Thursday, March 31, 2011

Contest: Win a Copy of Nickel Plated!

Check out my review and an interview with the author!




If you read my review, you know I loved Nickel Plated.  So I'm delighted to host a contest for a copy!

Rules:
-To enter, fill out the form.
-US only - sorry, overseas friends.
-This tour runs for seven days (March 31st-April 6th).
-Bonus entries for following and spreading the word about this contest!


Author Interview: Aric Davis, This or That


Check out my review, and enter to win a copy of Nickel Plated!


As part of the Teen {Book} Scene tour for Nickel Plated, here's a fun  "This or That" list from author Aric Davis!

Outside or inside?

Outside! I love the outdoors, even though winter in Michigan can be a little rough. Still, fall weather and
all of barbecue season more than make up for it.

Summer or winter?

Summer, hands down. Body piercers make less money in the winter, and snow removal and being broke
is a deadly combo. Plus, for whatever reason I seem to write more when it’s nice out.

White chocolate or dark chocolate?

Dark, because it’s easier to cook with.

Sweet or sour?

Sour, but can I pick both? I love food that challenges the palate, the more complex the better.

TV shows or movies?

Movies, but HBO TV shows make it close.

Dictionary or thesaurus?

Dictionary.

Pen or pencil?

Pen. Bic, medium point, please.

Cats or dogs?

Cats!

M&Ms or Skittles?

Skittles, but it’s been years since I had one.

Gold or silver?

Stainless steel. It’s paid my bills for almost fifteen years.

Poetry or prose?

I love both, but poetry wins out.

Truth or dare?

Truth, but only if you go first.

Thanks for stopping by, Aric!  Great answers!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Review: Nickel Plated



Nickel is a survivor.  After escaping a series of abusive foster homes, he's set up shop as a freelancer.  He makes money blackmailing online pedophiles, selling homegrown marijuana, and doing some private jobs. For adults, he's expensive.  For kids in trouble, he's free.  So when Arrow, a high school girl, asks for help finding her missing sister Shelby, Nickel accepts.  This case is going to be different from his previous jobs. It's deeper, it's darker, and it's going to take him places he may not want to go...

Entertainment: 

This book is not for the squeamish.  It's gritty, tough, real.  And it's absolute adrenaline.  It's definitely not a book to be taken lightly, and I know I'm not going to forget it anytime soon.

Plot: 

I loved the plot, up until the last few chapters.  Then I went down to only liking it.  Sans spoilers, all I can really say is that things got extremely convenient.  But ending aside, I thought it was a unique, very interesting, and absolutely enthralling plot.

A little side note here: I really appreciated that Davis didn't just skim by the "oh, he's underage and lives alone and has electricity that he never has to pay for" issue.  Nickel has to work, he has to buy groceries, he has to pay the bills.  And he has to be careful, has to be sure not to tip anybody off to the fact that he's living alone.  And yeah, he sells drugs and blackmails online creeps to get money.  It's not pretty, but it has to happen.  I'd just like to say thank you, Davis, for having a realistic living situation for your protagonist.

Characters: 

I wasn't wildly in love with any of the side characters, but I did adore Nickel.  He had a tragic past, but he wasn't whining about it every other page; he was sucking it up and making the best of what he had.  A drug-dealing blackmailer doesn't sound like a sympathetic protagonist, but in fact by the end of the book I not only respected Nickel, I outright admired him.  He's one of the best, most realistic, most 3-D characters I've seen in a while.

Writing: 

I guess I can describe it as "quietly powerful."  It's not flashy, there's not a lot of long words, and Nickel's voice comes through loud and clear.  It's enjoyable to read and very, very memorable.

End Result: four stars.  A good book, definitely worth your time.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Review: Matched



Cassia's life is planned out perfectly.  Her future job, her future husband, the number of children she will have, even the type and amount of food she eats at every meal - all carefully measured and controlled by the Society.  That's good, because the Society never makes mistakes; they can keep her happy and healthy for her entire eighty-year prescribed life span.  So when Cassia is Matched with her childhood friend Xander, she's thrilled to know he's her new husband.


Until the screen flashes a different face for a moment before going black.  Ky's face.  And suddenly Cassia isn't so sure about anything.  She isn't sure who she loves, she isn't sure who to trust, and slowly she's losing faith in a Society that won't let her be with the person she chooses.  And this couldn't come at a worse time.  Something, somewhere, is going wrong, and the Society is getting worried.  All too soon, Cassia is going to have to make some impossible choices...


