Lady Midnight

TITLE: Lady Midnight
AUTHOR: Cassandra Clare
RELEASE DATE: March 2016
PUBLISHER: Margaret K. McElderberry Books
PAGES: 668 pages
GENRE: Fantasy/Supernatural
SERIES: Dark Artifices
OVERALL RATING: 5/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12 

SUMMARY: Its been five years since the Dark War, and parabatais Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn star in this next installment of the Shadowhunter series. All grown up, Julian takes on the role of guardian to the four younger Blackthorn children, while also secretly running the Los Angeles institute for his absentminded uncle, Arthur. Emma is still convinced her parents were not killed by Sebastian and is working to investigate a series of demonic murders. But when the faeries call on the help of the Shadowhunters, they refuse, until the Fae offer up their brother, Mark of the Dark Hunt, as collateral. With the Shadowhunters go against the Clave, and break the Law to help the Fae? 

FAVORITE QUOTE: "And if there were two things he believed were limitless, it was love and imagination." (Clare, 168)
   

WHAT I LIKED: I am a complete Shadowhunters fan, I have read all of the books. My favorites are The Infernal Devices, which I just found out has a follow up series (The Last Hours) coming out in 2017. I liked seeing the story continue on with the next generation of Shadowhunters. I also liked that all of the characters from The Mortal Instruments play a part in this series. Getting to see all your favorite characters like Clary, Jace, Simon, Izzy, Alec and Magnus finally get their Happily Ever After just leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: 

SERIES UPDATE: The next book in the series is Prince of Shadows but does not have an expected release date yet

BOOK TRAILER: I could not find an official book trailer for Lady Midnight (shame shame, Simon and Shuster), but I would like to point you in the direction of the Official Shadowhunter Chronicles website. Check it out here at http://shadowhunters.com/

The School for Good and Evil

TITLE: The School for Good and Evil
AUTHOR: Soman Chainani
RELEASE DATE: May 2013
PUBLISHER: Harper
PAGES: 488 pages
SERIES: Book 1 in The School for Good and Evil trilogy (Book 2: A World Without Princes, Book 3: The Last Ever After)
GENRE: Fantasy
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 5+

SUMMARY: Sophie is the picture perfect rendition of a fairy tale princess, Agatha is the complete opposite. But every day, Sophie makes the trek to the dark graveyard to visit Agatha for her good deed of the day. Why would she do this? Because every four years the School Master visits Gavaldon and kidnaps two children, one for the School of Good and one for the School of Evil. While other parents are locking their children away, Sophie is leaving treats on her windowsill to welcome the School Master. But when Sophie is taken away with Agatha by a dark shadow, she knows there must be a terrible mistake when she is dropped into the School for Evil. But how can she prove to the School Master that she is the princess that belongs in the School of Good?

FAVORITE QUOTE: "In the forest primeval, A school for good and evil, Two towers like twin heads, One for the pure, One for the wicked, Try to escape you'll always fail, the only way out is, through a fairy tale."

WHAT I LIKED: I loved the world-building in this book. All of the descriptions of each room of the castle, the differences between the School for Good and the School for Evil. The descriptions of the characters are amazing. The black and white drawings throughout the book only improved my imagination. 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The complete cliff hanger that is the ending of this book. I'm talking stop in the middle of a sentence, what just happened, I can't get book number two fast enough!

READALIKES: Ever After High series by Shannon Hale

MOVIE RELEASE: In Development from Universal Studios

BOOK TRAILER: 

Dorothy Must Die

TITLE: Dorothy Must Die

AUTHOR: Danielle Paige
PAGES: 464 pages (sequel: The Wicked Will Rise)
GENRE: Fantasy
OVERALL RATING: 2/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: High School, there is a lot of unnecessary language

SUMMARY: Everyone knows the story of Dorothy and her trip to Oz, but everyone also knows how the story ends: Dorothy flew home with Kansas with the Wizard in a hot air balloon. In comes Amy, another girl from Kansas with a pathetic trailer park life. One day a tornado comes, picks up her doublewide and drops her off in Oz, or what is left of Oz. Everything from the story has changed. Dorothy came back, became Princess and is hoarding all the magic out of Oz. The Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Man are now her evil henchman. Even the beautiful Glenda is taken the Munchkins into slavery to help drill magic out of the land. When Amy walks into this un-fairytale, she joins forces with the Wicked Witches and the only thing she knows is DOROTHY MUST DIE!

WHAT I LIKED: I was really excited about this book. Who doesn't love the Wizard of Oz? Dorothy, her fun companions and the beautiful Glenda. Sure this book has all the same characters, but that is about where the similarities end.  It made me think of the book: Splintered by A.G. Howard.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Following the Yellow Brick Road with Amy made me think more of the 1985 creepy sequel to the movie: Return To Oz with Fairuza Balk. All of the beloved characters were made morbid. The Scarecrow is now an evil scientist who tortures people and makes weird experiments out of them. The Cowardly Lion goes town to town sucking the fear out of people to make himself bigger.Overall, it completely ruined any happy memories of the movie from my childhood.

READALIKES: Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

BOOK TRAILER: Official Book Trailer by Harper Teen