Tag Archives: Magic

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

City of Bones by Cassandra ClareCity of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1)
Cassandra Clare
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published March 27, 2007

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When fifteen-year-old Clary witnesses a murder, she is determined to find out what’s happening. Unfortunately, she’s the only person who can see the perpetrators and the victim literally disappeared post-mortem. As she tries to reconcile herself to the strange happenings, she encounters one of the vicious youths again, only to discover that he belongs to an elite and mysterious group called Shadowhunters who protect ordinary mortals (which they call mundies, or mundanes) from demons. What they still aren’t sure about is why Clary can see them.

Before they can figure it out, however, Clary’s mother is kidnapped, and Clary is wounded by a poisonous demon. Jace, Clary’s newfound demon-hunting friend rescues her and brings her back to the Institute. There Clary learns about the history of Shadowhunters and about the ruthless former Shadowhunter who will torture her mother until she reveals the location of the Mortal Cup. The only way to stop him is to find the Cup first, but the location is buried in memories Clary has been forced to forget. Jace and Clary set out in a race to unlock her memories and find the Cup before it’s too late.

In a series opener that’s tough to put down, Clare introduces a hidden world within the familiar landscape of New York City. The story rockets off to a quick start, leaving readers scrambling to turn pages. Snappy dialogue and imaginative creatures spring from nearly every scene. There were a few moments in which characters’ behavior was a little incongruous with the rest of Clare’s descriptions of them, but overall, this is a high-action story of drama and heart worth the time it takes to cross from cover to cover.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Moderate/infrequent.

Sexual Content
Clary battles a strong attraction to the mysterious Jace, and the two share a couple of intense lip-locked moments, but nothing beyond that physically.

Spiritual Content
Clary and Jace briefly discuss whether Jace believes in God. After all, the existence of Shadowhunters is based on a story involving an angel, and they have been tasked with killing demons. Jace doesn’t think this adds up to the existence of real angels, demons, or God.

Violence
One expects a bit of violence in a book about hunting demons, and Clare doesn’t disappoint. Clary and her newfound allies face no shortage of monsters, and a few are not so pretty, but over-all fairly brief in description of their dispatch.

Drug Content
For her birthday, Clary visits a Goth club known for access to drugs and alcohol. She and her best friend Simon do not participate in these activities. At a party filled with supernatural guests, Simon ingests a strange drink with rather catastrophic results.

Save

Save

Save

Review: Perverse by Larry Rodness

Book Review and Content, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Perverse
Larry Rodness
ITOH Press
Published December 31, 2012

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

As a second generation Goth, even Gothic life for Emylene is weird. Not weird. Perverse! While she enjoys her position in her community as a Goth princess, she doesn’t always see her spoiled and self-centered behavior and how it impacts others. When she inadvertently frees a mysterious girl from a charcoal sketch found in a dismal antique shop, Emylene’s world begins to shift. Her parents are barely recognizable and what’s the deal with her friends at her nightly club hangout?

Too late, Emylene realizes her new friend is not what she seems. As events spiral out of control, Emylene finds new allies to face the terror she is partly responsible for releasing. It will take all their strength and cunning to stop the creatures controlling her hometown.

Rodness creates a complex and feisty young girl with smarts and spunk in spades. Emylene grapples with her newfound adulthood and its challenges in familiar and entertaining ways. Narrative and plot are not as well-constructed as the characters, however. The narrative wanders out of one point of view and into another without ceremony or pattern. Scattered rants about the misconceptions the mainstream population has about the gothic community were sometimes off-putting rather than insightful. One character hijacks the story and inserts a long (several chapters) narrative of his own. Still, Rodness uses some interesting bits of folklore and introduces readers to a strange magical picture, creating a story world worthy of the genre.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Moderate profanity.

Sexual Content
References (without description) to some teen sexual experimentation girl-on-girl. In one scene, Emylene is incapacitated by a villain and made to experience sexual pleasure. She is later found by a young man who fantasizes about having sex with her, whether or not she is willing. Other brief references to aberrant sexual practices.

Spiritual Content
Brief mention of solstice celebrations and Wiccan traditions.

Violence
Some brief scenes of fatal violence.

Drug Content
References to bad parts of town including drug trafficking, but no drug use among characters.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Save

Save

Review: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

Brisingr
Christopher Paolini
Alfred A Knopf Books
Published September 20, 2008

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

After a crushing defeat at the hand of an unexpected enemy, Eragon and Saphira’s confidence in their abilities remains deeply shaken. They desperately need more training, but first, Eragon must fulfill his promise to his cousin Roran. He must rescue Roran’s beloved from the evil and creepy Ra’Zac.

Immediately upon their return to the rebel camp, both Eragon and Saphira must help protect the troops from Galbatorix’s seemingly invincible armies and the unbelievable strength of the magic supporting them. Eragon and Saphira must uncover the mystery of Galbatorix’s might and come up with a plan to stop him before his power grows too vast to challenge.

I was really excited to learn who Eragon’s father is. It made a lot of sense, and it’s a character that I liked anyway. The dragon Glaedr was another unexpected favorite character for me. Again, the story world is highly developed. The large cast of characters gives Brisingr a definite epic fantasy feel. Some of the battle scenes are more intense than in other books as the war between Eragon and Galbatorix heats up further.

I’ve invested a lot in the series, so I definitely need to read the fourth book, but I still wish each one was shorter and the descriptions of things were reigned in a bit more.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
A girl discovers she’s pregnant, and a wedding for her and her lover is quickly arranged.

Spiritual Content
There is a lot of magic/sorcery-type content as well as telepathy, etc. Obviously the story contains dragons portrayed as thinking, feeling, benevolent creatures.

Violence
Some battle sequences and creepy villain characters. Light to moderate gore with battle injuries.

Drug Content
None.

Save