Summer Days and Summer Nights – Twelve Love Stories, edited by Stephanie Perkins

Format: e-ARC, 320 pages

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Published: 17 May 2016

ISBN: 9781250079121

Genre: Children’s Fiction

Back cover blurb: Maybe it’s the long, lazy days, or maybe it’s the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom.

Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

My review: This was not exactly the sweet summer anthology I was expecting. Many of the stories were bittersweet and packed quite a punch, and I was enthralled by most of them. Of course, I was most keen to read Stephanie Perkins’ story, a continuation of her winter tale from My True Love Gave To Me, but to be honest it disappointed. I found North rude and a bit of a jerk this time around. My favourite stories were by Leigh Bardugo, Jennifer E. Smith, and Veronica Roth. Others by new authors to me, such as Francesca Lia Block, intrigued me and made me want to hunt out their other work.

Individual Ratings:
Head, Scales, Tongue, Tale by Leigh Bardugo – ★★★★★
The End of Love by Nina Lacour – ★★
Last Night at the Cinegore by Libba Bray – ★★★★
Sick Pleasures: For A and U by Francesca Lia Block – ★★★
In Ninety Minutes, Turn North by Stephanie Perkins – ★★★
Souvenirs by Tim Federle – ★★★
Inertia by Veronica Roth – ★★★★
Love Is The Last Resort by Jon Skovron – ★★★
Good Luck and Farewell by Brandy Colbert – ★★★
Brand New Attraction by Cassandra Clare – ★★★
A Thousand Ways This Could All Go Wrong by Jennifer E. Smith – ★★★★★
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things by Lev Grossman – ★★★

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

My rating: 4/5

Amazon

Free read: Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy, by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

Cassandra Clare‘s latest Mortal Instruments serial, Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy, is currently free to read on Simon and Schuster’s Teen website, PulseIt. As with the Bane Chronicles, the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy series is being released in 10 e-book parts, and will no doubt be consolidated in one volume once they have all been published.

Back cover blurb: After living as a Mundane and a Vampire, Simon never thought he would become a Shadowhunter, but today he begins his training at Shadowhunter Academy.

This standalone e-only short story follows the adventures of Simon Lewis, star of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments, as he trains to become a Shadowhunter. Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy features characters from Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments, Infernal Devices, and the upcoming Dark Artifices and Last Hours series.

Read the story for free on PulseIt HERE. The story will be available free until May 7 (US time).

Amazon

City of Ashes, by Cassandra Clare

Format: Kindle Edition, 464 pages

Published: July 5, 2010 (first published March 25, 2008)

Publisher: Walker

Back cover blurb:

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what’s normal when you’re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who’s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn’t ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary’s only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City’s Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

My review:

I liked the story, and was probably gripped by it more than the first book, but it was put-downable, especially in the first half. So that means it wasn’t a five-cupcake read. The Jace/Clary/Simon love triangle didn’t have enough resolution for me (hopefully in the next book it will be revealed they aren’t really what we are led to believe), but the main plotline was satisfying and the action well-written. In my mind the Inquisitor seemed very, very similar to Dolores Umbridge – but this story did start out as HP fanfiction, so maybe that’s why. I did enjoy it, though, and will be reading the next book just to see what happens when and if Clary’s mother wakes up.

My rating: 4.5/5

City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare

Format: Paperback, 485 pages

Published: February 19, 2008 (first published March 27, 2005)

Publisher: McElderry

Back cover blurb:

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.

 

My review:

I really enjoyed this. Any book which quotes Princess Leia and Han Solo is OK by me. This is YA, so no smexing, but is very funny and I had no warning of the twist at the end (although apparently it’s not a very well-kept secret). I’m hugely jealous of Cassandra Clare, who was a reporter before becoming a mega-author; this gives me some hope that I could one day emulate her career (as if!). I will definitely be reading her other books.

 

My rating: 5/5