Hello everyone! I am currently hosting a TMI Read-a-Thon, cure re-reading all the books of the Mortal Instruments series in anticipation of the release of City of Heavenly Fire. You can join in by clicking this link.
Every Friday, try for the next couple weeks, I’ll be posting my favorite quotes from each Mortal Instruments Book!
As this is my first week, of course, these are all my favorite quotes from City of Bones.
Enjoy! And make sure to share yours in the comments!
Welcome to the first official post of the What A Nerd Girl Says Mortal Instruments Read-a-Thon! Yay!
I felt kind of like Kermit the Frog writing that. I hope you felt that when you read it. I want that sort of enthusiasm to permeate off the webpage you’re reading.
For those of you who don’t know, buy information pills I’m re-reading the five books of the Mortal Instruments series (for the millionth time) in order to prepare myself for the sixth and final book, sickness City of Heavenly Fire, which releases on May 27th.
I decided that the Mortal Instruments would be taking over my blog, and I am doing that as best I can. For the next five weeks, I’m all TMI. So I hope you all can sit back, relax and enjoy all things Shadowhunter.
Every Tuesday for the next five weeks, I’ll be counting down my favorite moments in each Mortal Instruments book. As this is the first week of the Read-a-Thon, that means today is my top ten favorite moments of City of Bones.
Jace was glaring at the cat. “I told you to bring me to Alec! Backstabing Judas.”
Church rolled onto his back, purring contentedly.”
Its simple: everything Church does is absolute magic. This is the book where we meet him, where we learn that he’s a smart, silly, and loving cat that you can’t help but love and the moment that you realize that you start to ship Church with Chairman Meow. In all seriousness though, I have a weird addicting to this cat and I love the connection between the Infernal Devices when Church is first rescued, to him being part of the Lightwood family at the New York Institute.
“When she was done, it was as exact as she could make it. Driven by some instinct she didn’t quite understand, she reached for the cup and set it down on top of the paper. Then, very carefully, she began to sketch the runes beside it.”
As soon as I learned what a Shadowhunter was, and that Alec, Jace and Isabelle were Shadowhunters, I wanted to be one. And I wanted Clary to be one. When I learned that Clary was a Shadowhunter, I was squealing with excitement. I was like, she’s going to get Marks and learn to use a stele and a seraph blade and its going to be absolutely awesome. I was so into that, and I knew it was only going to make her journey in the books that much better. When Clary is drawing and discovers her ability to make the image on the page become real, I was dying of happiness. I was blown away when she pulled that coffee cup out of the pages. Not only was she a Shadowhunter, but she was special and how completely cliche that is, I don’t even care because it was beautiful.
“Yeah, well, you clearly also couldn’t be bothered to call me and tell me you were shacking up with some dyed-blond wanna-be goth you probably met at Pandemonium. After I spent the past three days wondering if you were dead.”
“I was not shacking up,” Clary said, glad of the darkness as the blood rushed to her face.
“And my hair is naturally blond,” said Jace. “Just for the record.”
This is such an awesome moment, especially now that I’ve read the rest of the series. The moment when Simon and Jace meet each other officially for the first time is beautiful because they’re both so different and so hostile toward the other, that you can’t help but hope that they become best friends. They continue to have an uneasy friendship as time goes on but the moment they meet is so great. Its kind of when you think, this book series could be all about a love triangle and oh god, these boys are just going to fight the entire series. And that does happen to a point but it all comes down to the fact that they’re so different and they see each other as competition instead of allies and its just too funny to watch. They are both so obviously trying to be cool and awesome in front of Clary at this moment and they both fail at it.
“He looked at her, not saying anything, and she remembered suddenly the wolf in the alley, all black except for that one gray streak down its side, and she remembered the disc hitting it, and she realized it.
‘You’re a werewolf.'”
