Book Review - City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Heavenly Fire

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publication Date: 27th May 2014

Publisher: Walker Books Ltd/Margaret K. McElderry

Pages: 733 Pages/725 Pages

Source: Purchased

Rating: 4.5 ☆ Out of 5 ☆
(I really wanted to give it 5 stars but I have my reasons. Please read on)  

Links:

Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble




Summary from Goodreads: 

Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last instalment of the internationally bestselling The Mortal Instruments series.

Erchomai, Sebastian had said. I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary's own brother. Nothing in this world can defeat him - must they journey to another world to find the chance?

Review:

~THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS~

As  a huge Mortal Instruments fan who has loved this series from the very start, the feeling of the series finally ending after so long is just surreal. This series is my favorite series ever so you must understand the amount of joy and sorrow I had when reading this book. On the whole, I am very satisfied with how the series ended and I am really thankful for Cassandra Clare and her writing.

☆☆☆

Things I liked about the book.

☆☆☆

Characters

I absolutely adore all the characters. I think that this final book has helped all of them grow tremendously.

Jace. Jace has always been one of my favorite characters because he's snarky and beautiful and he's a Herondale. I feel like he didn't grow as much as the other characters in this book because less parts were given to him but on the whole he satisfied my fangirl feelings!

Clary. I've never really liked Clary alot because I found her quite whiny. However in this book, she grew really kickass and I started liking her in this last book.

Alec. Asides from Magnus, he's my favorite character. I really love how Cassie included so much more of him in this book! I felt that he has really grown so much over the series and I can feel how much he loves Magnus and how much confidence he has gotten.

Magnus. Oh my Magnus. Love you so much. I love that we learned so much about him in this book and once again I adore the love and concern he shows for Alec that we can see in the book :)

Isabelle. Isabelle got even more kickass in the book and I love how much she has grown from the first 3 books to this book. I love how we learned about her fears and all that and how it affects her and the fact that she's not just a pretty face. XD

Simon. Okay. Truth. I never really liked Simon much before because I felt that he was competing with Jace haha. But in this book I really grew to love him alot. He's not my third favorite character.

Others. On the whole, everyone, including the side characters grew and managed to find an end to their story in COHF which I give credit to Cassandra Clare because that's a huge feat. Also, Raphael my baby! I never liked him before but this book. THIS BOOK.

Ships

My ships all ended beautifully!

Malec. Malec is my OTP so I had to put them first. Obviously. I love Malec and was absolutely heartbroken when they ended so badly in COLS. I'm glad that Cassie didn't just get them back together immediately. I loved how this time Alec had to show Magnus how much he cared and had to go on the journey and be all worried and show his true emotions. My favorite part was when Alec got to choose whether he wanted to get back together with Magnus. I love That HE could choose. Although sigh Alec will still die eventually and urg. Although haha there was one part I was quite disappointed but relive about because did I mention that I spent the past 2 years reading tragic fics and then fluff fics and then tragic fics again and so I was quite disappointed that there was no deaths. I really wanted a death in Malec so I could mourn and watch the other mourn. ahem well. Love how they ended.

Clace. I love that they had their moments and everything and their sweet sex scene. I'm happy that nothing was rushed and all that and that they ended up happy together. They were never my favorite couple but over the past few years, they did grow on me;)

Sizzy. Oh Sizzy. Sizzy. Sizzy. I never really shipped them before until this last book and then I love them so much now because their love is just beautiful!

Plot 

Like I mentioned so many times, everything was satisfying for me. I felt that everything wrapped up properly. There was enough growth in all the character, sufficient ship development, etc. Also, on the whole, the plot was well thought out, PERFECT rising action, climax, twists, resolution and ending!  I also think that Cassandra Clare managed a feat with her entwining of Emma, the Blackthorns, Jem, Tessa etc in the midst of all the COHF trouble going on. This is truly the best book that she has written!

Writing Style

Over the years Cassandra Clare's writing has improved tremendously. I feel that her writing is so poetic now and it flows so well. There wasn't any awkward pauses, or any errors anywhere that her previous books may have had. (example the first few were a little awkward-ish). I love the pace and her descriptive paragraphs and all the action packed stuff. Fantastic!

