May 2014 Recap

Sometimes it amazes me that there's anything to recap for the month on the blog, lol. I feel like I've been reading and blogging less lately, and I'm officially 2 books behind schedule on my Goodreads reading challenge for 2014. Womp womp. Anyhoo, we celebrated another graduation in May: Ally's high school career has officially come to a close. There are a few pics from her big day below. The Melissa also gave us cause to celebrate last month—she has a new job! After a nonstop, busy May for all of us, we're looking forward to our road trip in a few weeks!

Reviews Posted:

• My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris
• The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu
• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Featured Posts:

• Our City of Heavenly Fire Wishlist

Discussing Game of Thrones Posts:

• First of His Name
• The Laws of Gods and Men
• Mockingbird

TBR Reading Challenge Progress:

• Books Read/Reviewed: 2 (Total for Year: 6)

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (42): Favorite Movie Moments

Harry Potter Moment of the Week is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! A list of upcoming topics can be found here.

It's a free week, and I thought it'd be fun to make a list of:
Favorite Movie Moments

My introduction to the world of Harry Potter actually began with the movie adaptation of Sorcerer's Stone. After seeing the film, I devoured the four books that were available at the time. The movies have always held an extra special meaning for me, and I thought I'd highlight my favorite moments from each of them for this week's post.

Sorcerer's Stone

There are so many memorable scenes to choose from, but I absolutely loved the giant living chessboard the trio has to get across in their quest to find the stone. I just thought it was amazing, and it was so cool how Ron got to be the hero here.

Chamber of Secrets

The diary flashback was so well done, showing us how young Tom Riddle appeared to be the model student, though Dumbledore suspected something else lurking beneath the facade even then. Christian Coulson was excellent as Riddle, portraying both the suave prefect and the power hungry, future ultimate evil.

Prisoner of Azkaban

To start with, I have to mention Hermione punching Malfoy; that punk had it coming! Two of my all-time favorite characters in the series make their first appearances: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Therefore, I need to pick a scene with both of them in it, so I'm going with their reunion in the Shrieking Shack. That part where Lupin tries to stall Sirius from killing Peter Pettigrew in order to explain everything to Harry first and Sirius exclaims that he's spent 12 years in Azkaban waiting for this moment of revenge—it floors me every time. So much anguish in that single line.

Goblet of Fire

Every scene with David Tennant as Barry Crouch, Jr. gets a thumb's-up from me! I also really like the Yule Ball scenes. The shock on Harry and Ron's faces and Ron's ensuing jealousy when Hermione turns up with Krum are both hilarious.

Order of the Phoenix

Lupin and Sirius, together again—yay! I loved Harry's flight over London to Grimmauld Place; the city looked so beautiful. There's also Harry and Sirius's poignant chat in front of the Black family tree, and on a much lighter note, Fred and George's departure from Hogwarts! This is the only HP film I saw in IMAX, and the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic was EPIC.

Half-Blood Prince

This sounds so terribly inappropriate, but it's true: I laughed out loud in the theater during Aragog's funeral thanks to Harry acting all loopy after drinking Felix Felicis. The parts where he imitates Aragog's pincers and is like, "Oh yeah!" when Slughorn asks if the deceased had any family crack me up. I also loved the visual effects used for the cave scene when Dumbledore sets it ablaze to drive away the Inferi—just spectacular.

Deathly Hallows, Part 1

Watching Harry's doubles transform into him after drinking Polyjuice Potion is a lot of fun and one of the lighter moments. One of my other favorite scenes is Harry getting Hermione to dance with him in the tent. They're both in such low spirits after Ron's departure, and forgetting about their troubles for a few is precisely what they need.

Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Oh man, where to start with this one? It's the end, and each minute is precious. There's the thrilling break-in to and escape from Gringott's, the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry's gut-wrenching look into Snape's memories, the epic duel at the end, the Epilogue, and so much more. So basically the whole movie qualifies as a highlight to me. But, the scene that makes me bawl my freaking eyes out EVERY TIME is Harry's trip into the forest with the Resurrection Stone. I'm tearing up right now! That scene is made of 100% perfection and is just . . . beautiful.

What are some of your favorite moments from the films?

