Queen of Air and Darkness Review

Queen of Air and Darkness
by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: December 4th, 2018

Synopsis:

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.

Spoilers

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 5 stars. It earned every single one of the stars that I gave it. All I wanted to do was finish this before the end of the year because I knew it would be on my top 10 list of the best books of 2018. I had a space all picked out for it and everything so I had to make it work. And I did with an hour and fifteen minutes to spare before midnight. Pat on the back for me.

Something Cassandra Clare has always been amazing at is character development. The case that stood out to me the most was Alec. Look at Alec in City of Bones and then look at Alec in QoAaD and they are two completely different people, but the story leading to that second point makes so much sense. 

You know what, all my thirteen-year-old self ever wanted was a Malec wedding and finally after five years I got one. You see, dreams do come true.

I miss Will. I know that isn’t what I should have gotten from this book, but it is. I would be much happier about Jem and Tessa if the whole Will thing wasn’t hanging over my head. It just makes me sad that Will is dead and Jem is no longer immortal so he’s going to die soon and then Tessa will be alone once again. Just her and Magnus hanging out for all of eternity after their loved ones are all gone.

Cristina, Mark, and Kieran was the most unexpected part of this story. I feel like I should have seen it coming, we knew that Mark and Kieran were bi, we knew that they had a thing for each other and that they also seemed interested in Cristina. I just never expected a YA novel to have a threesome in it. It seems pretty NA if you ask me, but there weren’t any explicit scenes so I guess it still counts. The three of them work so well together, it was unexpected. 

I actually cried during this book, not a ton, but you can imagine from where the last book ended off things were pretty emotional. I shed my first tears over Tavvy’s reaction to Livvy’s death. I legit could not handle it. I’m pretty sure I cried later on in the story but I don’t actually remember what it was over.

My favorite part of this book is that part, when Kit forgets to fucking, bring a sword with him to the shadow market and instead pulls out a fork. He is 100% a Herondale.

I really love Aline in this book. She wasn’t taking anyone's shit. Every time she thought people were walking all over Helen she would step in and tell everyone to respect her wife or listen to her wife. Seriously, Aline throwing a lamp to get people to pay attention to her wife has the same sort of energy as John Malaney saying “That’s my wife!” and punching someone. It was really great. If you didn’t like Aline before I think you will now. She and Helen were just the most supportive couple it was so cute. 

It was so interesting to see the alternate future if Sebastian had won. I honestly didn’t know that I needed that until I got it. I’m also really digging evil Jace. I don’t think we will be getting that story anytime soon, I know the Red Scrolls of Magic is coming out soon, but I don’t think that’s what that story is going to center on so we might have to wait till The Wicked Powers series before we can find out more.

This is probably unlikely to ever happen but I just want another book about Clary and Jace. I miss them too and I just want another book of their adventures and such. I should probably just reread TMI again because I need some of them in my life. And I feel like I forgot how fucking funny Jace is. He’s so funny I can’t handle it. He had me cracking up every time he spoke. I need someone to compile a list of funny things he’s said/done so every time I’m in a crappy mood I can just look at the list.

I’m thoroughly impressed by the allegorical reference to the current political situation our world is facing. I know a lot of authors shy away from writing so opposing to a political group out of fear of alienation audiences, but Cassandra Clare didn’t and I appreciate that. It’s really nice to know where she stands in all of this and that she is willing to use her author voice to convey a message to her audience. Good job Cassandra Clare.

Top 10 Twins in Books

I myself am not a twin, but I've always thought having a twin would be pretty cool. If you're identical, you could pretend to be each other, if you got along, you have a built in best friend, you guys have never been without each other, so you have someone to lean on all the time. All in all I think it would be pretty cool. I was just thinking about the topic of twins when I decided to do a top 10 on it because we do see a lot of twins in literature.

10. Sheldon and Dash from the Broken Love Series

These two are brother and sister who always have the others back. They're best friends and love to bicker and they somehow make everything brighter when they are together even if their separate lives can get a bit dark. What makes everything worth while is the fact that you know they will defend each other to the death if they need to.

9. Harper and Cole from Why I Loathe Sterling Lane

While this book is mostly a romance with mystery elements, it's overall a story about a girl who is trying to look out for her twin brother and keep him out of trouble while he is doing his best to keep his troubles a secret from her.

8. Sawyer and Sebastian from the Royals Series

We don't get to see a ton of these characters, but they are really important to our protagonists and hopefully they will one day have their own books. There isn't too much I can say about their closeness without getting into spoilers, but know that they wouldn't be the same without each other.

