Flying Kick-a-pow!

Actual rating: 4.5 starsA brief public service announcement before I get to the review ... For those of you who have the hardcover version of the book and have not read it yet, DO NOT look at the inside of the dust jacket unless you want to see a MAJOR SPOILER. For some reason, the publisher decided it was a grand idea to print a family tree on the inside of the dust jacket that reveals a major plot point on it. Why they would do that is beyond me.However, if it's too late and you saw the spoiler already (but you haven't finished the book yet), I can assure you that there are things about the ending that will probably still surprise you, even if you know one major thing that happens. Happy reading!On to the review!Oh man, I have been slacking off on reviews so much lately. I think it's been more than a month since I finished reading this. Oops.Well, now I'm on summer vacation which means I'll have nothing to do but read books and write reviews for them. (Is it bad that I tingle with excitement over all the books I can read and review now? Ah haha.) So, I apologize for being lazy lately. … And also that I had so much else to do because it was the end of the year and I had to do final projects and whatnot, so that was taking up colossal chunks of my time. But anyway! Time to review!Hopefully I can remember everything I was going to say about this book, especially after it's been so long since I read it. And on top of that, it was a lot to absorb.So, this was the final installment in Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices trilogy––the prequel to the Mortal Instruments series. But don't despair … apparently Cassandra Clare has officially announced that she is going to do three more Shadowhunters series. … Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this. I do like Mortal Instruments (well, at least the first three books) and the Infernal Devices, and the Dark Artifices sounds like it will be a pretty cool series too. But still, it's excessive. The Shadowhunter world is really interesting of course, but I mean … there's only so much Clare can do with the idea before it starts to run dry. So, I'm getting a bit nervous and I kind of just wish she would try something new. But, oh well. Guess I'll just read Shadowhunter books until I'm 30 or whatever.As for Clockwork Princess itself, I really enjoyed it. Like all of Clare's other books, I thought it was exciting and had some great world-building. The Victorian setting is well-executed without it beating the reader over the head with information (which is hard to accomplish when writing historical fiction). There are demons galore, and on top of that, a lot of drama.Over all, the plot is intriguing and kept me hooked. There were some slow patches and I think it could have been cut down a bit … it felt a little too long, in my opinion. But for the most part, the story was fast-paced and I found it very difficult to put down.The characters continued to be very likable. I liked the addition of Cecily; I'm not sure if she was entirely necessary to the plot, but I did really like her as a character … I found it interesting how she came to the Institute to make Will come back home, and then she herself gets so addicted to Shadowhunting––very ironic. I barely remembered Gideon and Gabriel from the previous book, but they became much more interesting characters … I still sometimes had trouble telling them apart (I think just because their names are so similar) but by the end I felt they were distinct from each other. Charlotte and Henry continued to be adorable, and Magnus Bane continued to be a total badass. Tessa … hmm. By the end of the trilogy, I still had fairly mixed feelings about her. She at least became tougher as the story progressed, and it was apparent that she changed as a person. I just never felt much of a strong connection to her. She was cool, just not very unique or memorable.But then we get to my favorites … Jem and Will. AAHHHH. MY BABIES.Jem and Will were definitely my favorite part of the book (and the whole series, really). Honestly, I cared more about their friendship than about the whole love triangle and all that shit. Out of all the Cassandra Clare books I've read, I feel that their relationship is the strongest character relationship she's written, and the one that has evoked the most emotion from me. Throughout this book especially, I could really feel their attachment to each other. It's so heartbreaking to see Will slowly watching Jem die, and knowing that parting with him is inevitable––the person he cares about most in the world. It's just … UGGGHH. When Will thought Jem was dead (and I mean, he was dead … sort of … ish … I know, it's complicated) gahhh that was just so sad. It was like, nothing mattered to him anymore and it was so painful. But I'd say the scene at the end where they said goodbye to each other was even more agonizing. It was almost worse than Jem just dying, I think. It was just tragic for Jem to still be kind of "alive" but not the same person and not really able to communicate with Will much anymore. Aggh.As for the love triangle, it didn't really play out the way I thought it would. But before I get to that … I'll just say, I thought it was one of the most well-executed love triangles I've seen. Typically love triangles just annoy me to no end, and I always find it fairly obvious how they're going to play out. But, this one was interesting. I think what I liked most about it was that Jem and Will care so much about each other, so much even that Tessa is kind of a secondary thing. In most love triangle scenarios, the two guys tend to hate each other or be kind of ambivalent towards each other. In this case, it was intriguing that the two guys were not only best friends, but best friends who were attached to each other on such a deep and powerful level. And this conflict with Tessa wouldn't tear them apart … it was more like, she could only be with one of them and the other would have to be happy for his best friend but also sad so … I just can't even explain it. But I thought it was original and done really well. I feel like it could have become really dumb and clichéd and