[Review] Dark Heart Forever by Lee Monroe

Title: Dark Heart Forever
Author: Lee Monroe
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Published: October 1st 2010
Series: Dark Heart (Book #1)
Source: I purchased a copy from a bookstore.

Blurb from Goodreads: Jane Jonas is nearing her 16th birthday and troubled by unsettling recurring dreams where the same mysterious boy her age comes to her, telling Jane that they are each other's destiny. Her mother is increasingly anxious about Jane's disruptive sleepwalking episodes, but for Jane her dream world and reality are about to collide... 

When she develops a friendship with an enigmatic stranger in town, the blond, uber-cool Evan, it's exciting, it's new, and Jane wants him more than she's ever wanted anybody - until her mystery dream boy gets in the way. 

Now Jane is caught between two worlds: one familiar, but tinged with romance and excitement; the other dark and dangerous, where angels, werewolves, and an irresistible stranger are trying to seduce her. 

Review

My thoughts: I absolutely adored this book. I've seen a lot of bad reviews but I didn't let them stop me from reading Dark Heart Forever, and I'm glad! It's a fast-paced first-on-a-series books with new concepts and ideas. Although it has some of the typical stereotypes of supernatural creatures, it creates two parallel worlds. The first one, is the real world, the normal world, where Jane a home-schooled teenager without friends lives with her parents and sister, and where she met Evan, the sexy and charming new guy in town. Jane is shy and has no friends because she was bullied when she was on school, but with Evan she suddenly feels like a normal teenager, although she is not sure she can really trust him, because there's something about him that doesn't add up. The other world is Nissilum, Luca's home and the place where the supernatural creatures lives. There are vampires, werewolves, witches and some others. Luca is the most adorable guy ever, he's caring and sweet and I have to admit I fell for him from the start. Jane meet Luca when she was supposedly sleepwalking, but there's something more about it, something stronger, a bond between the two of them. The relationship between this two is really heartwarming and cute and makes you want to be Jane. 

The author manages to create a new concept, with two worlds, some sort of love triangle and still adds a lot of unexpected twists in a story that had many interesting details. 

There's so many things I like about this book. It is definitely one of my favorites of 2012. 

I would recommend it for: Fans of Paranormal Romance. 

Rating:

Quotes:

“Our hearts are bound together,' he said, 'and I am free to decide who I love. And what I want. Nothing - not the pressure of my family, or what anyone else thinks - matters.” 

“To truly love someone you have to see their flaws. See the dark side. The things you don't like.” 

About the author:

Lee Monroe was born in London, but spent a short time living by the sea with her family when she was a teenager. She moved back to the heart of the city as soon as she could, and now lives in Westminster. 

Lee was an obsessive reader as a child, and still is. She has worked in publishing and contributed to, and ghost-written, books. 

Dark Heart Forever is her first novel under her own name.

[Review] City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Published: March 27th, 2007
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Series: The Mortal Instruments (Book #1)
Source: I purchased a copy from a bookstore.
Blurb from Goodreads: 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 that they will never want to end.

Review

General thoughts: This is one of the best first-books-on-a-series that I've read. In most of series it takes a while to reach the good parts and it isn't uncommon to see a huge portion of descriptions and world-settings. City of Bones mix the exciting moments with the informative ones (so you don't get info-dumped) creating a sublime harmony. The author gives you information through jokes and quotes that you can't forget even when you're done with the book and she inserts fights and critical turns in between, which makes the reading very light and fun.
I loved it, this is the kind of book you can't stop thinking about once you've read it.

About the plot: Thousand years ago, Angel Raziel combined his blood with human's to give birth to the Shadowhunters race. They have to take care of demons and keep the world safe. No human knows about their existence, at least until the night when Clary -a girl who is about to turn sixteen- sees them in Pandemonium, the trendy nightclub. Since then, nothing will ever be the same in Clary's world. Everything the girl had believed her entire life has turned out to be a lie. On top of that, she found out there are all kinds of mythical creatures, her mom has been kidnapped and Luke (the closest thing to a father she has) seems to be done with her. Now, with the help from Simon, her best friend; from Jace, the most frustrating person and the hottest guy she has ever seen; and from other ShadowHunters, she will have to figure out who her mother  really is and will have to find herself in the meantime.

About the characters: Clary is the girl who finds out everything she believed in was wrong and all the mythical creatures she knew from fairy-tales are real. She is an emotional teenager -as expected since she's only sixteen- but she's brave. Clary is willing to do whatever it takes to save the ones she loves most. 
Jace is a boy who's beautiful like an angel and deadly like a dagger. God, he's like every girl's dream. I'm just so in love with him that it hurts. He's the best Shadowhunter of his age, tough on the surface but behind his I-don't-give-a-crap act he has a huge heart. He obviously has a thing for Clary, there's something about her that intrigues him and annoys him at the same time. Even when he pretend he's all calm and indifference, at the end of the day he's just a boy seeking answers. 
Simon, the human or "mundane" -as Shadowhunters call him- is Clary's bestfriend and the only normal person she can count on since her world has turned upside down. He's a real geek and kind of clumsy, but he'll do anything for Clary.
Alec and Isabel are siblings, both Shadowhunters and Jace's best friends. At first they seem  reluctant to take Clary in, especially Alec. But after a while they get used to her and start treating her better. 

About the writing: Being a first book on a series, its goal is to catch the reader's attention and I must say: That's exactly what this book does!
City of Bones is a urban-fantasy book and what can be more urban than New York!? This story is set on the Manhattan streets and aside from the fictional creatures and paranormal features from this kind of genre, the scene is pretty believable.
It's fast paced and contains just the right amount of details so the reader is able to picture the settings, the voices and even the smells, all this without taking over pages and pages for description purposes. Once you've started it you can not put it down!
It is narrated in third person, however, we don't get to know everything before hand. We can almost see the world through Clary's eyes and we don't have much more information than she has. We learn about the other characters through the dialogue which is good, because we don't get info-dumped. 

About the ending (contains spoilers): The ending is clearly open. You can tell there's a lot that hasn't been solved. Most of the characters are not fully developed and some essential part of them is still missing. Valentine is gone -for now-, Clary's mom is still asleep, Jace has a lot to make sense of, Alec is struggling with his sexual orientation and I could go on and on listing things that still need an answer.
However, the story has a begging, development and ending well built, like an episode from a TV show that is just starting.
When you're done reading, you still have a lot of doubts about what comes next. You feel the need to start the next book right away.

I would recommend it for: Everyone who loves paranormal books. This is one of the funniest reading I've had in a while.

Rating:

Quotes:

"Is this when you start tearing strips off your T-shirt to bind up my wound?" she joked. She hated the sight of blood, especially her own. 

"If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked." He dug into his pocket and brought out his stele. "It would have been a lot less painful."

"Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?"

Jace said, "Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself."

Dorothea roared at that. "At least," she said, "you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland."

"Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting."

"No," Jace said crossly. "The Mark are only part of it. There are tests, ordeals, levels of training -look, just forget it, okay? Stay away from my blades. In fact, don't touch any of my weapons without my permission."

"Well, there goes my plan for selling them all on eBay," Clary muttered.

"Selling them on what?"

Clary smiled blandly at him. "A mythical place of great magical power."