☆☆☆

Things I did not like about the book.

☆☆☆ 

Ending/Deaths

I didn't have much I did not enjoy about the book. The only thing I was not so satisfied with was how the ending may have been too anti climatic and safe. I know that I would cry if someone major died and I would mourn and stuff but I think she took a safe route and in the end the ending, even though I loved it, wasn't as happy satisfactory as I wanted. I wish that someone major had died so we could mourn over them and see the others mourn over them too. That's the only thing I wasn't really happy about. Other then that this book would have received a complete 5 stars.

☆☆☆

Overall.

☆☆☆

City of Heavenly Fire was pretty much perfect for me. I laughed, cried, and got heartbroken over it. I cannot wait for TDA and TWP (hopefully) because I hope my babes will appear in them but who knows. Also, I am in love with Julian and Mark and Ty and all of the Blackthorns already so can't wait!

Also, I hope that Magnus will continue to appear in every book (he has in every book so far). I hope he remains a permanent fixture:)

☆☆☆

*All pictures and graphics do not belong to me. I take no credit at all for these.

** All opinions are 100% honest
☆☆☆
Check out my other Mortal Instruments posts:

City of Heavenly Fire Internal Release Celebration - Malec Edition (Day 1)

Crackpot Theories - Who will die? (City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare)

Bloomsbury Spark’s Six Month Sparkiversary Giveaway Blitz with Xpresso Book Tours

 

 BUY LINKS!

 

Deliver Me

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

iTunes 

 

The Sound of Us

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

iTunes  

The Art of Falling

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

iTunes 

Positively Mine

 

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

iTunes

Until We End

 

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

iTunes

Pride's Run

 

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

iTunes

Secret of Isobel Key

 

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

iTunes

Her Secret Inheritance

 

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

iTunes

Road to Somewhere

 

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

Beyond Our Stars

 

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

My Soon-To-Be-Sex-Life

Bloomsbury

Nook

The Mapmaker's Daughter 

 

Bloomsbury

Amazon

Nook

Kobo

iTunes

GIVEAWAY!

 

OPEN TO INT

A Kindle Paperwhite loaded with:

1) The Sound of Us by Ashley Poston
2) The Art of Falling by Jenny Kaczorowski
3) The Secret of Isobel Key by Jen McConnel PLUS its sequel
4) Her Secret Inheritance
5) Positively Mine by Christine Duval
6) Deliver Me by Kate Jarvik Birch
7) Pride’s Run by Cat Kalen
8) Road to Somewhere by Jenny S. Morris and Kelley Lynn
9) Beyond Our Stars by Marie Langager
10) The Mapmaker’s Daughter by Caroline Dunford
11) Until We End by Frankie Brown
12) An ARC of My Soon-To-Be Sex Life by Judith Tewes 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

YA PROM - HOSTED BY ALEXALOVESBOOKS AND ELLABEEREADS

 

 Hosted by the Prom Committee, Alexa & Gaby

What is the YA Prom?

Well, YA Prom is a lot like regular prom. But this time you can skip waiting anxiously for that perfect boy to ask you, obsessively rifling through clothing stores for the perfect dress, all that other perfect jazz, and go straight to the partying on twitter in your pajamas! 

All you really have to do to join The YA Prom is:

1. Write a post detailing who your YA date is (ex: Harry from Harry Potter), what you're wearing, and any other information you deem necessary.

2. Post said post on your blog/tumblr/wherever by June 25th at 8:30pm and link up to the Linky that will appear on both Gaby and Alexa's blogs when their prom posts go up.

3. Pop onto Twitter at 8:30pm on June 25th and, using the hashtag #YAProm, spend an hour with your twitter friends celebrating YA, prom, and other excellent things!

Please note the following: 

-If you don't have a blog or a tumblr, you can still join us. Let everyone know who you're going with and what you're wearing in a tweet and use that tweet to link up below! 

-We'd love for EVERYONE to join - authors, bloggers, book aficionados... this prom is for all of the people of the interwebs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  

MY YA DATE

MAGNUS BANE

*Art belongs to Cassandra Jean. Character belongs to Character Clare. For the purpose of the blog event, he is my date*

You read that right. I'm bringing the Magnificent Magnus Bane to prom :) 

Yes, I know he's taken. 