annoying, but it was handled carefully and didn't become totally stupid like it very well could have. There were a few things about the romance aspect that bothered me (under the spoiler), but over all I liked it.A quick note about the romance in the book in general (not just the main characters') … One little thing that annoyed me was how matchy-matchy everything was. (And I think I complained about this happening in the most recent Mortal Instruments book as well.) It was kind of like, everyone was paired up with someone and it felt a little forced at times. But, oh well.Back to the main love triangle. I just wanted to rant about its conclusion, which I'll put under the following spoiler tag. For those of you who haven't read the book yet … I'll just say that I had kind of mixed feelings about how the love triangle was resolved. I've thought about it for a while, and I guess I ultimately liked it. I don't think it's the best ending there could have been; and I'll share what I thought would have been a better ending in the spoiler. But at least the ending was not what I expected. I mean, I put the book down and I was like:So that's good, I suppose. Anyway, long rant about the ending:As I just said, I had some mixed feelings with this ending. I've seen a lot of people complain about how they felt it was a cheap way for Cassandra Clare to please people on both "teams" and for Tessa to end up with both Will and Jem. At first that's kind of how I felt about it, but after giving it some thought I don't think I really agree with that sentiment. Was it a way to just please the whole fanbase? Maybe, and that does bother me a bit … but I definitely disagree about it being "too happy." I mean, there's the obvious reason why it's not too happy … Will dies. And this might make me sound like a horrible person, but it made me kind of glad that that happened. I've read a bunch of paranormal romance books where there was this whole "Oh no, one of us is immortal and the other person isn't!" problem. And usually, there's some sort of bullshit ending where either the mortal person becomes immortal to be with their significant other, or I guess the immortal person becomes mortal (although I can't think of many examples of that). I don't think I've ever read an ending to a paranormal romance series in which one person remained immortal and the other remained mortal … and that they stayed together even when one of them stayed young while the other had to grow old. I also really appreciated the irony of the ending. One ending I expected might happen was that Tessa would marry Jem, then Jem would die and Tessa would end up with Will. And that would have really pissed me off … but of course, it was made pretty clear throughout this book that Will didn't want to do that because he would feel bad about it.… Although, he did have sex with Tessa after they thought Jem had died. So. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It kind of pissed me off. It was like, "Oh, I wouldn't marry Tessa after Jem dies because that would feel wrong … but I would have sex with her in a cave."Dafuq, you guys?!I guess I understand them having sex because a) they were grieving and confused, and b) they thought they were going to die the next day. But even so, it seemed like kind of bad and insensitive timing, so it made me a little uncomfortable.But back to the irony … I thought it was ironic that the whole "Tessa waits for Jem to die and then ends up with Will" ending was pretty expected, but it actually ended up being "Tessa waits for Will to die and then ends up with Jem." It was like … oh. Okay. Didn't expect that. And in some ways, I was happy about it––not just because it wasn't what I predicted, but because both guys actually got some kind of ending. I've read a lot of series involving love triangles, where the girl ends up with one guy, and the other guy just like totally disappears and mopes off on his own. And the girl's just like, "Where'd that other guy go, lol. Oh well I don't give a fuck." So, it was cool that Tessa actually kept in contact with Jem, and then also ended up with him in the end.But like I said, I don't think it was some kind of cop-out happy ending. I mean, Will had died. Will meant a lot to both of them. And also, Jem and Will were kind of a single being in a way––two halves making up a whole. So it didn't really feel to me like Tessa was just ditching Will for Jem, but that she was searching for Will's other half after she'd lost the first half … if that makes any sense. Maybe I just sound crazy. Oh well. The point is, I didn't think it was a perfect ending, but I much preferred it over a lot of other things that could have happened and it wasn't what I expected, so that was cool.As for the one more preferable ending I can think of (and maybe everyone will want to kill me for this): I kind of hoped that both Jem and Will would die. I know, I know. You're probably all like:But, hear me out. Yes, I love Jem and Will. They're my babies and I adore them. But for the sake of the story, I think it would have been better if they had both died––if Jem had just died from his disease thing, and Will had … died some other way. I just felt like, throughout the story it was obvious that their friendship was more important than the love triangle. And I feel like, if that was really the case, they both should have died and ended up together in some magical Shadowhunter afterlife or whatever. Maybe I'm doing a shitty job at explaining this … but basically, this idea occurred to me about halfway through the book and then I kind of kept hoping it would happen. I just think it would have been a lot more original and meaningful. But, oh well. Feel free to discuss/argue about it with me in the comments. Although obviously, please use spoiler tags.Oh yeah, one more thing about the ending in general (not the romance part):YAY I CAN JUST TRANSFORM INTO AN ANGEL AND MELT PEOPLE WITH MY ANGEL POWERS. Yeah ... that was kind of a huge cop-out and I thought it was pretty dumb. Oh well.But anyway ... in conclusion: I thought this was a good and bittersweet end to the series. I'll miss these books and their characters a lot. *Hugs books tightly*

