Informal Lazy Book Club: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Anyone up for a little book talk? Instead of a rec this week, I was thinking we could discuss (in the comments) the fourth book in The Mortal Instruments series: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare. Our informal LBC on Mockingjay was so much fun, I thought we'd do it again!




So, while this post does not have spoilers - THE COMMENTS WILL HAVE SPOILERS! MANY, MANY SPOILERS! If you've finished the book, click on the comments and add your thoughts (you know we love to hear them!). If you haven't finished - what are you waiting for? Get to reading! It's so very good! (I think it may be my favorite of the series. Maybe.)

Waiting on... Friday?

Okay, I know it is supposed to be Waiting on Wednesday, but we posted Lazy Book Club on Wednesday this week, and I am very (VERY) excited about two books being released next week. So, I'm breaking the rules. I know, wild and crazy.

The first book that I am ridiculously excited about is a no-brainer, City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare!


The idea of more Jace is almost as exciting as the video that was leaked this week! *Ahem* And, of course more of Cassandra Clare's amazing stories. She is truly a great storyteller and I can't wait to see what she has in store for Jace, Clary, Simon, and the rest of her characters. I'm sure I'll be staying up late on Monday night to download this one as soon as it is available on April 5th.

The second book I'm waiting for is Where She Went by Gayle Forman. If you all haven't read If I Stay, please go do so! It is definitely one of my favorite books. You can read my recommendation here.


Honestly, I had no idea that there would be a second book to If I Stay. It doesn't really need one, but I'm not complaining. I'm very curious to see how Gayle Forman will turn this into something worthy of following the first book. I have no doubts that it can be done, because her writing is beautiful and moving. I'm really looking forward to sinking into this book!

So there you have it. Now you all know what I'll be doing next week! April 5th is the release date for both of these books. What about you all? Are you anxiously awaiting either of these, or is another book causing you to count down the days until release?

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

V is for Villain

Image Source: The Great Geek Manual

So ladies, we have files for the boys we love (HBWS!) and the Chicks Who Can Kick Our Asses, but I think we're leaving out a very important filing section - Villains! When I think of YA Lit, my very favorite villain hands-down is Valentine. He's so pretty, but so eeevil and creepy. I love it. I know we have a file folder for him, right?


Ah...Villains starts with the letter V - so I'm all about Vader, Voldermort and Valentine. And apparently, I've been practicing my Letter Sounds with my Kindergartner, too.




Oooh - why do all the Great Villains start with the letter V? Unfortunately, Vader and Voldemort are not pretty. Rather ugly, actually. But they all do make for excellent Love to Hate 'Em characters.




Well, Voldy is not pretty but you know, Vader was Anakin, first. Just misguided. The poor little boo.





Okay, well, I was thinking of the Removal of the Mask scene with Vader. But yeah, I guess you could say Ani went through a pretty phase. But he didn't wear tailored suits like Valentine. And he hid his paternity from his children, while Valentine just pretended to be everyone's father.



You are right. Anakin slaughtered the young paduans in episode 3 while Valentine simply used his kids as genetic experiments. But hey, there was a Sister Kiss in both. Sorry, I'm off on my own Slave-Girl-Leia Style Sidebra.




Why is it that all villainous roads lead back to Darth Vader? He's epic, true, but hardly the first or even most villainous villain I've seen. He's a total Sauron rip-off, with the whole "corrupted by the pursuit of power" thing.

I agree with the observations you guys have made so far. But I think we're missing out on the folder system! I put mine into categories:

Villains Who Might Be Redeemable - Like Vader, some do come around in the end. Even some of our favorite bad boys fit in here. (Spike from Buffy, anyone?)

Villains Who Are Pure Evil - I'm pretty sure we can put Voldemort here. I mean, was the guy EVER good? I think he kicked puppies. And Leck, from Graceling and Fire. I actually really liked that in Fire there was no sob story about why he became evil or excuses for it. Sometimes evil just is. (And he really did kick puppies.)

Villains Who Are Really Cogs In A Villainous Machine: Like President Snow. He was great, and so so evil, but in a very politician-evil kinda way. He wasn't the reason for what was wrong with society. He was more of a product of it. Does it make him any less evil? Of course not. But it DOES make him a symptom of a more pervasive evil, one that doesn't have a face.

Villains Who Are So Hot We Don't Care Either Way - I'm totally not shallow enough to put anyone in this category. Nope. Valentine does NOT appear here. *whistles and walks away*

I love those categories...but hmmm, a Villain So Hot We Don't Care...*puts Thinking Cap on and realizes it's the Sorting Cap*...let me think about this one...





HELLO? ARCHER????? Oh, sorry, I got excited there. But Archer from Hex Hall! He's a POTENTIAL bad guy only - I know this, but he's obviously so hot we don't care!

And Eric Northman. He has his bad-guy moments and really? I care not. I would still take him in if he got hit on the head and had amnesia and needed a safe place to shower. I mean stay.

