Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (re-read)

“Declarations of love amuse me. Especially when unrequited.”

“Where there is love, there is often also hate. They can exist side by side.”

 

Synopsis

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

My Opinion

*Spoilers ahead for the TMI and TID books*

I read this book almost four years ago for the first time, and since then a lot has happened in the series, and in general the whole Shadowhunter world. My original rating was 3 stars for this book, just because I felt that some aspects were missing. Re-reading it now, after reading all the books that are currently out, it definitely was a 5 star read for me. Let me give you a list of things/scenes I absolutely loved:

"Alec, is that you?"
This quote made me fangirl so hard, just right at the start of the book. Not because its such an amazing quote, but because we know this quote from someone else: When Tessa meets Jem for the first time, and he is playing his violin in his room, he asks "Will, is that you?" This quote just gave me so many feels all at once: the Jalec feels, the Heronstairs feels, just all of them.

Church
I feel so bad for saying this, but for a short amount of time, I forgot that church existed. (OMG, I know, what even) Seeing him now in CoB, the cute little fluff-ball he is, just made me smile and made my heart grow with love for him. I love cats, but this cat ESPECIALLY will always have a place in my heart.

Clary punching Jace, just because she can
I am not entirely sure if this happened in the movie or the TV-show, but I missed that scene so much. Yes, most of the time I feel like that Clary is slightly annoying and not self-confident enough, but that scene shows that she can also act differently, which I love. Also: sometimes Jace just deserves a punch in the face, doesn't he? OMG

"Nobody wants soup."
That might sound completely stupid, but Isabelle's terrible cooking skills kind of made me feel like home. This small detail kind of goes on until the last book, and it really made me feel like I am there with the characters again. Such a small detail, but really important for me.

"This place is for the living."
Ohhhh oh oh oh do I see some foreshadowing there? This quote is from the dream Clary has, where they are in Idris and she is dancing with Jace (abt page 160) When I first read the book I didn't understand what Cassie meant by that, but OH BOY, now I do. And it was just such a fantastic hint towards the upcomming events.

MALEC action
Right when Magnus asked if Alec would call him any time soon, I died a little inside. Call him? Oh oh, we want more than just calling. And OH BOY more will follow. After knowing what's going to happen I just really look forward to see how their relationship is developing from the start. My ultimate OTP and I cannot wait. (Hamilton reference)

RAPHAEL
Reading this book the first time I didn't really like Raphael that much, but since I know his story now and the END to his story, I fangirled so hard just seeing him. He is so cute and he doesn't deserve what happened. Also: since I watched all the episodes in the TV-show I must say, they take my Raphael to a whole new level, let me tell you guys.

Simon x Jace scenes
I am not going to lie, I kind of, sort of ship these two. Simon and his quirky, nerdy comments, and Jace with his sarcasm, they would be perfect together. And there are some scenes in this book with these two which really made me happy. I am excited to see some more Jimon (?) action in the next books.

Jace only loving himself
I love this quote so much. And yet, when Jace said that I was just like "Ohhh honey, if only you knew". This was my favorite quote in the movie and in the book probably too. This quote just shows Jace's character so well, and I love it.

Luke as the BEST DAD EVER
Because I was so into the show for the past months, and also into show Luke, I forgot what an amazing, perfect, lovely character Luke was in the books. His flanel shirts, his book store, how he cares about Jocelyn and Clary, he is just so lovely, and honestly, the best dad award definitely goes to him. Not one other specific person *cough*

Alec trying to be funny
I totally forgot about the great scene in the Epilog with Clary and Alec. He makes a joke (???) and is so nice to Clary, I just loved it! It really surprised me, and it was the best ending to the book I could've imagined. Alec is so smol, I love him.

Conclusion

If you can't tell by this list, I LOVED the book the second time around much more than reading it the first time. If you have read the series a long time ago I HIGHLY suggest that you re-read it. Reading it a second time is a totally different experience, and it definitely is the most rewarding thing ever. Onto City of Ashes!

Rating

5/5 ★

Review: Salt to the sea by Ruta Sepetys

“War is catastrophe. It breaks families in irretrievable pieces. But those who are gone are not necessarily lost.”

“I wanted to stay locked away from the pain and destruction. I didn't want to be strong. I didn't want to be the 'smart girl'. I was so very tired. I just wanted it all to be over.”

“I became good at pretending. I became so good that after a while the lines blurred between my truth and fiction. And sometimes, when I did a really good job of pretending, I even fooled myself.”

Summary

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.
Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.
As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.
Yet not all promises can be kept.

My opinion

This book was so beautiful and heart-wrenching, and I loved! EVERYONE needs to read it!

This book has four main points of view, and I loved this aspect in this book. Everyone had their own voice, so that it didn't get confusing as to who was talking. These four characters give us different perspectives on the story, which is very important in historical fiction novels, in my opinion. If such books only had one point of view it might get a little one-sided. But this book did everything so perfectly. Because the characters are all from different countries, we can really see how war effected all of these countries, all of these people. It was amazing. But let's talk about each character individually:

Florian: He was by far my favorite character. I loved his voice so much, and his story too. I feel like he stayed true to himself, no matter what happened throughout the story. He was that one character that seems very rude and cold on the outside, but is still so kind and would sacrifice his live for the ones he loves. I ADORE such characters.
Joana: Her character was the most vital to the story in my opinion, and I loved how she just kept the whole crew stuck together. Without her, these people would have gotten lost long ago. She cares so deeply about other people, no matter where they come from, no matter what intentions they have. She doesn't care about anything but helping people, and that's what I found most astonishing about her. I really admire such people.
Emilia: She was definitely the character I felt most compassion towards. How COULD THEY? How could anyone do that? I was so touched and saddened by her story, and I rooted for her all the way. I felt her fears, her sadness, her struggle; it was heart-breaking, and nobody should experience what she experienced. Still, it is important that also such topics get addressed in YA books nowadays in my opinion, because more light needs to be shed on them!
Alfred: Well, what to say about him? I always wondered why he never sent any letters to the one he loved, and the reveal made me so sad and it made me feel bad for him. Even though throughout most part of the story I didn't like him too much, he is still an important part in the story, and it was important that also his POV got chosen, and the story got told through his eyes.

The Group: The Shoe-Poet, the Child, they were not part of the main four characters, but they hold a special place in my heart. Even though they were side-characters, so much depth was given to them, and I felt so close to these characters even though we only got to see a bit of their story. I would LOVE a book about these characters. Their past, their future, everything. I just need to know MORE.

The author does an amazing job with revealing a character's past bit by bit, not all at once, so that you are still on the edge of your seat the whole time. The secrets that were revealed over the course of this story were just so interesting, so heart-breaking, it was amazing.

I (as many of you know) am a History student at university, and the fact that this book was based on a true story just made it more heart-breaking for me. I didn’t know about this before, but now I will definitely look more into the things that happened on the Wilhelm Guslof.

Conclusion

The writing was amazing and the characters really grew so close to me in these few pages, I loved all of them. This book touched me in every possible way, and I think it’s important that everyone reads this novel (and other historical fiction novels too), to spread the word, and to remember what happened in the past. I will definitely check out more books by this author.

My Rating

5/5 ★