I know he's Alec's boyfriend.

I know they are FOREVER together.

They are my OTP after all!

Reasons and sort of backstory for why I chose him as my date:)

BACKSTORY

Let's just say...

1. We're friends.
2. We're GOING to prom as friends.
3. Yes, Alec's fine with our friendship because we're friends.
4. We all know that Malec is 5ever!
5. He's Magnus Bane for goodness sake - who wouldn't want to go to prom with him?
6. He's also really gorgeous.
7. And fun.
8. And snarky - ish.
9. And ahem magical :)
10. Hella Rad Date. 
11. Also, I don't have to worry about my dress at all. 

                                                       WHAT I'M WEARING

^Not me.

My only wish for my dress was that it had to be a Little Black Dress with tons of glitter.

And who better to ask then all time Fashionista Warlock Magnus Glitter Bane right? 

So I called him and he promised to help me find a beautiful dress that fit me.

And here we have it! 

He chose this GORGEOUS glitter little black dress for me to wear to YA Prom! 

I'm so happy about it! 

WE'RE GONNA BE THE MOST RAD COUPLE THERE! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS WAS SO FUN! I would really love to participate next year too!

LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW TO LET ME KNOW WHO YOUR PROM DATES ARE:) (Links too. I would love to take a look at your posts!)

BYEEEEEEEEE! Oh and have MAGICAL YA PROM! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

*All pictures do not belong to me*

* * Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood do not belong to me either **

***All opinions however are indeed mine and mine only. ***

Waiting on Wednesday #4 - Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted on Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection by me is:

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

Author: Rick Riordan

Publication Date: 19th August 2014

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Page Count: 336 Pages
(Hardcover)

Summary from Goodreads: 

A publisher in New York asked me to write down what I know about the Greek gods, and I was like, Can we do this anonymously? Because I don't need the Olympians mad at me again. But if it helps you to know your Greek gods, and survive an encounter with them if they ever show up in your face, then I guess writing all this down will be my good deed for the week.

So begins Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, in which the son of Poseidon adds his own magic--and sarcastic asides--to the classics. He explains how the world was created, then gives readers his personal take on a who's who of ancients, from Apollo to Zeus. Percy does not hold back. "If you like horror shows, blood baths, lying, stealing, backstabbing, and cannibalism, then read on, because it definitely was a Golden Age for all that." Dramatic full-color illustrations throughout by Caldecott Honoree John Rocco make this volume--a must for home, library, and classroom shelves--as stunning as it is entertaining.

Percy Jackson is one of my favorite series ever so of course this is on my Waiting on Wednesday :) Also, look at that summary! It's so funny already! I cannot wait to read about the Greek Myths written by Rick Riordan! Do go and check out the Percy Jackson series if you have the chance and get this book when it comes out!

Book Blitz - A French Princess in Versailles by Anna Adams

 

The French Princess in Versailles

(The French Girl #3) 

Author: Anna Adams

Release Date: 30th June 2014

SYNOPSIS VIA GOODREADS:

Determined to escape her failed pop career and focus on her classical training, Maude Laurent moves back to France and enrolls at the prestigious National Academy of Arts. 

Between balls, charity events, concerts, and navigating in the French elite, Maude has to prove she’s cut out to become a professional opera singer in a world where pop music is regarded with disdain. 

Though she fights it, her past catches up with her when she meets an English teacher who forces her to see a world beyond the safety of the Academy and takes her down an unusual musical journey where the risk is great and the reward uncertain. And when a chain of events bring her and Matt back in the same town, Maude will learn that music can bring people closer or tear them apart forever.

EXCERPT - PROLOGUE

“I’ve decided to move back to France.”
When she spoke the fatal words, silence filled the room, and Maude enjoyed the savory sense of satisfaction to its fullest. Her glass was half raised and half full with clear, icy, mineral water, transparent and brilliant as the truth.
The glass slipped from her fingers, and as easily as crystal explodes in a million pieces, the shocked silence shattered and the reporters craved for every detail of the decision, details Maude refused to give.
She grabbed a tissue and rubbed her dark pencil skirt furiously. She’d worn that precise skirt because she associated it with seriousness. Solemnity was required of her in the midst of a scandal. Her natural dark hair tied into a tight bun, very little makeup on her smooth chocolate skin. Just enough foundation to hide that she’d barely slept a wink the night before. She’d weighed the pros and the cons. But it all came down to one thing: her love for music.