Our City of Heavenly Fire Wishlist

* SPOILER WARNING FOR THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS AND THE INFERNAL DEVICES! This post contains spoilers for BOTH series, so if you're not caught up on all of the books in the two series, you may want to quit reading this post here.

It's release day for City of Heavenly Fire, the last book in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series! Even though Ally and I are both more partial to Clare's Victorian Shadowhunter series, The Infernal Devices, we still feel a certain attachment to TMI. It was one of the first YA series that the two of us discussed enthusiastically, and we love its NYC setting. We wanted to do some kind of post for the TMI finale, so we decided to put together a list of things we'd like to see happen in CoHF. We quickly discovered that we couldn't do that without constantly referring to TID, hence the spoiler warning for both series. (We are also still in denial about TID being over and can't just let it go.) So, here's once more chance to avoid spoilers!

Ally's Wishlist

The Real Deal vs. The Frauds

In The Infernal Devices, the best relationship is between Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs. They are the true epitome of parabatai—they're closer than brothers and would literally die for/without each other. The bond and connection they share is definitely inspiring. In The Mortal Instruments, Jace and Alec are parabatai. Will and Jem easily put their Shadowhunter descendants to shame. Jace and Alec's parabatai bond pales in comparison to Will and Jem's bond. Yeah, Jace and Alec are buddies and everything, but I wouldn't say that they're any closer than brothers. I'm sure they would die for each other, but they wouldn't die without the other. Jace would be able to survive without Alec, but Will wouldn't be able to survive without Jem (hence the whole Silent Brother ordeal). I seriously doubt the parabatai bond Jace and Alec share. Looking at what Will and Jem had just makes Jace and Alec all the more disappointing. Will and Jem just need to travel to the future and show them how the whole parabatai thing is really done.

Malec ♥

The ending of City of Lost Souls left Malec fans, including myself, heartbroken and destroyed. One of the cutest couples in the whole Shadowhunter world broke up. Malec went back to just being Magnus and Alec. It was terrible; I could barely cope. I just about cried while reading the break-up scene. After the initial heartbreak, I went into denial. There is no way, in heaven or hell, that Magnus and Alec are going to remain split. I take comfort in the fact that this isn't the end to their relationship. It just can't be. They love each other too much. Magnus and Alec will be back together before the end of City of Heavenly Fire, just you wait. And I'm sure their reunion scene will make the break-up worth it!

Brother Zachariah's Butterfly Transformation

Thanks to the beautiful epilogue in Clockwork Princess, we all know that Jem finds a cure and is released from his Silent Brother vows. Yay! We know that this happens but we don't know the how. I'm just going to assume that our pals from TMI help Zach turn back into our precious little Jem. Jem turns into Brother Zachariah in Clockwork and is still a Silent Brother in City of Lost Souls. Some time between those two books, Jem is cured. This all means something greater—Jem is going to have a lot of book time in Heavenly Fire! I'm so looking forward to that. I'm also looking forward to Jem telling all the modern Shadowhunters about all his bad-arse adventures from back in the day! Hopefully Tessa and Will can make an appearance, too.

Lee's Wishlist

The Characters from TID Whom I Hope Make an Appearance in CoHF

Ally just gave me the best segue ever there! Tessa and Jem are pretty much guaranteed to turn up in CoHF, which of course makes me happy. Something I'm really looking forward to in this final installment of TMI is how it ties into TID. And if we're going to come full circle, I think somehow working Will into CoHF would only be fitting. I'm not sure how this would be possible in the way that Tessa and Jem are able to be present in the modern Shadowhunter chronicles, but I can still dream about Will being a part of CoHF, can't I? How about a flashback?

The Wisdom of Elders

Clockwork Princess featured a family tree that illustrated the lineage of the TID characters down to their TMI descendants. If I could put myself in the shoes of the Victorian Shadowhunters and impart advice to the future generation, it'd go something like this. Charlotte Branwell (née Fairchild) could counsel both Jocelyn and Clary on how to be a strong leader. The latter two have annoyed me at various times throughout TMI, and I feel that they could benefit from taking a few pages from Charlotte's book. As for Jace, I doubt that the the mopiness that has drained a lot of the life from the character I fell in love with in City of Bones would meet the approval of William Herondale. I dream of a scenario in which Will manages to make contact with Jace and tells him to snap out of it and get his crap together, phrased in Will's unique style of insult-wrapped-in-Victorian-politeness, of course.

