Review: TALES FROM THE SHADOWHUNTER ACADEMY by Cassandra Clare

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

I wasn’t originally going to read this short story collection, but right after I read the prologue of Lady Midnight, a detail was revealed that intrigued me. Then I looked up this book and discovered it was about Simon, who I love, training to be a Shadowhunter. I had already hoped I would get to learn about that aspect of his story in Lady Midnight, so I decided to read this collection of stories before continuing with that book.

My ratings for each individual story:

1. “Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy”—3/5 stars. This is a good story to give some background on the Academy (not sure if it’s relevant in other Shadowhunter books, though) and to show how Simon is adapting to the “new” Shadowhunter world when he goes to the Academy to train. It also features how Simon is handling his relationship with Isabelle after not remembering their past together.
2. “The Lost Herondale”—3/5 stars. Simon is at the Academy learning to fight. Catarina Loss tells Simon a story of Tobias Herondale, in which Simon learns there’s a possible Herondale generation out there that don’t know they’re Shadowhunters.
3. “The Whitechapel Fiend”—3.5/5 stars. This story is about guest lecturer Tessa Grey teaching the students at the Academy about Jack the Ripper. Fans of the Infernal Devices (of which I am not one) will probably enjoy this story because it features Will and their young child James. I didn’t care for the characters, but this still is an interesting story. At the end we also see Simon writing a letter to Isabelle.
4. “Nothing but Shadows”—3/5 stars. This story is about the shy James Herondale, Will and Tessa’s son, as he goes to school and learns to make friends. I found this story to be way too drawn out, plus I didn’t really know (or care) who many of the characters were. However, I did enjoy the ending, and I think fans of the Herondales will enjoy this story.
5. “The Evil We Love”—4/5 stars. In this story, Robert Lightwood tells the Academy about his time in the Circle as well as sharing his own intimate history with the students. I enjoyed seeing the flashbacks to the 1980s and learning some more details to strengthen the original story in the Mortal Instruments. There’s also more drama going on with Simon and Isabelle’s relationship in between the lectures.
6. “Pale Kings and Princes”—3/5 stars. Helen Blackthorn comes to the Academy to tell a story to Simon and his classmates of her father, Andrew Blackthorn, and how he got involved with fairies. Also, Simon and Isabelle are trying to fix their relationship.
7. “Bitter of Tongue”—3.5/5 stars. Simon meets up with Mark Blackthorn and they have a chat. I think this story is relevant if you plan to read Lady Midnight because something important happens at the end with some of the characters present in that book. 
8. “The Fiery Trial”—4/5 stars. Part of this story is really weird, but the reason for that is eventually explained, and it made me appreciate what had happened. This story is ultimately about parabatai. Simon and Clary attend the parabatai ceremony for Julian and Emma all while considering the possibility of having parabatai for themselves. I would recommend reading this story before Lady Midnight.
9. “Born to Endless Night”—4/5 stars. Magnus comes to the Academy to teach, and then an abandoned warlock baby shows up on its doorstep. Magnus and Alec have a deep discussion, then Simon and Alec have a deep discussion, and then Simon and Magnus have a deep discussion. I enjoyed the honesty in this story, and I think it’s my favorite one in the collection. Some important decisions are made that impact the future of our favorite main characters, and my guess is that this story is pertinent if you plan on reading The Red Scrolls of Magic.
10. “Angels Twice Descending”—4/5 stars. Two years after entering the Academy, Simon drinks from the Mortal Cup and Ascends to Shadowhunter. This story wraps up the collection and ends on both a happy note and a sad note. [Spoiler: I am sad that George died because I could have seen him becoming part of the crew, but this side character’s fate felt inevitable, knowing how Clare writes her books. However, his death helped Simon choose a Shadowhunter name with meaning, so I appreciate that aspect of it. Still sad George died though.]

I liked that the stories were all connected in chronological order. I do not usually like or read short stories or novellas, but reading these all in order almost felt like reading an actual novel, except with really long chapters.

I was started listening to these as audiobooks, but halfway through, I checked out the book from the library to read along. I was pleasantly surprised to see that at the beginning of each story is a one-page comic-style illustration. I really enjoyed seeing these.

Overall, I enjoyed these stories, and I’m glad I read them before continuing on with Lady Midnight. I could tell a difference in Simon’s personality in this book compared to him in the Mortal Instruments, but that is to be expected since he lost all his memories, and also because this book was written by three other authors along with Cassandra Clare. He was more serious and less humorous, and his humor is one of the reasons I originally liked him, but by the end, I could see his old personality coming back.

For reference, you need to read all of the Mortal Instruments books before this one. I would also recommend reading the Infernal Devices prior to this book. I read only the first Infernal Devices book, and I wasn’t confused about any of these stories, so if you at least know the gist of that series then you will be fine. I would also recommend reading this book or at least looking at spoilers for all the stories before starting Lady Midnight.

Edit after reading Lady Midnight: All of the important details from Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy are explained in Lady Midnight, so that book will make complete sense even if you do not read this one first. It just depends if you merely want to hear the outcomes of these stories or if you want to experience the journey for yourself. I will say, though, that the one story I would recommend reading prior to Lady Midnight is “The Fiery Trial” because I think it is the most important story that pertains to the Dark Artifices trilogy, and also to the Mortal Instruments series. This is just my opinion though, and I know many other people prefer to read this whole story collection before continuing on with future books.

