Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Hello internet!

So John Green's book The Fault in Our Stars came out on January 10. And like the good nerdfighter that I am, I had pre-ordered the book from Barnes and Noble and immediately went to pick it up. Even though I knew that they had held a copy for me to come and get, I kinda wanted to go to the shelf and find the big stack of TFIOS books and flip through them to see if any of them had a Hanklerfish. Alas, my local B&N had added a GIGANTIC Nook section in the middle of the store completely moving the shelves around as well as the customer service desk. So no longer could I find the teen fiction section, the new releases table, or even the customer service desk where I could ask someone to help me. After finally finding the help desk and the man who helped me found my reserved copy, I turned around to check out. On my way out I noticed that they had put a temporary shelf of TFIOS books right beside the door and out of my immediate line of sight. Of course half the shelves of books had a "signed copy" sticker and half did not. However, I thought it would have been weird for me to stand there looking through all the books a copy of which I held in my hand. Anyways I walked outside totally excited and saw that I had a green J-scribble and completely walked past my car.

Now of course since I had the book I wanted to read it immediately, but sadly I had to go back to college that day and of course classes began the next day completely limiting my time to read for pleasure. But luckily, college wasn't that busy and I finished the book in two days. And all I have to say is SO MANY FEELINGS!!!! It's been about a week since I started the book and also a week since the book has come out, and I still cannot get over the awesomeness that is this book. You get really witty and funny characters, romance, and sadness. Basically, John takes you on an emotional rollercoaster as you follow the main characters Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters through their adventures while living a life with cancer. There are so many themes, motifs, and symbols in this book that really makes me want to sit down and have an in-depth, analytical discussion about this book. I would also love to pick John Green's brain in the process. There are so many good quotes in this book that I would also love to mark-up and highlight but I really don't want to mess up the prettyness that is The Fault in Our Stars.

If you guys are in the mood for a good book to read, on top of The Mortal Instruments series that I recommended last time, this is definitely a good pick. In fact, I would probably put this in front of any other books on that list. Or, if you aren't quite convinced, here are links to John reading from chapters one and two via YouTube. Finally, if you just fall in love with TFIOS and really want to read more books by John, check out Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, An Abundance of Katherines, and Will Grayson Will Grayson. The last book, Will Grayson Will Grayson, was co-authored by David Levithan in which John wrote the odd numbered chapters and David wrote the even numbered chapters.

Review: The Mortal Instruments Books 1-4

Hello!

So you're on your 3 week long winter break. There is no stress from college because, well frankly, you haven't started any of your new classes yet. You've caught up with your marvelous high school friends and finally have free time on your hands. What do you do if you're me and a total nerd? You read. Read what exactly? The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. Okay, so yeah I know I'm behind on the hype of this series. But, cut me some slack. I've wanted to read the books for a while now, I just haven't had the time. But that doesn't matter to me because the wait was totally worth it. I'm completely obsessed. And how do I know I'm obsessed? I read all four books in about four days. Now I'm a fast reader, but these books aren't that short and it kinda shocked me how much I just didn't want to put the books down. I think the last time I was like this was when I finished the Harry Potter series and read John Green's books. (I can't wait for The Fault in Our Stars to come out!!!)

Anyways, on to my thoughts of the series as a whole. (WARNING SPOILERS) The plot line is pretty engaging, however it's your classic supernatural, young adult, romance-ish series. There are many aspects that remind me of the Harry Potter series and, as you get to books 3 and 4, the Twilight series. However as my AP Literature class taught me, all books and movies are related to each other in a way called intertextuality. Basically, everything with a plot line has the same themes and obviously the same plots. The Mortal Instruments are similar to Harry Potter in that you have an evil guy named Valentine who is trying to purify the Shadowhunter race believing that this is the best thing for the human world. Not to mention he is a bit egotistical. Now who does that sound like? Lord Voldemort. The Mortal Instruments series is reminiscent of the Twilight books because of the crazy and whirl-wind forbidden love of the series' two main characters, Jace and Clary. Okay so one isn't human and the other a vampire that is completely in love with the scent of the other's blood but forbidden love is forbidden love. Why are Jace and Clary forced to fight their passionate love for each other? Well even though they are both Shadowhunters, they learn that they are brother and sister. And not only that but their father is Valentine. Now when I read books I am a big sucker for the romance. Jace and Clary's relationship was no different except the incest aspect practically killed me. I desperately wanted them to be together. Luckily for me, my wish came true in book three. However, introducing the character of Jonathan, Clary's true evil and half-demon brother only to have him killed at the end of the book seemed a little pointless except to save the relationship of Jace and Clary. But of course, Cassandra Clare had a purpose for him as shown in book four. Now I personally hate cliff hangers. Authors use them to keep readers interested in the series but this last book ended the most abruptly out all the books published so far. If she wanted to work on her cliff hanger skills then she definitely improved but I just hate how this book ended mainly because I just wanted the whole Jace angst to end.

All in all I really love this series and I can't wait for Clare's last two books to come out. If you guys are looking for a new series to read and are like me and haven't read these books I would highly recommend them especially if you love anything regarding the supernatural and fantasy.