The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines, #3)

  

Let's face one undeniable fact. I'm a sucker for a happy ending. I have a cynical soul lined with a border of idealism. When I pick up a romantic read, I expect the pair that I am rooting for, to overcome all the obstacles, indulge in a few jealousy-fuelled rants, have each others back in a crisis and finally walk off into an Instagram-worthy sunset.

And so, I am an absolute sap for the duo of a strait-laced, super-intelligent human girl and a seemingly unhinged, smart-talking bad-boy vampire crumbling the odds stacked against them. And if, along the way, I have to deal with page-fillers about conspiracy theories, covert operations and rescue missions of young girls from youth-obsessed witches, then I shall do so without an ounce of regret.

Let's face another fact. I unabashedly ship the Sydney Sage-Adrian Ivashkov pairing. I think they are stinkin' adorable. Honestly, I do. And the author has kindly catered to all the loyal fans by devoting enough pages to the witty (and sometimes, teeth-grittingly cheesy) repartee between the star pairing. Adrian professes his love at regular intervals. Sydney shoots him down. And then she mouths some unnecessary jibber-jabber about it being wrong! and shocking!! and unacceptable!!! And then she proceeds to promptly snog his face off. And indulge in more.
 Fangirls, rejoice.

I was expecting the arrival of Marcus Finch to be the third point of an impending love triangle. I was hoping for Sydney to have a clash of wills between her love for the wholly unsuitable Adrian and the irritatingly appropriate rebel Marcus. Sadly, all that Marcus contributed to the love saga was to be..........irritating. And every time he put it in an appearance, this was what I wanted to do to him:

More screen time for the infinitely likeable Eddie Castille and his unrequited love for Jill would have been nice. Sadly, it meandered around the story's edges but rarely took hold.

The rest of the book reads like a regular teen supernatural drama. It's entertaining but not exactly gripping. At the end of the book, I regret nothing. Adrian Ivashkov remains one of my favourite anti-heroes (and now, full-fledged hero). He is glamorous enough to seem unattainable, trustworthy enough to be likeable, flawed enough to be believable and sassy enough to make cynical ladies crack a smirk. And then he manages to breathe Ivashkov charm into the following exchange:

"...and as for who you are, you're the same beautiful, brave, and ridiculously caffeinated fighter you've been since the day I met you. "Sweet talker," I scoffed. "You didn't know anything about me the first time we met." "I knew you were beautiful," he said."I just hoped for the rest."

Okay yes, mush-overload. But, for a minute there, I got all:

The Mark Of Athena (Heroes of Olympus, #3)

   When I was reading The Mark of Athena, I was also battling a mild fever. My fever was accompanied by some very interesting (or deranged, as some muggles would like to call it) hallucinations. For three consecutive nights, I dreamt that I was standing at the helm of a bronze Trireme which had a flaming dragon for a masthead. And every single time, I had hooves. AND, I kept up a constant war cry of “DIE, GUACAMOLE BREATH, DIE!!!”

So yes, the latest instalment in The Heroes of Olympus series (and more importantly, Coach Hedge) has made a powerful…dare I say it…mark on me.

There were so, so many things to love about this book.
 Let me elaborate:
 a) LEO VALDEZ: As someone on Pinterest rightly put it, “If Leo were to be made a God, I hope he’s made the God of Sass”. He has the best quips and comebacks, the coolest technology and gadgets at his disposal (I love you, Buford) and a veneer of loneliness that makes him strong and vulnerable in equal parts. 

b)The PERCY JACKSON – JASON GRACE bromance: Endearing and believable. The two superamped demigods complement each other with their combination of foolhardy courage (on Percy’s part) and disciplined action (on Jason’s part). And just when you assume that things are going to go splendidly between the two heroes, they rock the trireme with their petty one upmanship.

c) FRANK ZHANG as a giant koi goldfish. Stellar chapter, that.

d) A beautiful tale behind Leo’s uncanny resemblance to Hazel Levesque’s old friend SAMMY. If it doesn’t make you hastily brush away an unexpected tear, shame on you. You, dear sir/ madam, have had your soul sucked out by a Dementor.

e) Please say hello to the latest, cheesiest entrants to the Villains Hall of Fame: Twin Giants, EPHIALTES and OTIS. Every single time that the terrible towsome made an appearance, I was thoroughly entertained.

f) HERCULES, popping up like a bad, egotistical egg and making life and quests harder for the young demigods.

g) COACH HEDGE as a chaperone. Coach Hedge as a viewer of bad martial arts movies. Coach Hedge as an adrenaline packed satyr out to chew the enemy to shreds. More power to COACH HEDGE!

h) PERCY and ANNABETH finally getting some quality couple- time together. They deserve it, what with Percy having metamorphosed into a lean, mean handsome demigod and Annabeth having finally accepted that there’s more to Percy than just being unjustly titled as Seaweed Brain. Okay, I tried to desist from adding gifs and artwork, but how adorable (and accurate) is this:



At the end of the day, The Mark of Athena belongs to Annabeth’s lonely quest. The one-time calm and level headed Goddess Athena has transformed into a bitter, forgetful Roman version of herself. And while she once loved her daughter, she now has no qualms about sending her off an epic and murderous quest…a quest moreover, that none of her previous children have ever returned from. I have nothing bad to say about the book (although Piper does hover around like a fractious boyfriend obsessed bee.) and as always, I feel completely happy after reading a Rick Riordan book. Mythological tales…word play and subtle slapstick……the efficient use of weapons…the magical charm of God Given powers and the ever present lesson to use your brains and stay loyal……all this and more, effectively covered by dear Mr.Riordan.


 As for the cliffhanger...

The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle, #1)

 

SYNOPSIS:
Despite her eccentric clothes and irregular-on-purpose tufty hairstyle, teenager Blue Sargent is touted as the sensible girl in her family. After all, in an estrogen laden household that comprises psychics, clairvoyants and mystical seers, Blue is almost an anomaly.
However, Blue has the essential essence that makes someone else’s psychic power stronger. Almost like a human battery charger. In a lifestyle rife with mystical happenings, Blue and her mother Maura have an yearly tradition. Every year, on April 24th,St.Mark’s Eve, the duo head off to the local ruined churchyard and keep watch on a path, eerily named The Corpse Path. Along it walk the soon-to-be-dead-in-twelve-months souls and they can only be seen by Maura. Blue, happily enough, has never sighted them.
But this time around, a spirit of a young man is suddenly visible to Blue and he speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey and he is a student of the privileged local private school, Aglionby. If that hasn’t freaked the beejesus out of Blue enough, she is blithely informed by her aunt that the only reason a non-seer like Blue could see Gansey was because either Gansey is Blue’s true love OR Blue will be the reason behind Gansey’s death.
Happy times.

Coming to Gansey, he is no ordinary, what-on-earth-is-this-magical-mumbo-jumbo kind of obnoxious high school prat. Gansey is a boy on a mission. A mission to discover a ley-line (an invisible energy line that connects spiritual spots), a tomb that lies on this particular ley line and the tomb’s legendary and royal occupant, Owain Glyndŵr (Owen Glendower). So what happens when Blue and Gansey cross paths? All this and so much more in the first instalment of The Raven Boys.

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MY (gushing and completely non-Critical) THOUGHTS:

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I DID! SERIOUSLY, BEST.THING.EVER! I could leave it at that. And be content. But the book is so rich and delicious that I need to say a bit more.

#1: Blue. Dear Blue, how straight up are you? No emo drama. No angsty silences. No supposedly endearing but actually spoilt flashes of teen rebellion. No long drawn out monologues about love, life and Gansey’s fanning eyelashes. I loved her character from the moment she made an appearance on the church wall spotting invisible souls right up till the end when she had to deliver a message from “the beyond”. She holds her own in a gang of strong-willed boys and shows tremendous potential for the future books.