Review: DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson

Rating: 3/5 stars

I’ve been trying to read more classics since I graduated from school. This was the shortest one on my shelf, so I picked it up to fulfill that goal. So far, I have not found any classics that I love. There are a few that I liked and a few that I didn’t like very much, but none that really stood out for me. I had been fascinated by the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde since I was little and first heard about it. I even watched a black and white film adaptation at one time, which was okay. I was hoping that the book would be much better, the kind of classic I was looking for; but alas, it was only okay as well. I didn’t enjoy, and didn’t even finish, Treasure Island by the same author, so maybe I just don’t have good luck with Stevenson.

To be honest, the book didn’t really happen how I expected it to. I don’t know what I expected, maybe more science-y stuff and for the story to be from Dr. Jekyll’s/Mr. Hyde’s point of view (because what does he actually do when he’s Mr. Hyde?), but it wasn’t like that. It read more like a collection of case files, gathering multiple points of view on Mr. Hyde and his situation from lawyers and other doctors.

I actually wish I had been able to read this book without knowing that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the same person. It’s common knowledge about the story—it even says as much on the back of the book—but it wasn’t actually revealed until almost the end of the book, so I guess it’s technically a spoiler. I think it’s interesting that plot descriptions of classical novels more often than not include spoilers and no one seems to care; whereas, if someone spoiled a modern book, people would be up in arms.

I wish I could have read this book in a school setting so I could have discussed it with others and also received intellectual insights about it because this is the kind of story to provoke profound discussions.

I really enjoyed the last chapter of her book from Dr. Jekyll’s perspective and he tells us everything we wanted to know about him being Mr. Hyde. It is curious to me that in the beginning, he enjoyed becoming Mr. Hyde because of the refuge; he could do anything and get away with it because, as he said, he didn’t really exist. But over time the dark personality took over until there was no Dr. Jekyll left. I do wonder why, though, he didn’t require a potion to turn into Mr. Hyde after some time. I guess it is for the same reason he kept requiring a higher dose to return to Dr. Jekyll: his evil personality became too strong.

Was Mr. Hyde a subconscious personality of Dr. Jekyll, or was he his own person altogether? It seems to start out the former and end the latter, with Mr. Hyde becoming the dominant personality until that’s all that is left.

“His terror of the gallows drove him to continually commit temporary suicide, and return to his subordinate station of a part instead of a person; but he loathed the necessity.”

The Signet Classic edition that I read contains an afterword by Don Chaon that I really enjoyed because it read like an intellectual essay. He opened my eyes to a lot of details of the story. He even discusses many of the dozens of interpretations of the novel, which I found to be the most interesting. Because of the overarching vagueness throughout the story, many interpretations appropriately fit the narrative.

This book presents an excellent view of the dichotomy between good and evil. No person is all one or all the other but a mix of the two. Which trait is more dominant? I think that depends if we prefer to be Dr. Jekyll or if we prefer to be Mr. Hyde.

Review: THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 by Ruth Ware

Rating: 3/5 stars

I am fairly new to the mystery/thriller genre and, likewise, new to Ruth Ware. And I was slightly . . . underwhelmed by this story.

The story is that Laura is a journalist on a very small cruise ship, and one night she thinks she witnesses someone being thrown overboard. A few hours prior, she also meets a girl who she can never seem to find again. Convinced these two events are connected, she goes on a hunt around the ship looking for evidence that what she saw really happened and looking for the girl.

The beginning was really slow. The first 80 or so pages seemed to be only background and pretext before Laura boarded the cruise ship, and I found it to be rather uninteresting. This definitely doesn’t start out as fast-paced as all the reviews made it out to be. Nevertheless, I continued reading.

As a whole, the story as a whole didn’t pick up for me or get interesting until chapter 22. That’s when I sat up straighter in my chair and suddenly became invested in what was happening with the plot. But even after things started to get good in chapter 22, and I finally thought I was past the slow stuff, then there were like 15 pages in a row with no dialogue during a rather intense scene and I was just dying while waiting for something to finally happen again.

At the end of each section, there’s a snippet of email, text, news, etc. that occurs a few days in the future, and this was my favorite part of the book because it really built the suspense for the story. I would read it and then be instantly curious how the situation ended up there in a few days’ time. However, I will say that it did give me details that led me to guess events, so I guess you could say these futuristic snippets contained spoilers for the story.

Even though I didn’t guess the main mystery surrounding the woman who was in cabin ten, I found a lot of minor details to be predictable, such as evidence going missing, Lo making certain decisions, why the woman was on the boat, etc. And even the ultimate end seemed rather predictable to me, especially since one of the characters literally tells Lo everything that’s happening when there’s still more than 60 pages left of the book. She tells Lo the who, the why, and the how. All of the answers I wanted were given in the span of a couple of pages. It felt cheap because I didn’t even get to solve the mystery myself as a reader because all the details were just spewed in my face. I kept hoping that there would be some big twist after that, that the information we got was wrong, but the rest of the book just kind of happens as expected with nothing left to solve, and I was left feeling disappointed that there wasn’t more of a mystery.