Everything about Luke suddenly made so much more sense when we discover that he is a werewolf and he tells the story of his growing up, becoming Valentine’s parabatai, and becoming a werewolf and living his life as a mundane as Jocelyn’s best friend. I was so angry at Luke and the way he treated Clary but he came and saved her life from Hodge (ew) and made me absolutely happy. I love that everyone has their foot in this world somehow. We have the vampires (more on that in City of Ashes) and a warlock in Magnus and a werewolf in Luke. I loved that it just seemed so natural for him to be so and that it fit the history that we had learned from Hodge of the Circle and all that. I love also that it gave Clary the equal opportunity to try and get Jace back from Valentine.
“What welcome?” Magnus asked. “I’d say is was a pleasure to meet you, but it wasn’t. Not that you aren’t all fairly charming, and as for you-” He dropped a glittery wink at Alec, who looked astounded. “Call me?”
I ship Malec so hard and not just because I actually like them together, but because I love all the boundaries that Cassandra Clare pushes in their relationship. Besides the obvious boundary being pushed with Malec being a gay couple, I think its because it pushes both characters. Alec is gay but can’t admit it, and Magnus is in love with Alec, a Shadowhunter, something that he doesn’t really want to do. And I love the moment that they meet. Alec thinks he’s so good at hiding how he feels and that no one in the world knows he’s gay but Magnus notices so fast, and is immediately attracted to him. I love that it completely throws Alec off his game, and that it intrigues him. Its a beautiful moment.
“Turning in astonishment, she saw Jace by the door, his arm still raised, and realized he must have flung the dagger with enough force to knock the black sword out of his father’s hand.”
Finding out that Valentine Morgenstern is both Clary and Jace’s father was a huge thing that I had never seen coming when reading the book for the first time. I think I legitimately felt sick to my stomach. No, no way. There was no way that Clace was a pair of brother and sister. They were meant to be! Clary was going to break down the hard walls of Jace’s personality and make him fall madly in love with her and they were going to live happily ever after…and then suddenly they were brother and sister, and Jace is ready to do whatever his father needs him to do, and I felt like Jace was all lost. The moment that he stops his father, and disobeys him for the first time in his entire life, gave me hope that Jace was exactly the kind of character that I had hoped he was, and that I wasn’t stupid for fictionally falling in love with him.
“He was holding Alec’s bow, she realized, and the quiver was strapped across his back. He drew an arrow from it, fitted it to the string, and lifted the bow expertly, as if he’d done the same thing a hundred times before.”
I think this is the moment that the reader, even myself, realizes that there is so much more to Simon than just being a mundane. I wanted Clary with Jace from the moment she met him (see later), and I was annoyed with Simon for so long. I thought he was holding her back, to be honest, until this moment. When he comes in with the bow and arrow and shoots out the skylight and saves them from the Greater Demon, I think I gained a lot more respect for him. He’s not gifted with the blood of the angel and he isn’t a Shadowhunter, but he’s incredibly smart and incredibly brave and willing, especially when it comes to the loyalty he has to Clary. I think that’s when I vowed to give Simon a better chance than I had before. Now that we’ve reached five, nearly six books, Simon is one of my favorites and I’m happy to remember the moment that he really proved himself to me.
“There must have been something in her voice, because he turned to look at her. Her hand cracked across his face, a slap that rocked him back on his heels. He put a hand to his cheek, more in surprise than pain. “What the hell was that for?”
The other ten percent,” she said, and they rode the rest of the way down to the street in silence.”
Why do I like the moment that Clary slaps Jace? Because she’s not completely in awe of who he is. I feel like there are so many YA novels out there where the girl meets the guy and he’s so special and different that she is literally in awe of him. It doesn’t feel like love or friendship or companionship to me, it feels like worship and that sort of thing does NOT lead to an actual good, healthy relationship. Just my opinion. Seeing the way Clary obviously is attracted to Jace but isn’t willing to let him push her around was always fantastic and why I loved the both of them. Jace is so cocky and he was willing to take Clary’s life in his hands at a hunch that she was a Shadowhunter and not a normal mundane and he was really lucky that he was right. Clary recognizes this and slaps him for basically being an assuming asshole. I totally cheered at that moment, and knew that Clary was the kind of girl that I could really love as a character.