#2: The Raven Boys. The beauty of this tale is that it’s not about the Glansey-Blue love story. Infact, at the risk of pitching in a spoiler, I could almost say that it barely took off. The book infact is the mother of all Bromances. Adam Parrish, the seemingly perfect and dapper Aglionby boy whose elegant facade hides a savage home life.....quiet, soft-around-the-edges Noah who sees much but says little .....and the darkly decadent bad boy with the shimmering tattoos and *lock-your-daughters-up* demeanour, Ronan Lynch form a shining trio around their unofficial leader, Gansey. No sparkling vampires, no prancing about in skin-tight shorts werewolves...just everyday boys with everyday problems.The interaction between the lads, their quips and wry asides, the simmering resentments and the unwavering loyalties are all placed at perfect pitch. What proves to be an exceedingly long book is gently cushioned by the drama surrounding the four friends. They keep you hooked, well-lined and completely sinkered with their individual and collective story lines.

#3: The Mystery/ The Hunt/ The Backbone of the book: Even if I tried, I couldn’t do justice to the concept of ley lines. So do savour those bits for yourself. The hunt for Glendower was such a beautiful idea. While I always love a good romance, I am more often than not disappointed by the fact that a seemingly supernatural thriller fast derails from it's paranormal angle and ends up as kissy smoochy mopey whiney session between the protagonists. Not so, with The Raven Boys.
The book is packed with intricate details, delightful patches of history, legends, scientific facts and unexplainable phenomena. It's a regular reopening of the long buried and much loved X-Files. The author takes the mysterious concept of ley lines and unravels the story in a manner so eloquent, that mentally, you feel that you are sitting in the back of a battered up Camaro as you race against time and logic to plumb the deepest mysteries of the earth. Completely enchanting.

Many of the readers had complaints about the abrupt ending.I have no such qualms. If, as I believe, the series is supposed to span four instalments, I think the author has nicely laid the groundwork for future fireworks. I can’t wait to learn more about Ronan Lynch (who comes across as a younger,edgier Sirius Black) and the manner in which his angle progresses. So yes, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to all who love a good old-fashioned paranormal fantasy with a healthy splashing of boy bonding and a smidgen of gutsy heroine thrown in for good measure.

Jaal (The Kaal Trilogy, #1)

 

Legend has it that the Adi Shakti (Primal Energy) and the Adi Deva (Spirit of the Universe), in the Dance of Creation, bore the celestial quartet called The Chaturaanan. Each was entrusted with a divine task and they worked in relative harmony for many eons. But one day, at the beginning of the fourth Sandhyakaal of the current Manvantar ; the third sibling, the devious Maya (also going by the name, Aushij, the God of delusion, went rogue. In the true tradition of ego-maniacal deviants, he believed that Maya alone was needed for moulding the universe.

His understandably ticked-off kin, at the behest of their mother, tried to bring their errant brother under control. What ensued was a battle that almost destroyed the universe. But truth prevailed (at least momentarily) and Aushij was vanquished. Mocking his core power, the good guys imprisoned him in a prison of dreams, amidst endless delusions, hallucinations and nightmares.

But the three vanquishers knew that their infinitely brilliant brother would not stay in his formless prison forever. One day, he would rise, in all his fulminating glory. And so they planted an antidote...a seed of an idea....a super-being who would come into existence for the singular purpose of battling Maya. Centuries of trial and error passed and finally The Devnaampriya (Beloved of the Gods) came into existence.

He took the form of a humble, austere-faced young man with grey eyes called Arihant. Jaal (The Kaal Trilogy #1) is the story of how a young lad comes to terms with his terrifying purpose in life. It is the tale of Arihant’s growth : mental, physical, spiritual and transcendental. It is the first peek into the life of a teenager who morphs into a potentially deadly weapon of destruction 
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Kudos to perseverance. My perseverance, that is. If, after the first twenty-odd pages, I would have thrown my hands up in the time-honoured gesture of exasperation (and believe me, you would be tempted too)....I would have missed out on an engaging story.
 Q: Why did I have the gnawing need to abandon this book as soon as I had started it?
 A: Adjectives. A whole Mothership of adjectives littering each and every page. If I had to wade through one more paragraph of limpid streams and soot-grey wings and sandal scented baths and obsidian like torsos and venomous green lights...I would have gnashed my teeth and relegated the book to the back of my ‘abandoned-halfway-in-sheer-frustration’ shelf.

But ah, perseverance....I salute thee. Thanks to your insistent nudge, I carried on. And shining in a mire of adjectives was an almost perfect tale.

Who doesn’t like a “Chosen One”?
Who doesn’t rub their hands with glee at the prospect of a tempestuous villain hovering malevolently in the background?
Who doesn’t root for a stellar cast, especially when it includes an exiled warrior queen, a crown prince plunged into an unexpected adventure, a quick witted posse of sidekicks, a bantering mentor, an ancient being with a bruised past and the quintessential good sibling gone bad?

I, for one, am a sucker for such stories. And yes, the Potter plotline shimmers along the edges.

Arihant, the Chosen One, the Devnaampriya is a beautifully etched character (sometimes painfully so). A slender youth who has had a domesticated upbringing, wonders how he can suddenly fight mystical creatures with all the goriness of a hell-fiend. He is terrified of the evil subconscious voice that eggs him on and scares him in equal measures.

And then, when his true ‘education’ begins, he is truly radiant. Arihant is humble, a tad cocky and blessed with infinitely bad-a**, matrix inspired fight moves. He’s a hero to watch out for. The sub-plots tend be a tad confusing but are rife with political drama and deceit. When you get your mental faculties around the smatterings of flowery language and the unfamiliar names and the Tolkeinesque inspired worlds, you are sufficiently enthralled.

The book has some shining moments in it’s originality. Case in Point, the tale of ‘The Vakrini’ and her mind-created, suspended-among- dimensions city : Surangini. That particular section of the book was a superior bit of story-telling by the author and wall-papers over the foible of unnecessary prose that had you climbing up the walls.

Alternative realities....finely shaded characters....beautiful melded weapons....prophecies and their purveyors.......danger at every crossroad....a more than healthy splashing of the spiritual...flutterings of future romances.....a nemesis who sounds deliciously scary....awe-inspiring fight sequences....and a worthy champion at it’s helm.


Jaal (The Kaal Trilogy #1) is a beautiful tale. As I started the book I was wary of it’s promise. As I ended the book, I am replete. And momentarily suspended in that other-worldly atmosphere which only a well-orchestrated book brings about. And also proud, that an Indian author has taken a well-researched leap into the world of relatable fantasy. By all accounts, a book worth picking up.

Iron Kissed (The Mercedes Thompson Series, #3)

Iron Kissed starts out as a more than competent Fantasy read. You would expect nothing less from the talented Patricia Briggs. Here’s an author who stays true to her genre. If unadulterated, supernatural fare is what you crave, Briggs does a stand-up job of delivering just that.

Events travel at a well-planned out pace. Gruesome murders occur. The wrong people get blamed. Magical objects disappear and true-to-their-nature, magically reappear. Powerful paranormal creatures make dire threats/ play subtle mind-games/ lay out not-so-subtle bone crunching fight sequences. And at the helm of it all, you have the Buffyesque heroine, Mercedes (Mercy) Thompson. Top it off with a believable love triangle that cushions, but never overpowers the main plot and you have another fine offering from the Mercedes Thompson Series.

