Review of The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.




Fairies, piksies, brownies, and redcaps. What else could there be in the world of Nevernever? The world of the elite and immortally beautiful  fey?

Well, for one, there are talking cats that go by the name of a Cait Sith. Or, Grimalkin, who just happen to enjoy having people in their debts.

There are the ruthless redcaps that like to chew-n-chaw the bodies (living or dead) of any creature. As long  as they get some meat and blood, they are happy critters. Happy, bloodthirsty  miniature, vile, critters but critters all the same.

And let's not forget the Iron creatures that appear to be scraps of shredded iron. Hah! Meghan Chase only wishes that were the case. They actually turn out to be fire-breathing creations from the minds of us humans that continuously increase the production of technology on a daily basis, thus ridding the world of the old, mystical Fey.

Allow me to start from the beginning, because I am undoubtedly confusing you. Meghan Chase is a 16 year old girl who is half-human as well as half-Fey. I.E: Half fairy. Not only that, she is the illegitimate daughter of the Fairy King, Oberon. She has enemies from many sides that want her dead all because she is his daughter. The Unseelie court (The court of the Baddies, not the Goodies) want her. Well technically speaking, the evil Queen Mab wants her. And, the reason is still for bad ones. So, she is more important than she has any idea of. Quite the Awakening for a young girl who was considered a "country hick" back in her own world.

Well the plot of the story is more original than what most supernatural stories are nowadays: Her little half-brother, Ethan, was kidnapped and replaced with a changeling. So, she uses the help of her BFF, Robin Goodfellow, who also happens to be Puck. Yes, THE Puck from William Shakespeare's A Midnight Summer's Dream. Turns out the old Bard was more right than he ever could have imagine while alive. Well, through a flurry of obstacles, near death experiences and witty moments with her companions, she sets out to recapture and save her beloved Ethan.

And also might fall in love on the way....

For When Words Aren't Enough

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The Sweet Evil Read-Along

  

Today is a monumental day! Marked By Books has unofficially become an official blog on the interwebs!

 

Hooray! We are participating in the Sweet Evil Read Along, hosted by Magical Urban Fantasy Reads. It's going to be held throughout the month of October if you're interested in participating. You can enter here.

I haven't read Sweet Evil yet, but I've heard so many good things about it. I'm really glad that I finally have a good excuse to move it up to the top of The LIST.

Embrace the Forbidden
 
What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?
 
This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.
 
Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.
 
Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

Each week of next month will have a theme dealing with the chapters that will be discussed during those days.

Theme: Road Trip

Theme: Citrus vs. Pear

Theme: Truth or Dare

Theme: Halloween

 

Anybody interested in joining the party? Leave a comment and tell us if you guys are going to try it out!

Attractive Characters #6: Ashallyn' darkmyr Tallyn (Ash) - Prince of the Unseelie Court

Ash.

      Dark.

        Alluring.

                    Foreign. 

The prince of the Winter Fey. 

Ashallyn’ darkmyr Tally, also known as Ash, is a fey that is consumed by his need to obey his mother, the vicious Queen Mab of the Unseelie Court. He loves the wyldwood and refuses to live at Court with his brothers, Rowan and Sage (Yes, they are named after trees....). Ash has chilling powers and a dark legacy, which he uses to perpetually ward off those who he does not like. 

His silver-grey eyes are enough to stop you cold, yet still wanting more. You might want to check your pulse. He is majorly handsome. Small drawback though: he is beyond serious. He makes Percy Weasley seem eccentric. Another small, teeny, disadvantage is that he is slow to trust anyone. He makes a powerful ally due to his status but he also makes... a dangerous lover and friend.

That small saying? About who you trust? Yeah, he takes that to the extreme.

Attractive Charachters #5: Alec Lightwood

Ok so there are a lot of people in this world that hate homosexual people. Personally, I think that homosexuals are some of the most funniest and kindest people ever. Some are even kinder than regular, straight people. And that's saying something. So when I say that I love Alec Lightwood, I am not exaggerating.