Oh dang, look at that cover. HOLY SHIT I love it.

Warning: May contain spoilers for the first book. (And for this one too, although I'll at least spoiler-tag those.)I read this just about a month ago and honestly, I've forgotten most of it by now. Part of that is my fault for putting off reviews for so long, but I think the book itself is also partly to blame. It was one of those books that after I read it I was like, "Oh, that was pretty all right." But it had kind of a bad … aftertaste, after a while. That is, after a while it just kind of faded into the back of my mind and I can mostly only remember the things I disliked about it. Well anyway, luckily Wikipedia exists to refresh my memory of what happened.So, basically the Elector dies and is immediately succeeded by his son, Anden. June and Day join the Patriots, who are planning to assassinate Anden. Their plan involves getting June arrested on purpose, so that she can tell Anden about a fake assassination plan, thus distracting him from the real assassination plan. (Errm yeah, even after reading the whole book and thinking about it for a while, I still don't quite understand the logic there, but okay.) But, of course, things don't exactly go as planned. And … shenanigans happen. I do give this book props for at least having more of a plot than the first one. The plot was a bit confusing, although at least it kept moving and a lot of events happened. Even though I had numerous issues with it, I did find it very hard to put down. I think Marie Lu also does a good job of showing that not everything is so black-and-white. There isn't just "good guys" and "bad guys." Throughout the book, June and Day learn to question their positions in the revolution and if there's really a right and wrong. So, that's an aspect of the book that I really appreciated. However, there were several things that took away from the book for me. I had problems with the characters in the first book, and those problems were still present in this one. The biggest problem is that June and Day are both just … too perfect, and they're too similar to each other. It seems like they are both just super-smart and have the ability to attract everyone around them, and I don't find either of them to be particularly realistic or relatable. The problem is also that the narration switches between both of their points of view, and they're almost indistinguishable from each other in terms of voice/style. Even with the change of font/color in the text to indicate the switches, I often forgot who was narrating. And really, you shouldn't have to change the font and color of the writing in order to distinguish between different narrators. You should be able to do that within the writing itself. Or better yet, just stick to one narrator because that generally works better.Also, there was like a love … decahedron all of a sudden. I mean, of course there's June and Day. But then there was also June and Anden, and Day and Tess. And it's just like … why. You don't need to have fifty different relationships going on in a story to make it interesting. Love triangles can sometimes work, but a lot of the time––and in the case of this book, I felt––the drama is unnecessary. In a book that already has a lot of plot going on, I didn't think it needed the romantic drama aspect. It just came off as being melodramatic.There were also a couple of plot twists that I just didn't like.1. The whole thing with Thomas and Metias being in love with each other (possibly … ?). Look, of course I'm all for having LGBTQ characters in YA books (well, in all books in general). But just throwing in the "gay" thing as a plot twist just felt like an afterthought to me. There was no indication in the first book that Metias and Thomas had potentially been in love with each other, so I felt like it just came out of nowhere and that Marie Lu just made it up when she got to the sequel. Am I glad that she included gay/bisexual characters in her book? Of course. But I'm also kind of tired of YA books just having "token" gay characters, or characters who say "I'm gay" and then die, or everyone finds out they're gay after they die, etc. It's like, why can't there just be gay characters who a) are actually important and not just hanging out in the background, and b) DON'T DIE? Just saying.2. Day finding out that he's dying of a brain tumor or whatever. Ahhh … what? I mean, there was definitely foreshadow, what with him always talking about his "sudden headaches" and whatnot. I knew it was hinting at something. But it still seemed kind of dramatic to suddenly be like, "Oh yeah, Day is dying. Haha, the end." I think what pisses me off more, though, is that he doesn't tell June. And not only that, but he's just like, "Uhhh yeah, we just shouldn't be together anymore because it won't work out. Lol, bye." I mean, I understand that this really sucks for him, but that's still a pretty shitty thing to do. Also, I'm going to bet a million dollars right now that he's somehow going to find some kind of way around this and there's going to be some kind of last-minute miraculous cure for his brain and he'll survive. It would be ballsy for Marie Lu to actually kill him off, but I kind of doubt it will happen.3. Razor is actually evil, trololololo. Well what do you expect? His name is freaking Razor.Anyway! This book was at least a page-turner and I got through it quickly. I had some problems with the plot and characters, but I'll probably read the third book to find out how it all ends.