The very ending, as in the detail that we learn on the very last page, was already something I suspected from the beginning. I didn’t understand the fate assigned to a certain character because it was as if the book was trying to tell me that 1+1=3. The ending as a whole seemed to have a disconnect from the rest of the story, and I just thought it felt way too rushed and sloppy, especially in contrast to the meticulously slow beginning. [SPOILERS IN ITALICS: We knew that Anne died a while back, so when we first learned that a body had washed ashore, I thought it was hers. Then we find out there’s a second body and Richard was dead, so his was the second body. Then Lo just assumes the first body was Carrie’s, but like did she forget that Anne had been dead this whole time? That made no sense to me, and there was no basis for thinking that Carrie was dead; she pulled that assumption out of thin air. Was the author trying to get me to believe that Anne’s body just got lost at sea? I have no idea, but I never thought that Carrie died. It sounded to me like she killed Richard. So when the end reveals an anonymous donation from “Tiggers bounce,” it’s clear that’s from Carrie because of the conversation she and Lo had prior. Was I supposed to be shocked that Carrie is still alive? Because I wasn’t. All I felt was not confused anymore that there were only two bodies if Lo claimed three people had died. Also, something else that really bothered me was that Carrie appeared in Archer’s phone as Jess and that was never addressed again. Who is Jess? Was that actually Carrie? Why was this important detail completely forgotten?]

Even though I haven’t read any similar books, the plot did not feel original to me. I don’t know specifically what, but something was just off about this book. I wanted to love it, but I ended up merely liking it; I wouldn’t reread it or necessarily recommend it. I guess I was expecting a fast-paced thriller, but I felt only slightly amused, not thrilled, with this slow-paced plot.

I think Ware’s writing is engaging for the most part, and the book was a quicker read than I expected it to be. She kept me interested in the small details of what was happening, even if I wasn’t overly interested in the plot. Even for the first half of the book that was pretty slow, I never really felt like I wanted to put the book down; I wanted to keep learning details to uncover the mystery, even when many pages would go by with no new information. Something I saw her do in The Woman in Cabin 10 that I thought was quality mystery writing was to address many of the speculations that readers might be thinking. To give an unrelated example, in a horror film when the little girl walks toward the scary sound down the dark hall and the whole audience is shouting at her to turn back. I didn’t feel like this book was like that. Instead, the main character, Laura, would question everybody and everything, even to the point of asking obscure questions that I never guessed she would have thought of. I really appreciate when authors actually write their characters with common sense like this, and this applies to any genre.

Even though I didn’t love this book, I want to give Ruth Wade another chance. I’ve heard that The Death of Mrs. Westaway is a much different style and a better mystery overall than The Woman in Cabin 10, so I might read that one by her next. I also want to try out other mystery authors and discover whose styles I prefer the most because I am definitely interested in delving deeper into this genre.

Overall, I had a good time while reading this book, but I don’t think it was anything special. The story didn’t keep me hooked enough to read the whole book in a day or stay up late to fit in another chapter. I was hoping for a thriller that grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let me go until I reached the last page, and unfortunately, that was not this book.

Review: WHAT THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO BEFORE BREAKFAST by Laura Vanderkam

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

I stumbled across this book when I was looking for a super short audiobook I could listen to this morning. Even though this book is mostly geared toward working moms, I think anyone looking to have a more productive morning will be able to gain insights from reading it.

Almost the entirety of what Vanderkam talks about regarding what successful people do before breakfast is to wake up early, such as at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m., and then work out. Our bodies produce stress hormones in the morning and working out in the morning counteracts those hormones. Also, if you work out in the afternoon or evening, then you spend all day dreading it; however, if you work out in the morning, then you can get it out of the way and can enjoy your day.

Mornings are also great for quality time with your family before you become distracted by the work-day tasks and the post-work exhaustion. I want to implement early morning family time into my days in the future when I have kids.

Every day is full of possibilities, and "these hours are available to all of us if we choose to use them," Vanderkam says. Waking up early is so important because, as she mentions, sleep restores willpower and allows our minds to be invigorated when we first wake up. It allows us to be more productive during the day.

This quick audiobook reads like a podcast, which I really enjoyed. Listening to something like this was a great, motivating way to start my morning. "When you make over your mornings, you can make over your life. That is what the most successful people know."

Review: CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE by Cassandra Clare

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

City of Heavenly Fire was definitely my favourite book in The Mortal Instruments series. It was a great concluding novel that changed the dynamics of many relationships. It was full of suspenseful action, of ups and downs. I'm pleased with how the series ultimately ended, even though I didn't love everything that happened in this book leading up to that ending.

I'm so glad Clare wrote these last three books after the original trilogy because so much changed, and we got to know all the characters so well that I felt connected to them and invested in them in a much deeper way than I did after finishing City of Glass.

The only parts of this book that I didn't love were the scenes about Emma Carstairs and the Blackthorn children. I know that Clare included those scenes to give us background for and entice us to read The Dark Artifices, but I think that was the only point. We could have done without that entire storyline and this book would have ended the same and nothing major would have changed. I also thought Emma was super whiny and acted like she was about six years old, not twelve, so I didn't really care for her character.

