The Iron Elves Book 2-3 by Chris Evans

I finally got around to reading the last two books of the Iron Elves series, The Light of Burning Shadows and Ashes of a Black Frost.  I really enjoyed this series and would recommend it to others.  It is not your typical elves, witches, and dwarves book which I really enjoyed.  For those that like military books and mythological aspects this would be a good series.  It gives a good feel of military life and comradeship.  I liked how there were different species all working together, but not one was necessarily stronger or better than the other.

In the second book, The Light of Burning Shadows, we follow the Iron Elves to the desert in search of the second start that is to fall and also to find a lost library for the prince.  Another powerful force has shown up that burns shadows and kills the person, but the body is taken to become part of a living dead army.  The unit gets split up into multiple groups and has to fight their own battles.  Visyna and her group come in contact with the original Iron Elves which are being led by Kritton.  However, these elves seek revenge and do not follow Konowa anymore.  Private Renwar struggles with his connection with the dead and makes a deal with the Dark Monarch while also restoring the Red Star to the desert area.

In the third book, Ashes of a Black Frost, each group travels and ends up at the abadoned Iron Elves fort where they fight against a huge army of Rackes, both alive and their shadows, led by the previous Emissary that was supposedly killed by Private Renwar who now is the dead's Emissary.  The fighting and struggles in this book were good, however, it made for a disappointing ending.  You have so much fighting and battles that when Konowa and his group finally make it to Her mountain to destroy the Dark Monarch, it is anti-climatic.  You expect a great battle and struggles, but are greatly disappointed when it ends so quickly with little conflict.  Other than the poor ending, the series was great.

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

This was the other play I read.  It was slow at first and honestly not a lot happens.  It all takes place within three days.  It is an incredibly simple read and easy to understand.  I enjoyed the last couple pages the most when our main character, Nora, realizes what her life really is like and that she does not know who she is.

Nora starts out in this play as a very flighty, happy person that is very superficial.  She does not seem to know what life is really like and her husband treats her like a 'doll.'  He talks to her like she is a young little girl and expects her to be a trophy wife and act/dress in certain ways.  He works at a bank and has just been made the manager.  In order to keep up his appearance of having a strong, moral character, he dismisses his friend who has a reputation for doing questionable business.  Unfortunately, this man did business with Nora in the past and Nora is still paying off her debt.  She took out a loan in order to save her husband's life.  This man threatens Nora and writes a blackmail letter to her husband in order to get his job back and to get his reputation cleared.  Nora tries her hardest to prevent the letter from getting into her husband's hands, but in the end resigns herself to her husband finding out.  She believes he will rescue her.  Unfortunately her husband does not accept what she has done and says she will never be allowes out of the house and will never be able to raise their three children.

After saying all of these hurtful things he reads another letter from the same man that decided to return Nora's bill and releasing her from all responsibility.  Nora's husband is relieved and decides they will go on with life like nothing happened and tries to take back everything he said.  Unfortunately for him, Nora realizes that she does not know herself or her husband and must leave to find out who she is.  Her husband tries to convince her to stay, but she leaves.

While it is a sad ending that does not necessarily end happily-ever-after, it has a very good lesson.  Nora had spent her whole life living and doing what others expected her to do.  She never found out who she was.  It is a great short play that has great insight at the end about life.

Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco

My posts have definately spaced out a bit with our hectic life.  Blake asked me to help him read a few plays the last couple of days to make sure the content/language was acceptable for his English class.  I have not had much experience reading plays and honestly was not in the mood to read them.  My brain has been fried with pregnancy and I have not wanted to really concentrate or read lately.  I am glad that I was able to enjoy both the plays I read and even more grateful that they were short plays and easy to read.

Rhinoceros is definately on a higher literary level than the other play I read, " A Doll's House."  I must admit the first act was a little hard to get through and really keep up with all the conversations because there are so many people talking at once that it is chaotic.  The rest of the book is fairly easy to read and even the language usage is much more simple.  Pretty much you follow this one guy that is borderline a drunk.  He is trying to find meaning in his life and starts out by arguing with his friend pretty much about whether the rhinoceros that they had seen twice run through town was the same one or different.  People, including his friend, start turning into Rhinoceros'  and I thought it was funny that the only person upset and freaking out about this phenomenon was the main character.  Everyone else just goes with the flow and follows the crowd.  Eventually everyone turns in a Rhinoceros except our main character.  He struggles at the end being the only one left and at first fights against it, and then in turn wants to become a Rhinoceros as well but cannot.  He then accepts that he is the last human and is determined to fight against the majority.