Alec is another character from Cassandra Clare's  Mortal Instruments series. He is the parabatai of Jace Lightwood thus making him all the more likable. Some of what he does, he does out of arrogance and love for Jace. Yes I said it; Alec was in love with Jace though only becaue he refuse to fall for Magnus Bane. Sadly, jace wasnt quite aware of that though and that just made Alec all the more irritable. Irritable because he didn't want people to know that he was gay and so he did his best to hide it. Not the best option but that leads me into what I want to say about him. 

For One, he is similar to Jace where their loved ones are concerned. Alec is the kind of person who would do just about anything for his family, especially his sister Isabelle and younger brother, Max. He doesn't always show it and he definitely doesn't like people knowing who he truly is but he is truly a heartfelt person regardless of his demeanor. He tends to be rather blunt to the point of cruelty and sarcasm but that's just him. 

Another reason I find Alec Lightwood so likable is that he fights. Obviously he is a Shadowhunter and its required. But Alec is similar to Jace in his fervor towards fighting to protect his loved ones from demons and Downworlders: they both love to kick....butt. Alec is more of a protector than an actual offender but he still is a skilled fighter. Alec may not be as skilled as his parabatai, or as arrogant when it comes to fighting, but he can do some pretty amazing damage. Just look at what he did to his and Magnus's relationship in City of Lost Souls. 

Long story short, he is a really cool guy who feels the need to impress everyone before himself. And that's just attractive in general aside from his blue eyes and black hair....

 

Cover Lovin' #1: With All My Soul

So, we've got a new feature here at Marked By Books, just to appreciate all of amazing book covers out there. You never really think about all of the hard work that gets put into these because we really don't know that much about the process. All we see is the beautiful (hopefully) end result. Whether we admit it or not, we do judge a book by its cover, so here's a big thank you to all of the people who make them possible!

For those of you who caught the allusion in "Cover Lovin', yes it is based off of "Summer Nights." If you have never heard this song, shame on you! You must listen to it right now and experience the awesome that is Grease. Especially the fabulous dance moves.

I apologize for the horrible picture quality, but the movie is pretty old, and I couldn't find any good videos from the Broadway musical.

But anyway, on to the book cover. Rachel Vincent, who I adore, has recently released the cover for her newest Soul Screamers novel, With All My Soul. It.... is.... GORGEOUS! 

I love that they've kept this theme throughout the entire series, and the gold is beautiful! The summary of the book hasn't been released yet, but I think this can keep me placated for a while.

What do you guys think of it?

The LIST

We have a new feature here at Marked By Books. To stop us from ever forgetting another book again, we've created an epic list of all of the books we want to read soon.

This list is completely interactive with all of you guys. If you have a suggestion for a book, leave it in the comments or just shoot us an e-mail at markedbybooks@gmail.com. Or if you've read one of them already and you thought it was absolutely horrible, let us know about that too so we can save ourselves the agony.

You can check The LIST out here. C'mon, you know you want to!

Review of Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.



Now, seeing as how some of this is new for those of you who were to lazy to read the book, I am going to narrow down the options for you. You can either read the basis of the story on Spark-notes (Which I do not recommend by the way) or you can read my interesting narrative of what happened in this amazing sequel to Clare's, Clockwork Angel. Now this I do recommend.

As in the first book in this trilogy, there is a character by the name of Tessa Gray who is a Downworlder. She lives in the institute with the handsome Jem Carstairs and the alluring (and annoying) Will Herondale. One might think, "HEY! A teenage girl living with two hot dudes who are only 17-years old! That can't be that bad!"

Well, it is. For one, the majority of the book consists of Tessa and her "courtship" of one of these attractive males. When I say "courtship" what I am really trying to say is that they both have feelings but they aren't really acknowledged. Sad, really.

