Are You Excited for FINDING PARIS? I'm Excited for FINDING PARIS!

The title tells all. Next book from beloved author Joy Preble is out 21 April from Balzer and Bray/Harper Collins and we are building the buzz! Now, you guys are familiar with how much I am in love with her work, but I am especially excited for this next one.

Why, you ask?

Behold, the answers:

A page-turning, evocative novel for fans of THIRTEEN REASONS WHY and SPEAK, about a girl who must follow a trail of mysterious clues to discover what happened to her sister.

Sisters Leo and Paris Hollings have only ever had each other to rely on. They can’t trust their mother, who hops from city to city and from guy to guy, or their gambler stepfather, who’s moved them all to Las Vegas. It’s just the two of them: Paris, who’s always been the dreamer, and Leo, who has a real future in mind—going to Stanford, becoming a doctor, falling in love.

But Leo isn’t going anywhere yet… until Paris ditches her at the Heartbreak Hotel Diner, where moments before they had been talking with physics student Max Sullivan. Outside, Leo finds a cryptic note from Paris—a clue. Is it some kind of game? Where is Paris, and why has she disappeared?

When Leo reluctantly accepts Max’s offer of help, the two find themselves following a string of clues through Vegas and beyond. But the search for the truth is a not a straight line. And neither is the path to secrets Leo and Max hold tightly.

“An inspiring story of lost souls, and the hope and compassion that must piece together a family long exiled and devastated by secrets.” – Adele Griffin, author of THE UNFINISHED LIFE OF ADDISON STONE

“FINDING PARIS is a compelling page- turner. It's a road trip story, a mystery, and a romance all in one.  Add to that Preble's pitch perfect descriptions of place and you've got a real winner.  I couldn't put it down.” –Jennifer Mathieu, author of THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE

And just look at this gorgeous cover. *eyes turn into hearts*

So of course, I cannot wait. And I'm sure if you're acquainted with, for example, her DREAMING ANASTASIA trilogy, you can't either. What's an impatient reader to do? Preorder, of course.

If you're interested, you can see the official cover reveal here on the Barnes and Noble blog. But if you want to see where Joy lives, follow the link to her website at www.joypreble.com. You could also stop by on her blog here. After all, you might find yourself with a chance to win a signed ARC sometime very soon...

Book Talk: Mortal Gods (The Goddess War #2) by Kendare Blake

When I received an ARC of this book from Kendare Blake herself, I could not contain my excitement. I wanted to read it NOW! But, as life would have it, I was prevented first from reading it and then from blogging about it for longer than I would've liked, but no matter: I'm still here and I'm still way before the release date, which, for you guys, is 14 October. So without further ado, let us begin.

Ms Blake never disappoints -- she just doesn't do it. After having read Anna Dressed in Blood in three days flat, I've been eagerly stalking following her releases, and every single one is just as gripping, just as beautifully written, and just as filled with rip-your-heart-out adorable characters as the last. I don't have a single complaint for this woman. (Causing me to writhe in pain and silently scream at three am notwithstanding.)

Having concluded Antigoddess, Mortal Gods' predecessor, at a particularly emotional point, I could not wait to see how this event served to catalyse the plot in MG. Cassandra, particularly, was affected by the instance, which I shall not give away due to my no-spoiler policy. And develop the plot did, introducing new characters, new locations, new challenges, and kicking the stakes up a notch. It is, quite literally, do-or-die time for the gods. And the mythological aspect? Woven with the storyline even more deeply. We even get appearances from the Fates, Calypso, and Achilles.

The characters, too, developed gorgeously from where we left off in Antigoddess. Cassandra, especially, became much more likeable -- murderous rage becomes her. Andie and Henry got to play a bigger part, romantic tension between Athena and Odysseus grew, and Hermes stayed his perfect, loveable self. Just the way we like him. But don't get me wrong, he did grow too. Mortal Gods shows us, somewhat paradoxically, both a braver side and a more afraid side to my favourite god. So many things were happening, I could not release my deathgrip on the pages, try as I did to make it last.

And then there was the ending.

Without wanting to reveal too much, I will say this: I have not been so blown away since Catching Fire. In fact, Mortal Gods surpassed Catching Fire. I genuinely walked around in a stupor for days. Never, ever did I see this coming. "There is no District 12"? Just wait, my friends. Just wait.

Do I even need to state that my star rating is 5/5?

Add this to your TBR. ASAP.


Now for what's new with me, since we haven't spoken in so long.

My good news:

- I got my GCSE results, scoring a gob-smacking 11/11 A* grades
- I've begun school again and am loving my options
- It will be my birthday in less than a month. Seventeen, here I come!
- The blogging break allowed me to find many good books that must be brought to your attention. I've also had some Writing Wednesday ideas festering in my head...

My less good news:

- I am now studying the famously time-consuming IB, meaning I may have considerably less free time. I love you guys and this blog, so I promise I will try my upmost to blog every friday/wednesday/monday I can. That said, workloads can be unpredictable and I may have to skip a few weeks. Don't hate me.


Goodbye, dear patient readers. Until next time. And don't forget to bookmark the Mortal Gods release date!

THE A-WORD BLOG TOUR -- with special guest, author Joy Preble!

<-- click to see the other stops...

Today is the day -- the final day of Soho Press's THE A-WORD blog tour!

Ain't that cover gorgeous? Yes, I said "ain't". Just because I'm British doesn't mean I can't channel my inner Texan every once in awhile.

For those of you who don't know, THE A-WORD is the sequel to Joy Preble's THE SWEET DEAD LIFE: a super-fun novel on the middle grade/young adult borderline that tells the story of sassy 14-year-old Texas gal Jenna, her stoner angel brother Casey and the family mystery that surrounds them. Want to hear more? Of course you do.

Now, however, we are celebrating TSDL's new baby sister, THE A-WORD, and who better to help us do that than the angel herself, Joy Preble!

 Joy Preble is the author of the popular and highly acclaimed Dreaming Anastasia series as well as The Sweet Dead Life, the prequel to The A-Word. A former English teacher, Joy grew up in Chicago and is a graduate of Northwestern University. She is now a full-time writer and lives with her family in Texas, where she has learned to say "y'all" without any hint of irony.

Let's give her a warm welcome:

One of the best and most humbling things about being an author is getting to know my fans – both virtually on line or through emails as well as in person when I tour or go to conventions and conferences.

And Hannah, who is hosting this stop of THE A-WORD tour, has been one of the most awesome fans ever! I swear that everyone in the UK who has read my DREAMING ANASTASIA series has done so because Hannah has put it in their hands! And I have recently promised her that Emma and Charlie in the forthcoming IT WASN’T ALWAYS LIKE THIS (Soho Press, 2016) as well as Leo and Max in next year’s FINDING PARIS (Balzer and Bray/Harper Collins, 4/21/15) will definitely please her as much as the Anne/Ethan romance in DREAMING and its sequels!