Sizzy!

I think Simon and Isabelle make a cute couple. I was so glad that he quit pining for Clary, because that was a lost cause the moment Clary met Jace. I like how adorkable Simon complements spitfire Izzy, and those two deserve a nice little happily ever after. Or I will be terribly, terribly upset.

Are you looking forward to anything in particular in City of Heavenly Fire?

Road Trippin' to UtopYA Con!

In just a few weeks, Ally, The Melissa, and I will be heading to Nashville for UtopYA Con! Not only is this our first ever bookish event, but it's also our first road trip together. None of us has ever been to Nashville, either, so this is an all-around big adventure for everyone.

A definite upside to driving is not having to worry about luggage restrictions (within reason, of course. My car is pretty roomy, but not, like, 20 boxes of books roomy.). I have also already been threatened with being forced to do push-ups or jumping jacks or some other form of exercise if I make any reference whatsoever to work while I'm on vacation.

We're extremely excited to finally be attending a bookish con, as well as looking forward to exploring Nashville. We're also psyched to meet fellow bloggers, so if you're going to be there, we'd love to say hi!

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1)
By Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Angels and demons never seemed real to Clary Fray, but a night at the Pandemonium Club proves otherwise. An entire world of vampires, warlocks, and werewolves has been painstakingly kept hidden from her until now. It’s time for Clary to finally embrace her true identity as a Shadowhunter, one of the angelic descendants dedicated to protecting humans from the evil they don’t even realize surrounds them. Clary’s first priority, though, is to find her missing mother whose sudden disappearance may be a sign that a past conflict among the Shadowhunters is about to reignite.

Review: Rereading a book, especially one that I first read pre-blog, is always an adventure for me. I’m interested to see if my opinion has changed or if I feel the same way about the book in question. City of Bones had more than a little pressure on it to be as good as I remembered it. Although The Infernal Devices remains my favorite Shadowhunter series, City of Bones was my introduction to the Shadowhunter world, and I couldn’t help feeling a bit sentimental while turning its pages.

I’m probably going to wind up referring to TID a few non-spoilery times throughout this review, just because I’m still unable to, on a somewhat subconscious level, let go of that series. So here’s reference #1. Before the release of Clockwork Princess, my nerdy self required a reread of Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince. Those two books blew me away all over again with their awesomeness. I didn’t expect quite the same reaction to a reread of City of Bones because I didn’t consider it a five star read the first time around. It was a solid four, maybe four and half then, and I still think so now. The world of angels and demons with some vampires, warlocks, werewolves, and faeries thrown in was just as exciting to discover all over again. I am also such a sucker for books set in New York City, and City of Bones scores extra points for referencing real places in my old Brooklyn neighborhood. I get a geeky thrill from the thought of the Shadowhunters walking the same streets I did for a good part of my life.

In addition to the richly detailed world and its pretty epic scale, the novel’s other standout is Mr. Jace Wayland. I cannot explain why I go for the snarky boys; I just do. (It should come as no surprise that I love TID’s snarky Will Herondale, too; in fact, I love him more than Jace.) Jace is arrogant and a smartass, but he’s also the guy whom you want fighting on your side. Without a doubt.

Something I noticed this read around was the pacing. The disappearance of Clary’s mother, Jocelyn, is central to the plot, yet the book is in no rush for her to be found. Speaking of Clary, I’m sorry to say that I’m still not impressed with her as a heroine, at least at this point in the series. She does not particularly excel at putting two and two together; helloooo Clary: your best friend is in love with you and you have no clue! Clary is also impulsive in a way that tends to lead to trouble as opposed to making me see her as a badass.

I don’t think any amount of rereads could keep me from going, “What the . . . ?!” at the ending of City of Bones. Despite that crazy twist not being a complete shock this time, my brain encountered some difficulty processing it. Again. There’s really not much you can say after an ending like that, and on that note, I do believe this review is done.

All in All: The Shadowhunters continue to rule as the coolest demon fighters around, whether they’re saving Victorian England or modern day New York. City of Bones is where everything Shadowhunter-related started for me, and it’s a very good beginning, indeed.