7. Dean and Lesley from Hopeless

Dean is one of the main characters in Hopeless and while we don't get a lot on his relationship with Les in Hopeless we do delve a lot more into that in Losing Hope. Dean and Lesley are the epitome of functional siblings. At times they would disagree but they would always wanted the best for each other.

6. Cather and Wren from Fangirl

One of the biggest struggles that Cath faces in Fangirl is the fact that her sister is starting to branch off and make other friends. Up until that point they were pretty much inseparable and I feel like they really figured out where they were with each other in the book. They found a balance between what they both wanted from their relationship.

5. Ty and Livy from Lord of Shadows

These two had plans to be Parabatai, that's how serious their bond as siblings went. These two are two parts of a whole, they're just better together.

4. Cersei and Jaime Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire

We may not always like these two, but you have to admit they are pretty iconic.

3. The Shining

Probably the most iconic twins of all time, even Cersei and Jaime can't touch them. If you don't know what I'm talking about then do you even pop culture?

2. Jude and Noah from I'll Give You The Sun

You should have seen this coming. My favorite stand alone of all time, it's about the relationship between these twins and how it has changed throughout the years. Honestly, that's all I can say other than read it. It's a game changer.

1. Fred and George Weasley from Harry Potter

If this came as a surprise to you than this must be your first time reading one of my blog posts. Welcome, I'm Jessie and I love Harry Potter. Fred and George were the older brothers I always wanted. They are fun an mischievous and out to cause chaos. Harry Potter wouldn't be the same without them adding some elements of lightheartedness.

Who are some book twins that you guys think are worthy of the list?


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Lucian Graymark/Luke Garroway Appreciation Post

If you haven't read the Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare, then I would not suggest reading this post because it will contain SPOILERS.

No one ever seems to talk about how amazing Luke is. He's a genuinely nice guy who has overcome a lot. Being turned into a werewolf, one of his best friends turning on him, being told he is a monster because of what was done to him, being cast out from the only life he has ever known, his own sister turning him away because he's a "monster, his other best friend and the woman he loves falling in love with the first mentioned best friend. Luke has been through some things and it would be completely understandable if he was bitter.

But instead of being incredibly bitter and terrible, he was there for Jocelyn when she needed him after escaping Valentine. He helped her keep the Shadowhunter world a secret from Clary her whole life to protect her.

And even though Luke was in love with Jocelyn probably his whole life, he was never bitter about being "friend zoned". He understood where Jocelyn stood with everything and didn't try to push her, or tell her that she had to choose or do any other boneheaded move that could have been done. Luke was just a decent man.

He also loved her child like that child was his own. When Jocelyn was in a coma and couldn't be around to see how Clary was being treated by Luke, Luke treated her like a decent human being would. You're probably wondering why I'm complimenting him for such basic things, but honestly, most people real and fictional aren't always the greatest. A lot seem like good people but the moment your back is turned they do things. I just wanted to say that I appreciate Luke because he was the one constant in the series. The one person who was always there for them, even in the first book when Clary thought he didn't care about her.

I love Luke so much and I'm glad he got his happy ending with Jocelyn. I'm glad she came to her senses and realized how great he is and married him. I need me a Luke.

City of Lost Souls Review

City of Lost Souls
by Cassandra Clare

Spoilers

Synopsis:

The New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments continues—and so do the thrills and danger for Jace, Clary, and Simon.

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 5 stars. By far my favourite book in the series. Everything about this series has come so far from the start and it's 

Jordan and Maia were very ignorable the first time I read the series. I really didn't care about what happened to them, they were just unimportant. Now, reading the series again I just want these sweet characters to get back together and be happy together. They are so cute. Maia is the one character in this entire series who has never pissed me off or made me question whether or not I trusted her. She's always been very straight forward and had a good moral compass.

What I didn't even notice the first few times reading this book was that werewolves have gold rings around their irises' even when in human form!!! I completely missed that and it was only mentioned in passing, if I hadn't been reading in depth I probably would have missed it. Now I have to rethink everything, especially how I picture these werewolf characters.

Simon and Izzy are just such an amazing couple. I am constantly amused by the fact that Izzy is completely confused by her attraction to Simon. She's like "WTF??? I've dated incredibly hot guys and not gotten over attached, why am I suddenly so over attached to this nerd?" and I'm really living for it. Seeing more of their relationship in this book was refreshing. The series is usually very centred around Jace and Clary, and it still is a lot about them, but the magic of this second half of the series is that we get more of the other couples i.e. Simon and Izzy.