When you write romance, you really do hope that your readers find the characters as enticing as you do. That they’re going to root for them and hope for them and dream for them and angst over the complications that keep them from being together and rejoice when they finally find each other at last!

Anne and Ethan (and the above mentioned Emma and Charlie and Leo and Max) are bit more romantically traditional in this sense. They meet. Complications ensue. And we worry about whether they’ll get their HEA or how damaged they’ll be by the time they make it to that point. By the time Anne and Ethan are finally and really and truly together at the end of ANASTASIA FOREVER, a lot of loss has occurred. In Ethan’s case, he’s even partially lost his sight, which I think to some extent was my writer’s answer to his endless myopic blindness to the truth. And maybe an answer to those who said that I seemed to like Ethan’s blue eyes a bit too much! Hah!

For Jenna it’s a bit different, because the bigger, dramatic plot arcs belong to other characters. It’s Casey and Amber and Bo in THE A-WORD who are the angels with a mission to accomplish and discover. Jenna’s got a huge role in things, too, but it’s yet to come. (Which readers will either get to read or not. Right now we’ve planned only 2 books in this series. So if you want more Jenna and Ryan you guys are going to have to spread the word!)

But there is Jenna pursuing Ryan anyway and Ryan pursuing Jenna. I really wanted these two to have a totally sweet and very mutual love that developed while both of them were increasingly thrust into the larger mystery of Amber’s past and Casey’s yet-to-be-discovered purpose on earth and Bo’s craziness, plus the huge world-controlling cartel of evil.

So it was a true pleasure to write Ryan baking cupcakes and telling Jenna his life plans and Jenna – not the girliest of girls—pondering outfit choices and Homecoming mums and reacting to Ryan’s kisses. And also his cologne, which is a sweet and hopefully amusing running gag for the two of them.  (Let me interject here that if anyone who as ever as I have, taught 9^th graders, totally knows their affection for copious amounts of cologne.)

Anyway, Hannah—and the rest of you! Enjoy THE A-WORD! Let me know what you think of this installment of Jenna’s journey. Let me know what you think of the Jenna/Ryan romance. Here’s to a good love story!

Oh, stop it y'all. I'm flattered.

So there you have it, folks! The DREAMING ANASTASIA trilogy, mentioned above, is home to my all-time favourite book character, the beautiful Ethan, and the series remains one of my absolute favourite stories of all time. The historical fic/YA/fantasy/romance lover in you can find a more in-depth praise post here. But for now, I hope you'll all support this lovely lady and treat yourselves to a hilarious paranormal mystery that somehow manages to be lighthearted and heart-warming at the same time. Let's hear it for THE A-WORD!

I'm the final stop on this blog tour, but you can find the entire ten days of fun here on the Soho Press website! Go say hi for me :) http://sohopress.com/the-a-word-blog-tour/

Thanks for gracing Perfect Companions Have Pages and Prose with your presence, Ms. Preble. To the rest of you, I hope you'll allow THE SWEET DEAD LIFE and THE A-WORD to grace your shelves! 

Until next time! 

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow -- The MORTAL GODS Cover Reveal!

Another day, another cave-in to the blogosphere, I know. But when I found out one of my very favourite authors, the lovely (and scary and awesome) Kendare Blake herself, was having a cover reveal for her newest book, how could I possibly not help?

MORTAL GODS (coming 14 October, this year)  is the next instalment in the THE GODDESS WAR trilogy, the first book of which is ANTIGODDESS. It is amazing and you should read it. Why, you ask? Click here and find out.

So, on to the cover reveal. MORTAL GODS is a book I've been impatiently awaiting since I finished Antigoddess, and since that happened approximately a week after its release . . . let's just say: I'm happy the long, torturous absence from Athena, Cassandra and Company will soon be over.

So, here is MORTAL GODS in all her beautiful, creepalicious glory!

Don't you just love the lightning? And Cassandra's hair? Speaking of whom, Kendare Blake has provided us with Cassandra's very thoughts are this precise moment:

"Aaand balls I've stumbled onto Olympus. This isn't good. Hope somebody helpful is coming up right behind me. This place does not look one bit welcoming. Thank god I braided my hair or there'd be some kind of static emergency."

Guys will roll their eyes, but you have no idea how irritating that is. Almost as annoying as when your hair sticks to your lip gloss.

Aaaaand here is the brilliantly badass Athena, on the new ANTIGODDESS paperback cover:

"Man, what is with these effing owls lately? That one in the tree looks totally pissed. Hey! Yeah, you! I can see you! I see you looking at me with your beady owl eyes! It must be the blood and the feathers. They think I've torn apart one of their brethren. Not so, jerks! These feathers are yours, and they're coming out of my bloody body! *sigh* I've got to get away from this lake. It's a bad place. And this G is totally trying to stab me in the back of the knee."

I love the colouring on that cover. Blue -- peaceful or haunting? Athena -- pensive or plotting? And did I mention how much I love her hair?

If you love me, you will go check this book out, at least. Have a read of my post linked to above ^, the Amazon page or go visit Ms Blake on her website, from which you can access her blog. If Kendare Blake sounds like your new favourite author (and why wouldn't she, when I know you love all things dark and dangerous as much as I do?), I heartily encourage you to also try Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares, the duology that invited itself into my soul, curled up and is still there. It is in my Top 5 stories of all time. Oh, yes. That is some high praise. All you up-and-coming authors have some serious shoes killer boots to fill.

Anyway, curiosity shall lead you here to Anna Dressed in Blood (which was my first ever Book Talk, so go easy on me, people; ugh, when I read it now...cringe) and here to the interview with Ms Blake, Anna vs. Terminator. Read it and fall in love -- but be warned: Cas is mine.

So now, I bid you farewell until May, for that is when the THE A-WORD by Joy Preble blog tour commences! Until then, my pretties! 

Extending Absence

At the simultaneously heart-pumpingly exciting and pants-wettingly terrifying reality that my exams are in THREE MONTHS, I am extending my absence until mid June--early July. It would not be an exaggeration for me to tell you I've missed this time of ranting and word vomit so much, my chest actually aches at the thought of it, so I hope you do know I'm genuinely lachrymose and sorry for taking this lengthy hiatus.

