Best Books of 2020| Carenza Bramwell

As 2020 is officially over (hurrah!), it is time to reflect on the best books of the year. I read 75 books in 2020, which is something I am proud of as I was in a bit of a reading slump for most of 2020. I will admit that there are very few books I loved, so most of the entries on this list are books I enjoyed and really stood out to me.  

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

It will come as no surprise that one of the only five star reads on this list is Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare. Cassie is an auto-buy author for me. I have loved her books for almost eight years now. Being brutally honest, this wasn't my favourite one I've read, but I'll reserve judgement until I've read the whole series. I have a full review, which you can read here. I throughly enjoyed being back in this world and will always be excited for the next Cassie Clare book.  

The Diviners by Libba Bray 

This might be a new favourite series, but I read the entire Diviners series in 2020. My favourite though, without a shadow of a doubt, was the first book. It had everything I wanted in it. There were moments when I was genuinely scared. Evie, Sam and Henry (and the remaining Diviners) are some of my favourite characters. Again, this is another one I gave five stars to and have a review for, which you can read here. If you are looking for a YA historical paranormal book set in the 1920s, then this is the book for you. 

You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson 

The only YA contemporary to make it onto this list. I'm not usually a fan of gush romance, but this was an LGBTQIA+ black girl romance. It was sweet and funny, yet it also tackled some serious issues such as racism and homophobia. It was the perfect summer contemporary. I know Leah has another book coming out this year, which I will be reading as soon as it's released. I gave it 4/5 stars.  

The Confession by Jessie Burton 

I was debating which of Jessie's books to put on this list as I adored both The Muse and The Confession, but this one had to win. I read it in about two days, which for me at the moment, is very impressive. Jessie writes very strong feminist books, with historical mysteries at there core. I couldn't put this book down, I wanted to know what happened next. I hope she has another book coming out soon as I can't wait to dive into it. I gave it 4/5 stars. 

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab

This is the book that restored my faith in VE Schwab and has convinced me to give her books another go. I loved it. I am so buzzed for the film adaptation that Schwab herself is working on. I have been a big fan of faustian retellings for a while, but this one was amazing. Spread over three hundred years, you can see the passion and dedication that went into it. I have a review of it, which you can read here. If you are looking for an epic historical urban fantasy, then look no further. 

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

I was unsure if I wanted to put this book on this list, but I knew I had to as I haven't read anything like it. It tackles a relationship between a fifteen year old girl and her teacher. Set when the victim is 15 and in her thirties, it asks if victims really consider themselves victims. It was a dense read, with times when I had to put it down as it was so dark. As it tackles sensitive subjects such as sexual abuse and death, I would read it, but only if you feel mentally up to it. I have a review of it, which you can read here. 

That concludes my best books of 2020. What were some of your best books of the year?

Carenza :) x

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare Book Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Title- Chain of Gold
Author- Cassandra Clare
Series- The Last Hours (Shadowhunter Chronicles)
Published- 2020
Page Count- 624 (UK Collectors Edition)
Publishing House- Simon&Schuster
Rating- 5/5 stars (obviously)

About the Author

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.
Taken from Cassandra's website. 

Plot 

Chain of Gold is the first novel in a new trilogy that stars the Shadowhunters of Edwardian London.

Welcome to Edwardian London, a time of electric lights and long shadows, the celebration of artistic beauty and the wild pursuit of pleasure, with demons waiting in the dark. For years there has been peace in the Shadowhunter world. James and Lucie Herondale, children of the famous Will and Tessa, have grown up in an idyll with their loving friends and family, listening to stories of good defeating evil and love conquering all. But everything changes when the Blackthorn and Carstairs families come to London…and so does a remorseless and inescapable plague.

James Herondale longs for a great love, and thinks he has found it in the beautiful, mysterious Grace Blackthorn. Cordelia Carstairs is desperate to become a hero, save her family from ruin, and keep her secret love for James hidden. When disaster strikes the Shadowhunters, James, Cordelia and their friends are plunged into a wild adventure which will reveal dark and incredible powers, and the true cruel price of being a hero…and falling in love.