Her passion for classical music had helped her years ago when she lived in a basement in the north of France. In those days, she’d dreamed of becoming a concert pianist or an opera singer.

Dreams, like nature, change over time. When she’d been discovered by James Baldwin almost two years ago and whisked off to New York, she’d fallen in love with pop music and her ambitions grew as did her love for music.
She wanted to show the world that classical and pop could make a wonderful combination.
This ambition had given birth to her first self-titled album. Success, praise, fame. All had ensued with impeccable timing.
How had her dreams turned into frightful nightmares? She’d lied, unwillingly to be sure, but the consequences had been disastrous. She’d lost her way.
She thought about this as her uncle led her out of the crowded room, the sound of her heels muffled by the wool carpeting. His grip tightened around her elbow. Security guards surrounded her every side, but as they rushed outside to the dark sedan waiting for her, a crowd had gathered. Maude’s tenacious bodyguards contained a vocal, vociferating mob with difficulty. They held cardboard signs instead of pitchforks, yet their intentions weren’t so different from that of angry villagers in medieval times. The focus of public outrage may differ through time, but its force rarely alters.
“Liar!”
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Faking a relationship just to sell more albums?”
She might’ve argued she wasn’t the first to do so and probably wouldn’t be the last. Did it matter? She’d been caught, no one else had, and that remained the only difference.
The origin of the leak remained a mystery although she had a pretty strong hunch it was Lindsey Linton, the blonde beauty who saw in Maude an unprecedented rival.
“Duck!” yelled James. Too late, much too late.
Splat!
A ripe tomato landed in her dark mane and oozed down her neck, leaving a reddish trail of slime. Maude continued to advance to the car, swallowing repeatedly to push down her disgust. Her heart stopped when she noticed a girl, not much older than twelve, clutching her music album. Tears were streaming down her face as she squeezed the album against her chest, biting her lip with an unsettling fierceness.
Incomprehension, disappointment, accusation. Her eyes were the accumulation of all the feelings Maude’s scandal had unleashed. The little girl’s expressive distress tormented Maude more than any of the cardboards or edibles thrown at her. She faltered at the car’s door, one foot inside, one foot out, prompting a bodyguard to push her head inside, entangling her hair with the tomato further. His grip hurt, and she caught one last glimpse of the girl before he slammed the door in her face. A rotten banana hit the window.
It was high time to go, and Maude was keener than ever to escape public fury.
While the pop world no longer wanted her, the classical world greeted her with open arms.
After her performance in Aida a couple of days ago, in which she’d played the devious Egyptian princess intent on thwarting the purest love of all time, her talent had been recognized by the National Academy of Arts, the most prestigious French music school based in the Parisian area.
They wanted her.
No paparazzi, no scandal, just music. Going back to her classical roots. So what if her dream of bringing classical to the pop world was to be ignored henceforth?
The pop world didn’t want her. And as much as it hurt, as much as the crashing sales hurt and the dreadful names she was being called pained her (“a conniving little Frenchie”), she needed to step away from it all. To go back to a peaceful existence in France where no one had really heard of Maude Laurent anyway. Forget launching her international career.
She would live in blissful anonymity.
That was Maude’s plan. And she honestly hoped everything would go smoothly.
***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in France, raised partly in the United States and in France, Anna Adams grew up loving stories in French and English. 

Anna currently lives in Paris where she studies at la Sorbonne as a Law Student. 

She's the author of the French Girl series for which she is writing the the third installment. 

When she isn't writing, Anna likes to travel in Europe and dreams of going to Asia and Africa.

Strolling in Storyland | Anna Adams (ADAMSANNA1) on Twitter

GIVEAWAY!