Thanks for understanding <3

The Hunger Games: Why the World Became Obsessed With a Book about Teens Murdering Each Other

So I missed the blogosphere so much that I caved in and did a guest post for my friend Anya. If you are interested, link is here:

http://annanyapriyadarshini.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/guest-post-hannah-j.html?m=1

I miss you all! Don't forget about me!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :)

I Was Hoping it Wouldn't Have to Come to This...

If you're one of those wonderful people who follows my blog without actually knowing me in person (meaning you must actually like what I write! Wow! I'm flattered, truly I am.), let me fill you in regarding my crazy, hectic, stressful-at-the-moment life.

I have biiiiiiiig exams this year. Mocks in January, real things in May/June. Having received the finalised timetable for the mocks today, I've realised how little time to revise I have left. As it is most of my Christmas so-called "break" will consist of revision. So, while it brings me great sadness (it really does), I am going to have to suspend Perfect Companions Have Pages and Prose until February.

Yes, it's okay to cry.

I can't possibly tell you how sorry I am or how awful I feel that I'm taking a somewhat-unprofessional pause. But life happens. As I love to say, c'est la vie. And on the bright side, I will have loads of great content (I hope) when I return! So many wonderful books from Santa and writing topics to discuss (like how foreshadowing IS NOT a theme, thank you very much! Long story short, bad English teacher, who, thank the Lord above, has now been replaced with a fantastic English teacher who agrees with me that foreshadowing is a literary technique, not a theme. But that's another rant...) and songs to share with you and my delicious gingerbread recipe! We'll have so much fun!

So now, as my parting gift, I would like to tell you that:

Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

Don't forget to keep Dancing Through Life:

And of course, have a very merry Christmas!

Lastly, what Christmas would be complete without a generous helping of Buble?

I'd just like to say that I appreciate every single one of you, and I will miss doing this blog. Think of me, revising my quadratic equations while you go Christmas shopping, and know that this was not what I wanted. But we don't always get what we want. Life, as Augustus Waters says, is not a wish-granting factory.

So long, fare well, take care of yourselves, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and see you all back in February! :)

I'm sorry, but...

...there will be no Book Talk post tomorrow, because I am at the hospital. Worry not, I'm not going to die on you! This is, however, important and I wont get back home till late. Will be back next week my lovely lovely readers. Ciao x

Book Talk: the Abandon Trilogy by Meg Cabot

So last night, I finally brought an end to what has been an emotional roller-coaster ride second only to Lili St Crow's Strange Angels series. Oh. My. God. The cliffhangers at the ends of books one and two...no. Let's begin at the beginning, shall we?


Seven years old, Pierce Oliviera is playing in the Isla Huesos graveyard after being kicked out of the sexton's office at her grandfather's funeral. A tall, mysterious boy -- a giant, really -- spots her crying over a dead dove.

He revives it. Then walks away.

Fifteen years old, Pierce trips on her scarf, falls into her father's pool and drowns. She wakes up, cold, wet and afraid, in a cave by a lake. There are two long lines of people: her line, the quiet line, and the rowdy other line. Scared, confused, not realising what has happened, Pierce isn't really thinking when she runs up to the one person there she recognises -- the boy from the cemetery. John Hayden. He gives her a necklace just before the doctors revive her in hospital. When she wakes up, it's still there.

Now seventeen, and John is turning up everywhere she goes. This "dream" she had while dead is anything but fantasy, and anything but over. It's not like anyone would believe her if she told them, so she doesn't. But John's not the type of guy you can ignore. He wants to take her back to the place that haunts her nightmares. The Underworld. The only question is, why?


As with many trilogies, the first book in this series, Abandon, was by far the best. I loved the idea of having an NDE (someone who has had a near-death experience) as the main character, and as always Meg Cabot did not disappoint, even though my expectations were, after the Mediator series, incredibly high. The whole tall, dark, mysterious guy thing may seem like a cliche, but believe me, Meg Cabot handles it well. John Hayden is a complete, well-rounded, extremely interesting and three-dimensional character that you will fall in love with, even though in my opinion, it takes longer than usual. He's just so fascinating, though, that even if you don't like him, you still need to find out what happens to him.

I think it'll be hard to talk about Underworld and Awaken without ruining the end of Abandon, so I'll just say that they were full of suspense and fantastic, even though books one and two ended on EVIL cliffhangers! To contrast, book three felt almost too tied-up. So, as saying to little is better than saying too much, I'll leave you now to discover the series yourselves.

Star rating: 5/5

Till Monday!

Writing Wednesday -- Creative Writing Prompts!

I cannot believe I didn't think of this sooner. Writing prompts! Fun or what? If this goes well, I'll definitely do this more often. You'll have to let me know what you think in the comments. Anyway...

It happens every time. You sit down, all excited to get those fingers tapping away on the keyboard. Coffee in hand (in your favourite mug, the one with the grammar pun), you sit back, relax, fire up the trusty old laptop, and...

...nothing. Not a word pops into your head. You set Microsoft Word to your comfort font, classic 12pt Times New Roman. Wait for it...nope. Still nothing. What's wrong with you? You're a writer! Why can't you write? Are you losing your touch? Has your muse abandoned you?

Oh no. What if this happens every day? What if you can never write again? Then the world will never read the masterpiece you've been pouring all that metaphorical blood, sweat and tears into! Why, cruel fate? WWWWWHHHHYYYYYYYY????????

Even if you're not as melodramatic as I am, writer's block -- or whatever you want to call it -- is scary at worst and irritating at best. So what can you do to lure your muse back and cure this bout of The Freeze?

1) Don't panic. The muse doesn't like you when you're panicked.

2) Read back over what you wrote yesterday. Put yourself in the scene. That is not your goldfish watching you from the tank, that is an ocean filled with Sirens waiting to lure your unsuspecting group of sailors to their watery graves. Honest.

Feeling inspired yet? If so, great! Dive in! But if not, that's fine, too. Just try one of these five-minute exercises to get those writing muscles warmed up. Have fun with them. The sillier, the better! All of these are my original writing prompts, so I give you permission to share and publish any work you create using these. You may also link back to this page and share the writing prompts as you see fit, I just ask that you please credit me, Hannah J of Perfect Companions Have Pages and Prose, as the creator. Thanks!

Your main character (or another book character), a celebrity, a friend, a family member and one of your childhood teachers are stuck in a lift/elevator. One of them is secretly claustrophobic. Write about what happens.
I've had hours of fun with this one. If you don't want someone to have claustrophobia, pick something else weird. Maybe the lights go out? Someone is on a mission to deactivate a bomb, and if they don't get out of here in thirty-eight -- make that thirty-seven -- minutes, the building will explode? Don't be afraid to mix it up.