Taken from Goodreads. 

My notes for Chain of Gold

Opinions

It comes as no surprise to long time followers of my blog, but I am a massive fan of Cassie's work and I adored Chain of Gold. I flew through it in three days, which I regret now as I still want to be absorbed in this world. It was so nice to be back in this world that I know and love. The Infernal Devices is my favourite Shadowhunters series, so a series about their children with them still in it, it's all I could have hoped for. 

One of the things I really loved about this book was the flashes between past and present. The most we have learned about these characters is through short stories from the companion novels, so these little extracts into their lives really helped to get to know them as characters. I also loved that the cast of characters we got to meet in this novel. I was worried that they were going to be their parents in miniture, but they are fully fleshed characters. James and Cordelia are fantastic additions to the Shadowhunter world and I cannot wait to follow them in the next two books. 

As always with Cassie's novels, there is an amazing amount of diversity, especially LGBT rep. There were so many great characters that are in the LGBT community. Anna Lightwood and Matthew Fairchild are LGBT icons and I adore them. I was also shocked when it was revealed that Alastair Carstairs was revealed to be attracted to both Thomas Lightwood and Charles Fairchild, I did not see that coming at all. 

I will say that Chain of Gold felt like a slow burn novel. It took almost half of the book to get to the central action. I also felt that while we learnt a lot from this book, not a lot happened at the same time. I feel that maybe when I reread it in preparation for the next book coming out, they're might be more to it than at first glance. This might be because I read it so fast because it was quite easy to digest. The writing style was a lot different from the most recent Shadowhunter trilogy. 

It didn't surprise me that there were lots of love elements with in this book, as that is a common and classic feature of a Cassie Clare novel. I was torn between who I wanted to end up with who throughout most of the book. I really love James and Cordelia as a couple, but the bracelet clearly did something to James which meant he loved Grace. I really hope there isn't some variation of a love triangle as we've seen that Cassie can write a great, if not the best love triangle of all time, and we don't need another one. Personally, I didn't vibe with Matthew being in love with Lucie. I saw them as having a brother-sister relationship. 

It goes without saying but I am very excited for the next instalment in this series and any future Cassie Clare novel. I was disheartened for a while as I hadn't been the biggest fan of her last three publications, but this book has fully restored my faith in her. It's also making me want to reread the Infernal Devices as those are some of my all time favourite books. What did you think of Chain of Gold?

Carenza :) x   

Review- Ghosts of the Shadow Market by Cassandra Clare and Others (Contains Spoilers)| CarenzaOnBooks

Title- Ghosts of the Shadow Market
Author- Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brenan, Maureen Jonhson, Kelly Link and Robin Wasserman
Series- The Shadowhunter Chronicles
Published- 2019
Page Count- 624
Publishing House- Walker Books
Genre- YA Urban Fantasy
Rating- 3/5 stars

About the Authors

Judith Lewis (née Rumelt, born July 27, 1973), better known by her pen name Cassandra Clare, is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.

(Taken from Wikipedia)

Sarah Rees Brennan (born 21 September 1983)  is an Irish writer best known for young adult fantasy fiction. Her first novel, The Demon's Lexicon, was released June 2009 by Simon & Schuster. Brennan's books are bestsellers in the UK.

(Taken from Wikipedia)

Maureen Johnson (born February 16, 1973) is an American author of young adult fiction. She has published thirteen young adult novels to date, including such series as the Truly Devious novels, the Shades of London series, and Suite Scarlett. Johnson's work has also appeared in numerous written anthologies and comprises notable collaborative works with her contemporaries, such as Let It Snow, a holiday romance novel currently under adaption to film for distribution by Netflix.

(Taken from Wikipedia)

Kelly Link (born 1969) is an American editor and author of short stories. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and realism. Among other honors, she has won a Hugo award, three Nebula awards, and a World Fantasy Award for her fiction, and she was one of the recipients of the 2018 MacArthur "Genius" Grant.

(Taken from Wikipedia)

Robin Wasserman (born May 31, 1978) is an American young adult novelist.

