Reread in 2014 for the last book. This definitely has the best storyline of the series so far. All of the characters finally have validity and depth and reason for everything they do. I love Simon in this book, I love that we get to know Maia better, I love that Sebastian is such a dynamic and interesting villain as opposed to the constant Valentine. I still don't like Jace all that much. I'm glad I get to go on to book 6 finally! (2 years later).

This book was excellent. The best so far of the series. Well thought out. Consistent, unique characters. A lot of subplots but not too many and none of them unnecessary. At first I was upset that I have to wait a whole year for book 6, but then I remembered that I still have to go back and read Clockwork Prince and Angel.
As I already said, this series continues to improve. I'm very impressed.

Very cute - trying to think about this book as a completely separate entity from the movie because they're really only comparable by the name of the main character, the setting, and the fact that there are dragons.

I love that Toothless is so tiny, and I want to read on to hear about how he changes and if he changes all dragons everywhere? Does he grow to love Hiccup like the movie Toothless? Is he really a common garden dragon?

This book is pretty tiny and quaint itself, and I don't have much to say about it! I LOVED listening to David Tennant read it. Highly recommend.

And with that, I am FINISHED!.....for now. I just can't stop reading these books. I know at this point Clare should probably wipe her hands of this universe and prove she can write other things....but I'm not complaining. It's comforting to read a book in a world you're already familiar with. It takes out the hard work of getting used to something new.

That being said, I'll read the Dark Artifices, and the ones about Tessa's kids, and I'm about to download Magnus's story on my kindle.

SO on to the review, I'm just gonna go ahead and say spoilers ahead because I hate being vague.

Clary - loved what she did in this book. She's comfortable in her skin, she's not constantly questioning her looks or abilities (I said not constantly, she still does occasionally). She finally fits in her skin and can concentrate solely on the plot.
Simon - I'm in love with Simon. I said it. Turn me into a vampire please. I love that he seems to have finally figured out who he wants to be and how to be comfortable around Isabelle. He's not constantly just swooning. He actually can take control. And the end....I can't.
Alec - FINALLY we get to know this boy a little more. He has been a main character somewhat from the beginning but I never felt like I knew a damn thing about him.
Isabelle - Happy to see she seems finally ready to be happy. And happy that it's with Simon. I wish I'd had a bit more of her perspective but it was a big book, didn't need to add unnecessary pages.
Jace - still not my favorite. Never was never will be. I'm 0% attracted to self-destructive people. And people who act without thinking. Yes thankfully it works out most of the time but he'll do stupid stuff and then hate himself for putting those he loves in danger then he'll freaking do it again.
Sebastian - Sooooo evil. Impressively evil.

I definitely think Clare overall suffers in the lack of death and bittersweet endings, if that makes sense. In the way that every character in GoT seems to die, Clare has managed to write 2 book series each containing major wars where not a single one of the main characters dies. It just seems unrealistic. Like she's terrified of disappointing her readers.

Last thing, I loved getting to hear about Jem and Tessa. I think it shows how much more I loved the Infernal Devices that I basically just wanted Zechariah to show up constantly.

I think it would have been 5 had I liked the ending more. I LOVED the premise, and I loved Beth and Jennifer. Lincoln was okay - I think my problem with him was the atypical male-ness of him, although I hate that I said that considering how I've been trying to fight gender stereotypes. But it does seem like every book I read with a male protagonist ends up being about a guy who's super sensitive and has trouble getting over past relationships and blahdeeblahdeeblah.
BUT I still loved this book. I loved that it was late 1990's, and I love how Rowell writes these books in these fantastic and unique settings and then gets to describe the characters in these wonderful 90's outfits and dealing with the crazies appropaching Y2K.
I HIGHLY recommend this adorable book.

I don't know if I've ever read a book that had so much soul in so few pages. I always have just thought that if you have a chance to live then you should take it. But Mia made me think about what choice I would make. What if I lost my father, mother, and sister in one moment? Would my husband be enough to want me to fight for my life? I don't know. Certainly not when I was her age.
I love that her passion for music was woven into the novel without being cheesy or over the top.
I love that the novel was truly from Mia's perspective the entire time. Almost like she was dreaming in that she was able to do some things but not others.

I loved this and can't wait to see the movie.

I really liked the book. Didn't love it, but really liked it.
There may be spoilers below.