I found it interesting that there is a lot of logic and what is real discussed throughout the book.  So many people start by fighting against everyone, but in the end follow what everyone else does even if it does not necessarily make sense.  Really, how many people want to turn into a Rhinoceros.  Many are mad about it, but then decide that everyone else is having more fun and enjoying life better.  They are escaping from their hectic life and having fun and relaxing.  It is interesting to see how in such a short period an entire society can change their opinions and focus in life.

The Starcatchers Series by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

I had fun reading the four books in this series and can't wait to see what the other book The Bridge to Neverland has to offer.  This series is a fun take on the story Peter Pan and how he came to be  and where he is from.  I think this is a fun series and very easy to read for anyone.

In book one we are introduced to Peter and the Starcatchers.  Starcatchers are a secret organization that finds and prevents the Others from finding Starstuff, magical and deadly dust.  Peter and some other orphans find themselves on the same boat at a shipment of stolen starstuff and find themselves helping a young Starcatcher Molly, keep the starstuff away from pirate Captian Stache (later to become Captain Hook).  During this adventure Peter comes in contact with a significant amount of starstuff and finds that he can fly and will never age.

In book two Peter and the orphans along with the Indian tribe, Mullusk, and Captain Hook are on their island and find out that a very dark, evil person is on the island trying to find the hidden starstuff.  When they realize this starstuff is not on the island they head to London to find Molly and her father.  Peter along with Tink head to London to save Molly and her family.  Their main goal is to help Molly's father, with the help of a friend, George, to return the starstuff before this horrible creature can steal it.

Book three finds Molly and her father heading back to Neverland to warn Peter that Lord Ohmbra, the evil monster, is coming to take him because his father was a Watcher.  A Watcher is the special person on earth who can determine where starstuff falls.  Peter has this ability too and is taken from the island with the orphan boys and sent to Rundoon.  Here Peter is forced to find the starstuff than has fallen to earth in order to help Lord Ohmbra use the starstuff to destroy the universe.  While preventing this from happening the starstuff falls on a ship that George and the orphan boys have taken and find the ship flying through the air back to Neverland.  The original four orphans head back to London with Molly and her father while a new set of orphans that came with them from Rundoon stay on Neverland.

23 years later we find ourselves on Neverland.  The starstuff fell into the water and therefore has allowed everyone on the island to never grow old.  Molly and George are married and have three chidren.  Can you guess what their names are?  Strange men have arrived at the island searching for the hidden starstuff and in London Lord Ohmbra has returned and taken some of the previous orphan boys and Molly and George in order to find a secret stach of starstuff.  Wendy heads to Neverland to ask Peter to help her save her family.  Peter and Tink find themselves once again in London confronting old enemies as well as new ones.

Cut by Patricia McCormick

Callie is a young teenager who cuts herself to escape her loneliness and pain.  She finds herself at Sea Pines, a treatment facility.  She refuses to talk to anyone feeling even more out of place among the drug addicts, anemics, and obese patients in her group.  She finds herself even more upset when another girl arrives who cuts herself as well but is very open about it.  No one in Callie's group even know that she cuts herself.  We follow her as she goes from her individual therapy session to group sessions and sits there thinking about things around her and watching how the other girls cope with their disorders as well as watching one young woman who continues to throw up and throw away her food.  It is written with her thoughts and what she assumes others are thinking.

This is an incredibly easy read and I finished it in one evening.  Blake got this for one of his students that likes to read stories about people with problems that seem worse than her own.  In my opinion this young lady can relate to these other teens in the books and hopefully she finds some solace and inspiration to continue with life and eventually become a better person.  She definately is one of Blake's harder students to cope with, but Blake is one of the few adults that can get her to do her work and try hard.  I think this is a good book for people to read especially teens since many, even if they do not have a disorder, can relate to feelings of hopelessness and loneliness at times.  This can even give kids who are struggling with something a little hope and push to overcome what they are struggling with.

Sleeping Love by Sara Curran-Ross

I downloaded this book a long time ago when it was a free kindle book thinking it might me a Cinderella type book.  Well, definately is not a Cinderella fairy tale type book, but it was still a decent book.  I can't say that I will ever read it again, but it was a different romance book than most that I have read.

Sabrina Michaels is a historian that lost her memory 7 years ago and finds herself at the wealthy Raoul Valoire's mansion under the pretense that she is doing research on one of his famous relatives.  She soon finds out that Raoul claims that he is her husband and will not let her leave until she regains her memory.  Sabrina fights against this not knowing whether to trust him or not since she was beaten badly and raped when she lost her memory.  Raoul invites all the suspects for a weekend in order to determine who was responsible for Sabrina's dissappearance.  She must find the courage to confront her memories and decide whether to trust Raoul as her husband or go back to her life in London. 