Wasserman grew up outside of Philadelphia and graduated from Harvard University and UCLA. Before she was an author she was an associate editor at a children's book publisher. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California, and is on the faculty of the Mountainview Low-Residency MFA program at SNHU.

(Taken from Wikipedia)

Plot

The Shadow Market is a meeting point for faeries, werewolves, warlocks and vampires. There the Downworlders buy and sell magical objects, make dark bargains, and whisper secrets they do not want the Nephilim to know. Through two centuries, however, there has been a frequent visitor to the Shadow Market from the City of Bones, the very heart of the Shadowhunters. As a Silent Brother, Brother Zachariah is sworn keeper of the laws and lore of the Nephilim. But once he was a Shadowhunter called Jem Carstairs, and his love, then and always, is the warlock Tessa Gray.

Follow Brother Zachariah and see, against the backdrop of the Shadow Market’s dark dealings and festive celebrations, Anna Lightwood’s first romance, Matthew Fairchild’s great sin and Tessa Gray plunged into a world war. Valentine Morgenstern buys a soul at the Market and a young Jace Wayland’s soul finds safe harbor. In the Market is hidden a lost heir and a beloved ghost, and no one can save you once you have traded away your heart. Not even Brother Zachariah...

Ghosts of the Shadow Market will be co-written with Maureen Johnson, Robin Wasserman, Sarah Rees Brennan and Pulitzer finalist Kelly Link and will initially be available digitally.

The first eight stories will be published as e-books from around March 2018 monthly, with the final two available in a print bind-up of all the stories, to be published in 2019.

(Taken from Goodreads)

Opinions

Normally, I am a huge fan of anything and everything that Cassandra Clare published, but this is the first time since I became a fan of hers that I haven't actively liked her book. I had really enjoyed both of her other novella bind-ups that had been published, but I found I didn't care much for this one. To me, it felt like it was published because there was a lot of nostalgia in some of the stories and to set up books that haven't been published yet.

If I'm being honest, I preferred the stories about the Lost Hours characters as it was nice getting to know what they were like. There was one novella that I absolutely loved, which I'll talk about in a bit. I also did like getting to know about Kit's backstory as he is one of my favourite characters. There were some stories that were about obscure characters, which to me, felt like they did need to be told. 

My absolute favourite story was Every Exquisite Thing. This was the second novella in the book and it was hands down the best. It delved into the backstory of Anna Lightwood, a character that will feature in The Lost Hours. It was my favourite because of the great representation. Anna is a genderqueer lesbian in a time when something like that would have been frowned upon. I loved this little story and I hope we get to see more from Anna as she is a character I am beginning to love wholeheartedly. 

The introduction of Mina Carstairs filled my heart with such joy. Seeing Jem have the family he wanted for so long made me feel insanely happy. To further this, the inclusion of Kit in this family almost brought me to tears. I'm hoping that in the Wicked Powers we will see some kind of brother-sister dynamic between the two. The fact the Jem named his daughter in honour of Will made me fall in love with the TID cast all over again. I may not have been the biggest fan of the novella she was introduced in, but the scenes with baby Mina were adorable. 

City of Glass Review (Contains Spoilers)| CarenzaOnBooks

Title- City of Glass
Author- Cassandra Clare
Series- The Mortal Instruments
Published- 2009
Page Count- 492 pages (UK Paperback)
Publishing House- Walker Books
Rating- 5/5 stars 

About the Author

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.

Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humour fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.

(Taken from Cassandra's Website)

Plot

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third instalment of the New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.

(Taken from Goodreads)

Opinions

This reread for me was a bit of a slow start as it took me a while to get into it. Usually, I fly through City of Glass, but it took me a while to get into it. I think it's because I'm a very different reader from when I first picked up the series back in 2013.  

The deaths in this book are so sad. When I first read City of Glass, I cried when Max died. It's one of the most brutal deaths I have read about in YA. The deaths in this book really tug on the heartstrings. I also felt really sad when Hodge died, even though he had betrayed the Shadowhunters, he hadn't done anything that warranted death.  For me, the relationships in this book are really well developed. There's the contrast in Jace and Clary's relationship from the beginning to the end of the book. Some of the things Jace did to protect Clary in this book actually made things worse. I also felt like there was a change in Clary and Isabelle's relationship as they were starting to act more like friends in this book. Simon and Jace's relationship was another one I enjoyed reading about.