Actual Rating: 3.5 StarsHomework is dumb, so I'm going to write this review instead. Also, I'm a bit behind on reviews and that always bothers me a lot. So, here we go.I've never done drugs ... but I think after reading this book, I have an idea of what it might be like. Or I at least have an idea from the trippy dreams I've had and whatnot. In other words, this is quite a crazy book. If you're a fan of Alice in Wonderland or the movie "Spirited Away"––or anything along those lines––this is a book you might be interested in. It has that same sort of storyline, in which a young girl stumbles upon an imaginary world full of strange, mystical characters … and the reader is left wondering what's "real" and what isn't.What I appreciated most about this book was how imaginative it was. It was definitely unique and had some very original and intriguing world-building. The imagery is vivid, making everything easy to picture. I also loved the illustrations. They're very bold and colorful, and I felt they added a lot to the story. I thought they helped to further develop the settings and characters. I love illustrated books, and I'm always happy to see an author who puts so much time and effort into both writing and illustrating a story. As someone who loves both writing and creating art, I know that both are very time-consuming, and I have a lot of appreciation for authors who have the patience to do both for one project. It's something I'd like to do myself someday, but it seems like an intimidating process.However, I did have a couple of issues with the book over all.The first one is more of a personal issue than anything else. And that problem was that I felt like this book was a little too middle-grade for me. I could see it falling into the lower end of YA, but over all it felt more like a children's book to me. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just that it felt kind of immature to me so I had trouble relating to it. I probably would have enjoyed the book more when I was a younger kid. Secondly, I didn't like the main character very much, and she came off as a Mary Sue to me. She's one of those special, "chosen one" type characters who doesn't really have any flaws. Over all, she didn't seem to have much of a personality and I didn't feel any connection to her. Ultimately, I think this is a very creative book with thoughtful, unique world-building and gorgeous accompanying illustrations. It may have been intended for a younger audience, and I found the protagonist a bit bland, but I still thought it was a fun read. I might eventually pick up the sequel.