While the overall story was decent, I was a little disappointed with the ending and how many people Sara decided to have involved in the conspiracy.  I think there were just a few too many people and a slightly unrealistic ending.  I would not suggest spending money to buy this kindle book, but if it is free again go for it.

Watched Series by Cindy Hogan

Christy is a 15 year old with incredible intellect and a photographic memory.  She wins a contest to go to New York with a youth political group in hopes of changing her life since she is bullied at her school.  She had no clue that this trip will definately change her life as she and her group witness a murder from a terrorist group.  She and her friends are followed and one girl is even kidnapped.  They get in contact with the FBI and with their help the first book "Watched" ends with all of the kids returning home believing they are safe.

In the second book "Protected" Christy and a friend are kidnapped and are luckily rescued by the FBI and put into witness protection.  Christy has a chance to become a popular cheerleader as she begins her new life as Melissa.  She is trained and continues training in self-defense in order to protect herself if any of the terrorist groups find her.  She has become the main target of power and whichever group kills her becomes the leading terrorist group.  When Melissa is found she must once again change her idendity and become a gothic, biker girl.

The third book takes Christy or Ari at this time and all of her political field trip group to Europe to a spy school as the the terrorists are finally captured.  Christy and many of her friends find themselves being trained for various spy positions.  Ari finds that she has the ability to become a great spy and even ends up on an important FBI mission to prove her abilities.  She has a choice to continue with spy training or to finally go back home.  You will have to read to see what her future is.

It may sound like a dumb series to read, but I really enjoyed reading them.  The first book is free on Kindle right now and the second two are only $3.99.  The only thing that bugged me with the series is that it is painfully obvious the author has LDS ties and she doesn't outright say that Christy is LDS but she isn't Catholic or Protestant.  She mentions Christy's strict parents with no dating until 16, no drinking, smoking, tatoos, piercings, and she mentions multiple times things her youth leaders taught her.  Yes, it is good that Christy must try to keep her values while also going through the witness protection and missions, but it detracted from the story by inserting these paragraphs of inner turmoil and religious conflicts.  You don't need to put such a strong religious perspective in it to make it a good book.  Otherwise, it was fun and I enjoyed reading something other than classic literature or fantasy.

A Darkness Forged in Fire by Chris Evans

Blake found this book in a shed when his brother moved into his new place a couple years ago.  I didn't notice it on the shelf until a couple weeks ago and decided to try it out since I was having a hard time getting though A Casual Vacancy.  I really enjoyed this book and want to get the rest for Christmas now.  I know there are at least three books in the series.  I will have to look up more information to see if there are more books to come.

This is not a young adult fantasy, but a nice adult fantasy without the language or sex that seems to accompany so many adult books.  Blake gives me a hard time for reading young adult literature and not adult or classic literature more.  Honestly, most adult literature I have a hard time reading now because I find myself focusing on the language and sexual content and not being able to just read and enjoy the book.  Classic literature is often hard and slow to read.  I read for enjoyment,  not to increase my vocabulary and intelect.  I apologize if this does not seem like a good enough reason to read, but for me it is good enough and does not need to make me think or increase my intelect.

Our main character is Konowa Swift Dragon, a former commander of the Iron Elves who were disbanded when Konowa murdered an evil Viceroy without permission from the Queen.  He was then exiled in the forest, which he hates since he is a tainted elf touched by the Dark Shadow Monarch and can not bond with an Oak like other regular elves.  He finds himself called back to command the Iron Elves under the command of the Prince however, the Iron Elves no longer include elves, but regular men and one dwarf.  They are in search of "The Star" so that the Shadow Monarch does not get it for Her power.  Unfortunately, they also learn that the Prince wants the Star and all other magical relics for a museum of education.  They fight extinct monsters and find that the Iron Elves are now cursed and when they die they become Shades forced to continue fighting with the Iron Elves.  Book 1 ends with a terrific battle and the Star is kept safe from the Shadow Monarch, however, they find that the Shadow Monarch did not necessarily want the Star but wanted the Iron Elves for herself.  Konowa must now fight his dark power along with the entire batallion in order to keep themselves from falling into Her hands.

The Beyonders by Brandon Mull

Who hasn't heard of Brandon Mull, author of the great series Fablehaven?  He has another book called The Candy Shop War which is a fun little book, but nothing compared to Fablehaven.  He even has a children's book .  All of which we have.  The Beyonders series is a fun series.  I have really enjoyed reading the first two books and now can't wait to get the third to see how the story is completed.

