Thursday 24 January 2019

Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices, book 3) 

By Cassandra Clare


Blurb: 
What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the blight that is destroying the race of warlocks. 

Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

Review: 
I've read several of Cassandra Clare's books and she's one of my favourite authors, I just generally love her books as they all have great storylines.

The trilogy The Dark Artifices isn't one of my favourites but I do still like it, I thought the first two books were much better compared to this one. I found Queen of Air and Darkness was lacking in story twists and discovering the meaning of other things that was mentioned earlier on in the book. I found that this book dragged on quite a lot in a few scenes and it just got quite boring, I thought that in certain scenes you didn't need all the detail that was given. But there again others may have liked that, it's just my opinion.

Another thing that I didn't really like about this book is I thought that she had changed her style of writing, it felt like she had changed her reading age to older teens which is what young adult is but I feel like her other series were aimed round 12/13 year olds where as this book I'd say was more 15/16 just purely down to the bad language and the sexual scenes, I admit that at times the language was suited to the scene it was used in but it just didn't feel like the Cassandra Clare I'm used to.

The story however was quite good, it was her usual setting, I also liked how it followed straight on from book 2. I loved the actual discovering of the story and I like how there's no real side stories with the main story, by no real side stories there is other main characters on a mission but Emma and Jules mission join their's so it's just like one big main story with slight side lines but they all correspond. It was nice to have other main characters from The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices mentioned within this book and to have a main part too.

Another thing I quite liked about this book was the mention of grief and how Ty was struggling without Livy and he was trying to do everything to get her back no matter what the consequences were. This is how grief feels to me too, you either regret not doing stuff sooner or you try everything to make things right now that the person has gone. I've never lost a brother or sister but I have lost close family members that mean the world to me. 

I'd still highly recommend this trilogy but it wouldn't be the first I'd tell you to pick up as it's not as fast paced.


Favourite Characters: Cristina


Read: 12/12/18 - 01/01/19


4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie
Check out Sammie's review of Cassandra Clare's next main series The Last Hours, book 1: Chain of Gold.

Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices, book 3) 

By Cassandra Clare


Blurb: 
What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the blight that is destroying the race of warlocks. 

Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

Review: 
I've read several of Cassandra Clare's books and she's one of my favourite authors, I just generally love her books as they all have great storylines.

The trilogy The Dark Artifices isn't one of my favourites but I do still like it, I thought the first two books were much better compared to this one. I found Queen of Air and Darkness was lacking in story twists and discovering the meaning of other things that was mentioned earlier on in the book. I found that this book dragged on quite a lot in a few scenes and it just got quite boring, I thought that in certain scenes you didn't need all the detail that was given. But there again others may have liked that, it's just my opinion.

Another thing that I didn't really like about this book is I thought that she had changed her style of writing, it felt like she had changed her reading age to older teens which is what young adult is but I feel like her other series were aimed round 12/13 year olds where as this book I'd say was more 15/16 just purely down to the bad language and the sexual scenes, I admit that at times the language was suited to the scene it was used in but it just didn't feel like the Cassandra Clare I'm used to.

The story however was quite good, it was her usual setting, I also liked how it followed straight on from book 2. I loved the actual discovering of the story and I like how there's no real side stories with the main story, by no real side stories there is other main characters on a mission but Emma and Jules mission join their's so it's just like one big main story with slight side lines but they all correspond. It was nice to have other main characters from The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices mentioned within this book and to have a main part too.

Another thing I quite liked about this book was the mention of grief and how Ty was struggling without Livy and he was trying to do everything to get her back no matter what the consequences were. This is how grief feels to me too, you either regret not doing stuff sooner or you try everything to make things right now that the person has gone. I've never lost a brother or sister but I have lost close family members that mean the world to me. 

I'd still highly recommend this trilogy but it wouldn't be the first I'd tell you to pick up as it's not as fast paced.


Favourite Characters: Cristina


Read: 12/12/18 - 01/01/19


4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie
Check out Sammie's review of Cassandra Clare's next main series The Last Hours, book 1: Chain of Gold.

Tuesday 22 January 2019

FairyLoot - December 2018 

Theme: Dragons

Items: 
  • Reading Journal by Fictiontea Designs and Blanca Montiel
  • Pin Flag by FairyLoot
  • Glow in the Dark Dragon Necklace by FairyLoot
  • Book Sleeve by Sweet Sequels
  • Storm Crows by Kalyn Josephson
  • Mother of Dragons Magnetic Bookmark Set by Taratjah
  • Artwork by Diana Worak
  • Fire and Heist by Sarah Beth Durst
  • Trading Cards
Review: 
This box theme was Dragons which instantly had me hooked. I bought this box so fast, especially since I knew it would contain Game of Thrones themed items.

