Apr 19, 2012

The Infernal Devices


Love: Will Herondale
Books: Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince
Characteristics: When Tessa first sees him she thinks this:
He had the most beautiful face she had ever seen. Tangled black hair and eyes that shone like blue glass. Elegant cheekbones, a full mouth, and long, thick lashes. Even the curve of his throat was perfect. He looked like every fiction hero she'd ever conjured up in her head. Although she'd never imagined one of them cursing at her while shaking his bleeding hand in an accusing fashion.
He's also British. I see him like this:

Logan Lerman Hot Pictures

Why I love him:

            First off, he was conjured up in the mind of Cassandra Clare, my favorite author EVER, so I was predisposed to like him.
            That aside, he makes me giggle with his wacky ramblings, and general oddness. When I think of Will Herondale, I picture a Logan Lerman looking boy singing about his hatred for ducks, or his odd obsession with demon pox or saying something generally odd, like:
"As for the temperature of Hell, Miss Gray," he said, "let me give you a piece of advice. The handsome young fellow who's trying to rescue you from a hideous fate is never wrong. Not even if he says the sky is purple and made of hedgehogs."
OR
            "You know about the Magister," Tessa said. "They said they were preparing me for him."
            "For him to do what?" Will asked. "Eat you for dinner?"
            Yeah, you get the picture. He's also incredibly, ah brave? (though some may say "stupid," since he often puts himself in situations in which he could die) However, I find it brave, even if he does like to show off while displaying said bravery. In the prologue, he and Jem (his fighting partner, or parabatai, & his best friend) are demon-hunting, and he is trying to show off, and is disappointed when Jem is not there for him to show off to.
            He enjoys reading, and can quote large portions of every book he's read. When Tessa is nervous about fighting vampires, he turns to her and says: "Sometimes, when I have to do something I don't want to do, I pretend I'm a character from a book. It's easier to know what they would do." (picture that in a British accent, and it's an immediate *swoon* for me)  I love a guy who enjoys reading!
            His relationship with Jem is one of his most redeeming qualities, because Will seems to not care about anyone else, and you can see that he truly loves Jem, as if he were his brother. Its because of this relationship that I can tell that there's something less awful under his marble shell.
My favorite Will moments:
            "I will thank you not to speak of my family," Gabriel snarled, reaching behind him to pull the door shut. 
          "How unfortunate that the prospect of your gratitude is not a tempting one," Will said.
            "I hope not. I intend to marry Agatha myself. She may be a thousand years old, but she makes an incomparable jam tart. Beauty fades, but cooking is eternal." 
            "Blue does not go with everything," Will told her. "It does not go with red for instance."
             "I have a red a blue striped waistcoat," Henry interjected, reaching for the peas.
             "And if that isn't proof that those two colors should never be seen together under Heaven, I don't know what is."
             Will's eyes were very blue. "There's plenty of sense in nonsense sometimes, if you wish to look for it." 


So, Will seems a bit mad at times, but I do so love him!


By inamorataofbooks (from tumblr)


My thoughts on the book:

            I loved this book!!! Honestly, the characters and the imagery were amazing and beautiful. I could picture this nineteenth century London that Mrs. Clare created for us. My favorite scene was when Tessa and Will walk into the party at de Quincy's, and she describes the red candle wax leaking onto the white marble, and the room is only lit by candles, and its cold. I just loved that I could see it so vividly!
            I also adored our heroine, Tessa, because she's a riot. She puts Will in his place, without meaning to, when no one else is able to. She's also sweet and loving and I just wish I was her! My favorite conversation between Tessa and Will was:
            "I want to be back before dark," Will said. He was leaning nearly across Tessa's lap, and she could smell that faint boy-smell of leather and metal that seemed to cling to his hair and skin. "I have an assignation in Soho this evening with a certain attractive someone."
            "Goodness," Tessa said to the back of his head. "If you keep seeing Six-Fingered Nigel like this, he'll expect you to declare your intentions."
            I suppose that serves as good enough proof that Tessa is quite funny. I also like Jem, because he is kind and musical and just really great (NOT great enough that I want him to end up with Tessa, uh-uh no way). Although, he is really funny, in his own way:
            "You're thinking, If they call this damp nastiness summer, what must winter be like? You'd be surprised. Winter's actually much the same." He moved away from the door and sat down on the step beside Tessa, though not too close. "It's spring that's really lovely."
             "Is it?" Tessa said, without much real interest.
             "No. It's actually quite foggy and wet as well."  
                                                                                    
