Wraithsong by E.J. Squires is more captivating than Twilight, The Hunger Games, and City of Bones

The Desirable Creatures Series, Book I

Sonia goes to the greenhouse after school to pull weeds as a punishment for spiting on the school bully. There she meets Anthony, a gorgeous boy with intense light blue eyes and a great build. Sonia is surprised at how attracted she is to him. Anthony is rude one moment and then asking her out the next.  Sonia’s emotions are out of control. Her mom explains that she will turn into a Huldra when she turns eighteen in two weeks. With her Flair she can control people when they come into contact with her saliva. Her mom warns her that her flair is getting stronger and she must not kiss a boy or even think of dating. 

Behind her moms back Sonia goes out with Anthony. He takes her to the ballet, Her favorite place because she use to be a dancer but since her Dad’s death she gave it up. She gets a bunch of frantic messages from her mom and she knows something is wrong. Anthony comes clean and tells her who he really is and that his mom has kidnapped Sonia's mom. She has to trust Anthony to help her attack Wraithsong the invisible island where the Darkalfars have taken her mom.  Lightalfars and other Huldra's are planning to help but nothing goes as planned. Sonia doesn’t know who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. She needs to rescue her Mom and she will do anything to accomplish that.

I love this story! I am hooked. I can’t wait until the book two Blufire comes out on July 31st 2014 . 

I started rereading Wraithsong right after I finished it just to experience it all over again. The book is contemporary but based on Norse Mythology. I absolutely love stories that make you think about other worlds happening right around us. I’ve always been interested in Norway but now I’m obsessed with the folklore. There's plenty of action and a heart gripping romance. My favorite is how it ties in with the other series by E.J. Squires, A Viking Blood saga. 

An epic historical fantasy romance based on Norse Mythology.

Th Desirable Creatures Series has surpassed all other YA series and is by far my favorite. I mean it; I’m more captivated than I ever was with Twilight, The Hunger Games, or City of Bones. And if you know me, you know how much I loved those series. This is a different kind of YA paranormal romance. I want to know more about these magical people and places. 

And of course a movie will have to be made about it. Here's a couple of my picks if I got to cast the movie:

Austin Butler as Anthony

Milla Sunde as Sonia 

(Milla is the lead singer for The Green Children)

Here's an example of Milla's awesome voice and Norway's beautiful scenery.  

Movie Review time: Books to the big screen

I saw two of my favorite books turned into movies this week.

 

First, City of Bones, I attended the midnight showing. This series has been a favorite book of mine for 3 years now. I reread the books to have a fresh memory of what happens in time for the movie release. I almost think it is best to forget all about the books before seeing its movie. You know very well they are going to have to change things to make it fit into 2 hours.  Here are the seven things that I’m glad made it into the movie:

***Spoilers***

1. Clary is a heroine and not a damsel in distress. She is fearless and precisely how she acted in the book. (She was a little less redheaded than I imagined but it worked.)
2. Jace’s instant attraction to Clary and need to be with her even though he is a wounded soul.
3. Alec’s obsession with Jace must have gotten edited out because you didn’t see it much but when Clary accused Alec of being in love with Jace and he throws her against the wall was right on.
4. The Silent Brothers with their lips sewn shut and gouged out eyes were creepily perfect.
5. Simon with his Made in Brooklyn t-shirt was by far my favorite character in the movie. He stole the show with his broken-heart and big brown eyes.
6. Valentine is the perfect bad guy you almost feel bad for but in the end he is truly evil with a lot of fight scenes.
7. I was worried about how they would tastefully approach the end of book one. Like a lot of readers I was afraid people would be turned off by the revelation that our love triangle became incest with Clary and Jace being siblings. The movie addresses the issue and didn't make it at all creepy.

Well done, it was a great show. I’m planning to take my husband to see it. It has plenty of action and even if you haven’t read the books you will enjoy and understand the story line. 

NEXT STAY TUNED FOR MY MOVIE REVIEW OF "AUSTENLAND"...

CITY OF BONES MOVIE RELEASE AUGUST 21ST

I first read City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass around October  2010. 

Here is my book review:
http://juliemartinwallace.blogspot.com/2010/10/here-is-new-series-that-i-excited-about.html

I've started rereading the series for the movie release which will be out Wednesday Aug 21st. I hope they decide to make the whole series into movies. Time will tell. So excited to see City of Bones!  http://www.themortalinstrumentsmovie.com

Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray (Lily Collins), discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother (Lena Headey), Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures. Based on the worldwide best-selling book series.

Cast members: 
Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan, Kevin Zegers, Lena Headey, Kevin Durand, Aidan Turner, Jemima West, Godfrey Gao with CCH Pounder, with Jared Harris 
and I'm really excited about Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing the bad guy. 

SHADOWHUNTER FANS: The only way we can guarantee Hollywood will make all THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS series into movies is if we all go out and watch CITY OF BONES. 

