Book Review - City of Bones by Classandra Clare

Hey!

I’m back with another book review and this is the book I’ve been excited about for many weeks and so I dared enough to buy the whole book set.

And I’d say I like this book cover more..

Than this…

because somehow I don’t like the idea of having a naked Jace on the front very appealing..

Disclaimer: This would be a little of fangirling review because seriously you want me to not fangirl? And this will probably contain some spoilers but I won’t be spoiling the book for those of you who had not yet read this book (because it’s been like 3 years since the whole “Shadowhunter Phase” and I’m betting that most of you all would have read these but if you lived under a rock, like me, from so long and had not for some reason read these, no worries!)

BOOK COVER BLURB

Clary Fray is seeing things: vampires in Brooklyn and werewolves in Manhattan. Irresistibly drawn to the Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, Clary encounters the dark side of New York City – and the dangers of forbidden love.

PLOT

The book cover blurb basically gives the whole short and sweet summary of the world Clary is newly experiencing. She met new people, known as Shadowhunters, not at a good time because they were killing a demon. She is sucked into their world and she gets to know that all the things that she used to imagine are now true from vampires to faeries to restaurants that serve locusts with honey.

All of a sudden she gets to know that the world is kept a secret from Clary by her own mother, who due to some reasons doesn’t want Clary to hold any relation. And then one day her mother gets kidnapped by who is known as the Overlord himself (The Voldemort of The Mortal Instruments to be exact!). She struggles to find a way to get her mother back and in the process befriends some Shadowhunter kids Jace and brother-sister Alec and Isabelle.

And we follow Clary in her adventures to fit in the world she was destined to be.

CHARACTERS

The characters are the best part of this book. I’ll take all the characters one by one.

Clary – So basically Clary is a lost child in this new world, I mean who wouldn’t be? But she’s not the ‘hero type’ and needs a lot of saving. This is the reason anyone could relate to her. There are many, many secrets unveiled in this book and she acts like a normal teenager would do. But somehow, somewhere she seems a little bit annoying to me and I can’t point out where or how to be precise, but she is just…annoying. She randomly slaps Jace twice in this book in which I can understand only the first time she does it. But the second time it felt like she is a bit mad person with her hands slapping people in the most normal cases. Many people would think that she trails behind Jace all the time but when you consider it Jace being the only person that cares enough about her to see whether she’s living or not, she would naturally hang with him.

Simon – Simon is Clary’s 10 year best friend who is normal human. And I think he was the character I loved reading about. He’s quirky and funny and compares like with a video game. And he has a major crush on Clary, which she obviously doesn’t know because…she’s stupid I guess. He is a human and still he balances the Shadowhunter’s weird behaviour (they act like Edward from Twilight if you’re trying to picturise it)

Jace – I seriously don’t get what the appeal of Jace is all about. I mean before I read this book I saw everyone in the fandom be like “OHMYGOD Jace!! He’s so swoon worthy” But I never liked him in this book. He was so over obsessed with himself and he looked a little over confident to me (sorry Team Jace) but I’d happily choose Team Simon for this one! And half the time Jace is like helping Clary and the other half sulking and completely ignoring Clary or being rude to her. And even after being so confusing Clary just longs to stay with him.

Alec – I thought Alec could be a good character but we don’t really see that much of him in this book though I know he’s got a pretty good role in this series. All we know is that he hates Clary and loves Jace.

Isabelle – Isabelle is that badass beauty character who fights like a pro and dresses to kill. She is also not given that much role in this book but I’d like to see more of her. The contrast of Clary and Isabelle is also good to see where both the girls secretly envy each other.

Hodge – Hodge is like a father figure to the Shadowhunter children and he trains and mentors them. But if you’ve read the book I’m sure you wouldn’t have seen that plot twist coming. Am I right? Yes, I am. And I basically was like:

WRITING STYLE

The dialogues!!!!What really made this book really great were the dialogues. I am openly admitting that I can really love a book which has great dialogues even if the story is a little ‘meh’.