It’s a steady read. You are reading, sometimes skipping a paragraph or two. It’s okay. Your eyes aren’t out on stalks but you are trudging along...

And then...

*WHAM*

With a handful of pages, Patricia Briggs elevates the book to a whole.new.level.

In a flash, it’s no longer just a slick, smart paranormal read.
It’s a sucker-punching of emotions. It’s a phase when you watch your favourite heroine go through so much physical pain, mental anguish, self-loathing and a debilitating sense of defeat, that you want to tear up whole walls with your bare hands. It’s a spot where a misunderstood, seemingly creepy character puts forth her pain with so much cathartic clarity that your throat closes up. The honesty of the words drives home the fact that reality with all it’s flesh and blood villains can be infinitely more scary than all the fantastical evil that lurks in the myths. It is concise...it is uncomfortable...and it leaves you heavy-hearted with the truth.

And so, the author (who has found an everlasting fan in me), rises from being just an honest writer of Fictional Fantasy to a weaver of poignant words and heartfelt emotions. Not many can do it without sinking in a puddle of purple prose. Briggs, though....pretty much RULES.

DESTINED (House of Night, #9)

AWAKENED ended on an “yet-another-circle-of-hell-breaks-loose” note when nasty Neferet won the allegiance of the dreaded White Bull. The White Bull gifted her with a vessel (an instrument of destruction that would obey her every command). To earn this questionable gift, Neferet offered up Zoey’s unsuspecting mother as a sacrifice to the White Bull.

Unbeknownst to our arch villainess, the Goddess Nyx has returned Heath to the living world as the hidden soul inside the above mentioned killing-machine. Heath however, has no recollection of his past-life.

In DESTINED, Neferet under the guise of reformation, returns to the Tulsa House of Night with her 'gift'. The gift takes the form of a young, good-looking bodyguard by the name Aurox.

Besides battling constant evil, Zoey Redbird has a lot of necessary angst to deal with. She wants to support the newly transformed Rephaim’s wish to study in the school. This makes it tedious considering Rephaim’s past as a Raven Mocker and the constant resistance he faces from Sword Master Dragon Lankford who lost his beloved mate at the hands of Rephaim (back when he was a mucho-nasty bird-man). Zoey also has to make sense of her conflicting emotions around Aurox. Why does she feel a sense of attachment to a boy who slowly but surely transforms into a massive violent bull in the midst of a fight?

And then there is the driving need to find out who murdered her mother.
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The House of Night series has always been a hit-and-miss affair. Sometimes you want to gnaw your arm off at the mind-numbing plotlines and juvenile portrayals of supposed world-savers. At other times, it exhibits flashes of charm and reels you right in.

DESTINED falls under the latter category.

The things I liked about this instalment:

~ Admirable Female Role-Models : I love strong female influences. Three characters appealed to my sensibilities in this book:
a) Zoey’s Grandmother : Grandma Redbird has always been a warm, wise, completely sorted Cherokee elder. In DESTINED, she deals with the death of her (albeit estranged) daughter and has a spine of steel as she is willing to do all that is necessary to discover the murderer. Her loyalty and love towards Zoey and the nerd-herd is as always a cup of hot cocoa before a roaring fire.
b) Prof. Lenobia : Horse-Mistress par excellence, Lenobia always came across as a dignified teacher who could be completely relied on by the students and faculty alike. Her emotions were put on the back-burner and only surfaced when she was around her beloved horses. But now, with the arrival of human help and fellow horse-lover, Travis Foster...Lenobia as a woman in denial emerges.
c) Thanatos : As the new sociology teacher for a select group, Vampyre Thanatos is a cool customer. Zoey very aptly compares her to The Lord of The Rings’s Elf Queen, Galadriel. Before you can say Frodo, she can transform from an astute professor to an eye-flashing, hair-flying pillar of rumbling anger. She plays a pivotal and supportive role in Destined.

~ The Rephaim and Kalona track : Kalona is a multi-faceted character. When he’s bad, he’s gruesome. You hate him with a fearful vengeance. When he’s atoning for his sins, or atleast being heartsick over losing the son that he loved, he makes you want to give him the now-famous Voldemort-Draco hug. He has matured into a delightfully grey individual who keeps you perpetually on your toes. Rephaim, now human-by day/ raven-by-night, has always been one of the more endearing male leads in the House of Night series. His attempts to fit in, his futile efforts to atone for his sins where Dragon Lankford is concerned and his need to justify his big, bad, daddy-with-wings makes him a poor-little-powerful guy.

~ Growth of certain characters : Keep your eyes peeled for Shaunee and Erik. Their plot-lines are fleshed out with the scope for future greatness and that makes these two characters much more likeable and readable. Dragon Lankford has always been a respectful figure looming in the background and finally, the man receives the print-space he deserves.

~ Rituals : As always, the casting of the circles has been one of my favourite bits. It is elemental and earthy and appeals to my nature-loving soul. Here, it is coupled with palpable drama which winds up the story with a tantalising *KA-BOOM* feeling.

My one small grouse:

The banter amongst the nerd-herd has grown weary. The wannabe teen-lingo and the over use of pop culture references grows old real fast. As always, Aphrodite is the saving grace with her saucy tongue and blunt observations.

At the end of the day, the House of Night series plods along on it’s Good v/s Evil journey. Promise of ensuing chaos and an appealing cliff-hanger makes DESTINED one of the better offerings of the mother-daughter duo.

See also : Marked (House of Night, #1)
See also : Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
See also : Chosen (House of Night, #3)
See also : Untamed (House of Night, #4)
See also : Hunted (House of Night, #5)
See also : Tempted (House of Night, #6)
See also : Burned (House of Night, #7)

See also : Awakened (House of Night, #8)

Moon Called (The Mercedes Thompson Series, #1)

I start 2012 with a book that does absolute justice to all the genres/ GoodReads shelves that I stacked it in.

a) Urban Fantasy – CHECK
b) Action – (*wiping blood off cut lip*) CHECK
c) Mystery – (*calming the goosebumps*) CHECK
d) Adventure – (*recovering from adrenaline rush*) CHECK
e) Interesting romantic interests – (*will-they, won’t they quandary*) CHECK
f) Strong female heroine worth emulating – (*pressing pen into the paper till a tear appears*) CHECK


Moon Called is the first in a truly triumphant series centered around a spunky heroine called Mercedes (Mercy)Thompson. Mercy is a mechanic in the Tri-Cities area of Washington state. She restores VWs and spends her spare time sharpening her karate skills. But more importantly, Mercy is a WALKER (a Native-American shapeshifter not influenced by the moon) who can turn into a coyote at will. Our heroine resides in a world teeming with Gray Lords, fae, vampires and the most fascinating of them all, werewolves. Raised by the Marrok (the alpha werewolf of all the North American werewolves), Mercy has seen, experienced and lived through a series of improbable events. Nothing really surprises her anymore. Not the fact that her next door neighbour is Adam Hauptman, the alpha of the Tri-Cities Werewolf pack, nor the fact that the current VW bus she is working on belongs to a friendly vampire and definitely not the added surprise that her newest recruit in the garage is a runaway teenage werewolf.

But when a rogue werewolf meets a grizzly end at Mercy’s hands (or her coyote paws, to be precise), Mercy soon learns that there is a dangerous conspiracy lurking in the dark. All the people who Mercy holds dear are in danger of an unseen enemy. And it’s up to our .444 Marlin toting heroine to deal with things that go bump in the night.

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First up, Buffy Summers would be bursting with pride. If anyone can tote the mantle of awesomeness around with the ease that Buffy did.....it’s Mercedes Thompson. Kudos to the author, Patricia Briggs for creating a heroine who is dignified mess of an unresolved past, a fraught-with-danger present and an uncertain future. Mercy is mouthy and sensible in equal measures. She fights like a fiend and deliberates like an army veteran. In short, she unashamedly kicks b***.