“What’s this?” he demanded, looking from Clary to his companions, as if they might know what she was doing there.
“It’s a girl,” Jace said,recovering his composure. “Surely you’ve seen girls before, Alec. Your sister Isabelle is one.”
Sometimes it takes more than just the first chapter for me to fall in love with a book. I have to give it at least page 50 until I’m like, okay, this book has me hooked, let’s keep this going. With City of Bones, though, that was so different. I was in a rough place when I read the book, so there is that, but I was hooked from the moment that Clary stepped through the closet at Pandemonium and witnessed the showdown between Jace, Isabelle and Alec and the demon. I was massively in love with Jace from the moment they said his name, mostly because I love that name, and have for quite a many years but also because I just knew he was going to be “IT” in the books, if you know what I mean. I knew immediately that I wanted to find out the rest.
“There is a hollow in the pit of his stomach, a nervous edginess. He wants to pull her back to himself, to pour into her everything he is feeling: his admiration, his new-born knowledge, his devotion, his need. “I’ve never been more awake.”
I mean, duh. I think I would have a cold, cold heart if I didn’t absolutely love this scene. I LOVE this scene. Its beautiful in so many ways. I love that Jace takes the time to do something for Clary’s birthday, which is so out of character for him, because he doesn’t DO those kinds of things for people, especially those he has just met. I love that he opens himself up to her in ways that he never really has before, and I just love it all. Its the calm before the storm that is Simon or Valentine or Hodge or the Mortal Cup. Just for that moment, they’re together and they’re experiencing those fragile steps into first love and it makes me so happy every time I read it. The first time that I read Jace’s POV (which is where the quote comes from), I loved it even more. For that one moment, you think everything is going to be okay between them, right before the news that they are brother and sister, or that there’s the complication of Simon, all of that. I think that’s why I love this scene so much. Its what I had been waiting for, and it gave me hope for the rest of the series because I knew how they felt for each other.
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I hope you enjoyed Stop 1 on the What A Nerd Girl Says Read-a-Thon, and that you’ll be with me the rest of the way! You can check out the rest of the “tour” schedule by clicking this link!
And don’t forget to share your own favorite scenes from City of Bones in the comments!
I really did try to come up with a better name for this. Obviously I failed miserably. This is why I don’t name things, viagra buy guys. I let other people do that work for me!
Moving on…
In just over a month, the final installment of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, City of Heavenly Fire, will be hitting bookstores. War will be waged, battles will be fought, tears will definitely be shed.
You can read my City of Heavenly Fire synopsis reaction here.
And in order to celebrate and prepare for this ending, What A Nerd Girl Says is going Shadowhunter.
I’ll be re-reading the Mortal Instruments books until the release, and profiling each one a week until the release. I would encourage you to join in whatever you way you can: on your blog, on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, whatever way you’d like!
I’ll be tweeting, instagraming and tumblring as much as possible and will be using the hashtag: #anerdgirlsaysTMIreadathon, so please join in! I’d love to hear from you as we make our way back through the TMI series and prepare for the heartbreak that is sure to be City of Heavenly Fire.
Here is the schedule that I’ll be doing for my TMI Read-A-Thon
Tuesday 4/22: Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite City of Bones Moments
Thursday 4/24: Book of the Week: City of Bones
Friday 4/25: City of Bones: Favorite Quotes
Saturday 4/26: Fictional Crush of the Week: Jace Wayland (Re-Post)
Tuesday 4/29: Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite City of Ashes Moments
Thursday 5/1: Book of the Week: City of Ashes
Friday 5/2: City of Ashes: Favorite Quotes
Saturday 5/3: Fictional Crush of the Week: Isabelle Lightwood (Re-Post)
Tuesday 5/6: Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite City of Glass Moments
Thursday 5/8: Book of the Week: City of Glass
Friday 5/9: City of Glass: Favorite Quotes
Saturday 5/10: Fictional Crush of the Week: Alec Lightwood (Re-Post)
Tuesday 5/13: Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite City of Fallen Angels Moments
Thursday 5/15: Book of the Week: City of Fallen Angels
Friday 5/16: City of Fallen Angels: Favorite Quotes
Saturday 5/17: Fictional Crush of the Week: Simon Lewis
Tuesday 5/20: Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite City of Lost Souls Moments
Thursday 5/22: Book of the Week: City of Lost Souls
Friday 5/23: City of Lost Souls: Favorite Quotes
Saturday 5/24: Fictional Crush of the Week: Magnus Bane
Tuesday 5/27: Happy Book Birthday to Cassandra Clare!