But, by far the best relationship in this book was Magnus and Alec. I love them as a couple so much and I love that there is a prominent gay character in this series. They are adorable and it makes me so happy every time I read Alec overcoming his fear of coming out to his parents.  

In all truthfulness, I don't feel as though I have as much to say about City of Glass. Maybe it's because it's been a while since I read it, but I feel as though City of Glass is a make or break book for me, and this time round, my reread was somewhere in the middle. Carenza x

City of Ashes Review (Contains Spoilers)| CarenzaOnBooks

Title- City of Ashes
Author- Cassandra Clare
Series- The Mortal Instruments
Published- March 2008
Page Count- 453 (UK paperback)
Publishing House- Magaret K McElderry Books
Rating- 5/5 stars

About the Author

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.

Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humour fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.

(Taken from Cassandra's Website)

Plot

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? Clary would love to spend more time with her best friend, Simon. But the Shadowhunters won't let her go--especially her handsome, infuriating newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil--and also her father. When the second of the Mortal Instruments is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor suspects Jace. Could Jace really be willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

(Taken from Goodreads)

Opinions 

City of Ashes is usually one of my least favourite books in The Mortal Instruments, but this time around I loved it. I'm usually hit with the second book slump at this point, but for the first time since I started reading TMI, I really enjoyed City of Ashes. I think it's because I've changed as a reader and I didn't enjoy City of Bones as much this time around.

Like City of Bones, I flew through it this time. I'm really enjoying flying through the books this reread. I haven't done a full read through in years, so I'm really enjoying it this time around. I'm finding details I don't remember from my original read. 

To me, you can see the development between City of Bones and City of Ashes. I think that City of Ashes has a slightly more sophisticated tone to it, it's definitely darker than City of Bones. You can see it in particular in the character development. It just goes to show how Cassie is an adaptable writer and just keeps on getting better with each book she publishes. 

  

I loved the new characters introduced in this book. Maia is a really great addition to the Shadowhunter gang, but it's only just struck me how much younger she is. I think she's about 14, whereas the others are 16-17. I really like how sassy she is. As much as I hate Imogen Herondale, I loved her character in this book as it was something we hadn't seen before in the series. I also really loved Max and the rest of the Lightwoods. You really get a sense of Alec and Izzy's upbringing before the books started.  

My favourite character in City of Ashes has to be Simon. Poor Simon! He deserves so much better than he gets. I'm still unsure of how I feel about Simon and Clary dating. I'm glad that it makes them happy, but I'm just unsure of how I feel about it. He then gets turned into a vampire and his whole world gets turned upside down. I just love Simon and he deserves so much better than he gets in this book. 

As with any of Cassie's books, they are very humorous. I found myself laughing to myself quite a few times. I do love Cassie's use of humour. I feel that she has the right balance between humour and seriousness. 

So that concludes my review of City of Ashes, like I mentioned in my last post, I will be continuing with these reviews until I have reviewed all the books released to-date.

Carenza x 

City of Bones Review- 2018 Edition (Contains Spoilers)| CarenzaOnBooks

Title- City of Bones
Author- Cassandra Clare
Series- The Mortal Instruments
Published- March 27th, 2007 (according to Google)
Page Count- 506 (UK Movie Tie-In Edition)
Publishing House- Walker Books Ltd (UK Movie Tie-In Edition)
Rating- 4/5 Stars
Note- This was a reread as a part of The Dregs Society read-a-long being hosted by the lovely Emmmabooks.

About the Author

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old.

Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.

Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humour fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.

(Taken from Cassandra's Website)

Plot

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know... 

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride they never want to end.

(Taken from Goodreads)

Opinions

I think it comes as no surprise to anyone who has been following me on here for a while, that I am a huge fan of Cassandra Clare's work. This year, a YouTuber I admire is hosting a year-long read-a-long and of course, I knew I was going to take part in it. City of Bones was the book that introduced me to this magical world and the magical world of reading. A part of me will always love these books as they hold such a sentimental place in my heart. 