“What wouldn't I give now for a never-changing map of the ever-constant ineffable? To possess, as it were, an atlas of clouds.”I was assigned to read Cloud Atlas for a creative writing class that focuses on structure in stories. And let me tell you, if you want to learn about experimenting with structure, this is one of the best books you can study. I mean, the structure of this book is insane. First of all, the book has six different points of view. Each one is written as a different form of documentation: a diary, a series of letters, a novel, a memoir, an interview, and finally an imitation of oral storytelling. Each point of view takes place in a different time period, ranging from the 1850's to somewhere hundreds of years in the future. Each narrator's voice is radically different. The book first moves forward in time and then backward. Yeah ... um. It's really hard to explain this. It still blows my mind.So basically, I know it sounds like a hot mess. I had wanted to read this book for a while, but having heard people describe the craziness of the structure, I was pretty intimidated. It sounded like another one of those "quirky" books where the author was biting off way more than they could chew just to be "different." And this book could have easily become a total disaster. But in my opinion, it was actually really good. David Mitchell, I give you permission to gloat. One word: planning. Well, two words: planning and research. Thinking about how much thought and effort went into this book is just completely mind-boggling to me. I'm personally an impatient little writer and I get bored with all that planning/oultining/research crap, but then of course my stories end up being horrible piles of crap. I really admire Mitchell for doing so much thorough research and intricate planning in order for the different stories to seem realistic and to connect to each other in such clever ways.There were a few minor problems I had with the book. First of all, it came off as a little full of itself at some points. Or that is, it could kind of beat the reader over the head with obvious symbolism. The best example I can think of this was the recurrence of the number six: Six different points of view, the Cloud Atlas Sextet, the character named Sixsmith who was 66 years old ... I mean, come on. For the most part I found the book to be very clever, but there were times when it felt a bit forced. As I said in my status updates, there were times whether I couldn't decide whether I loved the cleverness or whether it made me want to chuck the book out a window.I also wasn't equally attached to all the narrators. I especially enjoyed the stories about Frobisher, Timothy, Sonmi, and Zachry; I thought all of these characters were likable and had compelling voices. But I got a bit bored with the stories about Adam Ewing and Luisa Rey. I think part of my issue with Ewing's story was that the vocabulary was just really difficult to deal with––and yes, that made sense considering it was supposed to take place in 1850, but it was still hard to get through when I had to look up the definition for every other word. Luisa Rey's story I just ... didn't find to be all that compelling. I think it was that sort of mystery/crime-thriller style that I'm just not fond of. It's not a genre I typically read ... and I understood it was suitable to the story, but it just wasn't something I enjoyed. Compared to the other characters, I found Luisa Rey to be pretty boring and I just wasn't that interested in what happened to her. But altogether, I found this novel to be very engaging and quite different from anything I've ever read. It does have a very sweeping scope, but for the most part it still manages to tell six distinct but interconnected stories with (mostly) enjoyable characters. The writing is wonderful and the whole thing was very carefully thought-out. And ultimately, it conveys an inspirational message about how even the most seemingly ordinary people can influence the future, even if it's in a very small way.

Whaaaat a new Khaled Hosseini book? Awesomesauce.

I admit, I'm a bit biased because I am friends with Kristen. However, I am also a big fan of her writing. Also, I haven't read the final draft of this book yet, but I did get a chance to beta-read an earlier draft and I enjoyed it immensely. It's a strong follow-up to the first book ([b:Aerenden: The Child Returns|13498421|Aerenden The Child Returns (Ærenden, #1)|Kristen Taber|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330088803s/13498421.jpg|19043477]); it has a lot of action and a lot of unexpected plot twists. On top of that, we see Meaghan develop as a protagonist––and of course, we see her relationship with Nick develop as well. I recommend the series, and I can't wait to read the next book! :)

I admit, I'm a bit biased because I am friends with Kristen. However, I am also a big fan of her writing. Also, I haven't read the final draft of this book yet, but I did get a chance to beta-read an earlier draft and I enjoyed it immensely. It's a strong follow-up to the first book ([b:Aerenden: The Child Returns|13498421|Aerenden The Child Returns (Ærenden, #1)|Kristen Taber|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330088803s/13498421.jpg|19043477]); it has a lot of action and a lot of unexpected plot twists. On top of that, we see Meaghan develop as a protagonist––and of course, we see her relationship with Nick develop as well. I recommend the series, and I can't wait to read the next book! :)

Okay, Cassandra Clare. You are really milking this. A lot....However, Magnus Bane is my favorite character so I'll probably read this anyway.

I totally admit that I just want to read this because of the cover. Also it sounds kind of like "Black Swan" ... and sort of reminds me of this story about ballerina sisters that I was going to write and then kind of gave up on (but might get back to eventually, maybe). AH HAHA. Anyway. I've heard kind of negative things about this book ... but ... it's so pretty. :(