Wednesday 5/29: Vlog Reaction to City of Heavenly Fire (Spoilers!)
Thursday 5/30: Book of the Week: City of Heavenly Fire (No Spoilers!)
Friday 5/31: City of Heavenly Fire: Favorite Quotes/Moments
Saturday 6/1: Fictional Crush of the Week: Clary Fray
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I hope that you can all join me! I know that not everyone can read as quickly as me, though, so I made these posts sort of easy so that if you’ve read the books before, you can participate!
Happy Reading everyone, and don’t forget to follow here on the Blog, the Tumblr, the Twitter, the Facebook and the Instagram to be a part of the Read-A-Thon!
In just a few days, drugs Melissa de la Cruz’s brand new novel, cialis 40mg The Ring and the Crown, information pills will be hitting bookstores and I was lucky enough to receive a copy in the mail for review. Check out what I thought below!
GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository
This review is based on an advanced reader’s copy given to me in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my review in the slightest, and everything said here is my honest opinion. Thank you Megan Beatie and Disney-Hyperion for the ARC.
Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Not entirely sure. Its listed on GoodReads as The Ring and the Crown #1, but it wraps up like a standalone.
The Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima,
13+
From GoodReads:
Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the Lily Throne, and Aelwyn Myrddn, bastard daughter of the Mage of England, grew up together. But who will rule, and who will serve?
Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the Second, Supreme Ruler of the Franco-British Empire. With the help of her Head Merlin, Emrys, Eleanor has maintained her stranglehold on the world’s only source of magic. She rules the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.
But even with the aid of Emrys’ magic, Eleanor’s extended lifespan is nearing its end. The princess must marry and produce an heir or the Empire will be vulnerable to its greatest enemy, Prussia. The two kingdoms must unite to end the war, and the only solution is a match between Marie and Prince Leopold VII, heir to the Prussian throne. But Marie has always loved Gill, her childhood friend and soldier of the Queen’s Guard.
Together, Marie and Aelwyn, a powerful magician in her own right, come up with a plan. Aelwyn will take on Marie’s face, allowing the princess to escape with Gill and live the quiet life she’s always wanted. And Aelwyn will get what she’s always dreamed of–the chance to rule. But the court intrigue and hunger for power in Lenoran England run deeper than anyone could imagine. In the end, there is only rule that matters in Eleanor’s court: trust no one.
Melissa de la Cruz is definitely an author that has been on my radar but I haven’t had much of a chance to explore her books. I read Blue Bloods, and while I think it was incredibly well written, it wasn’t the book for me. I hadn’t even heard of this book, to be completely honest, until it was sent to me in the mail by Disney-Hyperion. I thought it sounded quite interesting so I knew that I had to dive into it.
I’m very glad that I did.
Its obvious from the start that Melissa is a fantastically talented writer. The way she effortlessly moves through her story is incredibly impressive. Its easy to accept the world that she has created because she makes it so believable in her writing. Its confusing at first because she jumps in so fast, and its hard to keep up with this complicated world that she has created. She creates this world of intrigue and gossip and mystery mixed with the politics of nobility and royalty and, just for fun, why not, then throws in magic. It reads like a scandalous gossip novel set in the intriguing world of royalty. Its beautiful.
I did feel like the characters lacked a bit of emotional depth that I usually love about characters. I did not find that I was attached to the characters, but more so the story that was building up. The only character I felt genuinely attached to was Wolf and that was because he felt the most real. True, he was cliche, as most of the characters felt. Marie, the princess, wanted a life of simplicity, away from the pressures of royal life. Aelwyn is the daughter of the Merlin, bred to serve but with a desire for power.
