danielamaria7

I enjoyed this book. It's a fun read. Not literary genius, but entertaining. I liked Clary, and Simon, and I liked the way she found out about the weird world of the Shadowhunters etc. I thought the characters were pretty likeable, and were fairly unique and well-built.The book travels at a good pace, it has some interesting action scenes, and a fairly interesting plot.Cassandra Clare has a good imagination, and although her writing is not to the standard of many authors, I guess great wording and stuff isn't what her audience is interested in. For people who are looking for a good story, Clare has it.The thing that really bugged me was her techniques in her writing. Every metaphor was either cliched or to the standard of a twelve year old. I know it's written in the voice of Clary, who is sixteen, but she is an artist - surely she could afford to pop some meaty imagery into her descriptions?Clare almost makes up for her simplistic, perhaps even bland, writing with some unexpected plot twists. I know I'm slow, but I didn't see anything coming.Another thing I didn't enjoy was the Werewolf's Tale - a chapter basically telling Luke's story. I guess it was necessary, I guess it added to the plot...but it was so boring. I felt absolutely no attachment to the characters, and I didn't really care what was happening. I skipped half of it. So - yeah. It's a good story. You'll enjoy it if you're not expecting it to be life-changing, inspirational literature.

I read this after the other two because I couldn't figure out the order.Basically, there's a disease that affects all people above the age of 14 and turns them into child-eating zombie-like creatures. Basically.I don't normally read this sort of stuff, but Higson dealt with it in a way that was really quite interesting.It's a good book, although I sometimes felt a little patronised by Higson's tone or simplistic vocabulary. I spent a lot of time trying to remember the characters from the other books and work out how they fitted into the plot, which I guess is why I only gave this three stars. The large amount of characters - although realistic and potentially interesting - I found, on the whole, distracting.Higson's got the balance of gore and violence right; while the books could be considered gruesome, there's more to them than that. I'd say it's unusual for a male author to deal with emotions - especially the emotions of hormonal teenagers in distress - so well, and effectively. While some of the deaths in the book are brutally quick, there were a couple that really were tragic. I was in tears at Jack's death, and I thought it was good for the book to slow down and really let the horror and tragedy of the situation hit home.So...yeah :) Overall, The Dead is good, but probably not the best Charlie Higson book you'll ever read.

I didn't enjoy this as much as some people obviously did. I'm not a screaming, raving fan. Actually, I prefer the Hunger Games. And yet...I can't quite bring myself to drop a star. Because this book - although undeserving of its hysteria at the moment - was actually really good.

I read the blurb, and I thought, "What, it goes dark? That's going to be so boring - what was he thinking?" Once again, I underestimated Michael Grant.I don't know how he pulls together a story with so many POVs, but it works so so well. Even in the dark, this thing is exciting - I absolutely couldn't put it down.It's horrific, really, what the kids have to deal with, but Grant doesn't go over the top with the whole blood and guts thing - he has a great balance of chat, action and getting in the heads of the characters.This book is a balancing act. While some people could attempt this sort of thing and end up with everything crashing down around them, Mr Grant keeps all the plates spinning with such effortless skill that he makes it look easy.I am full of love for this book, and cannot wait for Light! The final book in the series! >.

This is one of my favourite books of all time. OF ALL TIME. Patrick Ness has created a world full of unforgettable characters, and he moves them and brings them to life in his own, unique way. Don't be put off by the thickness of the book - it's just crammed with pure amazingness.I love this book so much. I think Ness is the only author who can not only make me laugh out loud, but weep my heart out.I guess what I'm trying to say is - read this. Absolutely definitely read this.