Entertainment: 


I thought the world building was incredible, I liked Cassia okay, I loved Ky, I thought the plot was interesting... overall, it was just a good book.


Plot: 


This is one of a select few romance-centered novels which have a plot I can respect and enjoy.


Characters: 


Cassia was pretty cool, most of the side characters were okay... Ky was fabulous.  I mean, he's sweet, he's handsome, he's an artist... I think I'm a little bit in love with him.


My only real complain is Xander.  He faded to the background in just a few chapters.  He never seemed like a viable corner of the love triangle, just some kind of annoying loose end.  As a character, he wasn't much, and as a love interest he was even less.  I wish he had played a bigger part, or at least been more interesting.


Writing: 


Unique and interesting, that's all I have to say.

End Result: four stars.  A good book, definitely worth your time.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Review: Wither

This book counts towards the Debut Author Challenge




In Rhine's world, men only live to the age of 25; women can only survive until 20.  Rhine has been kidnapped, taken away from her twin brother and only surviving family member.  She's been kidnapped to be sold as a polygamous bride to a rich man, a booming business in her dystopian world.

Her new life is pure luxury: a mansion with endless gardens, parties, makeup and diamonds and pearls, so different from her previous life.  Her husband is kind and seems to honestly care for her; her sister-wives, Cecily and Jenna, are friendly and well-intentioned.  But Rhine is miserable.  The one thing she wants is the one thing she can't have: freedom.

Entertainment: 

Wither was... not what I expected.  It was a lot slower and more thoughtful than I had anticipated.  I ended up with fairly neutral feelings: I liked it okay, I didn't love it or hate it or really have much of an emotional reaction at all.

Plot: 

This is definitely a introspective story, not an action story.  Basically the plot is Rhine's internal conflict.  Besides said conflict, the story is kind of weak.  There's a few major holes in the worldbuilding, among them that the virus was very implausible.  Rhine's romance was abrupt-seeming, and didn't have a whole lot of development.  Frankly I didn't want to know nearly as much about Cecily's pregnancy as was included in the book.  Rhine's internal conflict was okay, but I expected a story with a little more things happing, as opposed to feelings, and I think I would have preferred it with a touch more action.

Characters: 

Wither is being called a "character driven story," and I can see why.  It's definitely the characters that make the book.  Rhine herself is decent, as a narrator, but I absolutely fell in love with the side characters.  Jenna and Cecily, the sister-wives, were unique and really relatable, particularly Cecily.  Cecily felt like somebody I could meet on the street or somebody I'd know from school.  Linden was sweet, albeit remarkably oblivious.  Destefano did an interesting job of capturing some of the complex feelings and emotions stemming from a polygamous marriage - particularly the thin line between cooperation and competition between the wives.

Writing: 

Although I didn't love Rhine's 'voice' as a narrator, I thought the description and dialogue and such were well done.

End Result: three stars.  A decent book, but not amazingly excellent.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Wishlist Wednesday







Everywhere Silla Kennicott turns, she sees blood. She can't stop thinking about her parents' alleged murder-suicide. She is consumed by a book filled with spells that arrives mysteriously in the mail. The spells share one common ingredient: blood, and Silla is more than willing to cast a few. What's a little spilled blood if she can uncover the truth? And then there's Nick—the new guy at school who makes her pulse race. He has a few secrets of his own and is all too familiar with the lure of blood magic. Drawn together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick must find out who else in their small Missouri town knows their secret and will do anything to take the book and magic from Silla.


Blood Magic sounds intriguingly dark.  A little creepy.  Quite original.  I want to read it.  Soon.  What do you think - will you be reading Blood Magic when it comes out in May?

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Review: How to Ditch Your Fairy



In New Avalon, almost everybody has their own fairy.  Rochelle has a clothes-shopping fairy; Steffi has a never-getting-in-trouble fairy; Fiorenze has an all-the-boys-will-like-you fairy.

Charlie has a parking fairy.  Besides being lame, it means she's carted around by the school bully as his own personal parking pass.  She's tried walking everywhere to get rid of it, but that just gets her demerits.  And when her crush, Steffi, falls for Fiorenze and her fairy, Charlie has to take drastic action.