Wolf is the younger prince, not good enough, living under the shadow of his elder brother and rebelling at every turn. Very cliche like. However, I felt a sort of kinship with Wolf. No matter the cliche, those sort of feelings are quite real and familiar. It is not uncommon to feel that sort of desperation of living in someone’s impossible shadow, and yet having a fierce love and loyalty toward them. The way Wolf felt toward his brother, Leo, was so familiar to my own heart that it was incredible to read.
I do feel the story wrapped up quite quickly. I would have taken another book, or even extra fifty to hundred pages to really wrap up that ending.
But the story was addicting. It really read like a bunch of scandal stories. You know when you read Pride and Prejudice and they talk in giggles and whispers of the “scandalous” things that are going on behind closed doors. It kind of felt like that, with a mix of Gossip Girl in there. It’s hard to explain. Oh, like Reign! Have you watched Reign. Reign is basically a TV show that took a bit of history, completely changed it (which, as a former history major, drives me insane haha), and made it scandalous and sexy. That’s exactly how this book reads. Its sort of addicting, to see the dark and winding world of this court.
The Ring and the Crown is a book full of mystery, scandal, sex and lies, and magic and it reads beautifully due to Melissa’s incredible talent. While some of the character’s personalities fell a little flat to me, and I felt the ending wrapped a little too quickly for my taste, all in all, I felt that it was an incredible book. She’s a talented writer, with a gift for story-telling, and this is definitely a book to keep on your radar. It releases in bookstores on April 1st.
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Well, troche that was a seriously fun title. I kept trying to make it shorter but nothing I did made it sound…right. This was the closest. It got the point across and that’s all that matters.
So do you ever go to a bookstore, pharmacy or read a blog or talk to some friends, buy and there is a book that they just won’t let go, and you just have no desire to read it. You’re reluctant and there’s several reasons you could be. You don’t like the cover. You don’t like the name. You don’t do “zombie books”. Its too popular.
Whatever the reason is, you’re just reluctant to pick up a copy and read it. But for another reason, you finally decide to. Maybe you found a super cheap copy somewhere or your friend just WON’T STOP BUGGING YOU ABOUT IT. And you know what, the book surprises you. And it becomes something that you like, or even a favorite of yours.
That happens to me a lot actually. I’m kind of a book snob. I make fun of my boyfriend all the time for being a movie snob but I’m totally a book snob, and I might even be worse than him. I judge books b y their covers and their names. I tend to stay clear of vampires and romances, fallen angels and ghosts.
So I have trouble a lot when people recommend books. I have to really hear good things about it, or be bugged enough about it to sit down and read it. And sometimes, I’m like, “Okay, well that was a waste of my time.” But more often than not, I’m actually pleasantly surprised.
Here is my top ten of those books.
I know, right? I know! This is one of my absolute favorite series, along with its spin-off, The Heroes of Olympus. I mean, how could I ever be reluctant to read it. I don’t know if I thought it was going to be childish, or I don’t know. I just remember that it took forever for me to sit down and read them, and when I finally did, I remember speeding through all five books, plus the first two of HoO in like, a week and a half because I was just blown away. I know that it got a lot of Harry Potter comparisons in the beginning and that also could have been something that turned me off since there really can only be ONE Harry Potter but its more like, if you like HP, you’ll like PJ. And I definitely agree with that. I absolutely loved these books.
9. 52 Reasons to Hate My Father
I LOVE Jessica Brody and I seriously love everything she writes but I must admit I felt a little skeptical to read this book. The cover (both this and the hardback cover) turned me off a bit and I just wasn’t sure how to feel about it, and it sounded weird, and cliche-ish. But I decided to read it because I got it signed and its Jessica and I absolutely adore her. And I LOVE this book. Its exactly what I thought it was going to be and yet so much more. It surprised me with its realness and its humor and I loved the main character so much that even while she was driving me absolutely insane, I still totally wanted to be her best friend. And the whole 52 jobs in 52 weeks thing actually sounds like it would be fun, inspiring and life-changing.
