Conversation about Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angels

We had a little chat about the novel:

Katastrofekat: any thoughts?

Kiwie: Plenty, just, hard to sort out, there is some good and some bad in this novel. I read it really really fast considering how long it was.

Katastrofekat: Yeah, I think I read it in two days, so not the most complex book, but a lot of action. I liked that there wasn't much wasted time

Kiwie: True. A good light entertaining read, but not much more is sort of what I'm thinking.

Katastrofekat: Yes, I was thinking along those lines. Not my favourite main character though

Kiwie: No, Tessa was not interesting, nor developed enough I think. She just came over from New York, got kidnapped and it didn't seem to affect her much at all, other than that shes thought she looked bad after. Which is never a good place to start with a character. She is distraught over her brother, but oh, she knew all along what he was like and didn't do anything about it till the end. I wanted to slap her so many times.

Katastrofekat: Haha, maybe it would have done her some good! And she said she was distraught over her brother, but to me it seemed a bit like she forgot him whenever Will was in the same room as her. Also, I don't like the constant pining that seems to be in all young adult books theses days!

Kiwie: Yes! She kept forgetting about her brother, who according to her was all she had left, you wouldn't do that would you? Especially not when you don't know if he's a live or not, and then it took her ages to catch onto him in the end. Not a very good mind on her. Ugh. Pining, don't get me started. Fancying someone is alright, but do you really have to be so dramatic about it? I knows she's only, what sixteen, but come on. Just because someone is pretty and stuff you don't have to swoon and fall for them in a heartbeat.

Katastrofekat: If someone is all you have in the world, you damn well don't forget them! I might have found it more believable if she cared about her brother but had her doubts about him before she left New York. Yeah. Sure, you might fall for someone, but that doesn't mean you change your entire person. Also, if you live with your crush, fucking talk to him, instead of just thinking about it!

Kiwie: She just seems so emotionally unreal, and then there is the whole "proper lady do's and don'ts" that crop up, most of it from Jessamine, but some from Tessa, and she's supposed to change and she becomes more kick-ass throughout, but I didn't feel as if a lot changed inside her before she slightly broke at the end.
The shadowhunters were interesting though, I liked them, though perhaps not all their personalities. Herondale was just too obvious, and ugh, I hate too obvious. Charlotte and Jem were more interesting I think. It's just that Tessa seemed to trust them because they were pretty, which brings us back to how annoying she was, ha-ha.

Katastrofekat: Yeah. I actually kind of liked Jessamine better, at least she knew what she wanted and acted accordingly.
The shadowhunters fascinated me and I really want to know more about the downworlders and their underground world! I liked Charlotte and Jem as well, and I wish we got to know them a bit better. Since all Tessa could think about was her brother and Will, I felt like a big part of the world was left out of the picture.

Kiwie: True, but at least her brother was plot related, the whole "I think I'm in love with Will, maybe that other angel-boy who is dying is also totally hot though?" = COMPLETELY UNINTERESTING. I understand characters falling in love and having a love life, or just wanting sex, but this isn't that. It's something else I think, maybe. Actually, I'm not sure what the plot was. Was it her missing brother and her mystic ability, was it her relationships with people or was it just something bad is stirring among the mundanes and downworlders hate shadowhunters?

Katastrofekat: Yes, true. And she didn't really get to know any of them, she just thought they were pretty, and that kind of gets to me. She might have an underdeveloped personality, but because of that, everyone else seemed kind of one dimensional as well.  I felt like the author wasn't too sure about what the plot was either, and maybe she tried to make it character driven instead, but didn't quite make it? The book felt very much like an introduction to the world the whole way through

Kiwie: "Oh, they're pretty," *swoon* was it. Will could quite poetry, and that was basically why she liked him in addition to the pretty. Then he was mean and cruel (which we understand as it is spelled out for us on multiple occasions is a defence mechanism) to her, teasing her and things. One would think that would give her a reality check.
If this was supposed to be character driven if failed, it also felt like an introduction to a potentially interesting world, and I've read that this is her second series in the same one, and I don't know, shouldn't it be more developed and more quickly explained? Tessa was reading that damn Codex throughout! It went very slow even though she got thrown into it and should have gotten some education by the Shadowhunters first thing, not just Will throwing a book at her, and a few bits of information from the others, yet she learnt all about Sophie and Jem for instance.

Katastrofekat: This book was the first one to come out, if I have understood it correctly. The other series, The Mortal Instruments is a prequel series, but this book was the first one.
Kiwie: Oh, okay. I just saw a listing online and TMI were listed first
Kiwie: Nope, just checked, the first TMI came out in 2007, this came out three years later.

