Nora’s Comments (group member since Nov 17, 2014)

Nora’s comments from the Open World Learning Community '14-'15 group.

You think you have problems? Try being Johnothan Fray. Due to suspicions from Mayrse Lightwood, "Jonathan"was interrogated by the inquisititor and thrown into the worst of downworld prisons, the silent city, a place generally reserved for murderers. Jonathan was put under suspicion because of his relation with his deviously evil father, Valentine. Will he escape? Will he mend bonds with his family? Then read it god dangit!



My thoughts on the book: I loved city of ashes. Quite honestly, the book sucked me in and I ended up reading half the book in one day. If I had to list the cons of this wonderful book, the only one I have would have to be that the beginning of the plot was slower, with nothing really accelerating until the end. I would recommend this to young adventurous YA readers due to its similes and creative language, at least 6th grade reading level.

Spoiler alert!





All thanks to some unfortunate timing at the Pandemonium Club in New York, Clary's life has been turned upside down. Just days after witnessing a puzzling murder in the Pandemonium and meeting a quizzical stranger with gold eyes, her house is ransacked and her mom allegedly kidnapped. Clary finds herself in the care of that stranger and his comrades, a group of shadow hunters in a place called the institute. What will her life be like from now on? Will she ever find her mom? Find out inside!

My thoughts on the book:
I loved this book. Why you ask? I would attribute that to the razor sharp wit and character design of miss Cassandra Clare. In my opinion, the characters in the book were well thought out with an even distribution of good and bad traits. Clary and friends were all very compelling and entertaining. Now, this would not be a true review if I spewed nothing but groveling compliments, so keeping that in mind, here is one of my few complaints with this novel. Although the relationship between Clary and Simon was introduced at in the beginning of the book, it went unmentioned for a large chunk of the plot, leaving many readers racking their brains for the check-in on their relationship. Alas, I could be wrong, for this could have been put off until Clary and Jace realized their feelings for each other to clearly point out Jace's disruption between the childhood friends.
Overall, a great fantasy novel with entertaining characters. 80% rotten tomatoes.

Yaaaaaas

In this realistic fiction book we follow Nikki, a dork as she travels throughout the social network of cliques, trends and gossip. The Ice-Skate-a-Thon is coming up, a charity event held by her school, and Nikki and her friends are getting ready. There is one problem though, Nikki doesn't know how to skate! Will she and her friends ever overcome these obstacles, or will their sponsor, Furry Friends go belly up? And finally, will Nikki and her crush Brandon be separated by classic mean girl Mackenzie?

Ah Dork Diaries, a well loved book written by Rachel Renée Russell about a teen undergoing the life of a dork, or as I like to call it, an insult to the very name of dork. Overall, this book was not a favorite of mine to say the least, but it was tolerable. Ever since the first book, the character conflict between Nikki and Mackenzie has developed into a hate hate relationship. On urban dictionary a dork is described as "Someone who has odd interests, and is often silly at times. A dork is also someone who can be themselves and not care what anyone thinks." The character Nikki, a self proclaimed dork goes against the very most important guideline set, being someone who can be themselves and not care. Nikki is an extremely socially conscious stereotype of a teen. With very materialistic views and values she is a very unlikeable character, with a tendency to act dopey around her crush being her only redeeming quality. If I liked the main character, I would probably have no problem with the book, as it has an excellent plot line. Honestly, Nikki's character almost has me rooting for Mackenzie!

Aliens. They walk among us, but who knew they were such a hit with the ladies? Four's life has been a series of lies and changes ever science his arrival on this planet, yes, you heard me right, arrived. On this planet. He is an alien from the planet Lorien, a once luscious planet of peace and prosperity. That was years ago, before the race of life-consuming, energy-feeding Mogadorians destroyed his home planet. On the day of the attack, he and nine children possessing the capabilities of mind boggling powers were shipped off the earth, with the hope of someday returning home and salvaging their home. These children can only be killed in numerical order, thanks to a charm put on them before departure. While awaiting their possible demise, the children, called garde, and their guardians, (called cepán) have to constantly move around the country, to raise their chances of survival. In this book, one of these moves brings Four to encounter a foe he has never before seen. Love.

Overall, I would give this book a 9/10. To me the book seemed that it was made to sell to teens. It had a story line that developed in quite a ragged fashion, just bombshell to bombshell, not really letting it grow onto readers. I have noticed this pattern in other such YA novels, which leaves me to think about the age group it was aimed towards. As for the romance scenes, they were, as I found them, a teeter totter of "will they, won't they" between characters. The displays of love were spotted along the story line to remind us that romance still existed in our story. Still though, in this book I was completely swallowed up in the emotions of characters. I found myself tearing up, laughing, and feeling as if I were going through what the characters were. For this reason, I hope to see more on characters of Pittucus's in the future.

Ah Paris, a city filled with love, passion and deadly secrets. Here in this lovely city we follow Tandy as she whisks us along in what can only be described as an extravaganza entangled with homicide, drama and witty quips.
Relationships and betrayal can be hard, especially if you've been living without emotions for your entire life. Tandoori Angel and her brothers have been moved to Paris ever since her parents were murdered mysteriously in New York. Having been reunited with her first love, James Rampling, life is a blur of romance, Euphoria and ecstasy. But sadly, nothing can ever be normal for Tandy. As questions about her sisters death arise, and her love life hits a wall, Tandy finds herself back where she started. In Paris, confused, and with lives on the line.

My, my, my! James Patterson does it again! What we have here is another spectacular page turner, not unlike the second in this series of murder mysteries. Some would call it a stellar representation of modern literacy! One of its many great qualities includes the intensely realistic feelings emitted by Tandy. In this book we learn more of Tandy's TRUE character, and she never reacts in a way unlike herself. Basically there is no break of character when it comes to her. Overall this was an amazing book, and I look forward to reading more from the great mind of James Patterson.

CONFESSIONS: THE PRIVATE SCHOOL MURDERS by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro is a twisted mystery novel with a surprisingly human core. In this 448 page long adventure we follow Tandy (Tandoori) as she struggles against "coincidence " after "coincidence", ones that increasingly threaten her life. Tandy, being as skilled as an almost psychopathic-young adult detective can be, is having flashes of a boy she once loved. All all the odds seem to be stacked against her as she fights through the memories of the former lover, her brother being accused of murder and mysterious killings all linked to a young and wealthy private school girls. Can Tandy do the impossible and prevail as her life is ripped apart by tragedy?

I lived, I breathed, this book. The complex plots give a mind massaging experience to everyone who encounters this novel. I personally loved the explanation of character and the displaying of emotions through setting. James Patterson is one of my all-time favorite authors and I will be sure to read more Maxine Paetro. This novel was a complete page turner and find I passed hundreds of them in what felt like minutes. This was truly a beautiful work of modern literature, and I would recommend it to all who love the Maximum Ride series or science fiction.

Oh my god
Elsa, prepare yourself for the glory that is the maximum ride series