Pick three songs at random from your music collection (shuffle is good for this.) Write a scene, a poem or a short story inspired by the events and emotions in those songs. Rule: You must use something from each song. Alternatively, use one line of the lyrics from each song in your poem.
This one is also one of my go-to prompts and I always make a playlist for each writing project I do. It's great for when you need to put yourself into the emotions of the scene, to keep the story in your mind when you're out and about and to spark ideas when you're feeling uninspired. My favourite artists to use for this are Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson and Lady Antebellum, because they have some gorgeous imagery in their lyrics, but anything works. I dare you to use The Duck Song...

Take your main character and put them in the climax of another book, or vice versa. How would they have handled the situation?
Also very fun, and useful for getting back into your MC's shoes, if this was your problem. Alternatively, take a main character from a book that's not yours and put them into the climax of another book that's not yours. Oh, and if anyone puts Bella Swan in the arena (The Hunger Games), please please pretty please send it to me. I'm dying to see how that would play out.

"The girl in blue sat in the furthest corner of the coffee shop, grazing on chocolate covered pretzels. She was scribbling madly on a tablet, and every time the bell above the door rang, announcing the entrance of another customer, she almost jumped right out of her chair."
Continue this, either from the girl's POV (in third person) or the POV of the person who is watching her (first or third). Try to answer some of the questions the beginning poses (Who is she? What is she doing on the tablet? Why is she so jumpy?) whilst also posing a few more of your own. There are real possibilities with this, because we know almost nothing about the girl. Take it in whatever direction you want, and keep going until you feel like stopping. Or turn it into a novella- or even novel-length piece. Be creative.

A shaft of light shines down on you, illuminating your bluish toes and a small space of damp stone floor. A few dust mites hover in the air in front of your nose, and you sneeze. The echo of the sound tells you the room can't be more than ten feet in any direction. You're cold, wet, hungry. Your head hurts like nobody's business. There's a thick stench in the air, like stale smoke and urine. Worst of all, you can't remember a single thing. Write from here.
This could be continued in any person, but I think first would be most effective. If you're planning on reading this aloud, though, second holds major possibilities.


That's all for now, but I'll try to make this a reasonable regular occurrence. It really depends on the response I get. So, if you've enjoyed, please let me know, and feel free to share your work in the comments. I'd love to see what you came up with! Until Friday, my lovelies.

Book Talk: Fire by Kristin Cashore

This is a book I read over a year ago, actually. Wow. It does not feel like anywhere near that long at all. I'm getting old ;)

Fire is a monster. Named after her flame-coloured hair and hated for being a breed she can't help, Fire relegates herself to a small corner of the Dells, mixing only with her friend Archer and his father. Aware and afraid of her ability to influence people with her beauty, she does this not only to protect them, but also herself from their prejudice. However, there lurks a bigger danger to the Dells, a danger that wears the face of a child. The fog is coming, and if Fire wants to protect those she loves, she will need to face a judgemental royal court, confront her past, and take control of her wild self, dealing with hurt, betrayal, passion and unexpected love along the way.

As you may or may not have guessed, this is a companion novel to Graceling. The sequel to Graceling, Bitterblue, is out but I have not read it yet, despite constant harassment from my friend. It's not that I don't want to, it's a question of, "Well, I have this much time, which book do I want to read more?" I wouldn't say this book had as tight a hold on me as others, but nevertheless I still consider it a great story and I salute Cashore on her world building skills. If you're a Narnia/Middle Earth/Oz lover, you must read this series. (May I just add that the books may be read in any order, and although chronologically Fire would come first, Graceling was published first and I recommend that you read it first. Why? You'll understand when you read it...)

What I really loved about Fire was the fact that just one of the characters is the same as Graceling, yet because we see him from more than just Katsa's (Graceling) perspective, we see more to him. We see ow he became what he is in Graceling, without him even being the main focus. It's use of subplots at its finest.

The one complaint I have is that at times it moved a bit slowly for my taste, but I am a thriller person. The writing was certainly beautiful, anyway, and the characters were interesting, especially Archer, Fire and Brigan. Archer has to be my favourite, even though he makes some mistakes, and he's not the type I usually go for. Odd. Who doesn't make mistakes, though?

Oh, and there's someone in this book called Hanna! No "h" at the end, but unless you count the crazy 5-year-old who got one mention in Joy Preble's Anastasia Forever, or the former best friend who committed suicide before Meg Cabot's Abandon even started, this is the first character who has shared my name. Hanna is awesome. I take it back -- Hanna is my favourite character. Sorry, Archer.

Star rating: 4.5/5

Amazon link.

Oh, and did I mention it has an awesome cover? :)

Music Monday and a Liebster Nomination!

Hey everyone!

This is me right now:

"Celebrate good times COME ON!"

Because my lovely blogging buddy and fellow teen writer, Alice (+Alice Kouzmenko on G+) nominated me for a Liebster award earlier today! Yay! Basically, the Liebster award is like a blogging chain letter. You get nominated, and have to answer 10 questions of the nominator's choice on your blog. Then, I pick three little-known blogs (I've heard less than 3000 followers, because the whole purpose of the Liebster is to spread the word for new or obscure, but talented, bloggers you like) and ask them ten questions. They link back to my blog and answer them, pick three nominees of their own, and thus the cycle goes on and on and on...

So, here is the blog of the wonderful Alice, my nominator:

http://alicekouzmenkowriting.blogspot.co.uk/

I love reading her short fiction. It's always inspiring, thought-provoking and perfectly paced. I'm jealous :)

And the questions she asked me (so fun!):

1) What are three places you have always dreamed of travelling?

Hawaii, definitely! Then I'd love to go Japan, and Murano, which is an island off the coast of Italy. I'd say Russia, too, but my history teacher has told me horror stories about muggings there, and frankly, I'm a wimp.

2) Biggest goal in life?

Be happy. Really, is there anything else? Among the things that would make me happy are an adorable husband, kids, working in publishing and becoming a part- or even full-time writer.

3) Favourite flavour of ice cream?

That's a hard one. I'd have to say coffee, but I'm a self-confessed chocoholic, and I love strawberries and cream, too.

4) What inspires you?

Where do I begin?! My family and friends, obviously. Then books, music, writing, movies, and watching others act on their inspiration. Honestly though, I find inspiration in the weirdest of places. Once I thought of a novel idea in biology. True story.

5) What are you looking forward to?

Getting these stinky GCSEs over and done with! Then IB, university, life...everything. On a more immediate scale, this Saturday, because I'm getting and iPad Air with my birthday money from my Godparents, and a pumpkin spice latte :)

6) Summer or winter?

Winter. Why? Pumpkin spice latte, of course ;)

7) If you could have any talent, what would it be?

