add this to your "to-read" list.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I really liked this book because it wasn't predictable. Nora Grey never had much interest in the guys at school, despite the incessant pleas from her best friend Vee to get out there more. A sudden change in seat assignments finds Nora with a new lab partner, Patch. Patch is nothing like Nora, he is sarcastic and very forward. Nora is furious at first but that quickly turns into intrigue the more she encounters Patch. Part of her is urging her to run away screaming but another part is drawn to him. Why is it that every time she crosses Patch’s path something terrifying and unexplained seems to happen? There is defiantly something different about his guy and Nora is determined to find out even if it puts her life at risk.

The fallen angle spin that Becca Fitzpatrick put into the story was different and interesting. Patch was a very dark character which made him very intriguing. I have to say that I love a bad boy! My favorite character type is the good guy masquerading as the bad boy and I think that this describes Patch perfectly. Patch has his own agenda and tries so hard to focus on it and ignore his attraction to Nora but in the end his sweet, protective, smolderingly sexy side wins out. *sigh* lol

Nora was a great character. The fact that she has such a strong head on her shoulders was refreshing. Dealing with the recent death of her father has been difficult and the events surrounding his murder are a bit of a mystery to her. I have to admit that of all the characters, I wasn't a big fan of her friend Vee. She was a necessary character but I found myself annoyed with how self absorbed she seems. I would have smacked that girl if she was my best friend! Lol

This was an amazing book and I recommend it to all! I am excited to read the next book in the series Crescendo which is due out November 16th 2010. If you want to read the prologue & first chapter of Crescendo visit Becca’s site or Click Here.

My first Review - Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen was the best book I have read since the Twilight series (when it is all said and done it may even be better!). I know what you’re thinking "Better then Twilight! This woman has lost her mind!” Bare with me, I said it MAY be better then Twilight. I think that Lauren Kate did a really good job of setting up a foundation for a really amazing series. For all of those Twilight lovers out there (myself included) you get mystery, forbidden romance, and a whole slue of great characters. My point is that Twilight alone was a great book but for me it was the series as a whole that truly set it apart form other books I have read. Fallen has that same potential!

Luce is the narrator of the story. She is plagued by visions of shadows and the knowledge that she may be responsible for the death of her boyfriend. After his death she is sent to a boarding school for troubled teens (so to speak). Immediately Luce knows that this place is very different from the prep school she left behind. She meets a lot of interesting people on her first day but the one who catches her attention the most is Daniel. From the first moment that Luce sees Daniel she is drawn to him.

Daniel does not appear to feel the same. He goes out of his way to avoid Luce…or so it seems. Cam on the other hand has a big interest in Luce and he does not try to hide it. Warning!!! The next few sentences may contain spoilers….. Forbidden love, Reincarnation, Angels, and Demons play a big role in the plot of the story. Luce is about to find out that nothing is what it seems and that she may be a key player in a battle that has been raging for centuries.

I loved every single detail that Lauren Kate wove into this story. I was left with so many questions (in a good way) and the NEED FOR MORE!! If you have any doubt whether this is a book for you just read the first chapter and you will be hooked. Torment (book 2 in the series) is on its way, September 2010 can't come soon enough!