I also enjoyed the fact that the author actually gave us a well-researched, whole-hearted fantasy tale. Moon Called isn’t a romantic tryst thinly disguised as a supernatural read. It’s a full-fledged paranormal fiesta with romance as just one of the many poles holding it upright.

2011 ended with a firm resolution on my part to fill the New Year with erudite verse. I wanted to re-explore the classics, soak in some eloquent language and generally don the smarty-pants party-hat.
But I have to say true to my nature too. While I love me some Elizabeth Bennet, I equally adore an action-heroine. And when said action figure comes equipped with a cookie-dough heart, a wise disposition and the ability to keep a cool head when the world goes mad.....you bet your last fancy britches, that I will devour the book with glee.

The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus, #2)

“When Rome fell, a lot of the legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on secret orders from Jupiter himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going. We’ve been doing that ever since, moving around to wherever Roman influence was the strongest. The last few centuries we have been in America.”

Sounds familiar? It does to Percy Jackson too. Perseus (Percy) Jackson (superstar demigod /self-effacing hero /North America’s confident answer to Harry Potter) has lost his mind. No, not the *I-see-conspiracy-theories-in-my-peripheral-vision-lost-his-mind*. Percy has been hit by a bout of amnesia, courtesy a certain manipulative Goddess. He doesn’t remember that he was a Greek demigod ,a son of Poseidon and a resourceful hero in the epic battle that saved the world from the wrath of Kronos. The only fact that he does recall is that he had a girlfriend called Annabeth (kudos to teenage boys for remembering the best bits).

Guided by the legendary Roman she-wolf Lupa, battling a pair of Gorgons who refuse to disintegrate/die, lugging a Goddess in road-kill disguise; Percy Jackson soon finds himself in Camp Jupiter, the roman equivalent of Camp Half-Blood.

Soon our favourite hero finds himself slap-bang in the middle of yet another doomed-to-despair Quest. Accompanying him are his two new friends and Camp Jupiter underdogs : Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang.
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Things that enchanted my reader’s palate like Ambrosia:

# 1: THE RETURN OF OL’SEAWEED BRAIN : When the battle for Olympus ended with Annabeth and Percy sharing an underwater kiss, I was ready to bid adieu to the likeable boy wonder. Any attempt to stretch the taffy by Rick Riordan would pale in comparison to the immensely popular 7-Book series. Atleast that’s what I, with my limited vision assumed. But Riordan is not a brilliant storyteller for nothing. He plunges Percy Jackson into a whole new can of worms (or basilisks, which seems more appropriate) and has you whooping like a herd of Party-Ponies. Percy’s trademark wit, droll acceptance of dastardly situations, unerring loyalty to friends (old and new) and the ability to fight like a fiend is displayed to full effect. The author has also done the wise job of adding a ring of maturity to Percy’s character. His new-found confidence adds a much-needed foil to the fledgling charms of Hazel and Frank.

# 2: HAZEL LEVESQUE : Such a brave and endearing heroine. She joins Hermione Granger and Annabeth Chase in the ranks of noteworthy YA Lit. role-models for young girls. Burdened by a dark past, unsure of a long future, adorably embarrassed around the boy she likes and a bad-a** warrior to round it up nicely, Hazel is a treat to read.

# 3: FRANK ZHANG. AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, FRANK ZHANG’S GRANDMOTHER: I cannot rave enough about the massive appeal of Frank Zhang without veering into *SPOILER* territory. Suffice to say, that the baby-faced, muscle-bound demigod keeps you hooked through his emotional trauma and growth. As for Granny Zhang....I was loving and hating her in equal measures. All that aristocratic arrogance duelling with a caring heart makes for one intimidating matriarch.

# 4: RICK RIORDAN’S SIGNATURE QUIRKS :
a) Mars (the Roman name for Ares) declaring the Quest was one of my favourite bits. When the God of War whips out a scroll and a ballpoint pen and scribbles a brusque, “Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by Sundown on June Twenty-fourth or die” with nary a hint of drama and the absolute absence of riddled prophecies....you got to love the big guy.
b) I had the biggest smile on my face when I read that Amazon.com is being run by.....you guessed it.....the condescending female warriors, *THE AMAZONS*. Their Queen sits on a throne made from a thousand copies of a book called “The Five Habits of Highly Aggressive Women”.(Seriously how can anyone not cackle over that?!?). It was borderline cheesy but vintage Riordan.
c) Thanatos (the God of Death) has a pure black iPad. As he whips it out, Frank Zhang hopes fervently, “ Please don’t let there be an App for reaping souls”. Again, adorable.

# 5: MOTHER EARTH UNPLUGGED : For nature lovers like me, who imagined Mother Earth to be a bosomy, *brimming-with-the-warmth-of-home -and-hearth* kind of genial lady....Gaia was an unexpected villain. A Goddess who invokes Giants, resurrects dead monsters, murmurs nasty thoughts into vulnerable minds, makes snarky promises to kill our favourite demigods and rears unearthly armies to overtake the world is NOT someone who would inspire the *Hug-A-Tree* emotion in you. And the best bit is that all these tender acts are being committed while the lady is still trapped underground. What will happen when she’s unleashed in all her grimy glory?--->*Delicious Shiver-Down-The-Spine Time*

# 6 : ACTION SEQUENCES : Here’s where you bring in all your cherished Die-Hard inspired adrenaline. The book is loaded with rip-roaring battle sequences. It gets the blood flowing and the inner warrior roars with whole-hearted approval.

# 7: SUPPORTING CHARACTERS :
a) Slimy, power-hungry Octavian who sees prophecies in the innards of stuffed toys.
b) Royal *you-lie-and-my-dogs-will-dismember-you* Reyna.
c) Ella, the twitchy red-feathered harpy with the quirk of spouting random bursts of dead-useful (and pointless) information.
d) Nico Di Angelo in a short (but hopefully epic) reappearance.
e) Iris, the Goddess of The Rainbow (and now the proprietor of R.O.F.L. –Rainbow Organic Foods and Lifestyle). Don't ask.
f) Terminus, the rule abiding God of Boundaries. Never has a pillar of stone been so pedantic. And so useful.

I cannot elaborate on any without spilling out the plot. All I can do is assure you that it’s a stellar casting.

# 8: ARION: Okay, which girl/woman does not want a celestial Horse that can break the sound barrier, run on water and up slippery slopes, cuss like a seasoned sailor and mutter grumpily “I will trample you to bits, silly baby man!”. I love this horse. I want this horse. Case closed.

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Things that tasted like Iris’ gluten-free, sugar-free cupcake simulations (translation: things that left a bitter taste in my mouth)
*..........BLANK.........*

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So, in conclusion, did I like HEROES OF OLYMPUS : THE SON OF NEPTUNE?
You bet your imperial gold/ celestial bronze/ stygian iron I DID!

I LOVED IT! (And I’m not one to use CAPSLOCK carelessly)

The book is an absolute treat. The return of old favourites stitched with the chutzpah of new arrivals worked like a charm. Yet again, Mythology and it's Gods left the hallowed portals and became cheekily shod with feet-of-clay. With a “it-could-go-anyway” cliffhanger, Rick Riordan has laid the groundwork for a delightful sequel.

ATHENA, make your MARK already!

The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, #1)

"Seven Half-Bloods shall answer the call.
To storm or fire, the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath.
And foes bear arms to the doors of death."