That being said, I did really enjoy it. It felt like I was reading it for the first time again and subsequently falling in love with this series again. There were a few moments were I wasn't enjoying it as much as I used to, but overall, City of Bones is a great first book in a series. It has all the things I personally look for in a first book in a series and does a really good job at establishing a fairly complex magic system. 

While I do love it, my opinions have changed since I first read it back in 2013. I was a very different reader back then and now I understand more about the reading world. One of the things I don't particularly like about CoB is how information-based it is (but I'll talk more about that in a later paragraph). As the novel is now around 11 years old, you can see how it reflects the vibes of the early 2000s. It definitely fits the trends of novels being released at the time of a person not knowing how they form a supernatural race of some sort. The characters to me feel a bit underdeveloped and there are times when I almost hate Clary and Jace because of how whiny and wingey they are. My favourite characters in this book are Simon and Magnus as to me, they have more layers to them than the others. 

   

At the time of picking this up, I was a bit under the weather and as, for once, I had the time to sit down and read, I flew through this book. I think I read it in 2 or 3 days, but you'll have to check my Goodreads to find out (I've been posting reviews for all the books I've been reading in 2018). I love that I was able to fly through it and also that it was so easy to fly through it. 

When compared with Cassie's latest novel (at the time of this being published, I'm comparing it to Lord of Shadows), you can see how far she has developed as a writer. Her style isn't as defined or for me, as engaging, I'm definitely a fan of her later works more than I am her earlier works. I always look forward to her new books and I think rereading them in preparation for Queen of Air and Darkness, I am going to be appreciating how much she has developed as a writer. 

As I mentioned earlier, one of the reasons I think I gave this 4/5 stars was because it is very info based. This is because it is establishing a system that is going to be spread across many different series, but to me, there were times when it became bogged down in the details rather than describing that characters feelings. There is a saying that I hear a lot in my Creative Writing classes and that is "show don't tell" and this is very much a show and no tell situation. It's probably my personal reading preferences, but I am not a fan of massive info dumps.

City of Bones used to be one of my favourite books in the series, however, this read I felt that it had probably become my least favourite in the series. I just didn't enjoy myself as much as I remember doing when I first read it. That being said, I still love this series. But, I found it a bit difficult jumping back into this series. 

So, my plan is to post reviews for all the books in this reread even if, like City of Bones, I already have a review up for it. I have a few to catch up on, but I will try and post them sporadically so this doesn't turn into just a Shadowhunters blog.

Carenza x 

May GeekyClean Crate Review- By The Angel (Contains Spoilers)| It'sCarenzaB

As someone who is a regular subscriber to Fairyloot, I thought it was time to try a new subscription box. Following the March Fairyloot box, I discovered an amazing company called GeekyClean which has a monthly subscription box in which they send out five bath/candle items themed around a certain book or series. When I saw what the theme was for May, I knew I HAD to have it as it was By The Angel which is based on Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles and if you follow me on Instagram, then you will know I am a massive fan of her books.

As you can see the box is quite small. Most subscription boxes are quite big, so having something quite small is unusual. They also have an amazing promo card for this months theme and next months theme (Game of Foams). All the information about the products is stuck to the top of the box rather than on a separate card.

The first item in the box was this High Warlock of Brooklyn candle. I'm assuming it's based of the TV series as it has the actor from the TV series. It smells of Red Grape, Wine and Musk. It's not one of my favourite scents in the box as I really don't like musk, but apart from that I'm happy to have a candle based of everyone's favourite High Warlock.

And true to the character, there is lots of glitter!

For the first time ever, I received some book inspired make up. If you have been following my blog since I started it, then you'll know that I started it as a beauty blog and so this made me laugh a little bit. It is inspired by Adamas and is this beautiful bronze-brown colour. Even though I don't wear a lot of make-up, I will probably wear this as it's a very nice colour and it's book inspired.

Something I was very excited by was this Parabati bath bomb. Firstly, I love baths so this was perfect. Secondly, the scent is really fresh which is the type of scents I like. It smells of Cucumber, Lemon and Patchouli which together makes a perfect scent for this time of year.