Katastrofekat: Okay, right. But you are right. It was an okay read, but didn't quite live up to expectations. I wanted more from the book. Also, the clockwork angel, it was always there, and that one time it was interesting, we didn't get to know what the deal was, and when the action died down, it was forgotten.

Kiwie: Yes! Tessa didn't even seem slightly curious! She got saved by her necklace! Come on! "my angel" was everything she said about it.
The next one better be about her parents, and the angel and other things or this series will be progressing in the wrong direction... I liked the novel as I read it, it was light and enjoyable, but often annoying, however I'll be reading the next one soon I think.

Katastrofekat: Yeah, that is true. I liked the book, but when I think back at it, I see the faults better then when I read it. The book wasn't my favourite, but it was only parts that really annoyed me while reading it and the world have a lot of potential, so I want to keep reading the series.

Kiwie: It seemed alright when I read it, but this whole conversation shows that I liked it less than I thought. Which is how it is with books (and life) some things are better in hindsight and some are worse. I think I'll finish the series, but not continue reading Cassandra Clare after that. I also think that I prefer adult supernatural romance to the teen version, at least there they get laid & kick-ass at the same time...

Katastrofekat: I like that! I think that pretty much concludes it.

Kiwie: Yeah. I could add that the whole "set in London" thing is pointless. That the city air isn't fresh and the Thames is dirty as fuck and some names does not create a setting...

Katastrofekat: Right. The only thing about the setting is that it isn't where Tessa grew up. Besides that, pointless.

May novel: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokof

Title: Lolita
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
First Published: 1955

What Goodreads says about the book:

Awe and exhilaration—along with heartbreak and mordant wit—abound in Lolita, Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. Most of all, it is a meditation on love—love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.

Why we chose this book and what we expect:
It's a classic and we wanted to read something different this time.

Kiwie:
I don't expect much, other than what is probably an interesting story? I just want to read it to have read it so to speak. I feel like there is a Lolita shaped hole in my literary education (many other holes too of course) and I feel like filling it just about now. I already know the story so well, but I haven't got a first hand experience of it, so I thought I should.

Katastrofekat:
I don't have many expectations and don't really know that much about the story other than a few things, so I'm going into this book pretty blank. I have it on my e-reader and thought I should read it some day and this is a very good excuse. Not that I need an excuse to read!

Post-read post: Every Day

What to say about this book? I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes and I loved it. That does not mean that this is a book without problems, because there are so-so many. If you like David Levithan, you'll probably like this too, because I think that without that fact I wouldn't.

I love the idea of waking up in a different body every day, and I hate it too. It is a fun thought experiment, but I wonder if this should have been turned into a novel.

Upside: It preaches a lot of tolerance. The genderlessness of A is really awesome, because gender is very much a body thing, if it wasn't for our bodies it would be just a personality thing. This part of the novel I love love love. It is also funny (did I mention that already?).

Downside: A really does not have a lot of insight into things, and a lot of the bodies A wake up in seem unreal. Also: I CANNOT IGNORE THE LACK OF ANSWER TO WHY!!!!!! Seriously. I hate that. There is so much goodness in this concept that just isn't realized.

It has so much great stuff going for it, some of the lives we peer into are awesome, and A falling in love and breaking all their rules. Then there is the stalking of the love interest, stalking is not cute, it is creepy. You do not have to see your loved one every day (intended) okay? Especially not when the person you are in love with wants you to back off. If the feeling is mutual? Go ahead, if it isn't? You're violating some privacy.

So it is an enjoyable novel, it is interesting as a concept, but it fails along the way. The writing is decent enough, but the stalking, the fact that we learn nothing of why A is like that, and very little of the "bad guy" is so fucking annoying. So in the end it comes down to this:
Read it if you liked Levithan & if you can keep yourself from thinking too much. Otherwise? Don't. It is a very quick read though. I finished it in February, it is the writing of the "review" that has been troublesome.

Best Wishes,
Kiwie

April book pick: Clockwork Angel

Title: Clockwork Angel

Author: Cassandra Clare

First published: 2010

What goodreads  says about the book:

Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

Why we choose this book and what we expect:

We choose this book because it has been on both our to-read-lists for a while, and when Cassandra Clare is on book tour with the last book in this series, we thought this would be a good time to read it.

Katastrofekat:

I really don't know what I expect from this book, other then a new world where monsters are real and anything can happen. I hope the book is exciting and hard to put down, and I hope that this book will make me want to read the rest of the series.