Ah, see, I think Archer's the Anti-Hero...and so launches that discussion. When is an anti-hero a villain?? LOL. Then you can throw in Oscar from CANDOR. Because, the boy wasn't all good, ya know??

What about a Can't Be Too Sure If They're a Villain category?? I'm thinking of my all time favorite whose cape would swirl at this very label...yes, that's right...Severus Snape!

Oh! You're getting all technical on me. Okay, so Archer might not be a Villain, but he is part of a secret society that aims to hunt prodigum, so he has potential. And Cabe was never going to hurt Jamie - even though he did have a bad boy side.

And yes, Snape! He's the perfect Villain, but is he really a Villain? (And if you don't know the answer to that question - get to reading book 7 please!)

I think Snape counts as a villain. I think sometimes even a villain can do the right thing at times. It doesn't negate all of the past villainy.

Maybe we should put Archer in a "We're Not Sure If He's Really A Villain But Signs Point To Yes And We Really Hope He's Not But Even If He Is He's So Hot We Won't Care" category. I think that works. Ladies?

Yes, that works for me. Absolutely perfect. Do you think that will fit on a file folder label?





If not we'll just have to make his file... bigger. *winks*

SO, did we miss any categories? Who are your favorite villains? Why?

Altered Endings

VIPM (Very Important Pack Member) Cher went out of town this past weekend. Like any normal and sane writer, she asked me to promise to finish her manuscript for her if her plane went down. I, of course, solemnly vowed not ONLY to finish it, but to do so without aliens OR ghosts.

See, her writing style is very angsty YA realistic fiction, whereas mine only kinda flirts with reality. During this convo I got to thinking: what if our favorite authors, who span a wide range of styles/genres, were to switch up and suddenly write endings to someone else's books?

If Carrie Ryan had finished Mockingjay for Suzanne Collins, would an army of reanimated tribute corpses have overtaken Panem? Or, what if Stephenie Meyer had finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? Would Voldemort have been vanquished with diplomacy?

I thought it'd be fun if we thought up a few mismatched endings and then asked our readers for some ideas as well. I think it's a neat way to illustrate that even in the same genre, everyone would write something COMPLETELY different if given the same source material. Viva la individuality! ;)

Mashup endings, eh?? LOL. I'd like to think that Cassandra Clare would tackle Pride and Prejudice. Except true to her ending in City of Bones, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy would have the potential disastrous ending of perhaps being related?!?! We wouldn't know for sure until the final book in what would then be a trilogy. Ooooh, more Mr. Darcy. *happy sigh*

And think of a Jace-like Darcy saying this line, "In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

Somehow I KNEW you'd find a way to bring Jace into this convo, Sophie. *winks*

Isn't it funny how something simple would change the whole book, though? Like, if Douglas Adams picked up in the last chapters of The Lord of the Rings? Sauron would've been poofed into a flowerpot by some sort of fluke in a time-space-drive. Which, you have to admit, would have been AWESOME.

*tries to picture Voldy as a flower* Yeah, that could work. He's got that Bald Head Villain Thing going for him. I'm picturing him as a Gerber Daisy.

As for Jace, of course, I had to drag a Hot Boy with Sword into the discussion. You expect it from me, after all. Speaking of that very topic, what if Sarah Rees Brennan wrote the ending of Prince Caspian?? Would a Demon become a ruler of Narnia?? Everyone shout with me, "For Narnia!"

Personally, I'd like JK Rowling to take over the ending of ANY book, since she gave us the best ending ever to the Harry Potter series. Well, best in my opinion anyway. She should have written the end of the Twilight series. There would be a huge battle scene with flying curses (the vampires are suddenly able to do magic, of course) and lots of biting. And, in addition to all of the Volturri, someone important from the Cullens would have to die... I'm thinking Renesmee. What? No one likes her anyway!

Oh, Renesmee AND Jacob! Because he would fly into a furry rage and get himself killed too, then. *cackles with glee* *wonders how this turned into Twi-rewrites* *decides that I don't care*




I tried to stay away from Twilight. But if you're talking rewriting the end of a book... well, that's where I go, natch.





Stacie, you took the thought right out of my head. As soon as I read Leigh's message and simultaneously laughed and cringed at the thought of SM writing the end of HP (she probably would have had Snape and Harry skipping through Hogwarts together), I started fantasizing about J.K. Rowling's rewrite of Breaking Dawn's last few chapters. I'm quite confident that *her* ending would have been epic. While we're throwing characters into the fire, would anyone object to adding Rosalie to the carnage?

That's true. Sweet innocent children do die in books especially if their death moves the plot along. *thinks about a certain young character in City of Glass* A death like that allows for a lead character to go all out on the revenge angle. Demons be damned. So J.K. would have rocked that. *pictures a very vengeful Edward and stifles a squeal*


Oooh... Vengeful Edward. *shivers* *in a good way* Wait, what were talking about?