"He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie."Elizabeth Wein's beautiful historical YA novel chronicles the friendship between teen girls Julie and Maddie during WWII. To say too much about Julie might give away some important plot twists, but ... let's just say that Julie is a prisoner who has been forced to write her account. And Maddie is a young pilot and Julie's best friend. I'm finding it hard to describe this book accurately. It's one of those books that I had somewhat mixed feelings about when I first finished it, but now that I've digested it for a while I'm realizing how much of it has stuck with me. There are many different layers to the story, and the point of view(s) in it can be confusing. First of all, Julie is referred to under several different names, and on top of that she sometimes writes about herself in the third person rather than in first person. There's also a major narrator change in the middle of the book that really confused me at first. To say too much would be giving things away, but basically this change in narrator is quite a plot twist. In other words ... I found this book to be really confusing at first, and when I thought I had it figured out, the huge plot twist made me super confused again.By the end of the book, though, it all made sense to me (I think). But despite how confusing this book could be, I really enjoyed it in the end. What's most compelling about the story is the strong friendship between Julie and Maddie. In a sea of YA books that are all about romance, it's refreshing to see a novel that focuses on friendship. In a sense, this is still a love story, but it's a story of platonic love between friends ... which can be just as intense as romantic love. “It's like being in love, discovering your best friend.”Julie and Maddie are both very compelling and lovable characters. I wish there were more books about badass girls that are best friends. (Also Jamie, Julie's brother, is a truly awesome character. I'm in love.)Oh and be warned, this book has a killer ending. It's quite a genius ending, really. It's very ironic how we spend the first half of the book believing that Maddie is dead ... and not only is Maddie alive, but she ends up being the one who kills Julie. Dang.For those of you who don't want to be spoiled, I'll just say that the ending is pretty mind-blowing and not what I expected at all. But I thought it was really brilliant. Brilliant and sad as hell. Minor complaint about the ending: It went on for kind of too long after Julie died, in my opinion. Part of me was almost hoping it would turn out she wasn't really dead. But that would have been pretty dumb, considering we already got that plot twist with Maddie not really being dead. From a writer's standpoint I thought Julie's death was necessary to the story, but from a normal person's standpoint ... I wished she didn't have to die. She was so cool.But basically, this book is awesome and very different from most books I've read. It's moving, clever, funny, and heartbreaking all at once. So ... yeah. I love it. Go read it.

Sounds a bit like [b:The Diviners|7728889|The Diviners (The Diviners, #1)|Libba Bray|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1336424966s/7728889.jpg|10501517], but I am intrigued ... I do love the 20's a lot and would like to read more books taking place in that era. So, it could be pretty cool.

Wow, I really do not like the cover. But anyway! For some reason I had no idea this had come out already. I had mixed feelings about the first book, and I'm hearing that apparently the end of the second one is horrible. But I'll probably read it at some point ... eventually.

Based on the cover and plot description, I probably wouldn't touch this book with a ten-foot pole. Not to mention, people have accused the author of plagiarism in her other series so ... Ehhh. But on the other hand, this seems to be getting unexpectedly good reviews. Also, I haven't read a lot of good YA books about aliens. So, I'm curious.