Alec is driving me crazy, he's completely letting his insecurities get to him and he doesn't even notice the way Magnus looks at him. Magnus is so completely in love with him and Alec doesn't even seem to want to talk to Magnus when Magnus brings up Alec's insecurities. It's driving me crazy.

I have to talk about something that really upset me for a moment here. If you haven't read the Infernal Devices Series yet, then I would highly recommend skipping over this paragraph. I wouldn't say it's exactly a spoiler, but it probably won't make any sense. Why I'm upset is because the book Will gave to Tessa expressing his love for her was blown up in Sebastian's magical floating house. This physically pains me. That's not even what upsets me the most. What upsets me the most is why did Tessa not keep that book? It is a highly sentimental object, so why wouldn't she keep it? It seems like the type of thing one would bring with them everywhere because it is a symbol of your love. I'm very upset by this. Okay onto the rest of the review.

It's constantly mentioned in the book how tall Jace is. He's like a giant, he is just so tall. That made me think he was like 6 foot 6, just towering over everyone. Turns out Jace is actually only 5 foot 11. Not, short, but a lot shorter than I expected.

So much development has happen with the story and with the characters fro the first book. They have changed so much. Cassandra Clare's writing has gotten a lot better throughout the series. She knows how to keep everyone engaged and wanting more. I love seeing how the characters have changed throughout the past few books and the change is immense.

Sebastian is manipulative, cruel, and a complete lunatic. I love him though. He's a psychopath for sure, but being a psychopath usually means you're pretty charismatic. I know it's all a silkscreen and that he's an awful human being, but I can't help but be charmed by him. He does all this awful stuff with a mischievous little grin on his face and you just want to be around him. I hate him but I love him. I think the author did a really good job with him.

I'm terribly unobservant when reading, which is why I discovered loads of new things while reading this book again. For some reason I was under the impression that Amatis become one of the dark shadowhunters of her free will. Apparently I missed the part where she was dragged out of her bed and forced to drink from the cup. I also didn't notice that Maia and Jordan slept together, but that was probably because I didn't really care about those two the other times I read it.

There was this theory I read about on Tumblr, I don't remember who thought of it, but it goes like this; Robert and Maryse both have blue eyes, Izzy has black eyes. Therefore it is genetically impossible for Izzy to be Robert's child. Who from this series has black eyes? Valentine. Therefore the theory goes, Izzy is Valentine's daughter. I think some other things that back up this theory is that in the past books Maryse would always talk about how much she and loved Valentine and we all just assumed it was like a friend or a leader, but that was only implied. There was also the fact that Valentine always called her "my Maryse". Now there are holes in this theory like, why didn't Valentine ever use this to his advantage? We all saw what he did with Jace, who wasn't even his kid. Unless, Valentine never knew that Izzy was his daughter. I could completely see this theory as being factual.

Clary and Isabelle's friendship is coming along quite nicely. Bonding over the people they both love. It's been a long time coming and I know it wasn't always smooth, but it's coming to a good place. I think the two of them need more female friends. Especially Clary who's only friend seems to be Simon.

Quick note: Jace and Clary are absolutely adorable together.

Overall, this was an amazing fifth book, it really leaves you wanting to jump right into the sixth book. I personally feel like it was the best book in the series. I would give it an A+.

Quotes:

“Basia coquum," Simon said. "Or whatever their motto is.""It's 'Descensus Averno facilis est.' 'The descent into hell is easy," said Alec. "You just said "Kiss the cook.""Dammit," said Simon. "I knew Jace was screwing with me.” 

“She turned and looked at him. "Ducks?" she said again.A smile tugged the edge of his mouth. "I hate ducks. Don't know why. I just always have.” 

“I've got the Mark of Cain," said Simon. "That means nothing can kill me, right?""You can kill yourself," Magnus said, somewhat unhelpfully. "As far as I know, inanimate objects can accidentally kill you. So if you were planning on teaching yourself the lambada on a greased platform over a pit full of knives, I wouldn't.""There goes my Saturday.” 

'My mother seems to have accepted it,' Alec said. 'But my father — no, not really. Once he asked me what I thought had turned me gay.'Simon felt Isabelle tense next to him. 'Turned you gay?' She sounded incredulous. 'Alec, you didn’t tell me that.''I hope you told him you were bitten by a gay spider,' said Simon.

