Paranormal Romance

Review: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare

~ megs14malloy

City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

City of Glass, the third installment in Cassandra Clare’s well-loved, Mortal Instruments series, brought all the addictive teen drama I was hoping for!

Since this is the third book in a series, some mild spoilers may be found within this review. I do not plan to hide them.

You have been warned.

Clary still needs to save her Mom. She thinks the answer lies somewhere within the City of Glass, Alicante, the capital of Idris and the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters.

Unfortunately, it’s against the law to travel there without permission and Clary definitely does not have that. Regardless, she’s not letting a little thing like frightening magical laws come between her and her mother’s potential cure.

The rest of the crew travel to Idris as well, including Simon, although he isn’t received as well as the others.

The bulk of the action in this novel, therefore, takes place in the land of the Shadowhunters, which I absolutely loved.

I feel like I learned so much more about this world, their history and the powers and relationships amongst the various beings that inhabit it.

This is what I had been waiting for. Things are finally beginning to come together and as a whole, make a lot more sense.

The relationship dynamics between all of our main characters continued to be built out as well. I enjoyed watching the evolution of friendships, as well as romantic relationships.

There were some huge reveals; one in particular that entirely changed how I viewed a certain character. I really enjoyed that, although some of the build-up to that reveal still makes me a little uncomfortable.

At the end of the day, that entire storyline certainly brought the angst that kept me turning pages. Luckily for the story, it wasn’t just that though.

There is a lot of compelling content in here. Valentine is an incredibly well-imagined villain. The stakes are high and the action flows along at a nice, steady pace.

I’m so stoked to carry one with my journey through the Shadowhunter Chronicles. If this book is any indication, it’s just going to continue to get better and better.

Up next, Clockwork Angel!!!

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Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare

~ megs14malloy

City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2)City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

City of Ashes, the second installment in Cassandra Clare’s beloved Mortal Instruments series has sealed the deal for me.

I am, in fact, a Shadowhunter fan.

In this second book, someone is murdering Downworlder children in New York City.

Clary and the crew fear that the evil Valentine, the Darth Vader of the Shadowhunter realm, may be behind the killings.

But how can they prove it, find him and most importantly, stop him?

I love how the world is continuing to be built out in this sequel. The stakes are higher and the action never stops.

There is so much drama, so much angst, wildly inappropriate relationships, or one in particular, witty banter, dark humor, Magnus Bane…what is there not to love about all that!?

I am so looking forward to continuing on with this series and the world overall!

My plan was to read the first three books of TMI, then all three TID, followed by the last three of TMI. Let me know below if you disagree with that reading order and why.

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Review: The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3) by Michelle Hodkin

~ megs14malloy

The Retribution of Mara DyerThe Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

A twisted, messy, horrifying, beautiful story! It’s done.

I’m astounded by how much I enjoyed this trilogy. I wasn’t expecting it. The feelings!

Following along with Mara as she discovers who she is, and truly what she is, is an absolute roller coaster of emotions.

In this installment, the true objective of the rehab center is revealed, as well as the players behind it.

Mara, as well as the other kids, have been subject to immoral scientific experiments since their entrance into rehab and it has left them shaken, haunted and disoriented.

Together Mara, Jamie and Stella are able to fight their way out, with the unexpected help of an unlikely source, but Noah is nowhere to be found.

Now on the road, they head to New York City in search of answers.

They are forced to use their powers along the way, like never before, in order to dodge authorities and travel unhindered.

I really enjoyed the bond between the three as they learned to trust and rely on one another. Particularly the relationship between Mara and Jamie. I just cannot imagine them without one another.

One glaringly obvious missing piece in this narrative is Noah. I missed having him there. The interactions between him and Mara.

However, Hodkin pulls through for her fans in the end and I am happy with the conclusion to this story.

There were some aspects I found to be slightly confusing.

Mostly the historic aspects from the perspective of Mara’s grandmother. With this being said, I do feel I understood the gist of it enough to be able to apply the ramifications to the modern-day storyline.

I liked the idea of there being a genetic manifestation to the abilities this set of kids display.