Entertainment: ★★★★★

This book is so cute.  Seriously, I think I smiled the whole time I read it.  First, the fairies is such a funny/awesome idea!  Second, I am a major sucker for cool slang, and this book has got some doos (aka amazing) slang!

Plot: ★★★★

It's so random, so funny, so cute.  I can only describe it as "fluffy."

Characters: ★★

Charlie isn't that unique, and her crush seemed obnoxious.  Plus, Fiorenze is just annoying.  This is where the book loses a lot of points.

Writing: ★★★★★

Let me repeat: funny, random, cute, amazing, doos.

End Result: four stars.  A good book, definitely worth your time.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Blog Hop/Follow Friday!

Hi, fellow blog hoppers, welcome to novapsych!

Book Blogger Hop

Follow Friday Question: 

How did you come up with your blog name?


I really wish I had a dramatic story to tell here... but it was basically random.  I just liked the way no-va-psych sounded.

Blog Hop Question: 

Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?

It varies.  I usually have about two in progress at any given time.

Review: Flipped



When Bryce moved into Juli's neighborhood in the second grade, it was love at first sight... or was it?  Bryce immediately can't stand her; she's freaky, she's dirty, she raises chickens, and she sits in trees for fun.  But love is a funny thing, and in eighth grade their feelings begin to change.  Bryce begins to see how Juli's smarts, odd hobbies, and passions might actually be cool.  And Juli begins to look behind Bryce's adorable blue eyes, and realize just how shallow and empty he can be.

Entertainment: ★★★★

So here's the thing: I loved the first half of this book, seriously.  It was just so adorable.  The second half kind of went downhill a little, though, and it ended on an only-average note.  But overall, it was a cute, fun little read.

And oh, isn't that cover just the wackiest, cutest thing ever?

Plot: ★★

I wasn't in love with the plot, which seemed pretty overly-simplistic.  And a lot of the coincidences were just a little too convenient.  And, well, it just came off as predictable.

Characters: ★★★★

Bryce himself is severly lacking; the only characterization he ever gets, it felt like, was the constant gushing over his eyes and handsome face.  Juli makes up for him, though; she's dynamic, unique, and just interesting.  Also, I really liked most of the side characters.  While Juli and Bryce's school friends seemed a little flat, their family members were really interesting and well-written.

Writing: ★★★

Sometimes, there was a flash of description or narration that had a lot of potential.  But at other times, the writing was average at best.  It was really simplistic, and I got the sense that it was written for a much younger audience.  There just wasn't anything different or unique about the writing style at all to really hold my attention.

End Result: three stars.  A decent book, but not amazingly excellent.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Wishlist Wednesday







Description, a la Goodreads: Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. The water calls to her, draws her in, forces her to sing her deadly song to unsuspecting victims. If she succumbs, she kills. If she doesn’t, the pain is unbearable. To keep herself and those she cares about safe, she shuts herself off, refusing to make friends or fall in love—again. Because the last time she fell in love with a boy, he ended up dead. 

Then Lexi meets Cole. Against her better judgment, she finds herself opening up again, falling in love when she knows she shouldn’t. But when she’s offered the chance to finally live a normal life, she learns that the price she must pay to be free of her curse is giving him up. 


So, a few things I'm already loving about this book: the protagonist's powers aren't sparkles and rainbows, they're dangerous.  The protagonist is a siren (or something like it), a species sadly neglected in modern fiction.  The cover is intriguing - not just pretty, but interesting too.  And the title is amazing, I'm seriously loving it.


Anyways, Ripple will be out in July - and I already can't wait!  What do you think - will you be reading Ripple?

Review: The Book Thief



It's a small story, Death admits, a simple story.  It's the story of a girl who stole books.  Some were deliberate, others accidents, others crimes of opportunity.  But there's no denying that the girl was a book thief.

During World War II, Liesel is sent to live in the German countryside with a foster family, the Hubermanns.  They live on Himmel Street, a slum named after Heaven.  And slowly Himmel Street becomes Liesel's heaven as she makes friends with Rudy, a boy with lemon-colored hair, Max, a Jewish fist-fighter taking shelter in the Hubermanns' basement, the mayor's frail, reclusive, book-loving wife, and most of all her new parents.

