Finding Sky, Joss Stirling (pub. October 2010)
When I found Finding Sky in the book shop, I was attracted by the gorgeous cover - but it was the blurb that made me sure I had to have this book. First off, can we just hear it for Joss Stirling for representing YA fiction for British authors because there are just not enough writing for young adults today and unfortunately, from my own personal experience, lots of the ones that are don't tend to be books that I want to read again. However. Miss Stirling completely smashed that idea. Finding Sky was a one sitting read because I couldn't put it down; it had that typical American setting with the really cute American bad boy but an English heroine who gave the book something that felt like home for me, being an English girl myself. I liked that Sky didn't immediately fall for Zed's charms once he turned them on, but once he did, their relationship was cautious and they actually took the time to get to know each other - and there was a lot to get to know.
The soulfinder element was great because it was a really fresh idea and I loved that Sky and Zed were both musicians and Zed had that amazing great big family. The second half of the book was really surprising and slightly heart stopping; part of me believed she'd never remember Zed and something awful would happen to the Benedicts.

My favourite thing about Finding Sky is definitely the romance. It was unbearably sweet and I have re-read parts of it a million times; the scene in the snow - "I'm your guy" - is a personal favourite. I award Finding Sky 4/5 stars and can't wait for the next Benedict book (although part of me is hoping for another one about Zed/Sky!) Yay for British YA authors!

City of Fallen Angels, Cassandra Clare

Firstly, I think that City of Fallen Angels is the best book of Cassandra Clare's career so far. It's not my favourite of this series, but it was her strongest publication to date. To start out with, I took a long time to warm to Simon through the course of the first three novels. Throughout CoG I grew up love him and that love only grew in CoFA. In previous books I often breezed quickly through any parts not directly related to Jace and Clary - not here. I really enjoyed dipping in and out of the stories of all the characters and even considering writing some fiction at one point for Jordan and Maia - something I would NEVER have considered doing for ANY couple than Clary and Jace before. This cast of characters is probably my favourite in YA fiction today.They work so well together and constantly make me laugh, cry and wish I could be one of them.

Speaking of Clary and Jace, I wish they could have had just a little time as a normal -as normal as they can be, anyway - couple. Things were going wrong straight away. The ending was fantastic, my favourite of the whole series so far because Cassandra knows how to do twisted and heartbreaking but this was just fabulous. You really thought things were going to be okay - until Clary said those fateful lines - "I'll be right back. Five minutes."

Also, I really just need to comment on what a incredible character Jace Wayland (oh I don't even know to call him anymore) is. Ask anyone: I love Jace Wayland. I mean, he's beautiful and sarcastic and intelligent and he tells his girlfriend he loves her by quoting lines from ancient Italian books to her - get me a man like that, now! But Clare has weaved such an incredible character. His self loathing, covered by sarcastic comments and dry humour, his tortured soul but his deep to the core goodness, his truly beautiful love for Clary - I would cite Jace Wayland as my favourite fictional character any day. Every time it gets darker for him, I become even more entranced with him (similar to Will Herondale. I have a thing for broken, tortured hot guys I guess.) By the ending of CoFA I was flabbergasted and in tears. I cannot wait for the release of City of Lost Souls. This series is without a doubt my favourite YA series.

 

City of Fallen Angels deserves nothing less than 5 out of 5 stars!

Starcrossed, Josephine Angelini

I really did enjoy Starcrossed, but I found myself left quite confused by a few plot points that I'm not sure if were misreadings by myself or plot holes, so I think maybe I need a reread. Anyway. Greek mythology interests me but I always feel it's a little intimidating, because it's like it's own religion and there is just so much to learn. I felt way in over my head with Starcrossed although quite a lot was explained, however I think I would have enjoyed it more had I been able to put it into context. I read somewhere that some of the mythology is actually incorrect, but I don't know if that's because the author edited on purpose. I can't tell you if this is true or not because I sadly do not know enough about it!
I did really enjoy this book, although it was quite long for a one sitting read. It reminded me a lot of other YA books actually, particularly Finding Sky by Joss Stirling; the big families with special gifts, the girl with the unknown past, the thing that they discover that the protagonists alone have in common with each other and new kid syndrome. I found at the beginning, I was quite annoyed with the text and the prose was hard for me to get into; it was almost as if sometimes the some of the sentences didnt really relate to the ones before it and I felt there was maybe a few too many adjectives in there, but it didn't detract from the reading experience too much.

I feel as if all I've done is critique Starcrossed but I really did enjoy it. I liked the cast of characters (although jeez, does Noel actually do anything other than cook?) and the romance was very sweet. I enjoyed the romantic tension until Lucas came clean about his feelings but still couldn't kiss Helen. I mean surely part of it is the not knowing, and the knowing discovered by a kiss?

I will read the subsequent novels though, and will brush up on my Greek mythology before then! I give Starcrossed 3 out of 5 stars.

Unearthly, Cynthia Hand
I've read quite a few of the popular YA angel books around - Lauren Kate's Fallen series, Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush Hush series, Courtney Allison Moulton's Angelfire; well, you get the idea. I think they all bring something different to the angel genre, and Unearthly does, too. I think it's safe to say that it's my favourite angel book I have read thus far (L.A Weatherly's Angel comes in a close second.)

I loved the way the book was set up so you believe Christian to the boy Clara will fall in love with. I really thought I was going to dislike Tucker because he was going to break Clara and Christian up but that turned out not to be case at all. It was refreshingly wonderful to be duped like this; Tucker was funny and cute and had that charming southern gentleman thing on his side (I adore southern gentlemen!) I wouldn't have even given him a chance if Christian hadn't have been out of the picture. As far as leading men went, he didn't really do a great job compared to Tucker so I'm really interested to see what role he'll play in the next books and the repercussions of his revelation.
There was more to this book than just the romance, though; the angel lore was fascinating, as usual, especially for someone without a religious background. It was also fantastic to see a strong female character who had to save the guy for once. Not just that, but she was also strong enough to defy what she believed to be her fate and forgo her purpose to save the boy she loved. Some may think that she was throwing away her future for a boy, but I have to disagree. I think it showed just how strong Clara was, that she was prepared to sacrifice what she could have had with Christian and incur the wrath of the heavens (maybe that's a little dramatic, but who knows what might have happened next!) for the purest thing on earth. After all, isn't religion about love?

I'm really intrigued to find out about Jeffrey's wings and Angela's Italian lover (how great is Angela, by the way. I am in love with her!) I also cannot wait to get back to Wyoming because the setting of this novel was absolutely gorgeous. One of my favourite things about books tends to be where they are set and I enjoy them a lot more if it's somewhere like Unearthly is set.

I'd give this one 4.5/5 stars, only because I really didn't like Clara's mother much and I also didn't enjoy the way in the English edition 'mom' was changed to 'mum'. Aside from that, I thought the book was fantastic and couldn't recommend it highly enough. This is deifnitely one you should have one your bookshelf!