*The rest of my review contains spoilers for City of Heavenly Fire if you haven't read it yet.* 

The relationships in this book were so rich. After I finished this book, I realized that I finally like Jace. I didn't like him in the first couple of books because he was so arrogant, and then in City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls he wasn't himself because he was possessed. In this book, however, he was changed, and he even mentions as much to Clary. He told her that she showed him what it actually meant to love someone, and she helped him not be so guarded after being raised by Valentine. He didn't like who he was before but he likes who he is now. I really appreciated that he developed in this way because of Clary, especially after how much she has gone through for him; Clary's a loyal companion.

Related to this, I'm glad Jace decided to take on the last name Herondale. He's had an identity crisis the whole series because he grew up as a Morgenstern but was then raised as a Lightwood until he found out he was actually a Herondale. He has spent the whole series wondering who he really is, and I think his decision to now identify as Herondale shows that he finally knows who he is and that's he ready to accept the truth. Before Clary he was mostly a Lightwood, but after his transformation because of Clary, he is now a Herondale, and it really represents him turning over a new leaf of life and growing into this new person.

While I'm still on the subject of Jace and Clary, I want to talk about that they finally got intimate with each other while in the cave in the demon realm. It's been coming for five books, and I'm actually surprised it took this long to happen, but I am glad that they waited. It would have felt forced and regretful had they done it earlier because now they really know what they mean to each other instead of merely just being boyfriend and girlfriend like any other couple. I don't understand when critics say that Cassandra Clare's books have a lot of sex in them because this was the first time I read about in the seven and a half books I've read by her, and even then it was rather discreet. I think her books are actually fairly clean, which I do appreciate.

I liked everything that happened in the cave in the demon realm, and I think that whole sequence was my favourite part of the book. I can't say why specifically, but I think it's because all the relationships were changing so quickly right then. Magnus and Alec finally got back together, which I was happy about, and I think their time apart actually strengthened their bond. Isabelle and Alec were as cute as ever, and I'm glad they're still together at the end of the book, despite what happened with Simon.

That was definitely the saddest part of the whole series: when Simon was forced to lose all his memories of Clary and the shadow world. I didn't cry (I have never, not once, cried while reading a book, and I don't know why), but I was still devastated. Simon has been my favourite character from the beginning, and he's so integral to the series that I knew Clare wouldn't just cut him out like that. I had guessed that Clary would go and "accidentally" meet him at school or something, but I didn't expect her to play the card that they had known each other when they were really little. I think that gives her more credence though, and I'm glad Simon was so willing to accept everything she, Isabelle, and Magnus had to say to him about the past. What I expected to happen was that the Clave would make Simon a Shadowhunter since Consul Jia said that they needed to find mundanes to Ascend to Shadowhunters. Simon is the perfect fit, but that didn't happen in City of Heavenly Fire, so maybe we will find out in Lady Midnight if it happened. (I haven't decided yet if I'm reading The Dark Artifices, but I might read it just to check in on all the characters I love from The Mortal Instruments because I know they show up at some point.)

Another sad part of this book was at the end after Clary defeated Sebastian with the heavenly fire in her blade (I liked that she kept it a secret from everyone) and Sebastian turns into Jonathan for a little bit. Clary finally got to see her brother for who he should have been all along. I just felt so bad for Clary because that's all she ever wanted, and for Jocelyn who had to watch her son die twice. I am glad that we got to see the true Jonathan in the end, though. As sad as it was, I'm also glad that he did die instead of living on to be the real Jonathan. When Jace was stabbed with heavenly fire, he lived on because he was mostly good inside, but Sebastian was mostly evil inside so it would have been such a blatant plot hole if he would have lived on too. That small moment of Jonathan was honestly a gift.

As far as Sebastian goes, how did he get so powerful in this book? He was a mere Shadowhunter, and then he suddenly became like this super demon in this book, unable to be destroyed or even harmed. I think a common flaw in fantasy stories that we, unfortunately, see here is when the villain suddenly gains god-like powers and becomes indestructible. It was unclear to me how this happened to Sebastian, but I just ignored it for the sake of the story. I did like that the Endarkened he created were stronger than regular Shadowhunters, but still able to be defeated. I had guessed correctly that the Silent Brothers wouldn't be able to find a cure for them. It's sad to see so many "Shadowhunters" die, but real life is brutal, and I'm kind of glad there was no mercy here. Cassandra Clare really plays with our emotions, and I think that's something that makes her a good storyteller. Not everyone lives after a major battle, and I'm glad that stays true here.

Lastly, even though I didn't finish reading The Infernal Devices, I was still familiar with the main characters from that series, and I was glad to see a cameo from Tessa and Jem at the wedding. (Also so happy that Jocelyn and Luke got married finally.) I think it's really neat that Clare overlapped the two series and put clues from the other one into this one. It makes the story that much richer to see them cross over two time periods like that. I was able to recognize quite a few references to The Infernal Devices in this book, but I'm sure had I finished the series I would have found even more Easter eggs.