Entertainment: ★★★★★

It's weird, I'll tell you that right now.  I mean, it's narrated by Death.  But it's weird in this surreal way that comes across, in the end, as just brilliant.  I read the entire book in one day, although devoured might be a more appropriate verb.

Plot: ★★★

There's not a lot of surprises.  Death basically spoils the ending in the first few pages.  But what plot there is the reader can't help but be emotionally invested in.  And if you're anything like me, you will end up crying before Death is through.

Characters: ★★★★★

I was more emotionally invested in some of these characters than I've been in any characters for months.  I felt like I knew these people.

Writing: ★★★★★

I think the most appropriate word would be surreal.  The story is told with a child's innocence and Death's cynicism, which sometimes blend into the same thing.  The description is unique, even bizarre, but in a weirdly beautiful way.

End Result: five stars.  A really excellent book.  Read it.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Music Monday

Ballad of Mona Lisa - Panic! at the Disco

A little haunting, a little fun, a lot beautiful, definitely unique, and absolutely memorable.  The music video is interesting, too, although honestly I'm not all that sure what to make of it...

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Review: Paper Towns



Quentin, a smart, nerdy kid with perfect attendence, has spent years loving his childhood friend from afar.  Margo Roth Spiegelman is beautiful, crazy, popular... and she shows up outside Quentin's window one midnight, dressed like a ninja and looking for trouble.  She takes him on the ride of his life - a campaign of revenge on everyone who has ever hurt her and a series of brilliant pranks he will never forget.

In the morning they say goodbye, and she disappears.  Another messed-up runaway kid, gone for good, as far as the adults are concered.  But she left a series of clues behind.  And the clues are meant for Quentin...

Entertainment: ★★★★★

Basically, I loved this book.  I read it in one sitting, refusing to put it down.  The road trip scene had me laughing so hard I was getting funny looks from the people around me.  Yeah, it was amazing.

Plot: ★★★★

I liked the pranks, I liked the clues, I liked the treasure hunt, I really liked the road trip... I liked everything until the final scene.  The final scene I loved.

Characters: ★★★★★

Margo herself is never clarified too much, and remains an enigma even after finishing the book.  However, I liked most of the side characters, and I loved Quentin and Ben.  Their characterization is quirky, even bizarre at times, but in a very good way.

Writing: ★★★★★

Green manages to pack hilarious and touching into the same novel, and does it well.  The description is perfect, I loved the characterization, and I'd say Green is easily one of the most talented writers I've ever read.

End Result: five stars.  A really excellent book.  Read it.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Review: The Iron King



When Meghan turns sixteen, she doesn't get a party or a cake.  She realizes that her little brother, Ethan, has been kidnapped by faeries and that her best friend, Robbie, is actually Puck the Shakespearian prankster.  Meghan sets out to rescue Ethan, and along the way she discovers the truth about her family, her past, her destiny... and her heart.

Entertainment: ★★

It was... okay.  I was actually really looking forward to this book, as I've read some great reviews on it, but... I don't know.  It was average at best, and for the reasons described below I just couldn't get into it.

Plot: 

It was a bizarre combination of that movie Labyrinth and Peter Pan, and it read like some weird kind of hippie propaganda.  First of all, if you've ever seen Labyrinth (starring David Bowie, it's kind of freaky but also kind of fun) the plot is going to sound a little too familiar.  Then there's also the Peter Pan elements (handsome immortal prankster takes kind teen girl to magical world, and by the way faeries die if you don't believe in them).  Oh yeah, did I mention that the bad guy is King Machina (yes, like machine)?  Because, of course, Science Kills.  I think I actually rolled my eyes when I got to that part.

I guess I just had a hard time taking The Iron King seriously.  Even if there weren't the bizarre parallels mentioned above, and that really obnoxious Science Is Bad angle, the plot in and of itself just seemed unoriginal and immature.  Really, it took itself way too seriously.

Characters: ★★

Let me begin with some quotes.  Page 11, after surveying her lacking wardrobe, the unhappy heroine whines, "You'd think Mom could afford to buy me at least one pair of nice jeans."  Page 26, she observes, "Me, I like baggy cargo pants and sneakers."  Okay, then.  And off she goes again on page 141: "My family was poor and couldn't afford designer clothes and name brands.  Rather than bemoan the fact that I never got nice things, I flaunted my grunginess and sneered at the shallow rich girls who spent hours in the bathroom perfecting their makeup."  Um, what's wrong with this picture?

