REVIEW- The Clockwork Angel (Cassandra Clare)

Book #1 of THE INFERNAL DEVICES 
by Cassandra Clare

***WARNING This review contains major spoilers***

It was pretty hard for me to rate this book, I somehow didn't know what to make of it. I would give 3,5☆ only because I love Shadowhunter books and Cassie's writing style is fine with me (comfortable, easy reading). 

Don't think I didn't like this book, I really did but I had higher expectations from it. I have read the whole Mortal Instruments series, then Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy and the whole Dark Artifices series before the Infernal Devices- and that was the BIG mistake. I was so excited to read it but now I have too many Cassie's books to compare with and TID don't reach to the aspects of the following books- TMI characters, TDA actions, character building, storylines (and mostly the complexity of the twists and turns). It is so clear that this was one of the earlier books Cassandra had writen. And yes I know that the first three books of TMI are older than this but still, this just feels like a first time.

But again- I DID LIKE IT, it was great but you must not read it after the other series if you want to enjoy it fully.

I liked the story, though the setting of Victorian London was a bit hard for me since I am used to more modern world. I rarely read a historical fiction so I don't really get the violation of rules they all fuss about like women's trousers and fighting (Tessa's horror about this was kinda funny to me) and I don't care much about that, just no big deal- in fact I am a little (but just a little bit) offended because I see myself as a modern independant and capable woman and I hate those old principles about what a woman/ man should be like, should do or say.

I expected to "see" more of London, as Tessa is suppossed to build a new life here but we get only like two brief visits of the city of London? (Hyde park and the Blackfriars Bridge) and besides that only the endless labyrinth of the Institute corridors and the Dark House in the beginning.

Sorry, I know I have already been comparing a lot but I have to say it- I can't help the feeling that the main characters here are just pretty much copies to TMI

• Tessa is practically Clary, new to this world and completely oblivious of her true self and she is falling in love with one of the Institute's residents (so far). She is shy, kind and trying to save the only member left of her family. Doesn't she sound pretty much like Clary?
• Will is a worse version of Jace with his gorgeous Herondale looks and sarcastic selfish comments, but unlike Jace he is really mean and unkind toward others safe Jem. I very much started to dislike him in this book which was a surprise since I have read a bit about him in the Tales of Shadowhunter Academy and he seemed like a totally different person. So I hope he will put himself together in the second book and that we will get some explanation of this manner...
• Jem feels like a combo of Alec and Simon to me- like Alec for his protectiveness of his parabatai and seemingly to be the only one unmoved by Will's behaviour and like Simon for his light and joky answers and there is also the fact of being in love with a girl who (at the point) loves somebody else.
• I don't much like Jessamine, she is selfish and bigheaded and ungrateful but her confidence in herself reminds me of Isabelle sometimes (though I must emfasize that I love Isabelle, she is the queen unlike Jessamine who is just insufferable).
• Then again we have the evil brother Nathaniel Gray (had Jonathan Morgestern not been enough?) who breaks the heart of protective and hopeful Tessa. I must admit though that his betrayal was a surprise to me, I did not see it coming.
• Thank God for at least the brief presence of my darling Magnus Bane (the way he states that black hair and blue eyes are his favourite? OMG I was dying and thought instantly "Oh Alec, where are you?"). I hope to see more of his presence in the next books. He is just one of my forever favourites.

I would say there are more of the minor similarities to TMI as well (like the Institute being lead by a married couple for example or the parabatai being the silent  steady one and the often self-destructive one) but I will stop at that.

What concerns me is that I absolutely despise Will now so I really hope he will get better. At the start he seemed just as selfish, reckless, rude and sarcastic as was Jace (what is why I loved Jace in the City of Bones btw) but then it tipped to cruelty, real selfishness, not caring and hurting feelings. It is startling to me since I have read the Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy and in that part he wasn't like that at all (still joky and sarcastic, but loving and full of fierce protectiveness). I can sense that the problem is evidentlly some important life-changing boom and that his manner have some reason. I am frustrated that we didn't got any explanation for Will's behaviour and if I didn't read the short story I wouldn't think it is something deeper- I just would have said he is a real jerk, ungrateful and not caring about other.