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Teaser Tour - The Summer Sacrifice by Holly Hinton

Upper middle grade fantasy THE SUMMER SACRIFICE will be available to buy from major online retailers as of June 21st 2014. Available in ebook and paperback form. (Audiobook to follow.)

Click here to read Chapter One of The Summer Sacrifice.
Click here to listen to the first chapter of The Summer Sacrifice's audiobook.
Click here to watch Holly visiting Dancing Ledge: the birthplace of The Summer Sacrifice.

Praise for The Summer Sacrifice

"The present world is often terrifying to a sensible adult. Hinton reflects its effect on youngsters in a powerfully imagined world that hums with poetry. In its pages, in the words of Yeats, a terrible beauty is born. Herein lies empathy, barreling adventure and an iconic heroine, Jamie Tuff."

Charles Bane Jr., award winning author of The Chapbook, and Love Poems; creator of The Meaning Of Poetry series for The Gutenberg Project, and nominee as Poet Laureate of Florida.

Meet Jamie Tuff and her friends:

​Jamie Tuff
"I just happen to drop into other people’s bodies now and then, but don’t worry, I can't control it!"

​Seveny Brown
“Symbol my arse. That is a dead and stinking bird, attached to a dead and stinking snake!”

   George Button “If I go to Askerwell I’ll be dragged down to hell! Can I take anyone with me?” ​Max Lively“Did you see me smash it? Blake didn’t know what was coming when I wrestled him to the ground!”

Ella Rose Last “Transparent means being honest, rule-abiding, nice and good. I’m all those things, aren’t I?”

Join Jamie Tuff and friends on their adventures through land, sea and sky, in a world where stars walk and Halfhawks fly.

Portraits and group painted by David Revoy.

Welcome to the Island

​

​Map designed by Joel Sams.

​ No Place
Only the Island survived the Great Storm. It's quite small and just a quarter of it is inhabited.
That quarter is called No Place.

The Establishment
The Establishment rule No Place. Here is what they have to say:
“We in the Establishment save lives through the boundaries we create. Our boundaries are your protectors. And trespassers will be punished.”

Pity Me
Pity Me is No Place's largest settlement and its capital.

The Perfects
The Pity Me Perfects are students selected by the Establishment to help them rule, both in school and out. Officially, they are selected for their objectivity and fairness. Really, they are selected from the ranks of the wealthy.
 The Perfects do not live up to their name.

The Tombland Gang
The Tombland Gang are Pity Me School's resident thugs.
As the Gang’s ranks have swollen, the number of orphans plummeting to their deaths has also grown.
The Gang do live up to their name.

Funnella Fitzgerald
“I am the Headmistress of Pity Me School and the Head of the Establishment.
But you probably all know that. At least, you ought to. . . ”

Phosphor-Jones, Head of History
“Dreaming is of little use, and not to be cultivated.”

Miss Humfreeze, Head of English
The English teacher's eyes look like they could tell a thousand tales, and her wide mouth often tells them. The manshu and juvenites love her for this, lapping up her words like they are delicious drops of non- fermented Honeydew.

No Place's Chief Doctor
“What a wonderful specimen you are! You’ll look perfect sweating out your life in my Laboratory!”

About the Author:

Holly grew up in a small, sleepy village in Suffolk. The acting bug hit her at age nine, when she was asked to play Baboushka in the school nativity. That same year she played the lead role of a naughty black poodle in a pet parlour themed ballet, and she thought she had made it. Years passed, but the acting bug didn’t. She went to Goldsmiths, University of London to study Drama, after which she completed her actor training at Arts Ed.

Writing a book was never part of the plan. But life’s full of swerves and surprises and ideas dropping into people’s heads. Holly had an idea drop into hers, and that idea became The Summer Sacrifice, and The Summer Sacrifice became the first book of the Master Game Series.

For more information please visit: http://www.hollyhinton.com/ | Goodreads | Facebook | Tumblr | Twitter | Pinterest

 

GIVEAWAY!!!

Holly Hinton is giving away one signed copy of The Summer Sacrifice (Paperback), and a bookmark illustrated by David Revoy. Open Worldwide!