Although that was the most blantant example, Meghan contradicted herself in several other ways too.  Inconsistensy aside, she's also just not particularly likeable.  The other characters weren't much better overall.  Puck's "clever" jokes weren't actually clever or witty or funny at all, and I actually actively disliked him.  Ash, on the other hand, was just weird.  He flat-out informs Meghan that he will not have a problem killing her, and so of course she starts gushing a few chapters later about how sexy he is.  Other than the fact that he looks handsome, there's no good reason for her to like him.  But of course once she does like him, the ice prince melts and becomes both wimpy and boring.  It was a badly-arranged love triangle, and I was not emotionally invested in any of the participants.

There was one decent character, though.  Grimalkin the cat.  Now, he was clever and interesting.  I liked him.

Writing: ★★★

Issues with the plot and characters aside, the writing wasn't actually that bad.  The description was mostly well done and pacing was nice.  I would've given Writing four stars if it weren't for the narrator's reoccuring inconsistencies.

End Result: two stars.  I was not impressed.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Wishlist Wednesday (12)



This time, I'll just let the description speak for itself.

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

It's a retold fairy tale - I love those.  It sounds fabulous, and it has an undeniably gorgeous cover.  It's coming out March 29th - check it out on Goodreads or Amazon!  What do you think - will you be reading Entwined?  I know I will.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Review: The Other Side of Life



Anya and Leticia are human thieves, who work returning valuable artifacts to their rightful owners; Nin is the leader of a small band of cyberpunk elves, working to subvert the social order, save the environment, and defeat a few bad guys.  Nin convinces Anya and Leticia to help him out with a job - a simple heist.  But none of them could possibly guess what they're in for...


Entertainment: 


I enjoyed The Other Side of Life; I thought it was a fun, light read.


Plot: 


It was fast-paced and exciting.  It did lean a little towards the cheesy at times but the adrenaline mostly made up for that.

Characters: 

I thought the characters in and of themselves were quite interesting.  I'm always a sucker for those theives-and-rogues-with-hearts-of-gold types.  I also liked how the villain actually had a reason for doing bad stuff, not just "because I'm evil like that."  However, I was a little less thrilled about the relationships between the characters.  Their interactions just didn't make sense.  This one paragraph stood out to me:


“Great!”” Nin gave her a quick hug, his heart singing the praises of the good nature she extended to him. Anya was a little taken aback to admit (to herself) that it somehow felt so right being in his arms, even if it was for a short while.


Keep in mind, this is just a few pages after they've met for the first time.  By all rights they shouldn't even be trusting each other not to stab each other in the back, much less hugging their way to a romantic happily ever after.  It was just confusing.  Relationships just cropped up out of the blue without much development, as did emotions and trust and things like that.  I think a little more exploration of inter-character interactions would've improved the book hugely.  But like I said, on their own, each character was individually pretty interesting.  So it kind of balanced out for me.


Writing: 


It wasn't bad, but there was just way too much tell and not nearly enough show for me, particularly in Nin and Anya's relationship.


End Result: three stars.  A decent book, but not amazingly excellent.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Review: The Host



Melanie was one of the last humans left.  She lived the life of a hunted fugitive, on the run from them.  They look like people, they act like people, they talk like people - but Melanie knows better.  They aren't people anymore.

Wanderer is something of a celebrity among her kind.  She has lived nine lives on nine different planets, each time in a different host body.  She is a parasitic life form - she combines with and takes over the body of another being in order to survive.  With her people, she has been spreading out across the galaxy, colonizing planet after planet.  Now, she has come to Earth - and Melanie's body.

But something goes wrong - Melanie doens't disappear.  Instead, Wanderer finds herself tormented with Melanie's voice and Melanie's memories of a man called Jared, another surviving human.  Before long she finds herself setting off to find him, determined to discover him and turn him in to the rest of the aliens.  What she discovers is a rebel cell in the middle of the desert... and she begins to wonder where to draw the line between Melanie's emotions and her own...

Entertainment: ★★★★★

I think a good word to use might be gripping.  Or maybe even enthralling.  I read this book until some ridiculously early hour in the morning, telling myself "Just one more chapter.  Just one more," over and over again.  I could not put it down.