Overall, I am so glad I finally got around to reading The Mortal Instruments. I was pretty hesitant at first whether I would like it or not, but I did. It's not my favourite series by any means, but I still really enjoyed the journey and especially all the great characters. (The characters were definitely the best part.) The book ends on a happy note that wraps up all the details we needed to know but also leaves the story open for more information to come. At the end, we know that Lillith is still alive and out there, and she's upset about Sebastian's death. Could she be the villain in Lady Midnight since it takes place a few years later and she's had time to regain some power? That is my theory.

Review: DEAD MOUNTAIN: THE UNTOLD TRUE STORY OF THE DYATLOV PASS INCIDENT by Donnie Eichar

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

When I initially heard about the Dyatlov Pass Incident, I couldn’t get my hands on this book fast enough. The story is this: nine experienced hikers are all found dead, buried in the snow near their tent in the northern Ural Mountains during a winter hiking trip, some having experienced blunt force trauma, some with traces of radiation on their clothing, one who’s missing a tongue, and all without shoes on in the subzero temperatures. But the strangest thing is their tent was cut at multiple times with a knife, producing a huge hole in the backside. What would lead these nine hikers to destroy and flee their only form of shelter, improperly clothed, in freezing weather?

The book starts off by talking about the nature of the hike and the background of each of the hikers. The author also talks about his personal obsession with this unsolved mystery and why he flew to Russia to uncover more details. I really enjoyed the nature of which Eichar told the story by jumping to different time periods. We read about the group of hikers preparing for and taking the trip in January 1959, the investigative efforts from February to May 1959, and the author’s own trip to Russia and subsequent research in 2012 and 2013. Telling the story this way really added to the mystery and suspense, and it kept me reading late into the night to uncover the next important detail.

There are some details Eichar discusses for longer than I thought necessary because I didn’t see how they pertained to the investigation. Such details were about the political climate in Russia and what Russian life was like back in the 1950s. It probably helped to set the scene for when the incident took place, but I was so focused on finding out the answer to the mystery that I felt like these tangents slowed down the reading. However, in the second half of the book, I felt like every detail mattered, and the pace really picked up for me.

Eichar told this story using photographs and diary entries from each day of the hikers’ journey up to the night the tragedy occurred, and this was a huge asset to the book. Readers were put in their shoes, and these records were crucial in determining when and where the hikers died. He also includes interviews with various people involved with the case, as well as the thoughts of some family members of the deceased hikers, starting with leader Igor Dyatlov’s younger sister informing the university that their hike was three days late and then being upset that the school didn’t seem to care.

The best part of this book, in my opinion, was toward the end when Eichar discusses in depth each theory that has been proposed over the decades of what happened that fateful night. He tackles all the popular theories as well as some of his own to conclude what he believes to be the most accurate explanation of the hikers’ deaths. Then he recreates the story of that night according to that “truth.” It really was fascinating to read about why he accepted or dismissed each theory according to his years of research, including interviews with top scientists, to support his decision.

I would highly recommend this book if you’re interested in a nonfiction mystery. I hadn’t even heard of the incident until the day before I started the book, but now I can say that this book and the story it tells will stick with me for the rest of my life.

Review: THE ORPHANED ANYTHING'S by Stephen Christian

Rating: 4/5 stars

This writing in this book deserves all the stars it can get, but I gave the book only four stars for a reason I'll explain at the end of my review.

I originally picked up this book because Stephen Christian, the author, is also the lead singer in my favorite band Anberlin. The lyrics he writes for Anberlin's songs are so exquisite and beautiful, and that same writing style comes across in this book as well.

The Orphaned Anything's (I'm aware that apostrophe is wrong) is essentially a journal that chronicles a small part of Ayden Kosacov's life as he struggles to find meaning or purpose in his day-to-day activities. It is funny, witty, heartbreaking, artistic, philosophical, and beautiful. I think all of us can relate to Ayden in one way or another because of how raw and honest his thoughts and descriptions are throughout this story.

Although this is a rather short novel, it is full of so much emotion. It also is abundant with quotable lines that I just want to hang on my walls. I really can't explain the kind of impact this book had on me, but I can guarantee this is a book I will be purchasing and reading again and again.

The reason I docked a star is for the very apparent lack of editing. This book is written entirely in lowercase letters, which is unique and adds to its idea of it being a journal, and this wouldn't bother me at all if it were the only nonconventional decision. However, on top of no capital letters there were rampant misspellings all throughout the book, wrong words being used in place of the obviously intended words, apostrophes where there should be none (note the title) and no apostrophes where there should be some, other egregious punctuation mistakes, and many other writing and editing errors that are too minute to list. As an editor, I was not only bothered but also downright distracted by the visual presentation of the book. Even one quick round through an editor would have fixed over 95% of the errors and made for a more seamless reading experience. So I am subtracting a star for how distracting it is to read this book, but this subtracted star in no way impacts the masterful writing displayed on every page of the story.

Overall, this book can be described in one word that doesn't quite do it justice: beautiful.

Review: MINIMALISM: LIVE A MEANINGFUL LIFE by The Minimalists

Rating: 3/5 stars

I think this book is important, but my guess is that there are probably others out there that are much better.

I liked learning about the life story of Joshua and Ryan and how they got to where they are today as minimalists. Their situations played deeply into how this book came to be.