It was a quick read, filled with action and I have to admit I was genuinely surprised with "the Magister's revelation and Nathaniel's betrayal" scene- I really wasn't expecting this (a very good twist) and till that moment I wouldn't have guessed the Magister's true identity.

I know this is going to be a trilogy and that Cassie probably didn't want to cram it all into the first book but I just feel that many important details are missing here. I wasn't spoiled for the storyline of the books, just from their refferences in other Shadowhunter books I came to know some really important things:

• I know Tessa is half Shadowhunter/ half warlock (pretty much the whole core of this book is her wondering what the hell is she)- it just feels incomplete not to find out on the end of the first book (only a hint at the total end that Jem will help her discover her origin). But we get no real answer to it here as I expected.
• Than there is the matter that Will can see ghosts- a pretty cool and unsual ability among Shadowhunters but is not shown or at least spoken of here. In fact we know nothing of Will at all aside that he is a really horrible person here.
• At least we learn the cause of James' illness- otherwise it would feel like there is nothing about the characters.
• What really concerns me, is the parabatai thing- the descriptions of both the Alec/ Jace and Julian/ Emma parabatai bonds in the other series gave me the impression that it is something special and valuable, some precious connection between two people. In TMI and TDA the bond is a big deal, the characters are constantly talking about what it means to them and what would they do for each other. But in here it is always mentioned only marginally and to be honest, I learned only at the end of the book that Will and Jem are parabatai (to this point it seemed like they would be in some time but not already). Yes I can see how they care for each other, but there are just not enough of these moments, they don't share the "parabatai talks" and don't mention it often enough. It may be my observation only but it is really visible for me.

In fact they all are far from the characters I know from the shortstory of the Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy about them and little James Herondale and his schoolmates. So I am really curious that will happen in the next books that they changed so much.

This book is not much about the character development, as I said before it is my strong believe that the characters are not Cassandra's best written. I hope I will see more details and feelings and thoughts of theirs in the next books. 

I know I have said a lot of negatives about the Clockwork Angel and I am sure I am so aware of them only becuase I have already read so many of Cassandra's later books. And many of them are simply the matter of my taste. It was so much different from the modern Shadowhunters- the characters, the setting, their habits and behavior. But I must again stress that I really liked and enjoyed the story and it just confirmed that I love the Shadowhunters' world and all the books included.

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The copy of this book presented in the pictures is from bookdepository.com- the picture is featuring The Clockwork Angel, The Clockwork Prince and The Clockwork Princess. You can find the pictures on my instagram account @michelles_bookshelves

You can also find this review on Goodreads

REVIEW- The Queen of Nothing (Holly Black)

Book #3 of THE FOLK OF THE AIR 
By Holly Black

This book was so amazing! I love this series so much eventhough fairies are not my favourite topic (I like them but there are just fantasy worlds and topics I like better).

So I was a little reluctant to read this series and I have to admit the first book didn't impress me so much. There were so many great reviews and everybody loved it so maybe I have expected a little more to it. But I decided to take my chances with the second book which was soooo much better, leaving me to feel like "Whaat? Why? " so I had to read the last part and it was great!

I was afraid of the shortage, the book has only 300 pages so I feared it might not be enough and that it would be brief and hurried. But it wasn't! We get every important information and needed details, everything is well explained and I was even suprised how many things happened in this book given its extent (still it didn't seem overfull or crowded).

I like Holly's writing style, it is simple yet effective, no complicated sentences and long paragraphs. The reading was quick and I really enjoyed it.

CHARACTERS

Jude Duarte- she is a little more softy here because of her feelings for Cardan but I still love her (maybe even more for this reason) and I have to admire the respect she earns from faeries who think so little of humans. Sometimes she is reckless and selfish and cruel, other times fearless, strong and loyal- she is just no shallow character and she is the true queen. On top of that, I just love her stubbornness and the "I always have to have the final word" attitude (I recognize myself quite a lot).

Cardan Greenbriar- just add him to my fictional crush list, I love him so much. I felt so betrayed with the final exile scene of the second book and I prayed that would be somehow explained and that he really loves Jude (wow how relieved I am now!). He is arrogant, reckless, sarcastic but also smart, cunning and caring- and I just can't resist such a character!! And the way he instantly recognized Jude? I almost screamed with delight!

