2016 Reading Challenge: Book 6 - Lady Midnight

This is also my first finished book for Modern Mrs Darcy's 2016 Reading Challenge.  Yay, it's only taken nearly 4 months to read one! Lol.


Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Why I Chose This Book: I chose this book as it is a new book in the Shadowhunter world.
Genre: Fiction
Date Started: 16/03/2016  Date Finished: 28/03/2016
Would I Recommend This Book: Yes, if you are a fan of the other Shadowhunter books (The Mortal Instruments or Infernal Devices), then you will enjoy this book.

My Review
I did enjoy this book, but I felt that it was a little too long.  As I was reading it on the Kindle, I felt that although I was getting through chapters, the percentage wasn't going up very much.  I had to Google the length of this book and was surprised to find it was a monster at 720 pages long!  I think for the first book in a new series, this is quite long.  The story was quite padded out with other plot lines that didn't always seem to flow with the main plot line.  I'm sure there is a reason for it and no doubt it will all come with the rest of the series, but I felt that some of it wasn't needed for this book.

For the main storyline though, the book takes us five years after the Dark War to the lives of Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstairs at the LA institute.  We do get snippets of what has happened in that time for our other favourite Shadowhunters, but ultimately, this is Emma & Julians story.

It starts with the LA Shadowhunters finding out about some odd mundane and fae killings in the area, which links to the death of Emma's parents.  The young Shadowhunters investigate the killings without the Clave knowing and get themselves caught up into more than what they initially thought.

I can't really say much more than that without giving away spoilers.  As I said above, I did really enjoy the story.  It's introduced us to the new generation of the Blackthorn family and it has introduced some new characters.  Other than the slowness of the book, we have some good action scenes, a bit of romance and the usually emotional rollercoaster that Cassie Clare gives us in her novels.  I will be reading the others of the series and look forward to them coming out, but this book hasn't taken over from The Infernal Devices as my favourite Shadowhunter series.

Jackie. x

2016 Reading Challenge: Books 4 & 5 - Clockwork Prince & Clockwork Princess

As I have read these two in quick succession, I felt it was only fair to review them together.

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Why I chose this book: With the release of Lady Midnight coming up, I really wanted to finish The Infernal Devices series.
Genre: Fiction
Date Started: 22/02/2016  Date Finished: 07/03/2016
Would I Recommend this Book: Yes, I would say it is suitable for girls and boys from teens upwards.  For anyone who enjoys The Mortal Instruments or The Infernal Devices, this is a must read.


Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Why I chose this book: After reading Clockwork Prince, I needed to read this one!
Genre: Fiction
Date Started: 11/03/2016  Date Finished: 15/03/2016
Would I Recommend this Book: Yes, definitely, for the same reasons as above!

My Review
I loved, loved, loved these two books.  As you know, I don't like to put spoilers in my reviews, so for that reason, I will have to keep this short and sweet!  I am also going to be reviewing both these books as a whole, rather than breaking them down.

It's been quite a few months since I read Clockwork Angel, so my memory of it was a little rusty.  Within the first couple of chapters I managed to catch up though, so the break didn't hold me back.

I love Cassie Clare's writing and I love how she develops all her characters, not just the main ones.  It would be so easy for her to focus on the main three, Tessa, Jem and Will, but she draws us in with the others.  I especially loved the character of Sophie outside of our main three.

Some people may be sad with Tessa's initial choice of fiance in Clockwork Prince, but I think the way it played out in Clockwork Princess really added to the emotions of the story.  I was heartbroken for the last few chapters and most especially the epilogue in Clockwork Princess.

Whilst it's not all fighting, the action in this book is not lacking.  There is just the right balance between love story and action.

I really hope this isn't the last we see of Tessa.  I'm really hoping she might pop up in The Dark Artifices series.  I am also very tempted to buy The Bane Chronicles to find out more about Magnus.  I loved Magnus in these two books, especially Clockwork Princess.  I thought it really added to his character and gave us more of an insight to his (slightly) younger self.

In summary, if your a fan of The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices or even the Shadowhunters TV show, then you will love this series.

Jackie. x

TV Review: Shadowhunters

To start with, apologies in advance.  Rant alert coming up!  I know this isn't a book review, but I've been wanting to do a write up on this since I watched the first episode a couple of weeks ago as it's annoyed me so much!!

Warning: This post will contain spoilers on the first two episodes of Shadowhunters.

For those who've not yet seen the show, here's a sneak peak from Episode 1:

If you haven't heard of Shadowhunters, this is a new weekly show based on Cassandra Clare's popular book series, The Mortal Instruments.  In the US, you can find the show on the Freeform (ABC) channel and here in the UK, it's available the following day on Netflix.

Firstly, I am a huge fan of the books.  I loved reading The Mortal Instruments and have started on The Infernal Devices series.  The first book of her next Shadowhunter series The Dark Artifices is on my MMD 2016 Reading Challenge to read list. 

Before reading the books, I watched the movie, which was ok, but not amazing.  It was from watching the movie that I could see the potential of the books. 

I think this is why I was so massively disappointed by episode one of the TV show.  I had seen a couple of reviews online that things were different to the books, so I was expecting some of this.  I was prepared to watch the show, much in the same way that I do for The Vampire Diaries, where the show has just taken some key points from the books, but all in all, is completely different.  

That said, there are certain things that I felt should not be messed with and unfortunately, this show messed with them!  

One such thing is the drawing of runes.  Fans of the books know that the Shadowhunters draw the lines of the runes on the skin, but in the show the kinda 'swipe' the stele across the skin and the rune appears.  I mean come on! WTF! Aaarggh.  The show did redeem itself slightly in episode two, in which Jase did actually draw a rune onto his skin, but it does seem very hit or miss as to whether it is done for every rune. 

The other thing that really wound me up was the use of the Seraph blade.  In the books, to 'activate' a Seraph blade, the name of the blade needs to be called out.  All blades have names based on the Angels.  In the show however, the Shadowhunters are able to activate a blade by simply touching it!! With this and the accompanying sound effects, the show has likened them to lightsabers! Grrr.

Another peeve for me were the characters of Luke and Simon.  Luke has been changed from being a loveable meek bookstore owner to being a 'badass' cop, helping to cover up Downworlder crimes from 'mundanes' and Simon has also been changed from being totally geeky (film Simon was perfect casting) to being a muscly hunk!

That said, the show isn't a complete flop.  The main cast, Clary, Jase, Isobel, Alec and Magnus all seem to be well cast (although why they couldn't get a real blonde for Jase, rather than a bad dye job, I don't know!).  There are lots of things that have been changed that work for the show (not saying is better than the book, but it doesn't ruin the show).  I'm hoping after a couple more episodes, the above grievances won't be quite so infuriating!

Jackie. x