I would love more than anything to be able to draw, but I can't. At all. My people resemble potatoes and my trees look like poodle tails. Ah well, c'est la vie.

8) What's a question you've always wished someone would ask you, and what's the answer?

Awesome question! Well, that would have to be, "Which book character would you like me to bring to life with this magical machine here so you can marry him?" And my answer would be, "Gah, how could you expect me to make a decision like this?! Ethan Kozninsky, Edgar Graves, Cas Lowood, Thomas Sabin, Sam Temple...ahhhhh! Ethan. Let's just go with Ethan. Unless you're willing to do all five? Pretty please?"

9) What are you most proud of?

I wrote a novel before my dad even finished planning his! (He's still not done...) :) But I couldn't have done that without GoTeenWriters, so huge thank you and shout out to Stephanie Morrill and Jill Williamson, two absolute angels.

10) What is something that never fails to make you smile?

Reading a sappy kiss scene in a book, happily ever afters, disney films, the smell of Barnes & Nobles (don't ask), troll dolls, and listening to the music from "Wicked!"


And now, ladies and gentleman, bloggers and followers, put your hands together for my nominees!

*crowd goes wild*

1) http://joysnovelidea.blogspot.co.uk/ The blog of one of my favourite authors ever ever ever, creator of Mr Sexy Blue-Eyes Ethan Kozninsky, awesome person, saint for putting up with me, JOY PREBLE EVERYONE!

2) http://twilightvirgin.blogspot.co.uk I'm sorry, I know it's mean, but some of this stuff is just too true. And it's so funny. "Prom...really? That's the culmination of the greatest modern love story ever told?" TERRI WEAVER!

3) http://shiningbrightcritique.blogspot.co.uk/ Here is another one of my writing and blogging e-friends, who is undertaking the huge task of forming a critique group for teen writers! I know you guys are out there and I know you want to join, so come on, help her out and meet some friends -- it's win-win! BRITTNEY JOHNSON!

Nominees, here are the questions you must answer on your respective blogs, linking back to mine and nominating three more blogs you think deserve more traffic. Don't forget to come up with questions of your own, too!

1) If you met the Doctor and he offered you a ride in the Tardis, where would you ask him to take you and why?
2) What book would you direct the movie adaptation of and who would you cast as the main characters?
3) Your weirdest dream ever?
4) If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
5) Most memorable childhood experience?
6) Which historical figure, celebrity and fictional character would you like to be best friends with?
7) Pick one food or drink you couldn't live without.
8) Three things on your bucket list?
9) If I gave you $10,000 to start up a charity, what would that charity be called, who would you help and why?
10) How do you picture the end of the world?

Thanks again to Alice for nominating me. I am truly honoured that there is at least a small pocket of humanity that would miss my blog if I upped and disappeared; this is definitely motivation to carry on, even when I'm tired and lazy and have a physics test the next day. Nominees, I hope you have fun answering my questions. Can't wait to read your answers!

A Quick Apology Message

Hey readers. I am so, so sorry I've been a bad blogger recently. I know I've missed a few posts and now I'm going to be even more horrible and tell you that there will be no Book Talk tomorrow, nor any blogging at all next week, because I'm going to the USA with my best friend! Eek! We've been waiting for this trip for over a year, and now it's finally arrived and neither of us can believe it. It's just so strange how the super-crazy-excitement hasn't really hit us yet, but I'm sure it will by tomorrow. Can't wait!

Well, I'm going to miss you all! Be back in two weeks :)

Writing Wednesday: Killing Off Characters

I can guarantee that nothing, absolutely nothing, will make me hate an author more than if he/she kills off my favourite character. However, sometimes you need the reader to hate you. Sometimes that poor protagonist you've been dragging through hell (literal or figurative -- your call) and pushing to the limit needs to be tipped over the edge into action. And what better way to do that than to brutally and heartlessly murder someone they love? That will motivate them to finally assassinate the evil dictator!

Killing off characters is something you can very easily do wrong. In either direction. Some of us (um...me) get so attached to our characters that they become our best friends and our babies all at once. Suddenly you can't possibly kill Bob because even though that would be great for the story, and losing the love of her life will definitely get Beth to shake her tail bone, get off her high horse and avenge Bob, which could either be the main story goal or could serve to get her stuck in some other sort of sticky situation, such as trapped in the dungeons under the castle. So you can see that the occasional bit of cruelty in your writing is useful as a plot-pusher, and you want the reader to feel something, don't you?

That said, so many authors take it to the other extreme. They kill everyone. They have no mercy. Bob needs to die, yes, so then why not kill of Beth's brother, Billy, while she's out trying to avenge Bob? Let's rack up the guilt! Let's have a massacre! Right?

Umm, no. Because you'll end up having to constantly replenish the cast with new characters, which is confusing both for the reader and for you. Confusion = bad. You may also end up killing someone you need later, and then you'll have to bring them back. Which works in a few rare cases if done well, but usually, I'd say it's a no-no. The reader can and will be able to tell when it's a cop-out and they will not be happy.

Racking up the guilt is something which works, obviously. Maybe you can kill Bob and Billy in one book, but then I wouldn't advise losing any more main characters. Killing characters the reader loves will ensure an emotional response, yes. Let's think Titanic -- a film I love to hate and hate to love. (Spoilers ahead.) Lots of people die. That's a given basically from the start, because who doesn't know the infamous story? It's when Jack dies that the twist comes. We care a lot about Jack. Some of us even love Jack. Jack is smart. Jack is selfless. Jack is gorgeous. In short, Jack is as perfect as a character can be without being too perfect. So that's why when Jack dies, it hits us right in the gut, like a freight train zooming at 500mph. It barrels, unseen, out of the tunnel and it physically hurts, it's so sad. I literally -- not figuratively, not practically, literally -- cried for an hour the first time I saw that movie. We all know Rose was the one who deserved to die the most out of the couple. Rose was a pretty annoying person before Jack came along. And yet Rose lived. Because of Jack; because Jack selflessly let her get on the raft-thing (even though Mythbusters proved there would have been enough room for both of them. Just saying.), even though he knew it meant he'd freeze to death in the water. That made us love Jack more, which made his death even worse.

Titanic is one of my saddest examples. I won't lie and tell you I wasn't furious, initially, even though the critical part of my brain was pointing out all the smart things about the story ("Make it count, meet me at the clock") and trying to calm the emotional part that just felt like it had nothing left to live for. Titanic only killed one main character, and look how much impact. Like cliffhangers, and setting, this is another instance where less is often more. Overdo your killing, Jigsaw-style, and you will either desensitize your reader or annoy he/she so much she vows never to buy another one of your books again, because it's just too much emotional trauma. Neither of those things is particularly desirable if you want to actually sell books and have readers that actually like you, as opposed to readers who want to meet you just so they can punch you. Tell me, are you writing a novel or a script for a slasher movie? I rest my case.