While I may not be a huge fan of perfumes, I do love this Lord of Shadows inspired roller ball perfume. It smells of Dragonsblood, which is quite an orange-y scent. I'm going to be wearing this when I finally start Lord of Shadows to fully amerce myself in the book.

The final item is my favourite item, but it was also the item I couldn't get a good quality image of. It is the green item in the left bottom hand corner of the image. It is a Team Will or Team Jem soap. If you saw my March Fairyloot unboxing, then you will know that there was a candle that was Lime and Cherry scented. This is exactly what it smells of. I love that scent and I am so happy that there are more items with this amazing scent.





So that concludes my review on May's GeekyClean Crate. For under £20 plus postage, you get a lot of things and good value for money. I plan on getting their crates again in the future as sometimes I don't get round to reading the books sent out in subscription boxes.
Love,
Carenza x

Book Review Monday- Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Maureen Johnson and Robin Wasserman| It'sCarenzaB

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So for my final Book Review Monday in November, I thought I would talk about one of my favourite reads of the month. As you guys know, I am huge fan of Cassandra Clare- I have a whole blog post talking about my love for her work, the link is here. Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy came out this month in Bind Up form (the eBooks of each individual story have been available since late 2015). This review will be a bit different from my other reviews as I will talk about each story individually and within there I will talk about my opinions and characters. This review will contain spoilers, so if you haven't read this book then don't read this review.

Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and Others- Contains Spoilers 

Cover Review

Personally I am not a huge fan of this cover. The person on it doesn't look like how imagined Simon would look. I do like how it is a mix of the old covers and the new covers. Also, with the UK version you don't get a dust jacket.

Welcome to the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

This story follows Simon and his journey to start at the Shadowhunter Academy. It was so heart breaking to read that he wanted to leave New York to leave the others behind because he couldn't remember them. His interactions with Clary and Isabelle were so hard to read because you could see they loved him so much but he couldn't remember them. I loved Simon's new friend George Lovelace, it was nice meeting a non-American Shadowhunter. Also, I liked how he stood up for himself and he didn't want to use his name as a way to get into the best class. The scene were Isabelle comes to the academy to tell everyone Simon is here's was so funny but it was hard to read when Simon rejected her. 

 The Lost Herondale by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman 

This story follows a conversation between Catarina Loss and Simon after they Shadowhunters receive a lecture about a Shadowhunter who left his fellow Shadowhunters. Catarina tells Simon of how the punishment for the Shadowhunter was carried out on his pregnant wife. Catarina saves the baby and raises at her own, before sending him away to protect him. Meanwhile, Simon is trying to apologies to Isabelle and Clary comes to visit. This was one of the stories that didn't add much to overall story arc.

The Whitechapel Fiend by Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson 

 This story follows a lecture that the Shadowhunters receive from Tessa Gray. She tells the story of when they believed Jack the Ripper was at large, but it turned out to be a demon that they killed. Jace is helping out at the academy and on Simon's advice, he speaks to Tessa. Simon writes a letter to Isabelle trying to say sorry. While this story didn't add much to the story arc, I loved being back with the TID gang. You guys now I love The Infernal Devices so much and this story brought back all the feels.

Nothing But Shadows by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan 

Like The Lost Herondale, this story is told as a conversation between Catarina and Simon. Catarina tells Simon that he is not the first to ask to drop groups. In this story we follow James Herondale (Tessa and Will's son) and his time at the academy. We learn that he doesn't want to be at the academy as he feels as though he is an outsider. He ends up forming an unlikely friendship with Matthew Fairchild (Charlotte and Henry's son) after James turns into smoke. The boys end up being expelled and trained at the London Institute. Simon realizes that Clary is his best friend and he begins to put more effort into their friendship. I really liked this story as we got a first glimpse at the characters that are going to be in the Lost Hours series.