And the twists! I mean I saw a few of them coming but others… I was like “How the hell did this happen?” I had to literally turn the pages back to reread the things that I missed and which became this huge plot twist.

This book was really a great read for me because I’m not into YA that much and this made me reconsider my favourite genres. I am really, really excited to complete the whole series now that I have bought them all at once.

MY REVIEW

I’d say if you’re a book lover and you’d like to read something good over the weekend you can give this a try. I don’t really have any reason to not read it but if you’re not into this YA/dystopian thing, you should probably skip this. But I would recommend it anyway. A big 5/5 stars!

I’D LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THIS? LET’S TALK!

I COMPLETED MY SHORT STORY FOR COMPETITION!

Hi everyone!
I decided to take part in LyfWithEm’s short story writing competition which was announced a few weeks back. And I didn’t know then that I suck at writing short stories. Really. I had to write a story within 500-1000 words and I was finding it very difficult to adhere to the word limit. But I kept it 600+ words which is good. Its like I’m not made for short stories. That means I’m made for writing novels? I don’t know that yet but I’ll find out soon. So here’s my story and please I request you to not read it with high hopes because I don’t write great and this is my 2nd short story that I’ve written in my life. So please bear with me. The topic was haunted/isolation. I did a mix of both.

“Hey, wait a minute!! I’m coming!” I almost screamed to Judy. She’s my best friend and we’ve been together for 6 years. 
Few days ago, I read in a magazine, the Funderland Amusement Park, found in 1910 was not very popular at first but it came into headlines when 7 people died unexpectedly and all of them were sitting in the Roller Coaster. Or Sam’s roller coaster as they all call it. Sam Winters was a officer who checked the rides before the park opened for public. One day he died while checking the roller coaster. No one could solve this mystery of his death.
And Judy loved to test these horror and creapy rides. And worst, she took me with her. Everytime. And I couldn’t say no.
When we reached there I looked at the gate and it looked a little weird to me. Long lost parks don’t have such shiny gates. But I removed the thought and concentrated on detesting her decision.
“I don’t see anyone!”
“Shut up! You can’t spot ghosts just when you enter!” I snapped at her.
“Whoa! Someone needs to slow down”
“I’m-I’m sorry. I just feel tired.” I took out my handkerchief to soak up the small drops of sweat that had now formed on my forehead. I patted it on my forehead. I was really feeling sick. Not normal sick, just a weird kind of sickness, the one you get when you continuously turn round and round and round and the whole world turns woozy and you don’t know what to do. 
Then I saw Judy run through the gates and towards the darkness. I felt a strange presence. I knew something was wrong with this place. Although I don’t believe in ghosts but whatever was present here I didn’t like it. Not at all.
I have to save her. I have to get her back. I thought and ran in the direction she went. 
I think I just saw a mary-go-round start by itself. 
“Judy! Judy come back! Where are you?”
“Behind you!”
I turned back, “Oh my god Judy you scared-“
There was no one there. But I heard her voice. Or I thought she was here.
I didn’t know what was going on but I pretty much hated this place now. 
What shall I do? Leave her here and go back? Was I that scared to leave my best friend in a park full of things I didn’t know. No. I’m going to find her. But how? And if while finding her something happens to me? 
These negative thoughts hovered around my mind. I decided to find her anyway. 
I walked to the Roller Coaster first thinking she might have gone there. I saw the coaster and only one thing came out of my mouth-“Judy-“. The Roller Coaster was something I can’t describe in words. The atmosphere reeked of a presence so strong that the whole coaster was surrounded by a white fog. I heard her voice again. But this time it sounded weird. Like there are multiple voices speaking with her. I saw her coming towards me. She was walking with a limp and her face was bruised so badly that her left eye seemed to have lost every sense. I knew she was not Judy. I waked out of  my thought and I ran and ran till I got out of that amusement park. 
And that was one year ago. You want to know what happened? I left her. Yes I left her. She didn’t came home that night. And her body was never found. 
The guilt consumes me everyday. The guilt that I didn’t help her. The guilt that I was alive and she was somewhere else.
*The End*

And if you reached here it means two things- you just scrolled down here or you just read what I wrote.
If you belong to the second group what do you think of it? I know it’s not great and I’ve to improve. And if you, my writer friends, have any suggestions or you want to point out my errors, you are free to do that. Just comment below! 