The first item to talk about is the reading journal. This I love this so much because it means I can take my planning away from excel and instead make it pretty. I’ll probably by the June box just to get the next journal. I’m making great use of it so far and it is really well designed.

The next item is the pin flag. I do quite like this, at the moment it is still plain as I await for some badges to start adding on, it’s the shame the box didn’t come with one to get things started. But once I do, I’ll add it to my bookcase, it’s better than putting badges on my old book sleeve. 

A very interesting item was the necklace, I haven’t received a necklace in a box before so it did make a welcomed change. The necklace is a dragon that can glow in the dark and even though it doesn’t match my outfits, I still love it and have worn it on night outs.

I also really loved the book sleeve in this box as it was so much more pretty than the first one I got. This one is a design inspired by Harry Potter, it just looks so pretty and look forward to using it soon. I won’t start to neglect the old book sleeve though.

This box had two books. The first book was an advanced reading copy of Storm Crows, the cover for this book is quite pretty and I like the vibe of this book a lot more than the main book. I also like seeing two smaller books for a change as I read too many long books.

Another item in the box was meant to be magnetic game of thrones inspired bookmarks but they were forgotten. However, FairyLoot realised this mistake before the box was delivered and already sorted sending them out and I received them the other day, not too long after receiving the box. Now that I have them I think they’re are great. Very useful and good to use.

As always the box contained some art but this time I quite liked one side of the drawings was Toothless from How to Train a Dragon. I decided to display that side on my wall next to my bed as he’s such a pretty dragon.

FairyLoot had decided to start trading cards in the boxes, the info card didn’t provide me with info about who the characters were but I think when other book characters enter the mix I’ll start to like the cards concepts and it’ll be cool to swap with Sammie when she gets cards in boxes I didn’t get and vice versa. So it’s a good concept just not a fan of the current characters.

Finally the main book was Fire and Heist, the cover of this book I agree with Sammie that it isn’t very appealing and in a bookshop I wouldn’t have picked it up. However hopefully the story is better than the cover.

Overall, I do love this box and it’s definitely one of my favourites. I’m going to say 4.5 just because of the trading cards and the delay of the necklace.

Rating: 4.5 runes out of 5
written by Lauren

FairyLoot - December 2018 

Theme: Dragons

Items: 
  • Reading Journal by Fictiontea Designs and Blanca Montiel
  • Pin Flag by FairyLoot
  • Glow in the Dark Dragon Necklace by FairyLoot
  • Book Sleeve by Sweet Sequels
  • Storm Crows by Kalyn Josephson
  • Mother of Dragons Magnetic Bookmark Set by Taratjah
  • Artwork by Diana Worak
  • Fire and Heist by Sarah Beth Durst
  • Trading Cards
Review: 
This box theme was Dragons which instantly had me hooked. I bought this box so fast, especially since I knew it would contain Game of Thrones themed items.

The first item to talk about is the reading journal. This I love this so much because it means I can take my planning away from excel and instead make it pretty. I’ll probably by the June box just to get the next journal. I’m making great use of it so far and it is really well designed.

The next item is the pin flag. I do quite like this, at the moment it is still plain as I await for some badges to start adding on, it’s the shame the box didn’t come with one to get things started. But once I do, I’ll add it to my bookcase, it’s better than putting badges on my old book sleeve. 

A very interesting item was the necklace, I haven’t received a necklace in a box before so it did make a welcomed change. The necklace is a dragon that can glow in the dark and even though it doesn’t match my outfits, I still love it and have worn it on night outs.

I also really loved the book sleeve in this box as it was so much more pretty than the first one I got. This one is a design inspired by Harry Potter, it just looks so pretty and look forward to using it soon. I won’t start to neglect the old book sleeve though.

This box had two books. The first book was an advanced reading copy of Storm Crows, the cover for this book is quite pretty and I like the vibe of this book a lot more than the main book. I also like seeing two smaller books for a change as I read too many long books.

Another item in the box was meant to be magnetic game of thrones inspired bookmarks but they were forgotten. However, FairyLoot realised this mistake before the box was delivered and already sorted sending them out and I received them the other day, not too long after receiving the box. Now that I have them I think they’re are great. Very useful and good to use.

As always the box contained some art but this time I quite liked one side of the drawings was Toothless from How to Train a Dragon. I decided to display that side on my wall next to my bed as he’s such a pretty dragon.