Another point is that, if you're writing something vaguely fantastical (sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy, you name it), you have the luxury of thinking of new and original alternatives to killing. (Mockingjay spoiler alert ahead.) Having Peeta hijacked was a very smart move by Suzanne Collins, because having him there but not himself made it even worse, both for the reader and Katniss. And of course, then she could have fun taking it either way: will Peeta stay nuts or will he recover? Read the rest of the book or you'll never know! And she made use of her own quotation "Hope. It's the only thing stronger than fear."

So pull a Lili St Crow/Suzanne Collins and do something worse than death to your main character's loved ones. Rack up the stakes without racking up the death count. That cool new brainwashing-meets-zombification thing you came up with is sure to stay with your reader much longer than a mere death. If your genre permits it, of course.

I am still of two minds about killing off characters, and how much is enough vs. how much is too much. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Till Friday, friends and readers.

Book Talk: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (not for children)

(First, so sorry I disappeared on you on Monday. I was my birthday :D and we got home late, and then there was the cake and before I knew it, it was ten o'clock and too late to blog. But I'll post a song this Monday instead, as well as the Writing Wednesday post that'll be due. I'm really excited about this one!)

Oh, my golly gosh. This book. I had heard many things from many different people, but nothing prepared me for the, excuse the cliché, emotional roller-coaster that this book put me through. It was tragic, but it was beautiful. I cannot count the number of times I had tears in my eyes or shivers down my back. It was an odd sort of sadness, though, not like the other sob stories I usually bawl my eyes out at, like Titanic and The Fault in Our Stars, in which you cry your heart out only at the end. No, The Lovely Bones was tear-worthy at many, many points, but you cry less each time. I liked how Alice Sebold did that. So without further rambles, here is my usual teaser/summary:

Walking back from school on the evening of 6 December, 1973, 14-year-old Susie Salmon is stopped by her neighbour, George Harvey. Lured by curiosity, she follows him into a den-like hole he has dug in the cornfield by their houses -- where he rapes and then murders her. And he seems to have gotten away with it. But Susie isn't done on Earth yet. She watches her family, friends, people she once spoke to, from her own personal heaven, as detective Len Fenerman grows increasingly frustrated at his inability to find the murderer, or even a body. If only Susie could find a way to prove to her loved ones that she's still here, that it wasn't their fault, that she's safe now, if longing for things she might have done. That her murderer lives right next door...

This book touches something deep and personal inside us all. It proves how danger sometimes lives right on out doorstep, and while that may not be a particularly comforting thought, the author still managed to execute what some people may call a "horrible" story in an absolutely beautiful, poetic way. Susie narrating from her heaven gives the effect of a combined first person and omniscient narrator, something that prior to reading this book I would have considered impossible. "Like a beautiful gasoline rainbow" (my favourite quotation, that made me cry more than all other parts bar one), this book manages to take something ugly and make it a story so captivating it kept you enthralled without the use of what I refer to as the literary "underhand tactics", e.g. extraneous cliffhangers. The character my heart bled for the most had to be Susie's poor father, Jack; followed by Lindsey and Buckley, her siblings; and then Ray Singh, Susie's crush, who is at one point a suspect. I have to confess that I did not like Susie's mother at all. I know her daughter died, and I made allowances, but there is some behaviour that is just inexcusable. I won't mention what that behaviour was. You'll have to read it and find out ;)

Star Rating: 5/5

I recommend this to almost everyone -- don't let your kids under twelve at the very minimum read it, please. I would say fourteen and up, but if you do allow younger children to read it, well, don't say I didn't warn you.  It's a fantastic novel, but there is the rape, which isn't described in detail but I still don't think it's the best thing for children to be reading. There are also one or two sex scenes, which are also not gone into in detail. Even though I believe Sebold handled the tricky subject as well as she could, the fact remains that it's there, and some things are best left till older. If you want a sad but beautiful book that's child-friendly, I recommend Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls, which you can read my post on here.

Have a wonderful evening, everyone! I start "work" tomorrow -- unpaid volunteering, but still my first job. Excited! This is the charity shop that gets all my old books. I wonder how many I'll recognise on the shelves :)

Book Talk: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Hello, all. This is a book I actually read last year, but I saw it on my shelf and realised I had to tell you all about it.

People with an exceptional skill in a particular field, known as a Grace, are equal parts feared, envied and exploited in the Seven Kingdoms. Katsa, who can be identified, as all Gracelings can, by her mismatched eyes, is cursed with the Grace of killing, something even she loathes herself for. Used as an assassin by her uncle Randa, king of the Middluns, Katsa is on a mission to find and save the kidnapped father of the king of  Lienid. But the old man is harmless. What could anyone possibly want with him? And who was that knife-wielding, Graced fighter, with eyes the colour of precious metals? Is following Randa's orders really the right thing to do? Because Katsa's not sure she still wants to kill any more. She doesn't want to be a pawn all her life. This time, she's going to solve the mystery by herself. Maybe with a little help from Po...

 This book had an interesting premise; never before had I seen anyone do something similar to a Grace. The other thing I love is that there are loads of twists, but they're not horrible, sneaky underhand tricks of the author -- they're the kind of twists that make you go "aaaahhhhhh" and nod, rather than screech, "NOOOOO!" Prim-style and cry. No one in this book is exactly as they seem, and I love that. You discover things throughout the course of the novel even the characters didn't know about themselves, and it's fun to try to solve the mystery before they do. And, as with all the books I really like, there's an adorable guy :)

The writing is beautiful, too, because it's not typical. Being set in a fantastical world, Graceling is written in a more poetic fashion than most YA fiction is, and it really works for this story. There's a companion novel, Fire, which tells the story of Graceling's antagonist, but not always from his point of view, and the sequel, Bitterblue, is set eight years later and has just come out. I haven't read it yet, but I will. Eventually. If only you guys could see my To Be Read list.

Here's Graceling on Amazon.

Star rating: 5/5

Well, this has been a short post, but the plot is complicated, and I can either under-describe or over-describe. I think under-describing is better than spoiling the book for you. So, see you on Monday ! (MY BIRTHDAY!)

Writing Wednesday: The Cliffhanger -- How Much is Too Much?

(Sidenote: this is my 44th post! Yes, really! Where has all the time gone...)