Percy Jackson’s nerve-racking adventures ended with this cheery prophecy. The resourceful demigod had just fought The Second Olympian War and emerged victorious. When his friend and now, new oracle, Rachel Dare made the aforementioned divination, Percy hoped that it wasn’t something that he would have to deal with in this lifetime. His best bet was that this phenomenon would occur a few centuries down the road.

But doom-and-despair laden prophecies have the uncanny ability of hitting below the belt.

The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, Book #1) is the story of Jason Grace, a teenager who is suffering from memory-loss. Jason has no clue as to why he is on a school bus for delinquent kids. He apparently also has a girlfriend, Piper McLean and a cheeky best friend, Leo Valdez.

When the school bully suddenly transforms into an ‘Anemoi Thuellai’ (sincerely scary Storm Spirit) and the school coach transforms into a ‘Satyr’ (we all know what that is), Jason has an inkling that amnesia is just the tip of a deeply embedded iceberg.

Dodging...well, dodgy incidents...Jason, Piper and Leo soon find themselves at Camp Half-Good. And Lo! And obviously... Behold! It’s QUEST TIME! Hera, the Queen of The Gods is missing. Olympus has been closed down by Zeus and none of the Gods are making contact with the outside world. A deeper, darker and more sinister force than the Titans is at work. And if the world has a fighting chance against these new evil, Jason will have to set out and save Hera before the Winter Solstice. In the true tradition of panic-inducing deadlines, the Winter Solstice is just four days away.

And so, Jason (the hero-with-no-clue), Piper (the heroine doomed to betray her friends) and Leo (the smart-talking sidekick with a troubled past) set out on a suicidal mission. Along the way, they will deal with malfunctioning mechanical dragons, power-crazed Wind Gods, cannibalistic Cyclopes, disturbing dreams and the ever-present possibility of meeting an extremely sticky end.

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The first book in the new Heroes of Olympus Series lives up to the Rick Riordan hype. The tongue-in-cheek author is definitely NOT a flash-in-the-pan. Just when you thought that he couldn’t recreate the adrenaline of Percy Jackson’s adventures, he promptly churns up a new and endearing hero. Besides Jason, you actively root for Piper and Leo and get drawn into their respective mental conflicts.

At the end of the day, it’s the Gods and Riordan’s treatment of celestial souls that keeps you hooked. Without being blasphemous, the author perfectly captures their powers, their mood-swings, their quirks and their vulnerabilities.

In all, it’s a magnificent door-stopper of a book. Packed with memorable characters, delightful witticisms and non-stop action, this is yet another winner from the talented author,

In Dreams

Bright and likeable teenager, Katherine has been dreaming. Dreaming about a...dare I say it...perfectly dreamy young man. Said dreamy young man seems to be as enamored with Katherine as she is with him. What a perfectly splendid way to spend quality time in the Land of Z-zzzs!

And when Katherine is wide-awake, things are even better. Ice Hockey God and all around nice-guy, Cooper Donovan seems to be falling shyly in love with Katherine. And lucky ol’Kath isn’t exactly immune to the charms of Mr.Most-Sought-After-Campus-Hottie.

But what happens when Katherine discovers that her dream boy isn’t merely a figment of her imagination? What happens when our shell-shocked heroine is faced with the shocking fact that the boy who passionately haunts her dreams is in fact her best friend’s deceased brother?!?

In Dreams is a likeable book with a tasty premise.

Have you ever woken up from a dream, so heart-wrenchingly solid that you wanted to disconnect from reality and float on the cloud of your sub-conscious? I have had such moments and so instantly connected with that little bit at the start of the story.

One of my favourite characters was Taylor (Katherine’s best friend and dream boy’s sister). She was that rare blend of cheeky room-mate, compassionate voice-of-reason and supportive best friend. We definitely need more Taylors in our daily lives. Katherine was a comme ci, comme ça heroine for me. She appealed at the start of the book as a grounded teenager with the right attitude. But midway, I lost a bit of affection for her. I find it hard to sympathize with a girl who has this perfectly lovely boyfriend mooning over her in reality while she’s also enjoying being mooned over by another perfectly adorable (albeit dead) boyfriend in the land of her dreams. Cooper Donovan, I loved. *Sprinkles annoying mental glitter all over him*. The guy screams Hero material. I liked his lumbering charm. I admired his flashes of painful honesty when he wore his heart on his sleeve. I loved him for being just a tad insecure.

The story is a quick read based on a quirky idea. The author, I suspect, is a happy (in her own words :”bathed in sunshine”) soul and her optimism shines through in the thought processes of some of the characters. I like that in a book.

In the end, I’m not one for drama and gloopy mascara running down my face.Give me a book with smidgens of positivity and I’m set for a while.

Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, #4)

“I am off to kill the man that I love.”

Okay, that’s a dramatic enough premise to tempt you into devouring Blood Promise.

Shadow Kiss ended with Supernova Guardian/ All-Around Nice Guy/ The Cream in Rose Hathaway’s Coffee : Dimitri Belikov getting forcibly turned into a Strigoi. He is now out there somewhere, being a creature of the night, draining innocents of blood and generally living up to all the vile Strigoi stereotypes.

Remembering an unsaid promise made to Dimitri back when they were in a student-mentor relationship, the anguished Rose has now made it her life’s mission to seek out and (hopefully) kill *Dimitri with the chalk-white skin and red-ringed eyes*.

And to do so, she drops out of the Academy, parts ways with her best friend (and bond mate) Lissa Dragomir and heads off on a wild-vampire chase to Siberia. Why Siberia, you ask? Siberia is Dimitri’s homeland and he is more than likely to return to his roots. So, on Rose’s suicidal quest…we take the scenic route through Russia, run into a host of interesting (and most likely to play a crucial role in the future) characters and root for the troubled Dhampir girl as she finds herself in a Catch-22 situation.

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Blood Promise was good….not as good as the previous two instalments….but engrossing, nevertheless. It has a slightly meandering pace and at times, you actually want the touristic spiel to end and have Rose meet the undead Dimitri already!!!

I had a bit of trouble empathizing with a high-on-Vampire-Bite-Endorphins Rose, but that’s a minor grouse. Dimitri as a newly turned big, bad Vampire could have been well on his way to filling up the illustrious shoes of Angel. I still remember tearing up during the Buffy episode when the likeable Vampire Angel, who after experiencing a “moment of pure happiness (erm….intimacy with Buffy)”, morphs into the cruel, soulless Angelus. Potent stuff, that. I was expecting the same sucker-punching of emotions when Rose ran into the now evil Dimitri. Sadly, Angel/Angelus still remains the Poster-Boy of undead perfection.

In conclusion, the book was fair. It had a juicy dose of undead action scenes, the introduction of a new nemesis at St.Vladimir’s and Rose rising like the proverbial phoenix.

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, #3)

“They come first”

The Moroi come first. This is the edict that has always been drilled into Dhampirs as they train to become Guardians for the Moroi. No hemming….no hawing….no dithering. When it comes to keeping the Strigoi at bay, the Moroi will always come first.

Rose Hathaway has loyally followed this rule all her rebellious life. But, for the first time she is questioning her belief system.

Frostbite ended with the violent death of her close friend and admirer Mason at the hands of the Strigoi. And while Rose herself killed the murdering Strigoi, she can’t let the guilt over Mason’s death wane. Mason intensifies this feeling by appearing as a silent ghostly apparition…an apparition who is visible only to Rose. Rose is worried sick that she’s going crazy. No one seems to believe her. And most believe that the ghostly sightings can be attributed to Rose suffering from *Post Traumatic Stress Disorder*.

Add to that the fact that Rose appears to be harbouring dark and violent shades of anger within her. While Rose has never exactly been a shrinking violet, she wonders whether the anger is the fallout of her mental bond with Lissa.