Okay, I have been terrible at getting reviews done, lately. Just terrible. Gosh, I read this almost two months ago, and my to-review pile is starting to verge on terrifying. Once again. Well, even though I read this ages ago, I'm going to try to review it as best as I can. First, for the fangirling portion of our review:AAHHHHHH. IT WAS SO GOOD AND I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS AND AKDJF;KDSJF;LSDJFLKA.Ah-hem. I just had to get that out of my system. (Also, that second gif doesn't really have any relevance. I just think it's hilarious and I wanted to use it.On to the (slightly) more formal version of the review:I really enjoyed this book and this series. When I picked up the first book, I hated it at first. I thought I'd gotten myself into another terrible paranormal romance in which I'd have to suffer through a weak and intolerable protagonist, a stalker love interest, insta-love galore, you name it. In the beginning, it really seemed like it was headed down that path.As I got farther into that first book, I surprisingly found myself becoming addicted to the story, actually liking the characters, and found that there were a lot of twists in the plot that I did not expect at all. What had the setup to be a potentially clichéd paranormal romance ended up being quite original in a lot of subtle but important ways. The second book continued this, showing a lot of heart and some great character development.These trends remained in the third book, which is (sadly) the conclusion to the trilogy. It's very different from the first two books, but without wandering away too much from the story and characters. In Boundless, we find Clara starting out in college as she, Christian, and Angela all begin their studies at Stanford University. (Side note: I found it kind of silly and unrealistic that they all got into Stanford and all chose to go there, but oh well. I see how it was kind of necessary in order for the plot to work.) Anyway, believability issues aside, I was happy to see a YA book that actually took place in college. As a college student who still loves YA, that's something I'd like to see more of. (And I'm not counting New Adult, because I have yet to see New Adult books that are more than just "porn for teenagers." Hopefully that will change in the coming years.) So now, Clara and her friends have to balance their college work along with dealing with evil angels (of course). Clara, Christian, and Angela are all having disturbing visions––which all seem to point to one terrifying battle and possibly Clara's death.Of the three books, this one probably had the most amount of plot. While the first two took a while to start up, I thought the third did a good job of keeping up the pace. Sure, it was a little slow as Clara adjusted to college life and whatnot, but there were still enough hints at conflict that made it intriguing. As I've said, it was great to see YA characters in college. But not only that, it was great to see teenage characters actually considering what they were going to do with their futures, what careers they might pursue, etc. I almost NEVER see this in YA books, especially of the paranormal variety. I just can't express how glad I was to see a paranormal YA book that didn't just center around the romance. Sure, the romance aspect is still important, but it doesn't consume the plot. We also see Clara worrying about what she's going to do once she's out of school. I guess this is a minor spoiler, but she decides she might want to be a doctor. I mean, she has healing powers, so why not? I thought it was awesome that she actually wanted to use her powers to help people:"I can't spend my entire life being afraid of the black-winged bogeymen. I have to live my life ... I won't be stupid about glory, but I won't sit around and wait for my visions to happen in order to do something with it."Just ... YES. I don't think I have ever, ever read a YA paranormal book where the protagonist was like, "You know what? I don't care if it might get me in trouble ... I have this magical power, and I'm going to use it to help people for the rest of my life, dammit!" But it's not like she's just doing it unprofessionally either ... She's actually studying for a medical degree. It's just terrific. (I mean, compare it to a book like [b:Halo|7778981|Halo (Halo, #1)|Alexandra Adornetto|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361296225s/7778981.jpg|10695325] where the main character is an angel with healing powers, yet all she does is make out with her boyfriend and whine about how she doesn't like watching the news because it "makes her depressed." Oy vey.) I also thought that, unlike in a lot of paranormal romance books, the whole romance & love triangle thing was actually handled quite well. As I mentioned earlier, even though it's significant, it doesn't take up the entire story. Sure, Clara does face some conflict in choosing between Tucker and Christian––but neither of the boys are douchebags about it; in fact, they're both quite nice. There is some jealousy here and there, but that's understandable.Also, when Angela says something about Clara needing to pursue her destiny and be with Christian in order to complete herself or whatever, Clara says:"Look, I'm a complete person … I don't need Christian to complete me."THAT'S RIGHT. YOU GO, GIRL.I also like that Cynthia Hand incorporated religion into the book without it becoming preachy. In books about angels, the issue is pretty much bound to come up at some point. And it's handled quite badly in some other angel books I've suffered through read. I don't know what Hand's personal beliefs are––which is good, because that means she didn't shove it down the readers' throats. The book does suggest the existence of God, but not in a way that says "God says this is right and this is wrong, etc." When the subject does come up, it's usually something like:"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."None of that "Marriage is between a man and a woman" crap like in That Other Angel Book That Shall Not Be Named.The only thing along those lines that I took issue with was some occasional slut-shaming, but it wasn't really related to religion. And it wasn't too bad. But ... still. Oh well.I also thought Samjeeza proved to be a very interesting character. In the first two books he kind of seemed like a very typical, two-dimensional villain. But in the third book, his past involving Clara's mother became more apparent. And it got to the point where I actually felt bad for him. It was like, Clara was the only connection he had left to her mother, so she's the only one he can tell/share stories with.And now for the spoilers section:Parts I wanted to address in some way or another:- Angela getting pregnant (and having a baby): WHOA, I did not see that one coming. But I thought it was kinda cool, in a way. I would like it if more YA authors showed that there can be consequences of having unprotected sex. I've read several YA books where characters had unprotected sex like it was no big deal, and nothing happened to them ... no STDs, no pregnancy. I'd like to see more YA authors address the issue of protected vs. unprotected sex and pregnancy, etc. But anyway, Angela getting pregnant wasn't some kind of PSA, either. I think it helped her to develop a lot as a character, and it was significant to the plot. - Jeffrey's whole relationship with Lucy and how she turned out to be evil and everything: Eh, I was not really a fan of this. It was just SO OBVIOUS, it was almost painful. I mean, come on:Jeffrey: "Yeah, I'm thinking a bird [tattoo] on my shoulder, like a hawk or something."Lucy: "Maybe a raven."Yeah, it's not like you have been using a raven as a sign of evil throughout the whole series. Anyway, moving along ...- The scene where Clara visits her mom in the past: TEARS, JUST TEARS EVERYWHERE. I COULDN'T HANDLE MY FEELS.Acck it was just so beautiful.- In hell, there's an evil tattoo parlor where people get their sins tattooed on them: AWESOME. That was just ... awesome. I thought it was a really cool idea.- Angela and Christian are half-siblings: DAYUMMM. Well, that would explain the whole thing where they kissed (in [b:Radiant|15851966|Radiant (Unearthly, #2.5)|Cynthia Hand|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350604973s/15851966.jpg|21599375]) and Angela was like, "Eew, it felt like I was kissing my brother." Well played, Cynthia Hand.- Okay, the ending. Hmm. I had very mixed feelings about it. I mean, sure I was happy Clara ended up with Tucker. I like Tucker. It was sweet and everything. It just felt a little convenient to me that he became semi-immortal and all. Also, I felt like Christian just kind of got cast aside. It sucks how in a lot of these love triangle scenarios, one of the guys basically gets totally forgotten at the end. It had a rather Hunger Games-esque annoying flash-forward endings where it was like, "La di da, here's the future where we're married and have kids. And what happened to that other guy? Oh, who knows. He's around somewhere. Whatevs." So, that kind of pissed me off. But, oh well.Over all, I thought this was a great conclusion to the series, which was both heartfelt and exciting. I really enjoyed reading it, and I'm eager to see what Cynthia Hand does next!