Ahh, cliffhangers. My love/hate relationship with this technique burns stronger with every book that ends with poor old Bob hanging grimly for dear life. Figuratively speaking. Of course, cliffhangers are a sure-fire way to ensure the reader will stick around for books 2, 3, 4, etc. of your series. However:

1. It's annoying. Very. And you don't want to annoy your reader (well, only a little). Remember, every page of your story has to convince them they should stick around for another. Living in a world where people can get e-books for $0.99, authors, both traditionally- and self-published alike, have to try harder than ever before to make the reader believe that, yes, just one more chapter is worth it, even though they have a chemistry exam tomorrow they haven't revised for and it's already one in the morning. Or convince the frazzled, the sleep-deprived mother of newborn twins to read instead of taking her well-deserved nap when cute little Aidan and Nadia are (finally) sound asleep. Twenty years ago, as a writer, your job was to sell a book to each reader once. Now you have to keep selling it over and over again, because in times like these, people aren't going to stick around to finish a so-so book they invested less than a dollar in. Sorry to be so blunt, but that's a fact.

2. It's a breach of the unofficial author-reader contract. (Thank you, Augustus Waters. This is in your honour.) I don't know why this one is so hard. When you buy a book, you expect a complete story, no? Yes, yes you do. So when a book ends at what feels like halfway through the climax, I think I have a right to be ticked off. I don't want to wait a year to find out what happens to Bob! I don't even want to wait a day! And that's good, by the way. If I get so mad at this contract breach, it must mean Bob is a good character, because I care about him, and I don't want him to go tumbling into the sea. Now don't get me wrong here: you are allowed to use cliffhangers. In fact, the cliffhanger is quite probably the best reader-torture technique, second only perhaps to BRUTALLY AND HEARTLESSLY MURDERING THE SWEETEST, DO-NO-WRONG character that everyone is in love with. (That one is basically guaranteed to get you hate, though. Just a warning.) But, the cliffhanger's strength is also it's downfall. Let me explain. We read books for the emotional journey, it's true, but unless all your readers are masochists, they are going to be displeased if all you ever throw at them is cliffhanger after relentless cliffhanger. And reader's don't forgive easily. We may be more empathetic than average Joe no-books, but that doesn't mean we're not exceptional at holding grudges. I can quote, word for word, the exact line that ruined my life. I wasn't even reading this series as they came out. I had the next book on my shelf, and I still had a meltdown when I read those ten horrible, horrible italicised words. It was horrible. Traumatic, even. My metaphorical heart had been ripped out of my chest, stomped on, put through a blender and then handed back, bloody and broken, all in just ten words. Call me a drama queen if you must, but can't you see how good at characterisation this author was? By inflicting this atrocious deed upon the fictional love of my life, she ensured another £6.99 from me because I would just have to buy the next book. And I did. BUT, I will probably never read that author again. Ever. Because I can't go through that kind of emotional trauma again. I won't do it.

3. It's somewhat unoriginal, and downright tiresome. I say "somewhat" because, let's face it: you'd be hard pressed to write a suspenseful book that doesn't include a single cliffhanger. Almost every YA trilogy these days follows this formula: Book 1, ending that can be continued, but is still tied off; Book 2, evil cliffhanger; Book 3, varying degrees of happy ending. Predictable, don't you think? Still, my point is not that cliffhangers shouldn't be used, my point is that they must be used sparingly. If you have a whole book full of cliffhangers, each one packs a smaller punch than it would on it's own. They barely feel like cliffhangers any more. The reader becomes desensitised. Your book, your baby that you spent years planning, poured blood, sweat and tears into, becomes a cheap and predictable story. Kind of like how when you drink chocolate milk while eating cookies, the chocolate milk doesn't taste as sweet, because the cookies are sweeter, so the milk's sweetness is lost. Sad, isn't it? Because chocolate milk would be deliciously sweet if you didn't have the cookies too. So save your chocolate milk for one book, and your cookies for another.

So once again, as with all other aspects of writing (and life in general, too), the trick is finding a balance. I feel bad, because I told you that last fortnight, about setting, but balance really is what you must strive for. Also as with setting, how much suspense you include and how much trauma you inflict upon your innocent reader is decided by your personal style and the genre(s) you write in. Beta readers and critique partners will help you cut down on extraneous cliffhangers, or add a bit more spice to a bland and boring book. Don't forget the plot twists!

And I just thought I'd leave you with the knowledge that I have my own personal alliterate, hilarious name for the "disease" in which a writer uses too many cliffhangers, but I can't share it here as it involves a specific name and I don't want to a) offend that person or b) get sued. But I encourage you to think up your own! :)

Book Talk: Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Salutations, YA book fans. Remember years ago, there was the vampires vs werewolves craze? And then the twisted-fairytales trend? Well, welcome to the new biggest thing in teen fiction: Greek mythology. You've read Percy Jackson, now try Kendare Blake's Antigoddess!

"He was Apollo, the sun, and he'd burn down anything that tried to hurt her..."

Athena and Hermes are dying. The supposedly immortal gods and goddesses of Greek myth are each hurtling towards their individual, humiliatingly ironic ends. This is it. The Twilight of the Gods. But there may still be hope. An ancient prophecy speaks of a girl with the power to see the future, the girl who could hold all the answers to their survival. A girl cursed to always see but never be believed. Cassandra of Troy.

Cassandra Weaver really isn't anything special. She's just your average high-school girl -- except for one thing: She's psychic. Not that she uses this gift for anything other than party tricks. Unaware of the sheer scale of her own power, Cassandra's only worried about whether she and her boyfriend Aidan will still be near each other when they go to college. But Aidan has a secret. A secret that will change everything Cassandra ever thought she knew, and will throw her into mortal danger. There will be war. There will be bloodshed. There will be death. Through all the chaos, only one thing is certain: Nothing will ever be the same again.


When you read an author's work, you begin to notice things about them. Quirks. Their unique writing voice. The kinds of characters they like to write. Well, here is my formula for a Kendare Blake book: gripping plot + bucketloads of creepiness + the token British character = Kendare Blake. For those of new who are relatively new to my blog, my first ever post was on her Anna Dressed in Blood series, and I did an interview with her here. Despite all the violence in her books, she's actually really nice. Ms Blake certainly set a very high bar for herself with Anna, because I absolutely adored that book and (almost) everyone in it.

Well, she did not disappoint. Antigoddess was well worth the torturous wait. And while I went through momentary shock when the first chapter opened to reveal third person past tense, as opposed to the first person present of her last book, she can pull off this form of narration just as well. Told from Athena and Cassandra's alternating perspectives, Antigoddess is a book I definitely think has wide appeal. It does say "not for younger readers" on the back, but I think that's just because of the aforementioned goriness. There is mild language, but certainly nothing inappropriate in the romantic sense, and the language and goriness shouldn't bother anyone older than thirteen at most. So with that in mind, I definitely encourage you to check it out. The original take on Greek mythology will interest anyone who likes some "supernaturality", I think, but especially fans of myths, legends, and the other popular YA books that share this topic, like the Percy Jacksons mentioned above, and Meg Cabot's Awaken series, which I am about to read the last book of.