I think the five aspects of their book (health, relationships, passions, growth, and contributions) are important things to consider when leading a minimalistic lifestyle. I especially like that this book focuses on those specific areas of your life when it comes to minimalism besides just saying "get rid of excess material possessions." Each of those areas talks about an abstract aspect of life that shouldn't be neglected when looking for lifelong fulfillment.

The biggest issue I had with this book was the constant repetition. Every chapter was repeating the same things (while, yes, also touching on new ideas), especially about the two authors' background and situation. I was seriously rolling my eyes with how many times I had to read how they left their "big corporate jobs in pursuit of a happier lifestyle."

Despite how short this book is, it could have been even shorter had all the repetitions been removed prepublication. Likewise, it also could have been longer had they added more details on exactly how to accomplish these minimalistic goals. The book was full of questions to ask yourself to gauge what you need to do to achieve these goals, but I do think a lot was left out. I was left with many questions and wanting more details.

The book is written in a casual tone that is open and friendly to the readers, but it reads like an essay, which wasn't very enjoyable for me.

I personally think I already lead a rather minimalistic life, but I am struggling with what more I can do. This book addressed ending goals for me but didn't address how I could reach those goals. It explained how the authors reached those goals, but their methods didn't always work for me. They even said that people can claim minimalism is "easier said than done," and explained how that isn't true, but in some cases, it is if the pathway to the goal isn't detailed clearly.

Overall I think this book is a good introduction to minimalism, but I am still searching for something more comprehensive and more relatable. And possibly something edited a little better.

Review: PHANTOMS ON THE BOOKSHELVES by Jacques Bonnet

Rating: 2/5 stars

I originally picked this up because it is a book about books, written by a man who owns 40,000 books in his private collection, and that really intrigued me.

After reading, I think this book would be good for a specific audience, and I'm sure that doesn't include me. For example, if you own thousands or tens of thousands of books, you will probably like this book and really connect with the author. If you are familiar with authors and literature from all times and from all countries, especially France, you will probably like this book (and understand all the references). If you are highly obsessive about the collection and organization of your books, you will probably like this book.

Honestly, this book was just way too much for me. I love books, but his obsession with them and how he explains anything related to books was just making my eyes roll.

Even though this book was only 123 pages, I found it very hard to get through. This book is basically made of tangents. There were pages and pages of Bonnet describing specific books in his book collection and how they're organized and where he collected them from and how that led him to discover other books. He included passages and quotations from dozens of books and talked about characters as if they're real and authors as if they're imaginary. I'm normally very interested in reading about any topics regarding books, but Bonnet's biography of his library is just too pedantic for my taste.

One nice thing about this book, though, is that there are a handful of very quotable and relatable phrases. Also, there are many recommendations for other books about books, which I found pleasing, although I most likely won't read any of them.

Overall, I would skip this book unless you fit into one of the categories I listed above and also really feel inclined to read it. It was a somewhat interesting read but very slow and one I could have done without.

Review: UNDERDOGS by Markus Zusak

Rating: 2/5 stars

I never would have picked up this book if it wasn't written by the same author who wrote my very favourite book. The synopsis of Underdogs didn't really interest me, but I love Zusak's writing style in The Book Thief, so I thought I'd give this book a chance too.

If I didn't know better, I'd say the books were written by two different people. The elegant prose and beautiful descriptions in The Book Thief are not present in this book. Underdogs feels, to me, like any other unmemorable story about two brothers who get themselves into trouble. I really couldn't feel Zusak's special touch in it.

I'm including my ratings of the individual books:
Underdog: 2/5 stars
Fighting Ruben Wolfe: 1/5 stars
Getting the Girl: 3/5 stars

This trilogy took me so long to read, mostly because I was bored with the story and rather uninterested in how the plot progressed. The third book was by far the most interesting, and I can see now why it has the most ratings on Goodreads of the three books. It also has a writing style that is most similar to that present in The Book Thief, although the similarities are still only slight.

This is a trilogy that I will never reread, but I am glad that I read it this once. If you are a Zusak fan, I can safely say that you are not missing out by skipping these books.

Review: CITY OF LOST SOULS by Cassandra Clare

Rating: 4/5 stars

*This review contains spoilers for the first four books in The Mortal Instruments series, but not for this book, City of Lost Souls.*

I read a lot of reviews where people said this book was really slow, but I didn’t see that. I enjoyed the whole thing; although, I was listening to the audiobook so that might have contributed to my enjoyment. Also, I was slugging through Clockwork Prince right before I started this book but decided to put it down out of boredom and because I just really wanted to get back into this story instead. Because of that, I don’t know how that book connects to this book, but I really wish I did because I bet there are tons of crossover details.

First, let’s talk about the characters. I’m irritated with Jace again. Why is it always Jace who’s in trouble? What happened with him in City of Fallen Angels and this book reminded me of City of Ashes where he almost trusted Valentine and got in trouble with the Clave. Like why can’t someone else be in the hot seat for a change? Jace hasn’t been himself for the last two books for certain reasons, but it just feels like Clare is picking on his character because it seems he’s always the one to get the short end of the stick. I get that it’s because of what happened at the end of City of Glass, but I still feel like she turned a main character on us for a few hundred pages there.