Aside from that little incident, there is really much to be admired about this book. For one, its originality. Vampires, werewolves and magic are all in this book but there are some instances when the originality is completely different from the silver bullets, full moon, fangs and Abra Cadabra that we as Americans are generally associated with. That is what makes reading this trilogy so very refreshing: Something new is always around the corner. Or should I say, on the next page. Because that would be more accurate.

For one, there is the matter of demon hunting that goes on. Not many books focus mainly on that. Vampire hunting? Yes. Werewolf hunting? You bet. Even fairy hunting. But demon? True, actual, from the pits-of-hell demons? Not so much. Yet another reason that I absolutely adore this author. She gives us a sense of the unreal. Not that vampires don't do that already, but its more of a sense of writing outside the box and researching more ideas aside from your basic, everyday, vampire thrill.


So, as the British would say: "Cheers!"

For When Words Aren't Enough

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Coming Soon.... #2: Hidden

           This is the moment we have all been waiting for...The moment when the fate of the world is in a precarious balance between Light and Dark....

       The moment has come...

             Did I build up the suspense? I hope so because I have been dying for the next (and possibly last) book in the House of Night Series. The book is called "Hidden." October 16, 2012 is the release date and I am telling you now, I CANNOT WAIT!

Hidden by P.C and Kristen Cast

Attractive Characters #4: James Carstairs

            Now everyone knows that I am not all that fond of blondes. Hence the reason I was never all that attracted to Cedric Diggory. But, is blonde the same as silver? Who knows the answer to that? Not me, but obviously there is some difference because I am deeply attracted to James "Jem" Carstairs.

           Jem is  character in Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince. He is Shadowhunter with a horrendous past, this adding more to his appeal as a character. His mother was from Shanghai, China and his father was British. Talk about having a mixed offspring. But, that is just the most amazing thing about Jem: he is original in more ways than one. More on that later though. Jem is the parabatai of William Herondale, another character in the books. That means he is the blood brother (despite having different parents) of Will and is meant to look out for him, regardless of the situation. If an arrow were to be soaring towards Will, Jem would be obligated to step in front of that arrow, all to protect his parabatai. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that Jem would do that regardless of his bond to Will. That is just the person that Jem is.

         Jem is an original, as I stated earlier. He is kind, patient, and silver. I know, I know how that sounds. It sounds as though I have lost my mind and as likely as some would say that is possible, it hasn't happened as early as some expected.

         Jem has a curse that makes him an addict to a drug  called yin fen. It is a drug that he became addicted to as a child because a demon tortured him with it. Now, as a teenager, he cannot survive without it. Thus the reason I said that he was silver. The drug has a wee, little, tiny, side effect: it causes the user to lose their coloring. Jem, who was once a dark-haired boy, is now someone who looks as though he is an 80-year old man with silver hair. Color, wise that is. He still has the body of a 17 year old, just not the coloring.

     More reasons to love Jem is that he is so very kind and gentle. He rescued a cat who he named Church at the end of Clockwork Angel. He never loses his temper and always seems to have a sincere, calm disposition even under the most dire of circumstances. That just adds to his sexiness, regardless of the addiction he faces. Also, he is a determined fighter and a loyal friend.

       Determined because he fights with a fervor. Maybe to repay the demons that killed his parents and forced him to become an addict. Maybe because he just wants to rid the world of evil. Either way, his skill may not be as hones as his parabatai's, but that doesn't make him any less deadly. As for a loyal friend, he sticks by Will like white-on-rice. A bit cliche, but true all the same. Will tends to be the more reckless of the two, always getting into scrapes. Jem is the one who gets him out of those "scrapes" and the only one who seems to be able to withstand Will's dour disposition. Plus, as mentioned before, he is the one who remains cool and steady when a storm is brewing (Don't judge me, I am in a metaphoric mood).

       Jem Carstairs is a wonderful boy. He is thoughtful and kind; sweet and intelligent. Now, who wouldn't be attracted to silvers?