Antigoddess was also a great read in that the characters were all intriguing. You can sympathise with everyone, even the people you don't like, and you can understand their goals and mistakes, which I love. It's awful when you don't understand a character. But Kendare Blake's characters are all so lovable! Well, I love Odysseus and Hermes, really like Athena, Andie, and Henry, and like pretty much everyone else (excluding, of course, the villains) most of the time. It's a book which leaves you room to wonder in places, and create your own theories. I can't wait for her to continue the story in the sequel Aristeia!

Star rating: 5/5

And here's a link to the Amazon page.

Thanks for reading! See you back on Wednesday for another writing post, as per usual. And if you've read Antigoddess or Anna Dressed in Blood, feel free to comment and let me know what you thought :)

Music Monday: Starlight - Taylor Swift and Songbird - Kenny G

It seems every time one of these posts is due, I get a song stuck in my head. Well, I'm just going to take that as a sign that I should be sharing said song with you. And because I have the queer feeling I missed a week (must go check in a second), I'll share two songs today.

The first one is country, yes, but not Lady Antebellum *shock horror gasp*

It's Taylor Swift!

This may sound silly, but this song changed my whole outlook on life. True story. There's a part that goes, "he said 'look at you, worrying so much about things you can't change. You'll spend your whole life singing the blues if you keep thinking that way.'"

And simple as it may be, it really hit home. It clicked. This was last year, when the album first released. For months, I lived and breathed by that line. And then the summer came, and exams loomed ever closer, and I kind of forgot my "don't worry, be happy" resolve. Listening to this song again on Saturday reminded me. There really is not point in worrying about something you can't do anything about, because worrying doesn't get anything done. Do something, Hannah, don't just sit there biting your nails, wondering how on Earth you're going to learn x, y and z in time for whenever.

So there you go. A little piece of my soul for you, and something to remember for when the stress of life, the universe and everything gets you down. I must make a mental note to add this song to my "Uplifting" playlist on my phone.

And for the writers among us, song number 2. Songbird by Kenny G is great to write to, I think. Providing you're not one of those MUST HAVE SILENCE people. If you are, listen to this before you start writing:

I love Kenny G. He and Ludovico Einaudi are my writing music people. Kenny G, you are a saxophone badass. There is one song that is just so freaking perfect for this one scene in my next WIP, that in my mental movie, it is the backing track. And it is beautiful. I'm thinking of studying film, actually. (Oh dear, I can feel a tangent coming on...)

That's enough for today, folks, but see you back here on Friday. Remember not to worry about things you can't change :)

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

Ah, City of Bones. This book sat on my bedroom floor for so long before I got around to actually reading it, but then again, most of my books do. The final push that got me going was wanting to read it before seeing the film, but now I realise that if I do want to see the film, I have to go all the way to Bradford (uh, no, not gonna happen, thank you very much) or wherever because they're not showing it in ANY of my locals cinemas any more :( So wait till the DVD it is.

On a night out with her best friend Simon, Clary Fray witnesses a violent murder. Or so she thinks. (This club isn't called Pandemonium for nothing. PanDEMONium...) In reality, the three "thugs" she sees are Shadowhunters, hunters and killers of demons...which she shouldn't be able to see, unless, of course, she's a Shadowhunter herself. (Thanks, Mom, for telling me this sooner...) Drawn to the sexy, mysterious group -- in particular, a certain Jace Wayland -- like a moth to a flame, Clary finds herself thrown head-first into a whirlwind of action, as she tries to save her kidnapped mother from the evil Valentine, loving and losing along the way.

My friend Jenny had been trying to get me to read this book for ages before I finally did, and she was right -- it is awesome. However, it was, for lack of a better word, a strange read. Not the plot -- well, no stranger than the other books I've read -- it was strange because I seemed to develop bipolar disorder as I read it. I liked it, then I loved it, then I didn't like to so much, then I liked it again, and so on.

But even when I didn't like it, I had to keep reading. I was glued to the pages. There was a point where Simon was THE ONLY character I liked -- I was furious with Clary, and still I had to keep reading. I needed to know how it ended even if I disliked half the cast for the majority of the book. By the end, I liked many people I'd initially disliked and vice versa. Come to think of it, Simon was the only character for whom my feelings stayed almost stagnant, the only change being my love for him growing... ;)

So plot, I really liked towards the end of the book, but in the beginning it felt like Cassandra Clare was just leading us in circles, and it got a little frustrating, but not enough to spoil the book. I also predicted much of the ending before I was even a third in, but as far as I know, this isn't typical. Jenny was surprised, at least. I'd be interested to hear in the comments if you guys were also shouting "I knew it all along!!!"

Setting was also very cool -- I mean, who doesn't adore New York? I have and always will be a city girl through and through, and the night-time scenes where Jace and Clary were flying through skyscrapers on a demon bike were awesome.

My only nitpick with this story was the character cast. I'm just going to come right out and say it: I got sick of Clary. There is one point where I really didn't like that girl. To be fair though, for the most part she was okay. Not amazing. But not awful. Just okay. There were many cryptic and equivocal people to attempt to figure out, which I did really like. You're never quite sure whose side some people are on...but as I said earlier, there was still that point where Simon was the only character I cared about, and that bugs me. You're supposed to like the characters, or if not, understand and forgive them for being un-likeable  because of their twisted pasts or whatever.

So because of that, I'm giving City of Bones a star rating of 4/5

If you've read and liked City of Bones, I really recommend that you check out Lili St Crow's Strange Angels series. It has all the fast-paced supernatural thrilleriness (faster paced, I'd say) with the same fantastic range of creatures, an evil supervillain, a geeky character you adore, and a hot but annoying character that I never like but everyone else always seems to. If you're viewing this from a computer/laptop (as opposed to a smart phone), you will see a search bar in the top left-hand corner of the window. Search there to search my blog. If you liked this, you'll like Strange Angels, Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, and Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble. I have "book talks" about all three, if you want to know what they're about and how highly I rated them.

So right now I've taken a break from this series to read a book I've been waiting since March, but I cannot wait to read City of Ashes (book 2). Hopefully I'll hate less people this time. And hopefully there won't be another scene that just breaks my poor little heart like there was here. Clue: It involves Simon. That said, Jenny has been tormenting me with threats of scenes to come...oh dear. I'm scared for you, Simon :(

See you back here for Music Monday. Until next time, my pretties. :)