Anyway, I’m still loving Simon. He was the first character I like backed in City of Bones, and he remains my favorite character of this series. I just love watching him grow as a vampire. He faces real struggles when it comes to his family, and it’s nice to see characters work through their problems and emerge stronger, which he does. I’m glad he was able to work out some of the tension in his family. He has been instrumental to the lives of the Shadowhunters in this whole series, and I think he’s a living testament that Downworlders and Shadowhunters are supposed to work together to fight demons and villains, that there never should have been animosity between the two races.

Clary really showed her loyalty to Jace in this book. Up until now I considered their relationship to be like any other teenage relationship that you think is going to last forever until it ends abruptly over something stupid. But now I realize how invested Clary is, and I have to give her credit for what she endured for Jace during this book. I bet she learned a lot about herself, too, in how far she was willing to go for him. Also, I’m glad Clary finally used her charm to summon the Seelie Queen because when we found out about that back in City of Fallen Angels, I’d been wondering when it was going to show up again. I hate when authors introduce an important artifact or a piece of crucial information and then it never gets mentioned again. I also loved the rings that Clary acquired and their properties. All of the magical items in this series—and there are quite a few—are my favorite things to read about.

Jordan and Maia grew on me during this book too. I kept blowing them off as disposable side characters but after this book, I started to like them, Jordan especially.

I really enjoyed Alec and Magnus’s relationship for most of this book. (I’m hoping what happened at the end will be solved in the final book.) The bounds were tested, and I think they both learned what their relationship was worth to each of them. I was also kind of excited to see Alec keeping secrets from the rest of the crew because that’s so unlike him and it really stretched his character.

And lastly, Sebastian. What’s to like? I’m a bit upset that he’s back in this series because he was supposed to be dead. . . . But here he is anyhow, and I don’t like him. He actually seemed pretty charming and normal for most of the book, which was an interesting change of character for him, but I still never trusted him for a second. What I did like, though, was his house that could teleport anywhere. I want a house like that.

After five books, I’ve spent a lot of time with these characters and have really grown to love them all. I remember hating Isabelle and Jace in the first book, but now Isabelle is one of my favorite characters, and Jace is good when he can finally think for himself. This book had a great deal of character development in it for all the characters, and that might be why some people think it’s slow, because of the lack of action for a few hundred pages. However, while there is no action in the beginning, the events that do take place are just as important.

I thought there were quite a few tropes in this book. Normally I don’t really notice or care about tropes but for some reason in this book I really noticed them, and it had me rolling my eyes at times. Something I hate in books that feels like a cop-out is dead people coming back to life. Simon coming back to life in the earlier books I liked because it wasn’t the typical resurrection spell and he was changed, but Sebastian, who was originally dead when the trilogy “ended” the first time, coming back in the second arc of this series seemed like a ploy just to create more content and sell more books. He is also so similar to Valentine that the end of this book felt too much like it was slipping into the plotline of the first three books. I know that Valentine and Sebastian have different ideas of a “utopia” that they’re trying to build, but it’s all the same concept.

Another trope that bothered me was the one where “the main character gets never-before-seen unnatural powers” that happened. This happened with Clary and her rune-creating abilities that happened in the first arc, and here it is happening again. I just don’t like when one person is more special than the entire rest of their race. Or “the super important artifact that is the key to everything goes missing so the whole plan is foiled” trope that happens to Clary.

I remember commending Cassandra Clare in my review of City of Bones for addressing all the questions in the plot that the reader would have, such as Why can’t the characters just use this spell instead? or Why can’t they solve the problem this simpler way? But after reading this book, I’ve noticed that technique doesn’t apply so much anymore. There were plenty of times I asked myself while reading City of Lost Souls, Why are they doing this? Why is it happening this way? Why didn’t this obvious idea work? It was a bit disappointing.

Once again, I love how the doctrine from the Bible is used to tell the history of Shadowhunters. Clare takes really interesting concepts from the Bible and uses them to make her world seem more realistic, and it’s great. It is curious, though, that it is mentioned multiple times in this series that Shadowhunters have no religion because they essentially worship the angel Raziel for creating them, but they base a lot of things on Christian scripture. I would be interested to learn more about this. Reading about religion in fantasy novels is one of my favorite aspects of any fantastical world.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed City of Lost Souls and all the character development and details it contributed to the world of the Shadowhunters. I was a little irritated with how the big battle happened at the end, but this book still had some surprises for me. I can’t wait to read the sixth and final book! I can’t say why it took me so long to finally read The Mortal Instruments, but I am glad I got to it this summer.

Review: THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Rating: 5/5 stars

I have so much to say about this book, yet I also have no idea what to say. I think this is a masterpiece of literature, and I am immensely glad that I decided to read it.

My thoughts are all jumbled, but I really admired the portrait that Reid painted of what it was like to be a biracial, queer, sex symbol actress in the ’60s, of what it was like to be Evelyn Hugo. I felt like I really knew her throughout this story. We got to hear Evelyn tell her own story from her youth through her old age, adding in all the dirty bits and secrets about her life that she’s been keeping hidden from the world for decades. It felt realistic and so honest, and I could not stop listening to the audiobook because I just really wanted to know more about Evelyn Hugo’s life.