Taryn Duarte- seriously, I can't stand this girl and I just hate her. The way she stabs Jude in the back at every possible opportunity and even doesn't feel bad about it- she is just twisting everything to seem like she is the victim. Also, I think she is just stupid and too obedient and makes everything for her own good (and she acts like she has no brain of her own, just bending her head and doing what she is told to do). If I were Jude, I would push her from the top of Locke's tower. Thinking about that, killing Locke was the only good thing she did (but it seemed unprobable for this simple girl who willingly chose this suffering life, to commit such a thing). I hated Locke too of course and he doesn't even deserve his own paragraph in this review, but everything in this book concerning him felt a little unfinished and not enough detailed (his murder and especially his dealings with the Ghost- he told us Locke was practically behind the biggest plots but that was it. Nobody seemed to care much.)

Madoc- as for this one, he can go jump of the tower with Taryn. I hate the way he talks about family but then he would kill them instantly (seems like Taryn could be his real daughter after all? With her back stabbing fondness). After his first betrayal he should be glad to be pardoned and stay low and quite but nooo, he is just bloodthirsty and hungry for power again. But he is just the right type of villain for me- one I don't like and don't feel sorry for and I think he got everything he deserved (and Oriana along with him since she prefers Taryn over Jude).

Grima Mog- the best Great General, she is so loyal and professional, she keeps her word and follows what she believes in at all costs.

The spy trio- the Bomb, the Roach and the Ghost (now I like him again). No comment needed here, I would be the surest queen with them always watching my back.

Vivienne- Vivi is the cool older sister, eventhough she is selfish and doesn't care enough about some things. I didn't like her oblivious behavior toward Heather in the second book (during their stay in Fairie, I wanted to scream at her to mind Heather more) and eventhough she knew how important was Fairie to Jude, she wasn't much of a help. But she improves a bit in the QoN by standing up for Jude against Madoc and staying by her side then.

So as I said, I love this. Great deal of the series I have read have the same unfortnate inclination- the first book is great, the second is weaker (a filling) and last one is either a bit weaker than the first but still great or bad- but in general the first book use to be the best in the series. Not in this case though- each next book is better than the previous one and that is rare for me.

So with every single page through all the three books, I was falling in love more and more (mostly with Cardan obviously and then with the rest of the content) and now I can easily say that the Folk of the Air is one of my favourite seris ever! I still have difficulty picturing the personalities of fairies (weird creatures) and the principles by which they live in Fairie. It is because I don't have much experience with the fairy themed fantasy world. I am more familliar with vampires, werewolfs, witches and warlocks/ wizards or fantasy fictive worlds based on some mythogy (preferably Greek) and historical empires.

I would say that my closest encounter with fairies is through the Shadowhunter books (at first the Mortal instruments and then more vividly the Dark Artifices) which I loved so much. So in the end this series didn't disappoined me and for that I am really really glad. Now I am ready and excited to read How the king of Elfhame learned to hate stories!

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The copy of this book presented in the picture is from bookdepository.com - the picture is featuring The Queen of Nothing and The Cruel Prince (opened at the page with a map of Elfhame). You can find the picture on my instagram account @michelles_bookshelves

You can also find this review on Goodreads

TBR DUBEN 2020

Krásnou neděli všem!

Přemýšlím nad dalším článkem a řekla jsem si, že místo toho, abych půl hodiny zírala tupě do knihovny a hledala knihu, kterou bych si přečetla, tak si raději uspořádám seznam. Mám teď před sebou určitě pár týdnů, kdy nebudu moci dělat prakticky nic, takže proč nedohnat nějaké čtenářské resty? Já nemohu chodit ani do práce, jelikož mám uzavřenou prodejnu a kromě klasického úklidu a vaření toho ani doma není moc na práci. A tak jsem se rozhodla, že alespoň budu mít zase čas na věci, které jsem teď pár let tak trochu nestíhala- blogování a čtení. Dala jsem si tedy dohromady seznam 10 knih, které chci během této doby rozhodně stihnout přečíst.

Takže co na mě během vyhlášené karantény čeká v knihovně?