I hated this title so much. I hate everything about it because it sounded like a fluffy, no substance YA romance novel and it proved me massively wrong. I definitely enjoyed this book immensely but I think the reason I am so glad that I got over my aversion to this book was that it led me to the “sequel”, Lola and the Boy Next Door, which I LOVE so much. I am so in love with Cricket and Lola is just an awesome character. I was pleasantly surprised with how much depth these books had, and that they were so much more than just a fluffy novel. Stephanie Perkins is an absolutely fantastic author and I was surprised and happy that I had read these books.
I purchased this for about 2 or 3 dollars on Kindle about four years ago. It kept popping up as a recommendation and I remember thinking: it looks super fluffy romance AND its self-published so what if it totally sucks. I eventually gave in because I think I had nothing else to read and it was super cheap and I’m so glad I did because she has become one of my absolute favorite authors and a dear friend of mine. This is a four book series and while it has the fun and sexiness of Hollywood (and I totally wish Reid Alexander was real so I could drool all over his washboard abs), there’s all this substance in there. There’s alcohol and drug use and charity work and neglect and abuse and teenage pregnancy and so much coming-of-age-ness. I absolutely love this series, and this author and I’m SO glad I took a chance with this.
6. Unbreakable
The reason I was super reluctant to read this was because I was not a fan of Beautiful Creatures at all. While the premise of this book sounded really awesome, I just didn’t want to be disappointed after BC. I just wasn’t a fan of that book at all. Not my thing, I suppose. But I decided to give this one a chance, based on the recommendation of some fellow bloggers and, again, I’m so very glad that I did. I love this book. Its exactly what I wanted from it based on the description and I think Kami super rocked it. I loved all the myths and legends woven into the story and I love that its kind of like Supernatural, with two hot brothers but its told in the point of view of a girl, who I just know is going to be totally kickass as this series builds. I am counting down the days until book two.
5. Obsidian
I hated the cover, I hated the stupid synopsis on the back. I hate when books don’t even have a real synopsis on the back. Its like “One Girl. One Guy. One Destiny. He’s an alien. She’s a book blogger. Kisses. What will happen next?” Okay, that was so made up right now but you know what I mean. It’s like, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS BOOK ABOUT? And the cover was just, ugh. It only caught my eye because the spine was all pretty and green. Then I met Megan and she convinced me to read it so I went back, bought it and decided to give it a try, and I read the next two super quickly. It’s not super substantial or life changing but its fun and sexy and I love it. Plus it also just introduced me to JLA and I adore her, and I’m massively in love with her Covenant series.
Again, the cover. I’m such a snob. I judge books by their cover and I was like, this one doesn’t look good in the slightest. But someone, I can’t remember who, told me to read it so I did and it really surprised me with the depth that it had. It had sort of a Bachelor meets Hunger Games meets Divergent sort of vibe. It was very dystopian but it also feels kind of like the Bachelor. I thought America was a well thought out character and that her struggle as a girl in the Selection was so real and raw and familiar. Even though I’ve never sat and competed for the hand of a prince with 20 other girls, I could understand her confusion and her constantly waging emotions. Its such a real book, and I can’t wait til the next one comes out, I’m just dying. Kiera Cass really impressed me and I want to meet her and tell her that.
I KNOW. I know right? I can’t even…whatever. (If you missed that as a Mean Girls quote, you don’t deserve to read my blog…haha). I read the first two books in the series about two weeks before Mockingjay came out. Again, I’m kind of a snob and everyone was reading it and it was around the same time as the Twilight outbreak and I was just kind of over reading “trend” books, if you know what I mean. I was just so much “too cool” for that. HA! My sister kept bugging me to try it though so I picked up a copy at Barnes and Noble one night and the begged my sister to let me borrow her Catching Fire because the stores were closed and I needed it RIGHT NOW. I remember buying Mockingjay on my Kindle app so I could download it at midnight and start reading. I can’t believe I ever was like, I’m too cool for this because I don’t know what my life would be without this series.