Book Review of Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

I attended the Changing Hands Bookstore official launch party - bus tour - book signing for CLOCKWORK PRINCESS-The Infernal Devices #3 

One big thrill for me is meeting my favorite authors and learning where they get their inspiration from. Cassandra Clare said she meet with a friend who's a tattoo artist and they talked about the different designs and meanings and the idea of Shadowhunters having tattoos to help them have special powers was born. 

At her launch party she played the movie trailer for City of Bones which is coming out August 23rd 2013. http://youtu.be/4axPibsp4Ao

She also played the book trailer for Clockwork Princess. http://youtu.be/qyw0FqR-bjc

Cassandra Clare told how she was in England sitting in a park plotting for Clockwork Princess and a large worm crawled onto her blanket and she said, "there's going to be a  worm in the book."  

And indeed the book has a large vicious worm attacking the shadowhunters and this is where the book starts out. Tessa shows up to help in her wedding dress and ends up getting blood all over it. Jem takes a turn for the worse and needs more medicine. With Tessa & Jem engaged, Will has to push his love for Tessa aside. More than anything he wants to see his best friend Jem happy. 

Mortmain is determined to get Tessa for his own evil plan to get revenge on the shadowhunters. When he buys up all the medicine that will keep Jem alive Tessa has to put her life on the line to save the man she loves. 

There are lots of tie-ins with the Mortal Instrument series through out Clockwork Princess. It made me want to reread the whole series starting with City of Bones. 

If you don't want the biggest spoiler of all don't read the family tree on the inside flap of the book. I did that. Ugh!

Cassandra Clare is a great writer and she intertwines a bizarre supernatural world within our world. This wrapped up the series nicely and it was a great end to The Infernal Devices. 

If you haven't read it buy your copy at:

http://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-Princess-Infernal-Devices-Cassandra

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-clockwork-princess-cassandra-clare

Learn more about Cassandra Clare and her awesome series:

http://www.shadowhunters.com/theinfernaldevices/index.php

http://www.cassandraclare.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Cassandraclare

https://twitter.com/cassieclare

Book Review Vanguard Legacy: Foretold by Joanne Kershaw

I finished this YA Paranormal series and can't stop thinking about the story. It's similar to Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and The Mortal Instrument series. It's like them but very original in its own world crisis and endearing characters. With a perfect balance of familiar and unfamiliar you are inducted into a world focused on training their children to fight against evil. Elora is in Vanguard training with fellow classmates Aaron, who is her best friend; Matthew a Magicae who is learning to be a spirit reader; and Teya a vampire who is training as a forensic. All of them are learning how to defeat the Dark Seekers. Elora's mother is one the best Vanguard's and has returned to the training compound. Elora thinks her mom only came to keep an eye on her. The relationship between them has always been bad but the secrets and lies start to come out and Elora doesn't know who she can trust. Thankful for her friends and new boyfriend Zak, who's a senior trainee, they try to figure out what Elora's visions mean.  With Elora's special talent her group is placed in an accelerated training class. When all "hell" breaks loose Elora has to face her family secret. Don't miss out on this exciting new book.


 Join the release party for Vanguard Legacy – Foretold on April 5^th https://www.facebook.com/events/591516437542734/

Joanne Kershaw lives in Wakefield, England, with her husband, four young children, and an uppity cat named Dipstick. As a teacher of five- to eleven-year-olds, she spends her days playing at being a grownup, then goes home to delve into Young Adult dark romance and being sixteen again.

Joanne lives and breathes books, whether reading, writing, or marking them. She wrote her first novel in six weeks. Encouraged to submit her work by a friend and fellow YA novel addict, Joanne now finds herself a signed author at Xchyler Publishing. http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Joanne.Kershaw.Author

https://twitter.com/Kershaw_Joanne

Write - a - thon challenge 4,5,6

Challenge #4
Take the current book you are reading, or if you aren't reading one now (shame on you!) the last book you read. Try to write a one sentence “pitch” of the book. 

This challenge may sound simple (only one sentence!), but don't let it fool you!

My challenge:

"Witches of the Three Sister Island have to come together to save the island from the same fate as Atlantis."

(I'm reading Nora Robert's 3rd book in the series of the Three Sisters Island. You can read my book reviews on my other blog juliemartinwallace.blogspot.com )

My thoughts: Finding how to describe a book in one sentence is really hard to do. But those taglines are so important. 

Challenge #5
Make a list of the Top 10 Books (You Think) Every Writer Should Read. You can cater the list toward whatever genre you write (i.e. Top 10 Books Every Poet Should Read, Top 10 Books Every YA Contemporary Writer Should Read, Top 10 Books Every Picture Book Writer Should Read, etc.)