Bond with Lissa +

Lissa actively using her powerful element ‘Spirit’ +

The depression and darkness that is the side-effect of using ‘Spirit’ +

The fact that Rose is ‘shadow-kissed’+

The legend of St.Vladimir and his shadow-kissed Anna =

One very troubled, tortured and severely tried teenage dhampir.

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This series absolutely justifies it’s popularity. Yet again, Richelle Mead dishes out supremely cool Vamp-action. Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway joins the ranks of my all-time favourite fictional heroines. She leaves all the {sappy-self-absorbed-my-hero-glows-like-a-firework-and-the-rest-of-the-world-can-go-hang} pathetic excuses for female leads in the dust. She is : A warrior who is finally questioning his loyalty - A teenager who has to choose between her best friend and her soulmate - A girl who is fighting for her sanity and her life.

*GO HATHAWAY!*

I also like the Rose-Dimitri love story. It is never gag-inducing and almost always, heart-wrenchingly readable. Adrian Ivashkov as the third (hardly-there) part of the love triangle is someone you can root for. For all his snarky comments and booze-induced hazes, he projects himself as the trustworthy chap that you would want for a friend.

And finally….the Strigoi. I loved the air of menace that the author built up. When I read the line, “They’re …coming…” , it conveyed such a rigid block of dread, anxiety and blind-panic that I actually felt a shiver run down my spine. The ensuing battle and it’s disastrous outcome couldn’t have produced a better cliff hanger.

Brilliant pace…..ever-evolving characters……the scent of revolution in the air….Buffy-worthy action….and a storyline that keeps you hooked, lined and sinkered all the way.

Frostbite (Vampire Academy, #2)

“My name’s Rose Hathaway.

I’m seventeen years old, training to protect and kill vampires, in love with a completely unsuitable guy, and have a best friend whose weird magic drives her crazy.

Hey, no one said high school would be easy.”

That wry passage, in the tradition of the best opening sequences of summer supernatural blockbusters, pretty much sums up what the first book in the series was all about and at the same time lays the groundwork for Book #2.

For a better understanding of the jargon used in this book, please check out my review on Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1). No, am not making a sneaky, underhanded attempt to grab eyeballs, but if I go through another long-winded spiel on Moroi, Strigoi and Dhampir, I’m liable to fling myself on the closest, easily available silver stake.

Frostbite ups the ante on the vamp-drama. A group of rogue Strigoi have been attacking and murdering Moroi and their seasoned Guardians. In an attempt to keep the students of St.Vladimir’s Academy safe , it has been decided that this year’s Winter Break will be spent in a heavily guarded Ski Lodge owned by an affluent Moroi family.

Rose meanwhile has to deal with the icky fact that her mental bond with Lissa is becoming uncomfortable. Vasilisa (Lissa) Dragomir is on prescribed meds in an attempt to control the depression that is brought about by wielding the element ‘Spirit’. On the happier side, Lissa has entered into a full-bodied (in every sense of the word) relationship with fellow royal and social outcast, Christian Ozera. While this is a healthy arrangement for the love-struck pair, it proves to be a bit *eepy-cray* for Rose. She finds herself in a voyeuristic position as she is pulled into Lissa’s mind during the latter’s hot-and-heavy make out sessions with Christian.

The ticked off Dhampir also has to deal with

a) Her strong feelings for her mentor : Dimitri Belikov (who doesn’t appear to be reciprocating her love)

b) Her reluctance to enter into a relationship with her close friend, fellow Dhampir and all-around nice guy : Mason (who doesn’t exactly rouse the flame of roaring passion in her)

c) The not-sure-it’s-exactly-unwelcome attention of the booze guzzling, clove-cigarette smoking bad boy Moroi royal : Adrian Ivashkov (who appears to be interested in Rose in ‘that’ way and also interested in Lissa in, well... not ‘that’ way).

Adding spice to the proceedings is the appearance of the legendary Guardian (and coincidentally Rose’s mother), Janine Hathaway. Rose shares a hate-hate relationship with her seemingly unfeeling mother and is not exactly thrilled to have her around, witnessing her daughter’s flaws at such close quarters.

Juggling three guys, dealing with parental issues, trying to keep Lissa safe and go through Guardian training....all while trying to attain a level of maturity and resisting the ever-present urge to kick snarky students into oblivion......Rose has her work cut out. But all this will pale in significance when she finally comes face to face with their deadliest enemies : the Strigoi.

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VERDICT : LOVED IT!

This is an engrossing, take-shade-from-the-sun, kick-a** Vamp-Lit offering. Rose as a character has settled into your subconscious. You are familiar with her strengths and her flaws. You can now have a firm opinion of whether you want to follow her story or turn away in boredom. For me, it was the former option.

Rose walks the thin line between being a rebellious teenager and a warrior-in-training with ease. It’s a credit to the author that she makes you empathize with a stunningly beautiful girl who could easily (and derogatorily) have been labelled as a ‘skank’. You never feel the urge to snort inelegantly and make sarcastic asides in your brain as she goes through the motions of affection, lust and love with three vastly different (but all, supremely handsome and likeable) heroes.

I especially like the last half of the story when Rose truly becomes a heroine who would make Ellen Ripley weep with pride. No longer is she a juvenile delinquent who gets pulled up for brewing trouble. She evolves into a young woman who watches a loved one die before her eyes and in turn, summons death and battles evil with a brutal elegance.

Frostbite was a worthy sequel and outranked it’s predecessor by leaps and bounds.

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1)

Before I waded into the book, I did a quick wiki-tutorial on Moroi, Strigoi and Dhampirs.

As per the crib-notes,
MOROI = Good (and goodlooking) mortal vampires.
STRIGOI = Bad (also goodlooking but with a red ring of evil in their eyes that dampens down the hormones) immortal vampires.
DAMPHIRS = offspring of Moroi fathers and human mothers (quite a sight for sore-eyes too). They serve as Guardians for the Moroi who are under constant threat from the seemingly infallible Strigoi.

Book One in the Vampire Academy Series introduces us to two teenage girls:Vasilisa (Lissa) Dragomir, a royal Moroi and her best friend, Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway who is a dhampir and a soon-to-be-Guardian. Certain bizarre and unexplainable incidents had forced the two girls to flee St. Vladimir's Academy. But now, after two years of running free, the two girls have been forcibly escorted back to the Academy. It’s time to get back their lost social standing....break a few more hearts....indulge in a tad more dangerous activities and generally try to keep themselves sane and alive as they go about their daily supernatural classes. Amidst the doses of bitchiness and downright nastiness that the duo face at regular intervals, they also have to deal with certain darker secrets. Secrets that should best remain hidden....secrets, that if revealed, would at the very least make Lissa a social pariah and at the most, be the cause of her untimely death.
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Vampire Academy adopts the middle ground between being:
a) Light Years ahead of *Twilight*
b) Miles to reach the supreme sheer unadulterated awesomeness of the wholly perfect offering that was *Buffy The Vampire Slayer*.

I liked the fact that the story was told from Rose’s POV. A smart-talking, forever-flirting, talking-with-her-fists-first kind of narrator is preferable to the waif-like, milksop voice of Lissa. Rose is the quintessential lean, mean, fighting-machine. She’s all tough-girl clichés rolled into a promising package. The fact that she’s blessed with a curvy body and a healthy helping of rampant hormones never makes her retract from her main aim in life : To protect Lissa and eventual become her official Guardian. Tall, long-haired and super-ripped Guardian Dimitri Belikov makes a believable love-interest for Rose. Despite the fact that the author made the sappy error of calling him “Death in a Cowboy Duster”, he still came across as your everyday, likeable, superamped bodyguard with-a-past. He did mouth a couple of syrupy lines that made me do an *eye-roll* but also, I’m ashamed to admit, made me go 'aww' inside my head.