  The Evil We Love by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman

Like The Whitechapel Fiend, this story was told in lecture form. Robert and Isabelle Lightwood come to the institute to tell the Shadowhunters about the Circle. We learn that when Robert was in the Circle, he couldn't bear runes. Valentine helped him overcome his fear. Valentine, Robert and some other Circle members track down the werewolves that killed Valentine's father and Valentine tortures it. Robert objects but doesn't tell the others. Later in the story, Micheal (Robert's parabati) tells him that he is gay and loves him. Robert reacts badly and tells him he is disgusting. After the lecture, Simon tracks to down Isabelle to apologies but she doesn't want to hear it. She leads a bunch of Simon's friends astray and persuade them to summon demons to a party. Simon tells on them and it turns out to be a plot by Isabelle and her father. They arrange to go on a date. I liked this story as it shows a different side of Robert that we never got to see in TMI

Pale Kings and Princes by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman

In this story, the Shadowhunters recieve a lecture from Helen Blackthorn who is in Alicante for her wedding to Aline. Helen is forced to tell the story of how her father and uncle were captured by faeries. Her uncle was tortured into insanity and her father had two children with the fae. Isabelle and Simon go on a date but it fails. The rest of the story tells the reconciliation of Simon and Isabelle. I really liked this story, even though it was very emotional.   

Bitter of Tongue by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

This story is about Helen and Aline's wedding. Simon, Isabelle and the other Shadowhunters are out an a routine patrol when they are then captured by the Fae including Mark Blackthorn. Mark tries to get a message to his family through Simon. The Shadowhunters escape in time for the wedding. Simon and Isabelle attend the wedding together, but Simon decides not to tell the family that he saw Mark as he can see they are happy. I loved this story, again for the emotions. I was also super happy that Isabelle and Simon were back together. 

The Fiery Trial by Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson

In this story, Simon and Clary are asked to be witnesses at Emma and Julian's Parabati ceremony. They are invited to have tea with Jem, Magnus and Catarina but it turns out it is water from Lake Lyn. They both have hallucinations about saving each other from drowning. When they come to they learn they were put through the Fiery Trial and it reveals they are ideal Parabati. They can become Parabati after Simon ascends. They attend Emma and Julian's Parabati ceremony. This was one of my favourite stories as we got to see Simon and Clary become close again. We also got to see Emma and Julian again which made me really happy. 

 Born To An Endless Night by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

This story starts in the Shadowhunter Academy with Simon and the others finding a warlock baby (that is blue) abandoned. Simon goes to find Magnus and ends up walking in on him and Alec. Magnus takes the baby, but is reluctant to keep it permanently. Meanwhile, the Lightwoods and Clary, Jace and Simon think that they are keeping it. Magnus finds the idea of parenthood overwhelming but with help from Alec, they decide to keep the baby and call it Max after Alec's dead brother. The ending of the story was so cute!! Magnus telling his son that one day it would be just them and calling him a blueberry! This was my favourite story and I want more stories with Magnus and Alec as parents.

Angels Twice Descending by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman 

This is the final story and the most emotional. Simon and the others are ready to ascend. So far everything is going good. Simon goes up and drinks from the cup. He unlocks all of his memories and joins all the other Shadowhunter's who have ascended. George goes to drink but ends up dying because he is not a proper Shadowhunter and his body can't with stand it. My heart honestly broke when George died as I was not expecting any character deaths. It was so sweet how Simon chose his Shadowhunter last name to be Lovelace after George.

Overall I gave Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy 5/5 stars. I loved all the stories and was so happy to be back in this world again. I can't wait to read more about Simon as a Shadowhunter.
Love,
Carenza x  

How I discovered the Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?

I have a different kind of post and it's all about my love for Shadowhunters (the books, not the TV series- I haven't seen it). If you saw my Top 10 Favourite Authors, then you will know I put Cassandra Clare second (under Queen JK). You can read that post here.

This is my story of how I discovered these books and how it influenced me and my life decisions (in a good way)

Bookmarks from an etsy store called Happy Hello Art

I discovered the Shadowhunters through the City of Bones movie in September 2013. I had seen a trailer for the movie and thought that it would be something I would enjoy. I'm pretty sure I bought the book before I bought the movie, but I remember watching the movie first. I fell in love straight away. I remember watching the movie on repeat over the Easter Holidays of 2014. So straight after watching the movie, I read the book. I spotted the differences between the book and the movie straight away, but it didn't bother me. I loved the movie. I actually went through a phase of trying to dress like a Shadowhunter and I dyed my hair dark red like Clary.