And then he goes on to be sweet and caring! So, yes he is a pretty great character, he just isn't Will.
            I liked that Charlotte (the woman in charge of the Institute) took each of these kids in (Jem, Will, Jessamine, and Tessa) and cares for each of them. Even if Will is a jerk to her, and even if Jem is deathly ill all the time, even if Jessamine is a brat, and even if Tessa isn't even a shadowhunter. She's lovely and sweet and caring, and she's created this little makeshift family, with her husband and these kids, and its kind of wonderful.
            Each character had a kind of dark past, and that made them each a teensy bit more loveable.
            I didn't add anything about Clockwork Prince, as it tore my heart to shreds, and I can't possibly flip through it to find quotes without crying, so I didn't! Unfortunately, said heart ripping was the goal of the beloved author; she said so in a recent tumblr post about the new City of Lost Souls trailer (http://cassandraclare.tumblr.com/post/21340634331/city-of-lost-souls-trailer-q-a) and at the end of the post she says this: "It is not a book designed, like Clockwork Prince was, to hopefully cut your heart into tiny pieces. . ." She definitely captured that desired effect on me! (Seriously, I cried like a recently dumped teenage girl while she watches the Notebook and eats Ben & Jerry's. Yeah, it was that intense for me.) The book itself is amazing, though, and I still highly recommend reading it!
            The entire Infernal Devices series, so far, is amazing. Clockwork Princess comes out in 2013 (too far away, if you ask me) and that'll be the last book in this series!
            So, I'm super excited, and I feel that EVERYONE should read these books, because they are amazing and wonderful and unique and necessary to those who say they like the YA genre.

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Apr 18, 2012

Hex Hall

To celebrate Spell Bound being released last month (which I read entirely today), I thought I'd do a post about Archer! And I liked him best in Hex Hall, therefore:


Love: Archer Cross
Book: Hex Hall, Demonglass, Spell Bound
Characteristics: Black, curly hair, perpetual smirk, tall, handsome, overall a stereotypical "bad boy" (in a private school uniform) sort of look, oh, and he's a warlock!
Why I love him:


        First off, his name is Archer Cross, and that's a pretty hot name in itself. He's majorly sarcastic (y'all will see soon enough that that's pretty darn important for me in a guy), and witty. He and Sophie love to banter throughout the series. For example, when they first met:

       "Archer?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Hey, you might be able to take away my magical powers, but the power of sarcasm was still at my disposal. "Is your last name Newport or Vanderbuilt? Maybe followed by some numbers? Ooh!" I said, widening my eyes, "or maybe even Esquire!"
       I’d hoped to hurt his feelings or, at the very least, make him angry, but he just kept smiling at me. “Actually, it’s Archer Cross, and I’m the first one. Now what about you?” He squinted. “Let’s see. . . brown hair, freckles, whole girl-next-door vibe going on. . . Allie? Lacie? Definitely something cutesy ending in ie.”
(Of course, during this, I was thinking "Sophie, you idiot! He's probably rich, don't make him mad!" & then he was all "Hey, I'll mock her too." & then I was all *swoon*)

        Of course, what good would the hot guy be if he didn't have an equally hot (and evil and obnoxious) girlfriend! Sadly, Archer is no exception to this rule, and is dating Elodie, mean girl extraordinaire. However, she really doesn't have much personality (other than mean), so she's not really worth a quote! Although, Sophie does manage to get her & Archer detention *together* for the rest of the semester, in the cellar, by themselves.... aaaaannnnnddd Elodie doesn't like that one bit. (Ha!) So, they end up cataloging the cellar after school, an hour a day, which is where we get to know Archer better, and we learn that he is fairly honest, and open, and not all snark. (And he can do magic, instead of sucking blood and sparkling.... not sure if that's any better, but the magic thing is pretty cool) Overall, he's a great character, and I just find myself liking him more and more as I read the series, he's especially great in Spell Bound, but I don't want to spoil the series for those of you who haven't read it!

My thoughts on the book:


       First off, Sophie is one of my favorite heroines ever, because she is HILARIOUS. The book is narrated by her, therefore the book carries kind of a sarcastic tone:

      ...I'd just crossed into the land of Royally Screwed.