Another aspect that I enjoyed was the effortless incorporation of vampire myths into the ever-churning teen drama. The tale of St.Vladimir and his shadow-kissed Anna was worked in nicely into the chaos that surrounds Rose and Lissa.

My only grouse is that the fighting-fit Rose should have been given more Buffy-style-punch-and-stake action time. But then again, with five more books in the series, I guess there will be enough opportunities to put ye oldesilver stake to noble use.

Vampire Academy wasn’t a book that I loved but neither was it a book that made me cringe. The story flows at an even pace. The fledgling romances are interesting enough to light a flicker of interest. And the promise of impending action is sufficient to make me head out and grab the sequel.

My Fairy Fair Godmother

“Aren’t fairy godmothers supposed to be nice and make you feel better about yourself?”
“No, you’re confusing fairy godmothers with sales clerks.”

And that’s Fairy Fair Godmother Chrysanthemum (Chrissy) Everstarfor you. A self-absorbed, mall-scouring, gum-chewing teen Godmother who doesn’t believe in sugar coating the pill. It would have helped if Chrissy had the intelligence and the maturity to back the tough-love. Sadly, it isn't so. There’s a reason why she’s called a “fair” godmother. It has nothing to do with her undoubtedly alabaster complexion and everything to do with the fact that she’s an average student at Fairy Godmother School who botches up her assignments on a regular basis.

So what happens when a slightly ditzy godmother gets assigned an equally ditzy charge?

Say hello to said ditzy charge: Savannah Delano. Despite being one of the prettiest, most popular and obviously not-so-smartest girls in high school, Savannah has to go through the unexpected heartbreak of having her buff boyfriend ditch her in favour of her elder, plainer and quite-a-good-deal sharper sister, Jane. In a fit of despair and in the aftermath of snarfing down too many complex-carbs, she wonders whether she will meet a “Prince of a Guy” who will escort her to the upcoming prom. (Un)luckily enough for Savannah, she is Chrissy’s next assignment. The “I’m –getting-late-to-plunder- the-mall-and-bat-my-lashes-at-hunky-elves” godmother grants the broken-hearted girl three wishes. Whether it’s an inability on Savannah’s part to articulate her deepest desires or it’s sheer negligence on Chrissy’s part, but the three precious wishes go awry. Big Time.

Soon, Savannah finds herself zapped into the middle-ages as she searches for her Prince Charming. She does a bit of unwilling time-travel as she finds herself first as Cinderella, second as Snow White and third, in a dangerous situation of having to rescue a fellow student, Tristan who got transported to medieval times, courtesy Chrissy’s godmotherly shenanigans.
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*Reasons why I loved this book*

1)The protagonist : Kudos to the author for making readers root for the much-loathed cliché of high-school literature – *The Popular Girl*. The perfectly coiffed, super-hot girl who leaves her rather uptight sister in the shadows more often than not gets her comeuppance as the plot proceeds. That’s the way the world rights it’s axis. After years of ardently supporting the wise-cracking underdog, I never thought that I would appreciate a supposedly vacuous bimbo so much. Savannah is a refreshing YA-lit heroine who is the perfect example of superficiality shielding a kind heart.

2)The (is he/isn't he) love-interest : Tristan is the stuff of teen dreams. He is the kind of hero that makes Tumblr. loyalists go into a creative frenzy as they whip up gooey animated gifs devoted to his awesomeness. Shaggy blonde hair, light blue eyes,wicked sense of humour and a willingness to slay the odd ogre/dragon/unwelcome suitor. What more could a relatively heart-whole teenager ask for?

3)Dialogue : My Fairy Fair Godmother has some of the freshest lines to be churned out by a YA-Lit author in a long time . The repartee is crisp, funny and flows with an ease borne of familiarity with teen banter. The author, blessed with five children has used all the dinner-table quips and retorts to effective use.

4)Putting the GRIMm back in Fairy Tales : Rallison’s analyses of the medieval lasses and their seemingly perfect love stories is hilarious. Why didn’t the storytellers of yore ever mention that a Prince had to be more than just handsome, sinewy-armed and broad-shouldered? Why didn’t the old tales ever remember that the middle-ages came unequipped with basic hygiene and creature comforts? The author knocks off the rose-colored glasses with a sassy twitch of her wand and has you chuckling at the real-truth behind doe-eyed (and sadly, dim-witted) maids from the Middle-Ages.

To reiterate, I was truly enchanted by this fairy tale. It tackled stereotypes, employed witticisms effectively, had a sweet love-story waiting to happen and had all the trappings of a first-class adventure.

Read the book and come away with a huge smile etched across your face.

City of Fallen Angels(The Mortal Instruments, Book #4)

I read the reviews after buying the book (never a smart move at the best of times). The ratings were dismal and the opinions ranged from scornful to downright scathing. Another impulsive purchase (I often get blindslided by eye-catching artwork) gone astray and I was geared for the sad fact that my reading of this book would be peppered with the occasional teeth gnashing/ eye-rolling.

But….

But… I liked the book. I really did. So.Shoot.Me.

First up, a little summary:

CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS begins a few months after the epic battle that ended in the CITY OF GLASS. Fellow Shadowhunters, Clary Fairchild and Jace Wayland are in love…an all-encompassing, seemingly secure love that is oddly threatened by a dark secret harboured by Jace. Clary’s best friendSimon is adjusting to his new life as a vampire…a Daylighter, to be precise. Overnight he has turned from a skinny nerd into an unexpected “playa” dating two girls (Isabelle and Maia) simultaneously. This could be the least of his problems because he suddenly finds himself to be the most sought after pawn in the warring Vampire community. Another pressing issue is that murdered Shadowhunters seem to be popping up all over New York City. It doesn’t help that the victims (who were members of Valentine’s Circle) have been killed in a manner that is meant to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters.
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Why I didn’t go *ack!, erlack!, Sacre Bleu!?!!!* while reading the book:

a) I didn’t expect to like the Jace-Clary love story. I agree with the readers who were pretty content with the fact that a trilogy was sufficient to tie up all the loose ends and have the *newly-united-through-wrath-of-hell-and-brimstone* couple saunter off into the horizon.

Happily.Ever.After.

The End.

BUT, I read the aftermath of their love story without feeling the need to rip my arm off and club myself on the head with it repeatedly (a feeling I am well-acquainted with after wading through reams of Twilight Trauma). Jace and Clary may be a self-absorbed pair but it’s not a patch on the mind-numbing selfishness of Bella and Edward. I wasn’t subjected to continuous monologues on how painfully-beautiful Jace was or how perfectly-precious Clary was or how the whole wide world could go take a flying leap so long as Jace and Clary could snog each other senseless.

Sure they did have the odd emo moment. Sure they whined and cribbed and check their silent phones incessantly. But it’s okay. They are teenagers, (super-amped, night-creature fighting teenagers, no doubt); but teenagers nevertheless. How could the author make them sound like a fledgling couple going through some seriously warped issues without throwing in the obligatory teen rant? It’s understandable. It IS tedious, but NOT terrible. Jace endeared himself to me when he went

“If you died, I wouldn’t want to live. But I wouldn’t kill myself, because whatever happens after we die, I want to be with you there. And if I killed myself, I know you’d never talk to me again. In any life. So I’d live, and I’d try to make something out of my life, until I could be with you again.”

