Review: City of Lost Souls

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.75 stars. I'm enjoying these more as the series goes on, but (view spoiler)[ what is Cassandra Clare's thing with incest?????? I mean really!? Ugh it waaay weirds me out. I get it that it is because he is the bad guy, but she didn't care when it was Jace, right? I still can't get over it . . . (hide spoiler)] Ok. Rant over.

I don't think I'll ever love these like so many people seem to, but I am actually enjoying the series finally. I'm mostly trying to get through them so that I can get to the new series, but it is kind of fun to see Brother Zachariah show up from TID (I did really love those books). On to the next one!

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Review: A World Without Heroes

A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.75 stars. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I've had it for a long time because honestly, I didn't really expect to like it. I finally got around to reading (well, listening to) it and found the writing style to be a sort of combination of Rick Riordan and John Flanagan. These are two of my husband's favorite authors, so now I have to get him to read this series! I know he'd like it.

I enjoyed the two main characters and their journey. There was plenty of action and the ending left me wanting much more. My one criticism would be that I had a hard time believing that Jason and Rachel would be so quick to take on a deadly quest for another world at age 13. However, I understand that if they hadn't, there wouldn't be much of a story. Also, I didn't give it a full 4 (or 5) stars because although it was compelling, it didn't grip me quite as much as a 4 star read would be. I think this is probably simply because I am just not as in to middle grade literature as I used to be.

I will absolutely be reading the other two books in this series. It was a really fun read!

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Review: Heartless

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. This was another read for Battle of the Books. It was a good story, but I've never liked the worlds of Lewis Carroll. I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would, especially in the second half. However, I will never be a fan of Wonderland and it was pretty depressing to know where the story was headed. I never really liked Catherine very much either. However, story was pretty fast-paced and kept me wanting more. I think if I liked the whimsy and nonsense of Wonderland better, I may have enjoyed the book more. Although I liked Meyer's Lunar Chronicles more, I will probably read anything that she writes. I've been curious about Heartless since it came out, so I'm glad I finally read it!

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Review: Just One Day

Just One Day by Gayle Forman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was decent, but not fantastic. I didn't really like it at all until about halfway through, but it did get better in the second half. I was annoyed that she was so fixated on someone she'd only known a day, although I get that it is supposed to be more about her personal growth. I enjoyed seeing her development and her friendships. The ending, definitely left me wanting more, but in more of a "let me google what happens" way rather than a "I have to read the next one" way. I'm glad I finally read a Gayle Forman book because now I can talk to my students about it, but I'm not sure that I'll read more by her.

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