“In battle, in a war, a soldier sees only a tiny fragment of what is available to be seen. The soldier is not a photographic machine. He is not a camera. He registers, so to speak, only those few items that he is predisposed to register and not a single thing more. Do you understand this? So I am saying to you that after a battle each soldier will have different stories to tell, vastly different stories, and that when a was is ended it is as if there have been a million wars, or as many wars as there were soldiers.”This was my second time reading a work by Tim O'Brien, the first time being a few years ago when I read [b:The Things They Carried|133518|The Things They Carried|Tim O'Brien|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1297915473s/133518.jpg|1235619]. I loved that book (I mean, I still love it). It was assigned reading for my junior-year English class, and I thought I would hate it because I'd never been a fan of war literature. However, I was soon to learn that Tim O'Brien is not the typical war-lit writer. In fact, The New York Times said of Going After Cacciato, "To call Going After Cacciato a novel about war is like calling Moby-Dick a novel about whales." And I think this quote could easily apply to The Things They Carried as well. It was a book that took place during war, but the story is really is more about humanity. More than that, it also changed the way I think about storytelling. That said, I thought Going After Cacciato was a great book, but it didn't move me the same way The Things They Carried did. Anyway, let's explain the story a bit. Going After Cacciato is about a young soldier in the Vietnam war, who decides to get up and leave in the middle of the war and walk all the way to Paris. As the title of the novel implies, a group of his fellow soldiers decide to go after him. Of course, what follows is a crazy journey.The best part of this book is Tim O'Brien's writing. I just can't get over how well he writes. It's just so powerful, so simple and yet so complex, so full of emotion and imagery. He really puts you right into the story, and he makes you see things in a different light.On top of that, I love how surreal this story is. There's a certain, almost dreamlike quality to it, where at times it's not quite clear what's real and what isn't. However, as I've said, this book ultimately wasn't as meaningful to me as The Things They Carried was. I'm not sure what it was about this book ... I think maybe what I liked more about The Things They Carried was that it was made up of shorter stories that all connected in some way, and each of those stories was concise and had a strong impact. And even though there are different little stories throughout Going After Cacciato, it does still follow a more conventional storyline. And it's not like that's a bad thing, but I felt that it wasn't quite as compatible with O'Brien's style. I don't know, maybe that's just me. Basically, I thought the focus of this book wandered a bit and there were parts where I was a little bored. However, O'Brien never fails to captivate me with his writing and with the strong imagery he creates.