-Vrushali

WHEN YOU THINK YOU ARE ALONE, YOU ARE NOT

Dear reader,

This is a letter to let you know you’re not alone. Just believe in yourself and in good times. There would be times you’ll laugh like the world doesn’t exist and there will be times when that ‘someone’ who was your world will leave you.

People will let you down. That’s the truth.

In this short, yet a very long life you will find many people; the ones who were your friends and decided not to, the people who were close to you but found it easy not to.

Their cowardice will hurt you. It’ll break you and you’ll never feel you’ll be able to recover from it. But you will. You will recover from it alone and you yourself can do it all. All you’ll need is a little courage and you can conquer.

Some will hurt you and some will leave you. And all you can do is ‘detach’. Detach from them, detach from the world. Remember them for what they taught you. Remember them for the moments you spent with them without any regrets. Remember them for the change they brought in your life and in you.

Remember them for the person they were. Remember them for the person they made you into. The strengths and weakness both they gave you. The happy and sad memories they gave you. The things they taught you. The things you learnt with them. The time you spent with them. The things you planned to do with them. The things you couldn’t do.

They may not be present in your life now but their presence was crucial for you and it is now because you developed into a better and stronger person you are.

Forgive them for what they did. Forgive yourself for what you experienced. But never forget the part they played in your life. How once you laughed with them so joyously thinking the day didn’t have a tomorrow. Thinking that you would remain that way for the rest of your life.

But you didn’t. And that’s okay. When they chose to move on, they made you independent. They released you from the burden of pleasing them. You are free now. You are free and beautiful and independent.

What happened if you lost one bird while flying? There are still more flocks to find the one you’re searching for. Till then just keep searching and keep learning. Because we can always learn from our mistakes and the circumstances. Fall back and get back. And never go down again.

Yours truly,

Vrushali

Things I learnt from painting with Water Colours

There are many things that I learnt while painting with water colours this month. I want to share them with you.

1. I learnt that you have to patient to achieve something. Many times I was in such a hurry that I spoilt the things that did before and the painting suffered because of it. Now I learned that I should wait but not much, just enough to get what I want.

1. I learnt that sometimes you’ll have to make time than to curse that you don’t have any. Ever wondered that even if everyone has 24 hours with them every day, why some do more than you? Simple! They utilize it better than you do. They plan better than you do. And if they can do it, so can you!

1. I learnt that there are some things that you have no control over. Some things don’t require your control. They require your support. You just support them and they’ll know what to do, rather then you commanding them. Sometimes when I think of painting something with a particular picture in my mind, I know that it won’t turn out the way I think it would. But sometimes the enjoyment is not knowing what is going to happen and still doing it anyway.

1. I learnt that practice make you better. No matter how bad of a painter you think you are, you can always become better by practising. Same is true for all the matters. You want to be a better person? Then practice being one. Slowly, and effectively enough, you will start to become one.

1.  And I also learnt that you will be happy when you do the things you love. If you love painting, I’m sure you’ll want to dedicate more time doing it. And if you try to love the things you do, you be even happier. So, do what you love and love what you do. 

I’m sure there will be things you’ll learn from painting and I’m sure you’ll see the world in a different light then. In a different artist way!

10 THINGS ONLY PEOPLE WHO KEEP DIARY/JOURNAL KNOW ABOUT

After learning about how cool keeping a diary is I started a diary from August, 2015. This made me realize how much helpful keeping a diary is. Though it has a LOT of advantages, it makes you do things you never thought you’ll do. Like I learnt that in time of need I could push people aside and run towards something (I did that once when my brother started to inspect my diary!).