I thought that was very interesting. Another one of my favorite aspects to this installment, was Mara, Jamie and Stella investigating the mystery behind Dr. Kells.

I am so happy that I decided to pick this series up.

I think a lot of times all the focus is on the new releases, and they are so important, but there are some real gems to be found in the backlist as well.

Don’t ignore your backlist!

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Review: Storm and Fury (The Harbinger #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

~ megs14malloy

Storm and Fury (The Harbinger, #1)Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Demons and gargoyles and chosen ones…

18-year-old Trinity Marrow has a special gift. She can see and commune with ghosts and spirits. This isn’t her only gift though, there is a lot about Trinity that is special.

Because of her unique nature she has been hidden away at an isolated compound for years with the Wardens protecting her. What are Wardens, you may ask? They are gargoyle shape-shifters protecting mankind from demons, of course.

Trinity spends her days wandering around the compound and training with her Warden protector, Misha. She also spends a lot of time with her chatty, ghost sidekick, Peanut.

I must confess, Peanut was probably my favorite character. He is so funny, stuck in the 80s, his pop culture references brought me back. Love you, Peanut!

When a group of Wardens from another clan arrives with news of vicious attacks going on outside the compound, attacks killing demons and Wardens alike, Trinity finally has something interesting to focus on. Spying on the superiors chatting, Trin gets caught by a member of the outside clan, Zayne, the most beautiful gargoyle to ever live…

Events occur that force Trinity and Zayne to leave the compound together and we all know where that’s going, it’s Jennifer L. Armentrout, y’all!

I really enjoyed this one and am totally kicking myself for putting it off for so long. It started a little slow for me but as soon as Trinity met Zayne, I was hooked. There is a ton of action in here, some great fight scenes, humor, shocking revelations and a little bit of steam!

This story still has so much room to grow, as well, and left off in a superb spot for a sequel. I don’t know how many books are planned to be part of The Harbinger series but you better believe, I want a front row seat for all of them!!!

Highly recommend for people looking to start a new YA Fantasy series with a touch of romance.

Thank you so much, Harlequin TEEN, for providing me with a copy of this beauty to read and review! I appreciate it.

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Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

~ megs14malloy

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #1)The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Oh my goodness.
That was a good time.

I had no idea what to expect going into this. It is a series I hear about all the time. One of those, ‘everyone has read it but me’ series.

For 2019, I created a TBR jar for myself to help me clear off some of my backlist titles and this was the first book I pulled. I knew that I would either love it or hate. Luckily, I truly enjoyed it!

Upon waking up in the hospital, Mara Dyer, has no idea how she got there. In fact, her whole recent memory seems to have been wiped clean. Before long, she discovers that she was involved in some sort of terrible accident that killed her best friend, two other kids and left her in a coma.

Her parents, focused on Mara’s recovery, decide to uproot the family to Florida feeling that it would be harmful for her to continue living in a town where she had suffered such trauma.

Once in Florida, Mara slowly begins to remember bits and pieces of what went down that infamous night. Some of it floods back to her in nightmares and some, more disturbingly, during the day as vivid hallucinations.

Guys, some of this stuff was DARK and it took me completely by surprise. The first big spooky hallucination, I was like, ‘okay, we doing this. I like this!’.

Then, to up my enjoyment levels even more, we meet Noah.
Noah Shaw.
 Now, seriously, I am not one to get all swoony, professing love to book boyfriends, but…

I’m swooning. Something about him. His witty banter, his English accent, his clothes, his swagger. Yep. I could read about him all damn day but I digress.

Watching the relationship grow between Mara and Noah was so much fun. She tries to resist his MANY charms but eventually comes to rely on him. He becomes the only person she trusts to help her figure out what is wrong with her.

She hasn’t felt right since the accident and throughout the course of the book the true events of that night are pieced together for the reader. Even at the end, it wasn’t what I expected. I knew it was a paranormal romance but I didn’t know what the ‘paranormal’ elements entailed. I did a good job keeping myself in the dark on that one…

…and I like what is happening with this story. I am definitely planning to continue on. Hoping to read book two this month!

P.S. I love you, Noah. Forever and Always.

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