2. Unspoken
I adore Sarah! However, I had read her Demon’s Lexicon and just wasn’t that impressed. But I really liked her, I liked meeting her so I saw this book and was like, meh, I’ll add it to my TBR. I was interviewing some authors and I interviewed her and she was so sweet and so quick about it and I was so happy, and I was like, I have to read this book. I read this one and its sequel, Untold, in about two days because I LOVE this book. I love the main character, Kami, and all her sassiness and I’m madly in love with Jared Lynburn and his dark sexiness, and I just loved the story. I thought everything about it was so fresh and new, and the characters felt new and yet familiar and I was just so in love with this book. It just sort of reminded me that I shouldn’t give up on an author simply because I may have disliked one book. Another book may completely surprise me.
I don’t do vampire books. I don’t like this cover. I don’t like the title. The girl reminds me of Angelina Jolie and I’m not a fan of hers. There was so much about this that just turned me off. Every time I saw it in the bookstore, I just made a face and turned around. I seriously have to thank Jade and Stephanie for this, for beating me down and making me read it because now I have a VA tattoo. I mean, that’s how much I am so glad I gave these books a chance. I mean, they basically were like “Sara, shut up and read this book” and I did and I am just…I am so glad I did. The title and cover is still not my favorite at all, but I love these books. They don’t even feel like vampire books. They have so much darkness and romance and action and coming-of-age-ness (I keep saying that, I think I made that up) and I just love it all. I love Rose and Lissa and Christian and Dimitri and Adrian (ADRIAN!!!) and I just love it. I’m so massively glad I read these because now I have a molnija mark on my shoulder and its beautiful.
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What are some books that you were reluctant to read but you did and you ended up liking? Share in the comments!
You Can Find the Books At:
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. Having missed her flight, remedy she’s stuck at JFK airport and late to her father’s second wedding, troche which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s sitting in her row.
A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?
Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.
My Review:
I thought this was a super cute book, but it lacked a lot in actual substance. It happened incredibly fast to me, and I was hoping for more build up, maybe, more of a deeper story than the one that was told. We only really seemed to skim the surface of both of these characters and it just felt too superficial.
The thing that I really liked about this story was the actual story of it. I felt like there was so much potential in it. It reminded me of Gayle Forman’s Just One Day, the idea that a short amount of time with a person can change you, and can bond you to someone. That is what happened with Allyson and Willem in Just One Day and it was a beautiful story. I thought the story between Hadley and Oliver on the plane trip to London could have been the same. They had hours upon hours to get to know each other, and then there could have been this race through England to see if they could find each other again. It really lays the groundwork for a wonderful, exciting and sweet story.
Unfortunately, I feel like it fell incredibly flat. It was too rushed! If the story had been slowed down a bit, where you really got to know the two characters, maybe as they got to know each other in the airport and then found themselves next to each other on the plane, and built up their relationship, then their separation at the airport would have meant so much more. I also felt like the path to them finding each other in London would have worked a lot better if it had been more tension filled, harder than it was. I didn’t feel like I really knew the characters.
When it comes to the characters, I also felt like both Hadley and Oliver were very one dimensional. Hadley was on her way to attend her father’s wedding to another a woman, a woman who, though it isn’t said, probably broke up her parents’ marriage. Oliver has a difficult relationship with his father. These are not superficial problems, and in fact, I can find so many different literary characters that have these sort of issues. However, because things are delved into as much, it just fell flat to me. It felt too cliche, too “been there-done that”. I think that we honestly tell the same stories over and over again, but in our own voices and Jennifer struggled a little with that, I think.
I do think it was a cute story, and I think with maybe an extra 50 pages, it could have been filled out a bit more, and I could have connected to the characters a little more. Before I started to write out the review, I had to remind myself of what their names were. I really loved the premise of the story, and I think that with a little more detail of the journey and of the characters, it would have had a larger impact for me.
3 out of 5 stars