This story sounded a bit shallow to be at first, but it isn’t by any means. Evelyn Hugo really communicated a lot of emotions and concepts with the reader: what it’s like to be biracial in the ’60s, what it’s like to be queer in the ’60s, what it’s like to be a famous biracial and queer actress in the ’60s, how the media actually has no idea what the truth is and will tell you whatever story they want to sell you, how to fight for what you believe in, and why none of the fame and money really matters because family is the most important thing. Evelyn Hugo manipulates a lot of people to get what she wants. She plays her fans and her husbands and the reporters to construct the story she wants them to know in order to get more famous, to get a new role in a film, to make more money, or to save face. Evelyn Hugo knows that people only like the idea of her but don’t like the reality of who she is once they get to know her. And she uses this to her advantage. I feel like I would be mortified if I lived her life, yet she unashamedly stomps through life letting everyone know exactly who she is and that she’s not sorry for any of her actions. And somehow that made me really admire her. She’s someone who knows what she wants and is not afraid to go out there and get it. I wish I were more confident like that.

Even though I don’t know hardly anything about Marilyn Monroe, I kept thinking of her while reading this book. She and Evelyn Hugo were both highly famous, sex icon actresses in the mid-twentieth century (albeit one was real and one is fictional). I know people also compare Evelyn Hugo to Elizabeth Taylor because of the many husbands. I would be curious to know if Reid based her character off of either of these real actresses in any way.

I didn’t think I would love this book as much as I did. The more I sit and think about it after finishing it, the more I like it. I think this is one I will revisit in the future because I just loved the story and all the characters. My favorite character was Celia because she was just so sweet, and I also loved Harry, but there honestly weren’t any characters I disliked. Everyone had both redeeming qualities and vices, making them all seem very human; no one is completely good or completely bad but a mixture of the two. Each character developed and changed over the years, so someone I didn’t like at the start was different by the end and I couldn’t justify not liking them anymore. And many characters that I thought were just side characters there for no reason turned out to be some of the most dynamic and influential characters in the end (read: Celia).

As far as Monique, the interviewer, I loved how as Evelyn was telling her story, it directly impacted the decisions that Monique made day by day. Monique even makes the comment that had it not been for Evelyn, she wouldn’t have done this or said that, and I just loved seeing her grab life by the reigns and take control. And as far as the ending, I did not guess the connection between Evelyn and Monique. I had two theories, but neither seemed probable and I was hoping I was wrong anyway. Gladly, I was, and I was actually shocked to learn what the true connection was. I think it was very clever of Reid to not take a typical route but to write it how she did instead.

Reid’s writing ability really shone through in this story, in terms of both character development and plot, and I’d be interested to read more of her books in the future.

I would definitely recommend this book, but know that it is scandalous and probably would not be as enjoyable for more conservative audiences. I listened to the audiobook and I would highly recommend that as well. The voice actors were excellent, and it really aided the fact that Evelyn was telling her story in the book. I felt like I was directly listening to her instead of reading a transcript of the interview.

Overall, this is top-quality work.

Review: CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS by Cassandra Clare

Rating: 4/5 stars

This book was the most interesting of the series so far. City of Bones was okay, I didn’t like City of Ashes, I liked City of Glass, and I really liked City of Fallen Angels. I think one of the reasons I liked this so much (when so many other people didn’t) is because I knew about it before I started book one. I didn’t read the series back in high school when they were initially being published, so I didn’t expect City of Glass to be the end of this world until this fourth book was published; I went in expecting more story than the original trilogy, and I ended up really liking this book.

I think I liked this book so much because the stakes were much higher and the plot was more intriguing here than in the original trilogy. I liked the idea of the villain here a lot more than I did Valentine for the first three books. It feels like the first three books were a preamble, or a backstory, and now we’re finally getting to the real story now that all that Valentine business is taken care of.

I loved that Simon was a huge part of this book. He is one of my favorite characters, so it was nice to see him have a bigger impact on the order of things and be one of the main perspectives. I love seeing him evolve as a character and become more comfortable with being a vampire.

At first I thought the “people” that attacked Simon were the “people” in Clockwork Angel. I thought there would be some connection, but I was wrong. I hope the books overlap more in the rest of the series because I am going through the effort of reading the Infernal Devices, even though I don’t really want to, just so I can enjoy the Mortal Instruments better. [Update a week after writing this review: I have decided not to continue on with the Infernal Devices because I was quite uninterested in the story and the characters that were historical photocopies of the characters from the Mortal Instruments. I am still interested in how the books overlap and connect, so I looked up a spoilery review for the last two books in the Infernal Devices.]

Jace really irritated me in this book, and I hate that he was punishing himself so much for what was going on with him and Clary. He really was just hurting Clary, and it was irritating how he couldn’t be reasoned with. I knew something was wrong with him, and I just wanted to figure out what that was. I had some guesses, but of course they were all wrong.

Overall, I thought this book was a nice addition to the original trilogy. City of Fallen Angels had more details about the Shadowhunter universe, which was helpful. We got to learn about more history and rituals for Shadowhunters, and I really appreciate having more details to build a fuller imaginative world. I am liking this series the longer I read it, and I’m glad I finally started it this year.