“Missing, one stunningly attractive teenage boy. Answers to 'Jace' or 'Hot Stuff” 

“What have you done to my cat?" Magnus demanded... "You drank his blood, didn't you? You said you weren't hungry!"Simon was indignant. "I did not drink his blood. He's fine!" He poked the Chairman in the stomach. The cat yawned. "Second, you asked me if I was hungry when you were ordering pizza, so I said no, because I can't eat pizza. I was being polite.""That doesn't get you the right to eat my cat.""Your cat is fine!" Simon reached to pick up the tabby, who jumped indignantly to his feet and stalked off the table. "See?""Whatever.” 

July Wrap Up and August TBR

I had one hell of a reading month. I read all the books. Five of them were actually rereads, while I usually don't include rereads in my wrap up, I'm too proud of myself for these to not include them. I have reviews up for most of these, you can find my reviews here.

1. City of Bones

 I gave this book 4.5 stars. City of Bones is the first book in the Mortal Instruments Series, one of the original series's that I love. We go way back, I hadn't read this series since before the movie came out. It's been a while since I read the series, so I decided to do a reread this summer which is going pretty well. 

2. City of Vikings 

I gave this book 4 stars. I got an ARC of this through the author. I liked the story a lot, the premise was really intriguing. What pushed it down a star was my own inability to connect with the characters. I've seen other people reviews and they don't seem to have the same problem so I think it really is just a personal thing. Otherwise it was a good book.

3. City of Ashes 

I gave this book 4.5 stars. This book was way better than I remember it being. I did not like this book the first time I read it, well not that much anyway. Funny, i still gave it 5 stars back then despite not liking it that much. This second read made me truly appreciate the story, I loved it.

4. The Game Plan 

I gave this book 4 stars. The author somehow crafts the most hilarious characters and then puts them in the most ridiculous circumstances. i always really enjoy her novels. Amazing.

5. Double Dare 

I gave this book 3 stars. Not as good as some of the authors previous works, but still pretty enjoyable.

6. Jewel of Atlantis

I gave this book 4 stars. I will pretty much read anything Gena Showalter writes. I don't think there is anything else to say other than I enjoyed reading this book.

7. The Nymph King 

I gave this book 4 stars. I liked this book the best from this series. I don't know what it was about this book, but it was a solid A.

8. The Vampire’s Bride 

I gave this book 3 stars. Didn't like this book as much as the others in the series. It dragged a little bit, but it wasn't terrible. I liked the writing style enough that I didn't want to gauge my eyes out while reading it.

9. Mask of Shadows 

I gave this book 4.5 stars. I didn't really know what to expect from this story. It was action packed and Sal was such a relatable main character. I can't tell if it's more character driven or more plot driven.

10. The Amazon’s Curse 

I gave this book 3 stars. Just a little short story after the events of The Vampire's Bride. I feel like me not really liking either is because I don't really care for the Amazons. They're kind of annoying instead of having substance.

11. City of Glass 

I gave this book 5 stars. I can't say much considering this is the third book. It's great let's just leave it at that.

12. The Struggle 

I gave this book 4.5 stars. Felt more like a filler book between book 2 and book 4, but it was an enjoyable filler book. I don't mind, i just wish more had happened.

13. The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts 

I gave this book 3.5 stars. Finally time travel shown in a way that isn't completely flawed. If you don't know what I'm talking about I mean that the one main issue with time travel is bacteria. If someone from our day were to travel back in time, they would unleash their modern day bacteria on the people of the passed and probably start a plague of some sort. While this series has a long way to go, it was still pretty good and I liked the characters. 

14. Daughter of Deep Silence 

I gave this book 5 stars. This book just came out of left field. I bought this book because it was like 6 dollars hardcover and it sounded okay. I read this book in maybe two sittings (I can't sit still for long) and I loved every moment of it. Must read.

15. Because of Lila 

I gave this book 2 stars. I was very enraged by this one. I had a very short rant like review that I didn't even bother posting on my blog because it wasn't that long, but if you want to read it I'll post it here and you can read it if you like, if not just skip to number 16.