I liked the fact that it displayed a spunky quality in Clary and a grounded side to Jace. It’s not Shakespeare. But it is oddly sensible.

b) I liked Simon Lewis all through the trilogy. I liked him as the geeky best friend pining over an unrequited love. And I like him now; a seemingly cool, smart-mouthed vampire with an oddly endearing vulnerability. The Mark of Cain which is his cursed blessing was a crucial tool in the story and it was employed effectively. Clare has fledged out his character and loaded him with enough moments to make him a crucial player in the story. Notwithstanding the reluctant warrior role that he portrays, he is the kind of trusty friend every supernatural a**-kicking heroine needs.

c) Isabelle and Magnus Bane were two of my favourite characters and they don’t disappoint. Kyle, the newest entrant to the series has a promising story-arc. There are a host of other characters that lay the groundwork for future chaos and annihilation

d) The plot was well-paced. The tale jumped between the characters without jarring my understanding and was pretty engrossing. The action sequences crackled and the villains were sufficiently vile to send a shiver down my spine.
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In all, I didn’t hate the book. I was hooked from start to finish. I never felt the need to make my unflappable butler (if I had a butler) jump out of his skin as I yelled “WHY GOD, WHY??? Why subject me to this awful abomination, this piteous attempt at milking a reluctant cash-cow, this travesty of a supposed love-story??? WHY?!?”.

No. I liked the book.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #2)

Whenever I visit my lovely (albeit a tad lonely) ancestral home, I instantly associate with Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. I have the mysterious house with a few empty rooms...the boredom of being stuck-in that makes me rattle around like a disgruntled pea-in-a-pod......and......I even have an unused wardrobe. Sadly, to my abject disappointment, the wardrobe doesn’t open into Narnia or even a respectable secret passageway. (I checked). But since reading The Narnia Chronicles and having to make regular visits to my hometown; I more often than not always carry along my copy of ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’.

There’s something truly delightful of hiding in a fur coat laden wardrobe and coming out into a parallel world replete with a winter wonderland, a nasty Snow-Queen, troubled mythical creatures, and the truly splendid character of ASLAN.

ASLAN

C.S.Lewis gave a very apt description in his introduction of Aslan. It goes thus:

The Beaver said, “They say Aslan is on the move – perhaps has already landed”

And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something that you don’t understand but in the dream it feels as if it has some enormous meaning ¬– either a terrifying one that turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again. It was like that now. At the name of Aslan each child felt something jump in it’s inside. Edmund felt a sense of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delicious strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.

This has always been my favourite passage. It’s sheer simplicity and accuracy pens the exact emotions which we have all experienced at the onset of something life-changing (nice/nasty, depending upon our perspectives and personal demons) .Aslan is a memorable character and the tale, according to me, the best of the Narnia Chronicles. It’s believable, doesn’t drag or preach unnecessarily and is a delightful treat for fantasy-lovers like me.

I usually tend to read the book first and follow it up with the movie viewing. I love both versions and ‘The Battle Tune of Narnia’ is on my perpetual Playlist. It’s almost my own personal ‘defeat-your-demons’ tune.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is the Grand Poobah of fantasy reads (Lord of The Rings, notwithstanding) and I would strongly recommend it for all wide-eyed children with a longing for magic to drive away the monotony of everyday life. If I could, I would also insist on scornful adults to capture a bit of their young wonderment and escape into The Land of Narnia.

C.S.Lewis in his dedication to his goddaughter, aptly summed it up:

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy-tales again”

City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, Book #3)

Okay, first of all...I am a certified wuss. I can’t read a book that has paranormal over (and under)tones in the latter half of the day. All vamp/werewolf/faerie/demon lit. is reserved for daylight hours.

CITY OF GLASS however, was the happy exception. I was ensnared so deeply into the politics of the ShadowWorld, that I could ignore the big yellow streak that runs down my back and devoured the book well into the wee hours of the night.

I believe that when a series progresses from *ho-hum* in the first instalment to *HELL’S BELLS-I-NEVER-ANTICIPATED-THAT!!!* in the last instalment; it’s a winner. When you actually begin to care about the characters and their emotional health; when you hope and pray that there’s a happy ending; when you already start plotting fan-fiction in your head; when you think that it would be kinda cool to run into a particular character in everyday life....then.....then you know that the author has done a slap-up job of creating a parallel world that is utterly believable.

The third instalment of The Mortal Instruments series was all that and much more. The city here, refers to Alicante; the home city of The Nephilim. Jace, Clary and Simon are placed in the eye of the approaching storm and battle out their individual demons as hell LITERALLY breaks loose. There is panic, chaos, unveiling of dark secrets, the breaking of hope and it’s resurrection and some cool (and a tad graphic) action. The worlds of The ShadowHunters and The DownWorlders collide in an explosion that keeps you hooked till the very end.

Clary blossoms into a likeable get-it-sorted heroine. Her amazing rune-etching abilities reach their hilt and she plays her role with aplomb. The author remembers to maintain Clary’s inherent vulnerability. As the battle between good and evil boils over, Clary still frets over her forbidden love for Jace in a manner that never makes you snort with disgust.

Jace is the ultimate emo pinup warrior. The sarcastic, loaded-with-quips-galore hero reveals a more humane and weary side. For all those delusional fans who slaver over the pathetic Mr.Cullen; here’s a hero who is actually worth drooling over. He’s readable and not stuck in a *I-Me-Bella-Me-Bella* bubble that Edward Cullen was floating inside.

Simon remains my favourite character. I am extremely glad about the fact that he wasn’t sidelined and given an unbelievable (and extremely bile-inducing) ending a la Jacob Black.

In conclusion, CITY OF GLASS justifies all the 5-star ratings that peppered it’s GoodReads page. It was sublime, emotional, filled with grisly bits and had an ending which was extremely satisfying and yet paved the way for a sequel/prequel if the author so desires.

City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, Book #2)

CITY OF BONES ended with arch-villain, Valentine vanishing with *The Mortal Cup* (The first of the Mortal Instruments) in his clutches. In his destructive wake, he left behind:

a) His son, Jace. Jace Wayland has to deal with whether he wants to follow in his father’s bigoted footsteps or stay behind with his supportive foster family. He also has to control his less-thn-brotherly feelings towards his supposed sister, Clary.

b) His daughter, Clary. While Clary Fray has no qualms about hating her rotten dad, she’s a tad confused over her feelings for Jace and best-friend Simon. She has brotherly feelings for someone who is NOT her brother and amorous feelings for someone who IS her brother. (It’s confusing, but true). She also has to deal with the fact that her mother Jocelyn (Valentine’s estranged wife and also a ShadowHunter) is deep in the throes of a coma.

Patriarch Valentine however, is hardly concerned about his seriously dysfunctional family. He has more pressing issues. After The Mortal Cup, he now wants to lay his hands on the second Mortal Instrument : *The sword Maellartach*. Once he has his grubby paws around it, Valentine will be able to summon the vilest of demons and use them as an essential tool in his dastardly plans.

~

CITY OF ASHES was a vast improvement on the first instalment. Jace Wayland, the fearless ShadowHunter, displays a vulnerability which makes you empathize which his troubled teenage mind. Clary is more certain in her role as a vigilant warrior who is slowly discovering her special abilities. Simon, the quintessential best friend and closet lover is given a new, slightly bizarre and yet readable twist. Together, the trio play a cool game of thrust and parry as they battle with their changing worlds and burgeoning emotions.

New characters (Maia, The Inquisitor) lay promising groundwork for the next instalment. Old favourites like Magnus Bane, Luke and Alec show depth and add multiple layers to their fixed roles.

In all, engrossing and page-turnable (I don’t even know if that is a word!!!). Definitely worth the decision of buying books 2 and 3 together.