Also, there was a moment on the plane when I thought my dream of being lost with Sawyer would *finally* come true, but my celebration was cut short when I realized, "Leigh didn't PINKY SWEAR that my novel wouldn't end with all the characters being beamed up to some faraway planet!" *looking at Stacie and Sophie for re-enforcement*


*sigh* It's hard to pinky-swear over the internet, Cher. Don't you trust my word that there would be no ghosts OR aliens? I wouldn't do something sneaky, like put in ghosts AND aliens, because technically that's not JUST ghosts or JUST aliens. Nope. Not I. *whistles innocently*



If I find out that an alien has made its way into my story, you're going to have a real-life ghost to worry about. ;p





Note to self: Cher is scary when her WIP is threatened. *winks*

So, WF readers, what mashed-up-ending-combos would YOU like to see? (Or what would you be unable to look away from, like an awful train wreck?) Tell us!!

Doin' IT (Yes, IT) in YA

Katarinasmama and I were discussing a certain book via text and the LACK of sex in it. And how this vexed me. (Trust me. I was very vexed.) So I thought it'd be fun if we split up some of our favorite YA books into categories. I propose the following:


1. Needs Some Doin' It (e.g. Twilight)
2. Needs LESS Doin' It (e.g. Breaking Dawn *cough*Renesmee*cough*)
3. Did It JUST RIGHT (e.g. Shiver)


Did It Just Right: Well, besides Shiver, which defines JUST RIGHT, there is Lisa McMann's series, WAKE/FADE/GONE. The scene with Cabel and Janie in the shower?? Okay, yes, I'm laughing. And only because they referenced Judy Blume's Forever which is the ultimate Did It Just Right book. Who can ever forget the name "Ralph"?

So add to these some new stories where the focus isn't a Coming Of Age Theme but where there is a romantic subplot and the Doing It parts are written really well: Siren by Tricia Rayburn (out on July 13th) and the recently released Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready. They don't skirt around the issue. Yes, I enjoyed using that cliche. *skirts away*


Ah yes, Janie and Cabel. I would definitely add that to the Did It Just Right category. And Shiver! I just finished it (again) so that scene is fresh in my mind.... Yeah, Just Right.




Needs Some Doin' It: I'll say it...but JACE AND CLARY! Okay, well, there was this outtake from the Mansion Collapse Scene and that, you know, hinted at what could have happened, if only the world wasn't literally collapsing around them and well, the small matter of that they could be *coughs* siblings.

But, did anyone think that Jace and Clary were really brother and sister?? I mean, seriously? I know it's icky to even think about it. Who didn't nod their head and understand perfectly when Jace told Clary in City of Ashes (p. 182), "We could keep it a secret."

Yes, I just said it. Nodding along to Jace's request. I'll now retreat back to my lair.


Okay, CoA was a book that definitely needed SOME DOIN' IT!

I was TOTALLY with you in the whole "nudge nudge, wink wink" Jace and Clary wrongness. I actually rationalized to myself while reading that our feelings on incest come from the RELATIONSHIPS that we have with siblings, and if that you were raised separately, and had no idea, then how could you really be faulted? Especially if you were in love with Jace? *nodding no* I would not judge. Unless your kids had 10 thumbs and no nose. Then I'd judge. A little.

My favorite Jace description quote from CoA: " "Some guys look at you like they only want sex. Jace looks at you like you've had sex - it was great and now you're just friends."




Mmm... And then there's this new excerpt that Ms. Clare just released, as if she KNEW we were having this discussion, involving a bed. *grins evilly*

While this whole topic is an attempt to look humorously at the way sex is handled in YA lit, I feel like it is really important to recognize the books that get it right. It's not because I want to read about sex. (Well, not ENTIRELY. *winks*) It's because if I'm going to have a discussion with my children ABOUT sex, these are the types of encounters I want to discuss. Ones, like in Shiver, where it is portrayed as a natural progression of a loving relationship. It wasn't taken lightly, nor was it glorified. It just WAS.

I think the subject is out there, Leigh, and some books Do It, some just avoid it, and then some *smiles at Julie Kagawa* keep their characters too busy just trying to survive and leave no time for more than a really hot kiss and a declaration of "never again".

I've had THE TALK with my 11yo DS. It is important to present what should happen, i.e. "natural progression of a loving relationship" but also one must talk about the repercussions of unprotected sex, i.e. avoiding the half-vamp, half-human baby.

Which is also a great point. So I guess Renesmee serves a purpose after all.

All seriousness aside, just about any book with an "OMG we will all die in battle tomorrow" plot line NEEDS SOME DOIN' IT. *coughs and glares at Julie Kagawa* #TeamAsh

So, what do y'all think? What books would you put into the Needs More/Needs Less/Just Right categories? Let us know!