Plot: ★★★

There wasn't much plot, I have to admit.  This story centered more around character interactions and introspection than action.  However, I loved the climax, I thought the ending was decent, and I thought the love triangle was well done.  Actually, I loved the love triangle.  See, Jared and Melanie are in love.  And Ian is in love with Wanderer.  Except, since Wanderer and Melanie are in the same body... there's issues.  Plus Wanderer isn't sure how to feel about anybody involved.  I thought that a) the romantic interactions were well done, and b) it was a nice creative take on the triangle (er, square?) scenario.

Characters: ★★★★

I loved Wanderer to death - a wonderful protagonist.  Ian was adorable, my favorite male lead by far.  I do wish Melanie could have been fleshed out a bit more - she liked Jared, and her brother Jamie, and other than that I know next to nothing about her.  Also, I didn't think Jared was done particularly well; I couldn't see what the appeal was as far as love interests are concerned.  But Jared and Melanie aside, I thought the rest of the cast was excellent.  This is one of those rare books where yes, the main character changes and grows and all that, but so do the side characters.  That's always nice to see.

Writng: ★★★

I got heartily sick of the phrases "I cringed," "I flinched," etc.  Wanderer seems to spend hours flinching and cringing, which got a little old.  Also, it was just a bit repetitious.  It wouldn't have been noticible in a smaller book, maybe, but when there's more than 600 pages I get a little bored with the same phrases and descriptions over and over again.

That said, the fight scenes were excellently written, and much of the emotional drama/trauma came off as fairly realistic.

End Result: four stars.  A good book, definitely worth your time.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Review: City of Glass

(Warning: a few minor & unavoidable spoilers for the previous two books below.)
This book counts towards the What's in a Name challenge.




Jace, Alec, Isabelle, Simon, and Clary have all made it to the City of Glass: Alicante, the home of the Shadowhunters.  Unfortunately, they come at the worst possible time.  Valentine is massing his forces for a final battle, a battle that the Clave refuses to acknowledge is coming.  Meanwhile Clary and Jace are struggling with their new powers - and their feelings for each other...

Entertainment: ★★★

While I enjoyed City of Glass, it just didn't appeal to me the way City of Bones did.  The plot felt a little repetitive, the "surprise" twists weren't all that surprising, and the romance has gotten progressively more awkward as the series progresses.  While City of Glass is overall fast-paced, interesting, and exciting, I liked it, but I didn't love it.

Plot: ★★★

It echoes the second book in many ways.  I saw the ending coming a few hundred pages in advance, and wasn't actually surprised by any of the twists.  Also, as I mentioned above, I was quickly losing interest in the romance side of the story.  The plot didn't wow me, and the ending was actually pretty boring for me, since I'd guessed just about everything.  However, I was willing to finish the book just for a little closure on the Alec-Magnus relationship.  Honestly that interested me much more than the actual plot. 

Characters: ★★★★

Clary, in my opinion, gets progressively more obnoxious throughout the story.  I can't even explain why she got under my skin, but she did.

That said, Jace was excellent, Isabelle and Luke and many of the side characters fairly well done, and Alec and Magnus were completely adorable.  Overall I liked most of the characters.

Writing: ★★

Maybe it's because I'm a detail-oriented nitpicker, maybe it's because I read all the books within a few days of each other, but by City of Glass I was starting to have deja vu with Clare's writing.  For example, I believe she describes battles as "Bosch paintings come to life" at least once in each book.  Also, whenever somebody gets a cut, slash, etc on their arms, the wound is described as a "glove of blood."  I swear I read that phrase at least twice in City of Glass and I know I read it in the first two books too.  Reading the same descriptions for the third or fourth time was, frankly, boring.  I still enjoyed Clare's writing, but much less than I enjoyed it the first time around in City of Bones.  My personal recommendation to readers would be to take a breather of at least a few days between books, to avoid the "wait, I thought I just read this exact same metaphor?" moments.

End Result: three stars.  A good book, but not amazingly excellent.

Sorry!

Sorry for vanishing for a few days, and not posting or answering emails or anything.  I had a little food poisoning along with some good old-fashioned dehydration.  I pretty much spent the last three days asleep in bed with a 100 degree fever.

Anyways, what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger, right?  I'm back now, and I'll be getting novapsych running again ASAP.  Thanks for being patient!