Not Quite What I Thought it Would Be

Firegirl by Tony Abbott

I bought this and read it because it was another recommendation by James Patterson. I enjoyed the first book he recommended, so I thought I'd take his advice on this one too.

If I were a seventh grader, this would've been a good read. I am not in that age range, so it bored me a bit. Given the title, I expected the book to primarily be about a girl who had been injured in a fire. That was not the case.

This book is about Tom, who goes to a Catholic school, and is friends with a boy named Jeff. Tom is into Cobras, and Jeff tells Tom that his uncle owns one. Jeff is one of those jerky kids you hope your child doesn't befriend.

One day, Jessica joins their class and she is badly burned. No one talks to Jessica, and no one wants to be around her. One day, Tom is asked to take Jessica's homework to her at home, and he learns more about her situation. Tom essentially becomes Jessica's only friend. It doesn't matter though, because she moves away. Tom finds out he is a better person because of his relationship with Jessica.

The one big surprise in the book is that Jeff's uncle really does have a Cobra. I thought that little jerk was lying about it the whole time.

Looks Like a Girlie Book....

But it's not.

Matched by Ally Condie looks like a young adult, pre-teen, girlie book. The cover is light spring green, and it has a girl in a ball gown on the cover in a glass ball.  I thought it was going to be a love story, and I guess in a way, it was. At it's core though, this book is a dystopian novel.

The society runs everything. They decide what you eat, what your job is, where you live, who you marry, and, for the most part, when you die. Crazy, right?

The book starts out at Cassia's matching ceremony. When young people turn seventeen, they are matched with their future mate. They have a big dinner, and the participants dress up for it. Cassia finds out that she is matched with her childhood friend, Xander. That alone is unusual. When Cassia looks at her microchip about her match, she finds not only Xander, but another childhood friend, Ky.

Ky, it turns out, was a mistaken match. He is an aberration, and they aren't allowed to marry. We never find out why Ky is an aberration, but this doesn't change Cassia's friendship with him. Then Cassia finds she is falling for Ky. This is not supposed to happen. Ky and Cassia share secrets, and test the boundaries of the Society.

I cannot share more without giving away what happens at the end. It was pretty good though. I will have to borrow the rest of the series from the library to see what happens.

Summer Book #18

Mortal Instruments #5: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Not sure if this is the final installment, but I hope it isn't. This was a couples book in a lot of ways. Clary and Jace, Alec and Magnus, Maia and Jordan, and Izzy and Simon. A couples book, but not all kissy-kissy, lovey-dovey.

As always, there's a crisis. This time, Jace is aligned with Sebastian/Jonathan because at the end of book four, he was an idiot and gave S/J his blood. Sebastian/Jonathan wants to create his own race of shadowhunters, but using demon blood instead of angel blood. Not good. Jace goes with this because he now has no choice. If something injures or kills Sebastian/Jonathan, it will do the same to Jace. Clary, because she loves Jace, goes to 'help' them. In a way, I wish she wouldn't have. She knew that Jace wasn't her Jace, and she let things go too far.

Anyway, Simon, Izzy, Magnus, and Alec have found a way to sever the ties between Jace and Sebastian/Jonathan. Will they get there in time, or will S/J's evil plan come about?

Summer Book #17

Mortal Instruments #4: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

For the record, it's hard to write my reviews of these books without giving anything away.

Admittedly, although I liked this book, it was not as good as the previous three. In terms of a plot diagram, it would be the falling action. Yes, exciting things happen, but not near what happened in the predecessors.

This book features Simon far more than the other books did. Simon, at the beginning, is dating both Maia and Isabelle. Oops! Because he is a Daylighter, many people are after him; they want his power.

Clary and Jace, they finally get to be together, but everything is NOT sunshine and roses. Jace is more distant than ever, and Clary doesn't know what that's about. Plus, Clary's mother is finally going to marry Luke, although that didn't happen in this book.

Summer Book #16

Mortal Instruments Book 3: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

This book finds them all in Idris. Clary needs to go to find the man who can help heal her mother. Jace and the Lightwoods need to go because there is some big meeting and all Shadowhunters are expected to attend. Jace doesn't want Clary to go, so he lies about the time they are leaving, but asks Simon to explain this to Clary. Too bad it doesn't work that way. As Jace and the Lightwoods are leaving through a portal, they are attacked by demons. Simon is hurt, so he is taken through the portal too. Oops. Downworlders are not allowed.

Clary finds out that Jace and the Lightwoods left without her. She uses her 'powers' to create a portal of her own to get to Idris. Luke comes with her. Again, Oops.

The Shadowhunters prepare for war with Valentine. We are introduced to Sebastian, who is not who he seems to be. Jocelyn shows up in Idris. Valentine has all he needs to summon Raziel, and a huge bombshell is dropped. (A bombshell that I figured out in the first 150 pages, I might add.)

As good ad the series has been so far, this is the best one, and the longest. I didn't really notice the length, though, because I couldn't/didn't want to put this one down.

Summer Book #15

The Mortal Instruments Book 2: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

In this installment, bad guy Valentine already has one of the mortal instruments, and is trying to get the second, a sword. Not only that, but he needs the blood of Downworlders in order to change the properties of the sword to do his awful bidding.

The Lightwoods, Jace's adoptive family, come back from Idris because they have heard that Valentine is "back from the dead," and Mrs. Lightwood is convinced that Jace is helping Valentine with his evil deeds. She brings in the Inquisitor from the Clave, who job is to determine if Jace is telling the truth about his dealings with Valentine. Unfortunately, this Inquisitor is highly prejudiced against Jace, and doesn't want to believe he is telling the truth even though he is.

Clary, on the other hand, is just trying to find balance in her life. She wants normalcy, but also wants to be a Shadowhunter. She even tries to have a 'romantic' relationship with Simon, who will have his own major issues to deal with.

Ugh! So much happens, but if I covered them all, it would give so much away. Just read this series. This is a set you won't regret.     

Summer Book #14

The Mortal Instruments Book 1: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

After my last impulse book buy at Target, I was somewhat leery about another one. This time, my husband pointed out the book, noticed it was made into a movie coming out soon, and told me I should read it. This time, the Target book impulse buy was a success.

Clary lives in New York with her mother, Jocelyn. Her father died in a car accident before she was born. He best friend is Simon, who, as it turns out, has an enormous crush on her. One night at a club, Clary sees a blue haired guy, and decides to follow him. She sees him get killed by three teenagers. Blue haired boy is a demon, and the teenagers are Shadowhunters. One hitch, no one can see them, except Clary. They leave the club, and Clary goes on with her life.

Fast forward a couple of days... Clary is at a coffee shop with Simon after having a fight with her mother, and one of the teenagers no one else can see shows up. His name is Jace. Clary goes to talk to Jace, and receives a frantic call from her mother. Jace and Clary go to her house, only to find the place ransacked and Jocelyn gone. They are attacked by a ravener, and Clary's life is changed forever.

Clary finds out that her mother was a Shadowhunter herself, and Clary is at least half Shadowhunter, which is why she can see things she shouldn't, and kill raveners. Jocelyn, they find out, is kidnapped by her former husband, Valentine, who is an evil dude. Think Lord Voldemort, except hotter (I saw the trailer!).  He's looking for the Mortal Cup so he can create an army and rule the world. He must be stopped!

Anyway, Clary and her friends try to stop Valentine. There's a bit of a love triangle that works itself out, and secrets are revealed.

I enjoyed this book. In fact, I am going tomorrow to get the next one, and I plan to see the movie when it comes out in a couple of weeks.