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The Goose Girl

The Goose GirlTitle: The Goose Girl
Author: Shannon Hale
Series: Books of Bayern #1
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Pages: 383
Reason Read: Recommended
Rating:

Also in this series: Enna Burning, River Secrets, Forest Born
My Thoughts

I really enjoyed THE GOOSE GIRL. Even though I wasn’t immediately captivated by the story, I found it enjoyable. I loved the premise of elemental speaking gifts, such as Isi’s wind-speaking gift. The language was quite fascinating and made for an interesting story. I absolutely adore Isi and I loved Geric. I loved their relationship and how it came to be.

I also loved Hale’s way with words. In an interview written in the back of ENNA BURNING, Hale described exactly the way I felt about her writing:

I’m so impressed with writers who grip the reader from the very beginning, but I can’t seem to do it. I’m cursed to have to build a story slowly, it seems. And I can’t do a book in two or three drafts as some do, but a minimum of a dozen full rewrites…. I love trying to find just the right words, just the right way to say something.

I thought Hale did an excellent job at “find[ing] just the right words, just the right way to say something.” She’s definitely a master wordsmith and I’m glad I gave her writing a try. I want to read her other books and I’m especially excited to read ENNA BURNING to see how the story progresses.

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City Of Glass

City Of GlassTitle: City of Glass
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: Mortal Instruments #3
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Spice: 0.5 / 5
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 541
Reason Read: Play Book Tag
Rating:

Also in this series: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire
My Thoughts

CITY OF GLASS was way more intense than the first two books. I had to take several breaks to let my heightened nerves relax. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to explain the intensity of this series to people who ask me what the books are about and this is what I’ve come up with:

Imagine the frustration with the love triangle situation in ECLIPSE and add in the suspense and edge-of-your-seat feeling from the last three Harry Potter books or even THE HUNGER GAMES. Unlike the Twilight Saga or Harry Potter, the books don’t just deal with one of those situations at a time. They deal with both intense situations throughout the entire series and it just escalates with each one. I was literally captivated by the story within the first chapter of CITY OF BONES and my captivation hasn’t waned since.

This ending is probably the best ending to a series I’ve ever read. I know I haven’t read a lot of series at this point, but I still feel that way. Neither the story nor the ending felt contrived. It didn’t feel like it was forced to go a particular way to meet the author’s expectations. The characters grew and they still acted like you expected them too. Most of the conflict was resolved, but some of it was left open for future possibilities. The ending wasn’t too fluffy or over-the-top, yet it left you satisfied. I’m very pleased with how things turned out and I can’t wait to read the stories again in the future.

Update: When I read this for a third time, I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. I thought Natalie Moore did an amazing job with each of the characters. Thankfully, there weren’t any issues with the structure of the audiobook like there was with CITY OF ASHES, which made for a better read.

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City Of Ashes

City Of AshesTitle: City of Ashes
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: Mortal Instruments #2
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Spice: 0.5 / 5
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 453
Reason Read: Play Book Tag
Rating:

Also in this series: City of Bones, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire
My Thoughts

These books are seriously intense. There’s a part of me that wishes I would’ve read this series as each book was published so I could wait and let the adrenaline coursing through my body ebb a bit. Then there’s an even bigger part of me that’s glad I didn’t have to wait between each book as it would’ve been torture.

CITY OF ASHES was probably even more intense than the first book because I knew the characters and I was way more interested in what happened to them. The feelings the characters went through along with the intense situations occurring around them made this book so action-packed that I felt like I needed an inhaler to help slow down my breathing and a sedative to relax my nerves.

At this point, I can’t wait until I read CITY OF GLASS so I know what happens. I’m worried that the story isn’t going to end the way I want it to, that the conflict between the two main characters can’t be resolved the way I need it to be. But, I’m starting to see how things will turn out because of Clare’s amazing ability to foreshadow so there’s still hope.

Update: When I read this for a third time, I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. I thought Natalie Moore did an amazing job with each of the characters. The structure of the audiobook was a little weird, though. The version I listened to didn’t have individual chapters. It was all one big chunk of audio.

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City Of Bones

City Of BonesTitle: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: Mortal Instruments #1
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Spice: 0.5 / 5
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 485
Reason Read: Play Book Tag, Recommended
Rating:

Also in this series: City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire
My Thoughts

I’ve had a lot of people recommend this trilogy to me. I started reading CITY OF BONES on Saturday morning and I’ve been reading it non-stop for the past two days. I couldn’t put it down. Hopefully, the rest of the trilogy is just as good.

The story was very suspenseful. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I’m actually still on the edge of my seat because there was a twist at the end and I’m dying to know whether it’s true because it will affect so much in the series. I really want to start reading CITY OF ASHES, but I’m afraid I won’t go to bed tonight if I start reading now.

Update: When I read this for a third time, I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. I thought Mae Whitman (her?) did an amazing job with each of the characters.

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The Secret Garden

The Secret GardenTitle: The Secret Garden
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Genre: Classic, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 224
Reason Read: Play Book Tag
Rating:

My Thoughts

My parents gave me THE SECRET GARDEN on my 10th birthday. In the 21 years I’ve had this book, this is the first time I’ve ever read it all the way through. I remember trying to read it a couple of times when I was younger, but I never finished because I hated to read at that time. Now that I enjoy reading, I decided it was high time I read it.

I knew the story because I’ve seen a couple of movie adaptations. I really enjoyed the movies and I’m glad I finally took the time to read the book. I enjoyed the book as much as I’ve enjoyed knowing the story.  I almost wish I would’ve read it a long time ago because I found it so much richer than the movies.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this story was its positivity. The last chapter was very profound. Even though you’d miss the story, you could read the last chapter and understand the intent and message of the story. I think it’d do a lot of people good if they were to learn from the this message.

One of the few things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts–just mere thoughts–are as powerful as electric batteries–as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in you may never get over it as long as you live….

Much more surprising things can happen to anyone who, when a disagreeable or discouraged thought comes into his mind, just has the sense to remember in time to push it out by putting in an agreeable, determinedly courageous one.  Two things cannot be in one place. “Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow.”

It’s probably a good thing I didn’t read this until now. If I had read it when I was only 10 years old, I would’ve never realized the profoundness of those two paragraphs. I don’t even think I would’ve realized it if I had read the book five years ago. It’s amazing how time and experience can change our perspective.