This isn’t even a review, this is a rant. In the synopsis we are led to believe that two characters are going to be together and that just doesn’t happen. Well it does, but only for the first 3 or 4 chapters and then the story just goes in a completely different direction. Honestly, is the beginning and the rest of the novel even the same book? I loved the Rosemary Beach series and the Sea Breeze Series, but this spin off series just isn’t doing it for me. I feel like the author is basing our understanding of the characters’s dilemma’s off of our love of their parents. It isn’t working, I can’t be understanding of what these characters are doing no matter how much I love their parents. Also, you know how much I detest love triangles and this had a love triangle in it’s most atrocious form.

With all that said I didn’t completely hate it, I still love Abbi Glines’s writing style so no matter how angry I got at the characters I couldn’t stop reading, so it got two stars instead of one.

16. The Knocked Up Plan

 I gave this book 4 stars. I gave it four stars but as of right now I don't actually remember anything that happened. It was a good book from what I can recall though. There was no major flaw that made me hate it, so that's good.

17. Scandal Never Sleeps 

I gave this book 4.5 stars. Another latest obsession of mine. I just figured I would read a smutty romance just for fun, but then it got too real too quickly. There was this huge mystery element that three books in, still hasn't been solved and I'm hooked. it is so good.

18. City of Fallen Angels

I gave this book 4.5 stars. A bit slower than City of Glass, but this is the first book of the new story arc, so that is expected. 

19. Seduction in Session 

I gave this book 4 stars. Not as good as the first book as I found Lana to be a bit annoying at first, but it did grow on me after a bit of dragging.

20. City of Lost Souls 

I gave this book 5 stars. So technically I did finish this book in August, but I read most of it in July and I finished it before this wrap up was posted. So I'm counting it. This book is still my favorite of the series. It's weird how the pages go from 509 to 511.

Onto my August TBR!!! I feel like everyone is doing ARC August, and I guess I could do that, but I don't actually want to. I'm gonna stick with my regular routine of reading one smutty romance on my computer that I may or may not mention in my blog, one physical book, and one ARC at a time. I am a creature of habit.

1. City of Heavenly Fire and the Infernal Devices Trilogy

I just didn't feel like writing all the book titles out.

2. Rowan Wood Legends

I got the ARC for this from Netgalley and I am really excited.

3. Fallen Heir

I'm obsessed. This series is amazing.

That's it! What books do you guys plan to read in August?

Top 10 Favorite Bookish Moments

I was thinking about blog posts I had made and I felt like I was just getting into this pattern of doing posts that were very similar, so I started thinking, what haven't I done before? and this idea came to mind. I'll probably need a part two because there are so many more amazing scenes.

If you didn't already realize this has some pretty HEAVY SPOILERS! I will put the title and cover before the actually spoilery stuff, but be careful, you have been warned.

10. The Sea of Tranquility

When Nastya first speaks to Josh. It was so small, but it was such an important moment for Nastya. She finally found some place to belong, somewhere that she felt comfortable after years of drifting. It was oddly beautiful.

9. Under Different Stars

When Kyon slapped Kricket so she stabbed him. (I love Kyon but he deserved that) Go Kricket, I knew I loved her for a reason. She isn't about to sit around and take your shit.

8. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy

When Cammie and Zach first meet and then Cammie finds out who he is. It just made me giggly. It's just such a pure moment, I sometime forget what it's like to read younger young adult books. A lot of young adult books are more adult than young and this one meeting just captured this fun giddy feeling that I love.

7. The Iron Trial

When Call finds out he is the Enemy of Death. Such a huge plot twist and played out so dramatically, it just made me want to read more and more of the book.

6. The Secret of Ella and Micha

When Ella and Micha do their first drag race when Ella comes back into town for the summer. Then after the drag race they make out in the car for a little bit. I loved it.

5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

When Harry Potter kills the basilisk. I mean, this 12 year old kid, killed a fricken basilisk and didn't give up because he didn't want anyone else to get hurt. 

4. Unravel Me

When Warner doesn’t kill the dog near the beginning of the book, he actually gives it food and pets it. That was the moment I knew that I was justified in loving Warner so much.

3. Shadow Kiss

Rose and Dimitri fighting in the quad, the mix of the action and their overall chemistry was what made this moment perfect. It also made the Rose feel validated when she won, which also made me feel validated.

2. Clockwork Princess

Will and Tessa get together. Will came to save Tessa, but the dumbass got stuck with her. It was beautiful irony. And then my ship got together and everything was good in the world.

1. Crown of Midnight

Celaena Sardothian's flashback to her killing all those guards and getting within inches of the wall at Endovier. It was her first true display of badassery and I was living for it. Sure, she was plenty badass in the first book, but never to this extent.

What bookish moments do you guys love?