AND
       "Yeah," I answered way too brightly. I sounded like a cheerleader on a Kool-aid high. 
AND
       Did Elodie actually have some depth to her like he said? 'Cause I sure wasn't hearing anything deeper than a bedpan.
       So, I really enjoy Sophie's point of view, and the way she says things. She also can kick butt (she kicked her "gym" teacher in the chest, because the teacher was about to practice defense skill 4 on her). I also like Sophie's pink-loving vamp BFF, Jenna. She's super funny, and really does deck everything out entirely in pink. 
       I liked the story as a whole, and I loved all the characters a lot. All three of the Hex Hall books made me laugh constantly, and it was a fun series to get into. Crossing my fingers for a fourth?!

That was all I had to say today(:

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Apr 17, 2012

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Love: Noah Shaw
Book: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Characteristics:
    
From the book:       
          I whipped around at the sound of the warm, lilting British accent behind me.
         The person it belonged to sat on the picnic table under the tiki hut. His general state of disarray was almost enough to distract me from his face. The boy- if he could be called that, looking like he belonged in college not high school- wore Chucks with holes worn through, no laces. Slim charcoal pants and a white button down shirt covered his lean, spare frame. His tie was loose, his cuffs undone, and his blazer lay in a heap beside him as he lazily leaned back on the palms of his hands.
        His strong jaw and chin were slightly scruffy, as though he hadn't shaved in days, and his eyes looked gray in the shade. Strands of his dark chestnut hair stuck out every which way… He could be considered pale compared to everyone else I'd observed in Florida thus far, which is to say he wasn't orange.
        He was beautiful. And he was staring at me.

Well, that pretty much covers his looks!

Why I love him:

            For starters, he is BRITISH. I mean come on guys, that's like the epitome of amazing in a guy. Also, he's super sarcastic, which is kind of awesome, because he's just really, really funny, unless he's being romantic, or being funny and romantic (ronny? fromantic?) at the same time. Yeah, he can do that:

          "I'm picking you up tomorrow morning," Noah said, as he brushed a strand of hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear...
        I blinked hard, and shook my head to clear it. "But it's out of your way."
        "And?"
        "And Daniel has to drive to school anyway."
        "So?"
 
        "So wh-"
        Noah placed a finger on my lips. "Don't. Don't as me why. It's annoying. I want to. That's it. That's all. So let me."
        Focus, Mara. "Everyone's going to think that we're together."
        "Let them," he said as his eyes searched my face.
        "But-"
        "But nothing. I want them to think that."
        [...] "I'm a bad actress," I said by way of explanation.
        [...] "Then don't act. See you at eight." He let go of my hand and walked back to his car.

            He's also rather rich- "A perk of being Baby Warbucks"- and sort of dresses like a hobo (holey Chucks, needs to shave, and Mara told him he dressed like one!). His fifteen-year-old sister has a Maserati, that she can't even DRIVE, while he carts around in his, kind of crappy, Prius. I mean, come on, the guy has more money than I'd know what to do with, and he drives a hippie car?! I suppose that's his version of morality. He doesn't want people to know how rich he is, but he can joke about it:
                   
        "Rubbish. The Taj Mahal is only a hundred eighty-six square feet. This house has twenty-five thousand."
         I stared at him blankly.
        "I was kidding," he said.
        I stared at him blankly.
       "All right, I wasn't kidding. Let's go, shall we?"
       "After you, my liege," I said.


            Cute. Funny. Rich. Uses word "rubbish." What's not to love here?  He also defends Mara against the people who mock her for dating him. After he got in a fight with this guy who made fun of her, and is about to be called to the principal's office, he says to her, "It was worth it." And he opens the door for her. Always. HE HAS CHIVALRY (although most likely due to his British upbringing). Come on people, he's amazing.

My thoughts on the book:   
           
            Overall I really liked it, even though the ending was kind of weird, and I am still confused. But it's definitely worth reading, considering Noah is awesome and Mara is very real, and her friend Jamie is pretty cool. I loved the way it was written, because it managed to be dark, while it still got me to laugh out loud (literally, and in the middle of class). I think the funniest parts could be accredited to Jamie, who says things such as:

            "Grounded likely means no phone or computer. But if I encounter an owl, I'll try to smuggle a message to the outside, okay?"

Or: "I've already learned Parseltongue. What else is there?"

(I do declare young Jamie a Harry Potter fan, no?)

So yeah, thus the reason I went on about the magnificence of Noah and the book in which he was in for days to those around me. 

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