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Cover Reveal - Street Food and Love by H.A. Enri

Street Food and Love by H.A. Enri 

Publication date: Summer 2014

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Link: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Sole Eaby, seventeen, has a few complaints he’d like to lodge against life, the main one being that his dad, Cedro, has recently quit his job and withdrawn his entire life savings, which included Sole’s college fund. Why? To launch a food truck business he knows nothing about.

To cope, Sole uses his knifelike wit to moonlight as a stand-up comedian, and so far, it’s paying off. He’s not only replenishing his college treasury, he’s making people laugh; but it’s one person in particular he performs for. Her name is Ava. When the fated bond of humor joins the two, and they begin a sort of quasi-romance, things begin to seem somewhat bearable. Of course, that’s when an ill-timed event decides to put another spin on things. Just when Sole is ready to move on with his own life and disconnect himself from his father and the family business, he suddenly finds himself in charge of the food truck he desperately loathes. Here is where Sole must realize that the answers to love and life are not to be found apart but, rather, are more like a savory recipe: only by combining the ingredients will the wonderful flavors reveal themselves. When comedy isn’t enough, the future seems ever bleak, and a fledgling love has barely had a chance to bloom, where will Sole turn?

Book Review - The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Title: The Winner's Curse

Author: Marie Rutkoski

Publication Date: 4th March 2014

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Page Count: 355 Pages (Hardcover)

Source: Purchased

Audience/Genre: Young Adult

Rating: 4 ☆ Out of 5 ☆
 
Links:

Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble 
Publishers Website

Summary from Goodreads:

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction.

Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart 

Review:

I really enjoyed the Winner's Curse! It's one of my favorite books of 2014! I found that it had just the right balance of character development and plot development. I gave it 4.5 stars out of 5 stars so you must know that I have really high expectations for it! I cannot wait for the next book already!

☆☆☆


☆☆☆

Things I liked about the book.

☆☆☆

My favorite part about the book was Arin and Kestral's relationship! Technically they were the core of the book that would be a great thing! I felt that their relationship really worked because they had the right amount of romance and conflict.

As individuals, I prefer Arin to Kestral. I felt that Arin was smart, sensitive, sort of bad boy-ish at first, and of course he was a total heart throb. I really liked it and was looking forward to it when he would appear in the book again. Also, the last few moments when he became all sensitive and cool was my favorite thing about him :)

As for Kestral, once again, like I feel for most female characters, she was a little unpleasant at first. However, she grew onto me - much faster than many other female characters. If I had three words to describe her, they would be "head-strong", "intelligent" and "warrior". She's a true heroine in her own right - something you could see throughout the book.

☆☆☆

As for the plot development, I think everything fit in perfectly. There was rising action, a climax, and then falling action and finally the ending - the resolution/cliff hanger-ish thing. Also, there were also twists in the book which fit in perfectly.

 ☆☆☆

☆☆☆

Things I did not like about the book.

☆☆☆

The only part I felt that I did not like was the writing style in some parts of the book. At some parts, the writing fell flat a little and I felt that even though the book progressed on, it was slower and less entertaining then. Other than that there weren't many things I did not like about the book.

☆☆☆

☆☆☆ 
Overall.

☆☆☆

From my above review, I guess you can tell I really do love the book! I did give it 4 out of 5 stars afterall! I have really huge expectations for "The Winner's Crime" (The Second Book in the series)! 3rd March 2015 cannot come quick enough!

☆☆☆

About the Author

Marie Rutkoski is the author of The Kronos Chronicles, including The Cabinet of Wonders and The Celestial Globe. The Cabinet of Wonders, her debut novel, was named an Indie Next Kids’ List Great Read and a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, among other honors. Rutkoski grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the oldest of four children. She attended the University of Iowa, where she took Writers’ Workshop classes and studied with Pulitzer Prize-winner James Alan McPherson. After graduating, she lived in Moscow and Prague. Upon receiving her Ph.D. from Harvard University, she held dual appointments as a lecturer there in both English and American Literature and Language, and History and Literature. Rutkoski is currently a professor at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance Drama, children’s literature and creative writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and cat.

Official Links:  Author's Twitter / Author's Website

☆☆☆

*All pictures and graphics do not belong to me. I take no credit at all for these.

** All opinions are mine and mine only.