Sniffing A Book

5/5 City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare may have just become my favorite of the Mortal Instrument series. I really wasn't a fan of City of Fallen Angels, it felt like it didn't need to exist. But now that I've read this one it completely makes sense. Also the fact that you're not supposed to read them in order makes it more enjoyable as I could kind of see how it was supposed to be two separate series within the Mortal Instrument series almost.  This book takes place a couple of weeks after City of Fallen Angels. Jace is still missing, and no one has heard from Sebastian. But they come after Clary, and in the process, wound Luke with a poison dagger. Clary doesn't go with them, but just as Jocelyn suspected, Jace comes back for Clary again, and this time she goes with him. She goes into this new place thinking that she has the advantage because she has fairy rings to talk to Simon through, but eventually hers goes missing. It's painfully obviou...

4.5/5 Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan picks up 9 months after The Lightning Thief and Percy has almost made it through a full year at his new school. He has a new friend that the school has taken in as their charity case as he's homeless, Tyson. But it turns out Tyson is not only a cyclops, but also Percy's brother. They reach camp to find that someone has poisoned Talia's tree and the only cure is the golden fleece. While Clarisse is given the quest to go find the fleece, Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson all head out to look for Grover who's in trouble. They end up teaming up with Clarisse to get down to the Sea of Monsters, also known as the Bermuda Triangle. There, Annabeth and Percy run into all sorts of trouble with different monsters. But they eventually find Grover, and with the help of Clarisse and Tyson, rescue him and get the fleece all at once.  This was an excellent continuation of the series. It continues to build the world and expand on the p...

4/5 The Selection by Kiera Cass takes place after World War 4, when the USA is no longer a thing, and to survive, Canada and Mexico join the USA to create Illéa. Illéa is a nation that blatantly separates it's people into a ranking system. The higher the number, the less money you make and the harder it is to survive. America Singer is a five, so she doesn't make a lot of money, but she at least has food on the table.   She has no intention of entering the Selection to find the next queen, but she does to make her boyfriend, Aspen, who is a six, happy. But she's chosen, so to the capital she goes. She's not happy about it, but it's a lot of money for her family and will greatly help them fend off hunger in the slow months. During her time at the palace, America and Prince Maxon become close friends and grow to like one another. But they're faced with an enemy they don't really understand, and that is very dangerous. It's obvious this could be ...

Rating: 4/5 Beastly by Alex Flinn is a modern take on Beauty and the Beast. Kyle Kingsbury is a jerk, but he was raised by a jerk, so it kind of makes sense. He gets everything he wants because of who is dad is and how handsome Kyle is. But he plays an awful practical joke on a girl named Kendra, who happens to be a witch. She curses him to look on the outside as he is on the inside. "You are ugly now, on the inside, where it matters most, and if you ever lost your good looks, I bet you wouldn't be smart or strong enough to get them back. Kyle Kingsbury, you are beastly." (8%) "Two petals, two years to find someone willing to look beyond your hideousness and see some good in you, something to love. If you will love her in return and if she will kiss you to prove it, the spell will be lifted, and you will be your handsome self again. If not, you'll stay a beast forever." (20%) After the first year passes, Kyle (now Adrian) kidnaps the gir...

Rating: 5/5 When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon is a contemporary romance novel. Dimple is an Indian girl who just wants to live a somewhat American life. Rishi is an Indian boy that wants to follow tradition and make his parents proud. Dimple wants to go college to start her career in programming, while her mother wants her to go to get an "Ideal Indian Husband". Though her parents agree to send her to a programing camp of sorts, there are ulterior motives that Dimple doesn't find out about until Rishi sees her for the first time. "Hello, future wife," he said, his voice bubbling with glee. "I can't wait to get started on the rest of our lives!" Dimple stared at him for the longest minute. The only word her brain was capable of producing, in various tonal permutations, was: What? What? Dimple didn't know what to think. Serial killer? Loony bin escapee? Strangely congenial mugger? Nothing made sense. So she did the only thing she...

Author: Kerri Maniscalco Read: 9/26/2018 Pages: 416 Rating:  3.5 Format: A udio Response: The Third installment of Kerri Maniscalco's YA mystery series was a perfect addition to the set. The entire book was a satisfying journey from England to America full of twists and turns. I assumed with a name like "escaping from Houdini", the murderer wouldn't be Houdini, but Maniscalco had me questioning that through the second half of the book. there is so much to offload with the ending of this book. The reason I have this book as a 3.5, is despite how much I loved it, the ending was garbage. First of all, Cresswell leaving without Audrey!? I'm not okay. These two are goals and she nearly died for him. Like, come on. Second, the Epilogue wasn't well written to know if Cresswell actually comes back to Audrey, or leaves for his in...

Author: Kerri Maniscalco  Read: 4/29/2018 Pages: 326 Rating: 4.5 Format: physical Response: Let me start this off with saying I'm not big on mystery books. I'm more of an action and adventure type of girl, so this was my first tumble into this genre. It was like stepping into the kiddy pool for me, as it was still very YA. Audrey Rose and Thomas Cresswell are some of my favorite characters I've read. Their dynamic is adorable and makes me stupid smile. Stalking Jack the Ripper takes place in the Victorian Era where women, especially lord's daughters, are expected to behave a certain way and like certain things. They're expected to hold tea and like pretty things. They're not supposed to enjoy running around the more shady parts of London trying to solve a murder and cutting into people to study their organs. But as Audrey says at one point, she can like both. Th...