1. SMRTKA (Neil Shusterman)  ✔️

• Tuhle knihu už mám doma hrozně dlouho a důvod proč jsem po ní ještě nesáhla je to, že je v překladu- poslední dobou moc nemusím český překlad, raději čtu v AJ, tak uvidíme

2. CITY OF GLASS ✔️+ CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS ✔️ (Cassandra Clare)

• Momentálně čekám na doručení z Anglie, objednávám přes bookdepository.com a zkušenosti mám skvělé. Série mě zatím dost baví, tak se nemůžu dočkat

3. A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES (Sarah J. Maas)

• Ano já vím, všichni teď zíráte s hrůzou, že jsem Dvory ještě nečetla. No zkrátka na ně nebyl čas, ale minulý týden mi z bookdepository.com doručili výtisk v angličtině, takže se do toho snad brzy pustím

4. SIX OF CROWS (Leigh Bardugo) ✔️

• U této série jsem potřebovala trochu časový odstup po tom, co jsem dočetla sérii Grisha. Stále ale čekám, než si pořídím druhý díl, nerada čekám než se budu moci pustit do dalšího dílu

5. PROTIVNÍCI (Marissa Meyer) ✔️

• Téhle knihy jsem se nemohla dočkat, ale už mi leží doma rok a nemůžu se přimět ji přečíst. A problém je tu úplně stejný- jedná se o český překlad, který byl v prvním dílu naprosto katastrofální a já doteď nechápu, jak ta kniha mohla projít cenzurami až do tisku (stěžovala jsem si na to už při psaní recenze ZDE)

6. EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING (Nicola Yoon) ✔️

• Toto už mám doma také nějakou dobu, čekám asi na vhodný okamžik ke čtení, protože se nejedná o žádné fantasy a jako kniha to není úplně můj šálek kávy. Nechci riskovat, že mě to přestane bavit a nedočtu to, takže ještě chvíli počkám. Každopádně na ní ale přijde řada brzy!

7. KOSTIČAS (Samantha Shannon) ✔️

• Kostičas je další kniha, kterou mám na svém TBR seznamu už poměrně dlouho, zatím jsem viděla pouze kladné recenze, takže se na ní těším

8. KING OF SCARS (Leigh Bardugo) ✔️

• Tak na tuhle krásku se vážně těším. Série Grisha se mi vážně líbila, takže doufám, že tento sequel bude také super

9. PRVNÍ STŘÍBRNÁ KNIHA SNŮ (Kerstin Gier) ✔️

• Tuto sérii mám doma už pár let a jelikož miluju její sérii Drahokamy, tak jsem se rozhodla pustit i do této

10. FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM (J.K.Rowling) ✔️

• Bohužel jsem se ještě nedostala ani k této klasice a to pouze z toho důvodu, že mě odrazuje verze divadelního scénáře. Poslední takovou knihou byl Harry Potter a prokleté dítě a to bylo dost velké zklámání. Tak snad bude toto lepší

Bookshopping #5 (09/2017)

Krásný den!

Sice opožděně, ale přece tu pro vás mám měsíční shrnutí knih, které přibyly do mé knihovny. Popravdě, moc jich nebylo, ale tento měsíc mám svátek, tak doufám, že to bude lepší :D
Aby jich bylo více, započítala jsem i knihy, které mi přišly včera, ale objednala a zaplatila jsem je už v září na Book Depository.
Není to tak dlouho, co jsem si pořídila novou knihovnu, nedávno jsem ji ale už musela celou přeorganizovat kvůli nedostatku místa a stejně už se mi tam zase skoro nic nevejde :D To je zkrátka asi prokletí knihomolů...

To byla trochu odbočka od tématu, vraťme se tedy v těm novým knihám:

Falešný polibek (Mary E. Pearson)

Království Morrigan je plné tradic a příběhů o dávném světě. Princezna Lia je ale nesnáší. Svatba s někým, koho nikdy nepotkala? Kvůli zajištění politického spojenectví? Má všeho po krk! A tak v den své svatby uteče a usadí se ve vzdálené vesnici. Tam se seznámí se dvěma záhadnými přitažlivými muži – princem, kterého si měla vzít, a vrahem s úkolem ji zabít. Obklopena tajemstvím a lží Lia odhalí skutečnosti, které otřesou jejím životem.