Kiwie:
Why not. Really, that's all I've got to say about this one. Once upon a time I had a real reason why, when I saw it, read a blurb or something and decided: Yes, why not, this looks like a novel for me. Okay, maybe I do have a reason: Victorian England! My favorite (fictional) time & place. Also vampires. I'd kill to be a vampire (pun intended/I mean this literally). Also they have a pandemonium club, I don't know what that is, but it sounds awesome.

What did we think about Clockwork Angels?

Katastrofekat:   
When I first started to read the prologue in this book, I was slightly worried this would be another one of these books you want to like, but just can't get properly into. But after the prologue it got better. The universe in this book was really interesting and even though the main character was a bit boring at times, it was interesting to see the world through his eyes. Since Owen Hardy, the main character, has lived a very sheltered life, everything in this world is as new to him as it is to us, and Owens optimistic view on life colours all his experiences. I liked the conflict in the book, how Owen was a symbol for making your own choices and that choosing between two extremes isn't always the wisest thing to do. 

I liked the pace of the story and would have liked to learn more about some of the pople Owen meets and learn more about some of the places he goes. One thing that bothered me a bit, was that no matter what Owen did, everything always seemed to work out for the best. Those few times he really was in trouble, we just skipped over the problem, moved farther ahead in the story and continued when everything was alright again.
I feelt like the book was a good length, but at the same time, I wish we could get to know more about some of the things that was only hinted at, like the theories about other worlds and the myths about the Seven Cities.
When I was reading the book, it was entertaining and I wanted to continue reading, but as soon as I put the book down, I found it hard to pick it back up. That is why it only gets a three star rating. I liked the book, but the story didn't suck me in enough to get me to pick up the book every day.

Kiwie:
This was a quick read, once I got into it I read it in large chunks and spent less than a week on it. The main character has faith in the Watchmaker and expects his future to be what he has decided, as manager of an apple orchard, marrying to the lovely Lavinia and that will be that. A comfortable, unexciting life. Good, if a little boring. Owen Hardy is a dreamer, and his late mother left behind a lot of books that he treasures and loves reading.

When you turn seventeen you are an adult, and Owen is sixteen and ready to be an adult, he just wants to be a little mischievous first, a little turns into a lot and he finds himself traveling, meeting strangers, joining a circus (which incidentally seems to be a theme in the books I'm reading these days. If only real circuses were anything like those in books), seeing the world and finding himself in the midst of a game, a pawn of no importance or possibly all the importance in the world. As if these adventures weren't hard enough he is after all a teenage boy and what would a story like this be without a little romance? The loss of virginity and some heartbreak?

This is no way a brilliant book, but it is a nice one, and the world Owen Hardy inhabits is interesting, recognizable and foreign. Order and chaos in extremes and so forth. It is a play with ideas as well as a fantastical coming of age story.

I only wish there were more pirates.

February book pick: Every Day

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
First published: 2012

Copy & Paste from Goodreads:

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day

Why we chose this novel and what we want from it:
  
It is a YA Sci-fi/fantasy novel, so it checks a lot of boxes for both Kiwie and Katastrofekat. 

Kiwie: I love David Levithan, he's not my favorite writer nor the best one out there, but I've thouroughly enjoyed what I've read from him, such as The Lover's Dictionary and Boy Meets Boy. The light and sweet books that he wrote with Rachel Cohn, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson written with John Green. So I bought Every Day when it came out (and jumped with joy at the bookstore when I saw that there exists a Norwegian translation!), but due to a neverending to-read list, I haven't quite gotten round to i yet, but now I have no excuse.

I am intrigued by the concept of waking up in a different body every morning, and hope that Levithan can pull this story off, the premise is fascinating and probably very difficult to write. I also hope the love bit isn't sickeningly sweet, but charming and perfectly angsty!

Clockwork Angels: The novel

Title: Clockwork Angels: the novel
Author: Kevin J. Anderson (& Neil Peart via Rush lyrics)
First published 2012.

This is our January read, and I am sorry for not publishing it before the month is nearly over. We've been busy & forgetful. We have made a group on Goodreads, which will be equally neglected: The Cat's tale.

what goodreads has to say about it:

A remarkable collaboration that is unprecedented in its scope and realization, this exquisitely wrought novel represents an artistic project between the bestselling science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson and the multiplatinum rock band Rush. The newest album by Rush,Clockwork Angels, sets forth a story in Neil Peart’s lyrics that has been expanded by him and Anderson into this epic novel. In a young man’s quest to follow his dreams, he is caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos. He travels across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.

Kiwie's expectations:
Pirates! Carnivals! Anarchists! Fun & interesting stuff, which appears mixed with a coming of age story, I'm a sucker for those. I'm also interested in the connection between music and novel, though I don't know if I'll listen too much on it. Fingers crossed that it's interesting.