FairyLoot had decided to start trading cards in the boxes, the info card didn’t provide me with info about who the characters were but I think when other book characters enter the mix I’ll start to like the cards concepts and it’ll be cool to swap with Sammie when she gets cards in boxes I didn’t get and vice versa. So it’s a good concept just not a fan of the current characters.

Finally the main book was Fire and Heist, the cover of this book I agree with Sammie that it isn’t very appealing and in a bookshop I wouldn’t have picked it up. However hopefully the story is better than the cover.

Overall, I do love this box and it’s definitely one of my favourites. I’m going to say 4.5 just because of the trading cards and the delay of the necklace.

Rating: 4.5 runes out of 5
written by Lauren

Thursday 10 January 2019

FairyLoot - December 2018 

Theme: Dragons


Items: 
  • Reading Journal by Fictiontea Designs and Blanca Montiel
  • Pin Flag by FairyLoot
  • Glow in the Dark Dragon Necklace by FairyLoot
  • Book Sleeve by Sweet Sequels
  • Storm Crows by Kalyn Josephson
  • Mother of Dragons Magnetic Book Set by Taratjah
  • Artwork by Diana Worak
  • Fire and Heist by Sarah Beth Durst
Review: 
This isn't my first book box as you are well aware of by now but I think it is my 3rd one in a row, which is really unusual for me as I never seem to like the themes. But recently they have been what I fancy. So I may actually sign myself up to a subscription once I've moved house and settled in.

I'll discuss the theme first, Dragons! I'm not usually a huge fan of dragon specific books, I don't mind dragons being in books but the main story I'm not too sure on yet as I've not read many, as at guess I'd say I've read about 2 or 3 books based on dragons. But I had to buy it because it mentioned Harry Potter that is wholeheartedly the only reason I bough it. Along with another book sleeve and advanced reading copy.

The first item within the box is a reading journal. I really love it and I think it is an excellent idea. I personally won't be using it to keep track of my daily reading or planning any of my reading with it as you should know by now I'm a mood reader. I will be using the journal though to ensure I don't miss any releases of the books I want to read throughout the year. With it only being for 6 months I have mixed feelings, my worry is that when the next one comes out maybe in June's box I won't like the theme so I'll miss out. Also it just means that you have to buy that box if you want the next journal which I think is quite poor of the company to do that as they are tricking you into staying so they get constant customers.

The next item was the pin flag at first I thought why the hell is it plain, until my husband said you can use it to put all your badges and pins on now. Which it then clicked and made me go 'ah I see'. I had a blonde moment, and I suppose that's what you get when you just get the items out the box and not look at the spoiler card. I will never learn. So I really like this item because now I have use for all my badges and patches.

The glow in the dark dragon necklace was pretty awesome I like it but I just don't personally see myself wearing it. So I'm quite tempted to give this to one of my friends who loves dragons. She won't see this but I'm sure she will love it.

The next item was the Harry Potter one! The book sleeve. I love this item so much, I find it very fitting for the box. I'm also really pleased that it is an item that I will use quite a lot as I have used my other one so much that it is actually starting to come apart, so it's came at a perfect time to be honest.
I'll talk about the two books next. The main book Fire and Heist by Sarah Beth Durst is generally quite small for me but I'm sure it'll be okay and it'll make a change. I was slightly disappointed with it not having any sprayed edges and I was also disappointed in the cover. I just generally didn't think it was that attractive of a cover and if I came across this book in a book store it wouldn't have attracted me to it. But I am currently reading it and my review will be up shortly.

The advanced reading copy of Storm Crows by Kalyn Josephson looks good and sounds pretty amazing. I also think the book is generally on the small side for myself but like I said with the last one I think it will be a nice change. Once I've read the book I will get my review up as soon as possible.

The next item that was in the box was the Abraxos and Toothless print. I found this really pretty and a nice size, but I generally wouldn't use it so I have gave it to a better home already. But now I think about it I wish I could have gave it to the same person I'm planning on giving the necklace to as I know she loves toothless, but never mind she will never know.

I was missing an item from this box which as the mother of dragons magnetic bookmark set. Which I think I would generally love, they should be in the post any time soon so I will update this review when I get them as I have no opinion currently apart from that I'm slightly disappointed that they are missing.

Overall, I'd say this box has quite a neutral opinion for me, I don't think it was a box meant for me. It does have great items in but they aren't for me as I have no use for them.
Written by Sammie
Check out Sammie's review of The Storm Crow
Check out Sammie's review of Fire and Heist