So I remember being in London and going to a Watertsones and looking for the next book in the series. I bought up to book 3 in The Mortal Instruments and all of The Infernal Devices just because it had Cassandra Clare's name on it. I marathoned (?) the series and started The Infernal Devices as I didn't have access to a book shop that sold book 5. One of my friends was also reading the series at the same time and she bought me book 5 from the Works as she had seen it in their on sale. We read it at the same time and spent our days fangirling over it. 

It was around this time that I began to like The Infernal Devices a bit more. I really like stories set in Victorian times so this was right up my alley. It was also around this time that I discovered that this boy I knew really liked the series too and we became really close over it. When I say obsessed, I mean that I was full on obsessed. It was all I talked about and all I thought about. It actually was what got me really into reading.

I had always been a big reader but it was The Mortal Instruments that really sparked my interest. I also discovered that there were YouTube channels all about books. I found Sasha from Abookutopia's channel and I felt like I had found someone who understood why I was so obsessed. I would google how to do my hair like Clary's and look up where to get certain props from the movie. 

I don't know how I found out there was a 6th book coming out, but I couldn't wait for it to be released. It was in May 2014 and I went into a Waterstones and I asked if they had it. They said no and the date I had been given was the American release date. I went back the next day and bought it. I spent the rest of the day reading it. At first I didn't like it, I just didn't like the idea that this series was actually over.

I remember when I got my copy of the Shadowhunters Codex in April 2014. I made my parents buy it for me as I had to go to the dentist and get two baby teeth removed and I have a very bad phobia of needles. So they bought it for me in advance to my appointment and my dad brought it with us and gave it to me straight after my appointment. I wrote all over my copy to make it look like I was a Shadowhunter as my surname is very close to a Shadowhunter compound name. 

Over the next  6 months, I read the books and watched the movie while I waited for my pre-order of the Bane Chronicles to arrive in November. I was so excited when I got my copy and read it in a couple of days as I was so happy to be back in this world.

My obsession subsided in 2015. I didn't have any new books to read and I wanted to discover new books. Again, I don't know how I heard about Lady Midnight being released but I was so excited. In February 2016 I discovered JessetheReader's channel and became re-immersed in the world of books and TMI/TID. March 8th 2016 was a good and bad day for me. I couldn't wait to get home and read my copy of Lady Midnight. So I get home and my copy isn't there. I'm not lying here when I say I had a tantrum. But it turns out having a tantrum helps as the doorbell rung and the postman was there with my copy.

I read it in a week. I love it so much. I discovered Emmabooks channel through this as well as her videos on Shadowhunters (the TV show). Every single Cassandra Clare themed video of her's, I can guarantee there's a comment of mine on it. I then discovered I had missed out on a Limited Edition copy of Lady Midnight and I was so gutted. I also discovered that there were Shadowhunter Tarot cards and a book called An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downworld. But they were only available in America, which was a shame.

In August 2016, I found a copy of the Limited Edition of Lady Midnight on eBay for £10- it was one that you had to bid for. I was determined to get it, but I had set myself a limit of £15. I was winning until the last 10 seconds when someone came in and bought it for £25 plus postage. I actually cried because I was so desperate to get it.

This year I have bought new box sets of the Mortal Instruments and the Infernal Devices in the new covers because they were so pretty. I bought TID individually and saved some money using World Book day tokens as my friends had given me all of theirs. I bought TMI as a box set of eBay for £18 plus £1 postage. At the moment, they are selling the TMI box set in the Works for £12.

With two new books coming out this year, my excitement grows. We have An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downworld on November 3rd (here in the UK) and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy on  November 15th. You can bet that there will be reviews for them coming up on here soon after their release. 

I hope you enjoyed this story post, I plan on doing one for Harry Potter at some point. If you have any questions, just comment them down below.

Love,

Carenza x