October Madness Challenge #5

My challenge: Top 10 YA Paranormal/Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Romance every writer should read:

1. The Host by Stephenie Meyer

2. Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

3. Great and Terrible Beauty series by Libba Bray

4. City of Bones series by Cassandra Clare (city of bones) (book-review-city-of-lost *Spoilers)

5. Clockwork Angel series by Cassandra Clare

6. Kissed by an Angel series by Elizabeth Chandler

7. My Unfair Godmother series by Janette Rallison (My Unfair Godmother book review)

8. Erasing Time by C.J. Hill (book-review-of-erasing-time-by-cj-hill)

9. Dragon Slayers by C.J. Hill (book-review-of-slayers-by-cj-hill)

10. Eon & Eona series by Alison Goodman (book-review-of-eon) (book-review-of-eona-by-alison-goodman *Spoilers)

My thoughts: It's really hard to narrow my list to only top ten. I think as a writer, reading lots of books is the best way to learn. I included another top 10 of my favorite books I read over and over. They are in all kinds of genres but they help mold my writing. 

1. How I Write by Janet Evanovich  & Stephanie Plum series

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

3. All's Fair in Love, War, and High School by Janette Rallison

4. Dangerous Favor by Joyce DiPastena (Dangerous Favor book review)

5. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

6. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

7. The MacGregor series by Nora Roberts

8. Zenobia - Birth of a Legend by Russ Wallace (book-review-zenobia-birth-of-legend)

9. Wizards First Rule series by Terry Goodkind

10.Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins (book-review-hunger-games) (Catching fire book review)(Mockingjay review)

Challenge #6 
Set a writing goal for yourself to complete by the end of the year. Make sure it is easily measurable. Also, make sure it is something that is possible to accomplish, but also push yourself!

My challenge: 

By the end of this month I will have "The road to my love" completed and enter Writer’s Digest short story contest. 

End of the year goals:

I will have "Far From Normal" edited 

I will have query letter, synopsis, and 1 minute pitch perfected

I will send a query to agent Gary Goldblatt 

I will write first full draft of "Far Far Away" book two

My thoughts: This week has been a great motivation for me. I really dropped the ball on my writing and now I'm back on track. Can't wait to accomplish my goals and be a published writer. 

Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines - Brian Tracey

Book Review of City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

     We start right into the story after City of Fallen Angels left off and Jace went missing from the rooftop and Sebastian/ Jonathan the-demon-blood-dead-guy was now missing with Jace. Everybody is looking for Jace. Alec senses he is still alive but something is not right. After two weeks of missing the Clave changes their focus and stops looking for Jace. Clary and her friends go see the faire Queen to see if she can help them find Jace. She agrees to help them if they bring her two Shadowhunter rings that allow those who obtain the rings to speak telepathically. At the institute, Clary was about to steal the rings when Jace and Sebastian show up to retrieve some books on dark magic. Clary hides and is shocked to see Jace going along with Sebastian like they are best friends. 

     Jace shows up in Clary’s bedroom and tells her that Sebastian has a good plan and she needs to go with him. He also tells her that he is linked to Sebastian and they can’t kill one without killing the other. Clary decided to join Jace, this way she can find out what they are planning. If she wears the ring and Simon wears the other ring they can speak to each other. She has to play along with Sebastian and pretend she is starting to trust him as a brother. After getting drugged at a night club her ring goes missing and she has no way to warn the others about Sebastian’s plan to let free the worst demons on the world.  

     I thought this was the final book of The Mortal Instruments but since it left a lot undone I’m hoping it’s not. I liked the different story-lines that were going on throughout the book. Jordan and Mia who are werewolves are helping the shadowhunters find Jace. Jordan hopes he can rekindle his relationship with Mia and that she will be able to forgive him for turning her into a werewolf. Magnus and Alec are having relationship problems as Magnus is immortal and Alec is not. Alec runs into an old lover of Magnus’s and is trying to find a way to become immortal or make Magnus mortal. Isabelle can’t stop thinking about Simon, Clary’s vampire BFF, and Isabelle is struggling with finding a way to let him know she’s interested. Clary has to find a way to save Jace before the shadowhunters kill him because he’s connected to Sebastian and his evil plan. There is a lot happening all at once and “Team Good” as Clary calls her group of friends has to stop “Team Bad” before it’s too late.

     It was an exciting and nail-biting read. If you like vampires, werewolves, demons, angels, fairies, warlocks, (did i forget anybody?) and whole secret society saving the world from the unknown, then you'll like this series. Cassandra Clare has a great imagination and makes her characters go through all kinds of hard times. Good news! They are turning the first book City of Bones into a movie. 

For more information about The Mortal Instruments series go to : http://www.shadowhunters.com/mortalinstruments/

To purchase:

http://www.amazon.com/City-Lost-Souls-Mortal-Instruments/dp/1442416866

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/city-of-lost-souls-cassandra-clare/1104511184