And if you too keep a diary, here are the things you’ll relate to:

·         You know the feeling when someone; your parents, your siblings or even a naughty neighbour kid who randomly decides to check every book you have on your desk, wants to open your diary and read everything in it like it’s some buried treasure and needs to be discovered.

·         You experienced something great, you want to tell the whole world, and you know you want to write it all don, but then procrastination kicks in and you decide to do it later. Naa…uh.. that ‘later’ never comes and you’re left with a blank page.

·         You make a planner and decide to write anything in it and that to every day, even if you get 10 minutes. Doesn’t happen. But rules are meant to be broken, right? No. Wrong.

·         You always attempt to write in your diary when you have mood swings and it turns out, your pages are full of unreadable rants with an abundance of words like, “ummm… you know…I told you so…I was lyk wat thee hell coz you know I was soooo surprisd!!”

Don’t ignore the spellings.                                                  

·         Don’t forget the handwriting. It is advisable from my personal experience “Do not. I repeat do not try to write anything when you’re angry.” Trust me. You’ll read the page thrice and still you won’t get what you wrote and WHY! But nothing is a bad handwriting; you just have your own font! (That’s what I say to console myself..)

·         You wonder why you wrote the things you wrote. Like, “I remember we used to hang out a lot. A LOT. (Unnecessary capitalization creating drama) Do you know what that means? (Nope. Still haven’t got a clue.) Because she liked me then. She liked me but no she acts like I am no one in this world.” (That’s why you should stop stalking her)

         What does that even mean?!

         P.S. The above example hasn’t been taken from my diary, I swear. I forget to write anything when I’m angry. I’m busy plotting their murder.

·         One day you’ll start writing about something and then you can’t stop. I mean, you just can’t stop in the middle of explaining something to your diary. And you don’t want to write more as you glance at the number of pages you’ve written so far, and then you think “This isn’t NaNoWriMo I’m writing for!” *insert extreme mental pain because you didn’t complete the NaNoWriMo last year. You lost by JUST 45,000 words.* and then you think your hands cannot take the burden of your brain telling it to write like mad and in the end, your mind wins. You complete the entry, even if the handwriting is looking something like Arabic with a blend of German.

         Been there. Done that.

·         At last your struggle to complete your diary with your experiences and your true feelings is over and you hope to publish it raw, and as it is, for it your own autobiography. But then you dismiss the thought thinking what your neighbour’s daughter’s best friend’s sister will think about her debut in your diary. Not a good thing. You decided to hang her upside down on the Eiffel Tower and then dip her in a GARGANTUAN bowl of mustard? Is it too bad you ask? Not at all, dear. It’s just a little violent and psychopathic behaviour. A little. Don’t ya think?

·         When someone asks- “What’s that diary you’re always carrying around?”

    Your answer: “WHAT DIARY?”

   They: “Why are you getting hyper? That diary in your hand, dude!”

   Me: “Yes…that’s not a DIARY..PFFFF..WHY WOULD I WRITE A DIARY? That’s the thing for…the thing I got…you wouldn’t wanna know, right? Right. Now here’s $5, go have fun.

         *secretly think about the things you could’ve done with the $5*

·         You now decide to conceal your diary. You look at the stack of books and loose sheets and your sketch pens and crayons that you purchased 2 years ago and forget about and a box full of colourful ribbons and a ton of material you never knew even existed. What’s a better place to hide! Right.

         After 2 hours you carefully hiding the diary at the bottom of your stack and run around asking “Wanna see my desk? See. Take a look. Find anything? Because there isn’t.”              People retreat after giving you strange glances (thinking you are slightly insane). First part of the mission is over. Now comes the second part where YOU actually have to DIG through the stack to find your diary to write in it…EVERYDAY.

       The next day? You lock the whole bloody ROOM. You wonder why you didn’t think that before. Could have saved your 374859 calories used to hide your diary.

This post first appeared on: Vrushali

SO DO YOU WRITE A DIARY? AND IF YOU DO, HAVE YOU DONE ANY OF THESE THINGS? IF YES, DO SHARE!!