Some things that came up along the way:
- I wish more had been revealed along the way about Kayel (I don't know if that's how you spell the captain's name since I listened to it). I liked his character more but we got none of his backstory.
- the same could be said about Dorian, but I didn't like him as much. With such a long book there's so much more potential to get to know more characters, but despite all of the conversations they had and the fact that parts of the book were from his perspective, we learned nothing about Dorian other than the basics of his friendship and his relationship with his father.
- on that note, as much as I liked Caelana I still feel like I know nothing about her, and she's the protagonist! I've never read such a long and involved story where so little is revealed about the main character. I'm sure magic will be coming up in the following books but why mention so little about anything in her history? If even drove me nuts that she bragged so much about her skills while rarely reflecting on them or displaying them.

Summary: the plot saved this one. Characters need some serious development.

Wow this book gripped me from start to finish.

It's about 4 teenagers who live on an island in the summers and then discover they have super powers and have to stop an alien invasion.

I'm lying of course.

I think what fascinated me from the get go is the totally unreliable narrator. I felt like I never had any idea what was going on but it wasn't a bad thing. It was just the story.

Now for spoilers.

The climax really broke my heart. The dogs I think almost more than the people. That was awful to read. This book says so much about what keeps families together and tears them apart. It was so interesting to read.

Very quick and easy read for anyone.

Not my favorite of the 3 part set from Perkins, but it had all the usual charm and lightheartedness and thrill of being young and in love without being cliche.
I do feel like Isla is the closest personality to myself between her, Anna, and Lola. Her insecurities, her obsessiveness. And I did like Josh's character, although for some reason I felt less connected to him than Cricket and St. Clair.

There were a couple of issues I had with this book, and I worry that I'm gonna come across sounding like the bitter 24 year old but you know what, this is my review.

SPOILERS BELOW so stop scrolling if u don't wanna hear it.




I really only had 2 major issues.
First, the love scene in Spain in the hotel. It was written beautiful, led up to well, and had the perfect amount of intensity and lack of specificity so it wasn't too graphic. What I DIDN'T like was the romanticism of their first time together. Namely the fact that Isla and Josh 'peaked' together if you will. It makes it seem like that's a perfectly normal thing to happen when you're having sex (which it is 100% NOT) AND not to mention the fact that it is Isla's FIRST TIME. But nope, for her there was no pain and she was able to get to her happy place. Unrealistic. I definitely wish I had gotten a more accurate description when I was younger so I wish this scene had been a little less fantasy-like.

The other part of the book that bothered me was the proposal. It was beautiful and I loved getting to see how St. Clair's and Anna's story ended. But 19? I totally believe that they are meant for each other but what I don't like is the encouragement for 19-year-olds to get engaged because they believe it's 'the one.' I can't tell you how many friends of mine were in long term high school/college relationships and ended up separating not for lack of commitment, but for changing and developing and just plain growing up and away from each other. And it was ok to break up! But what if they'd gotten engaged at 19 and married fast and then realized they still had so much maturing to do? I don't know - I worry about the girls reading it and expecting their boyfriends to propose as sophomores in college. I can tell you that's what I would have thought reading this book at 18 because I would have totally bought into it.

Everything else in the book was lovely.

So cute! Love the illustrations. The words don't sync up perfectly to the melody in some of the later verses but I still love it for my music class!

Wow.

While this book did not grip me like the first, I still finished it in 3 days.

I don't think there's any way for me to talk about what was important to me in this book without spoiling it so you have been warned.

............

I cared very little about anything that happened in this book until we got to Ringer's large chunk at the end. I didn't like how frequently it jumped back and forth at the start and how I felt like I just never quite knew what was going on. I don't know if that was the point or what but I didn't like it.
I also didn't like that the whole story seemed to be taking place in one crappy hotel - although again, it got better with Ringer.
Evan frustrated me even more this time - literally, just give an honest, straightforward answer for once. Especially since it seems to be pretty freaking important for Cassie to understand what the heck is going on.

I loved Razor, and was SO pissed at his betrayal, until I remembered what I've learned recently about light and dark, good and evil. In these books especially, you can't just rely on some people being good and some bad - people are complicated and complex. And I think - I know - that Ringer understands that.

The ending felt a little rushed to me - I don't know. I really don't like books where stuff jumps around and gets twisted and you don't know if the narrator is reliable and you don't know what's real and what's not real...I just start to get sick of it and want to give up (see: Scorch Trials, Death Cure, Mockingjay). That being said, I wish this book had given us a smidgen more closure considering the other questions it opened up. I just think there needs to be a balance between new questions and old answers.

Not too distressed about having to wait for book 3. Is this gonna be a trilogy? Not sure.