Jason Walker is like any normal eigth grader and focused on becoming a great baseball player until one day he hears music coming from a hippo at the zoo he works at and finds himself falling into the hippo's pool and being swallowed by this hippo and transported to another world.  In hopes to find his way home, he finds himself in a tower searching their books to find a portal back home.  Unfortunately for him, he reads a book that leads him on an unexpected journey to find "the word" to destroy the evil wizard ruling Lyrian.  The first book takes him on his journey to find all the syllables to this magical word and along the way he meets up with another girl from his world and together they search.

In the second book, Jason must find his way back to Lyrian after being sent back to his time at the end of the first book.  He has to find a way to let his friends know the word does not work.  He and his entourage find themselves making a journey to the oracle in order to find out what the future holds for them and whether they have a chance to destroy Maldor.  They encounter living dead creatures, torivors, and many other crazy things along their journey just to find out they must split into two groups and go on another adventure to a greater oracle.

I have enjoyed these two books and left out a lot of fun little details so as not to give away too many things.  For a young adult book I think they are worth reading and introducing to your library.  The characters and monsters are all believable and not too out there.  Some stories just have too many crazy creatures that are hard to imagine since they author spent too much time trying to make them original.  Brandon Mull used creatures we are all familiar with if you read a lot of young adult fantasy, yet they still have believable little twists that others have not used before which I like.  Book 3 comes out March 13, 1013 so we will have to be patient for a little while to finish the series.

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

I actually read this book when it first came out and really liked it.  I did't do a review on it since I started this blog a while after reading it.  I got a third of the way through A Tale of Two Cities and just couldn' concentrate on it enough with all the distractions around the house.  So I will pick it up here and there on nights that I'm not grading/filing papers or taking care of kids/dogs.  I have been wanting to reread The Host for a while and finally decided to to pick it up.  It is an incredibly quick read and I actually skimmed through a lot of it since I've read it before.  I really like this book.  It was creative and makes you sympathize with Wanda, the Host race, and humans.

Wanda is part of the Host race, or aliens for Earth, that are worm-like creatures that take control of the host body and become that person.  On other planets they take over plants or other creatures as well.  They tend to take over things that seem to not be able to control themselves and cause more harm than good.  They take over in order to better utilize the host's abilities and have a more positive affect on the environment.  Humans are seen as too harmful and wasteful so these aliens start to take over.  We are introduced to the story when almost all humans have been occupied and there are just a few rogue humans left.  Wanda is put into one of the rogue humans that were captured in hopes that she can find the rest of the human group.  Unfortunately for Wanda, her human soul does not disappear and talks to her in her mind.  She finds herself in love with Melanie's boyfriend and her younger brother that she follows Melanie's instructions to find Melanie's uncle's hideout.

You can imagine the reception Wanda gets when they arrive at the hidden human camp.  It takes a lot of convincing to get them to believe the Melanie is still alive inside her.  Wanda has to get used to being around humans and vice a versa.  There are a lot of hard feelings to overcome and hurt feelings since everyone has had someone taken from them.  I'll let you read the book to see how it ends and what kind of agreement it made to make everyone happy.

1984 by George Orwell

In the end I really enjoyed this book.  I did not particularly care for Orwell's Animal Farm and honestly 1984 is just a human form of Animal Farm in a way.  It is still frustrating that the book ends with no future and the main character finally falls into stupidity and not being able to care or have his own free thoughts.  Orwell really makes you think about the different classes in society and how people can be so easily manipulated.  He decieves you during the book believing Winston is strong and will join the 'rebellion' and fight for a better life.  He really does try and wants to, but in the end he is decieved and tortured to the point that he betrays and loses all his feeling, self-worth,  and character.  He becomes just like every else.

It is sad to see that it could be very possible for society to be taken over and molded in any way the government wants.  They are fed information that the people just readily believe and are forced to live in such a way that they do not have time to think or feel.  They just believe all the lies that are given to them believing it is the truth and they are happy and living better than ever before.  The key to power is keeping everyone working hard and living poorly.  The poor never get better and the middle class always works to overtake the rich while the rich try to stay in power.  They soon become lax and the middle class combines with the lower class to overthrow the upper class.  The middle class then becomes the upper class and the poor never move up.  It is such an interesting thing to think about and realize there is a lot of truth to Orwell's writing.  Not quite to the extent that he portrays, but on a smaller level today.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

This summer has been crazy and I found I had very little time or energy to read. By the end of the day I just wanted to sit down and do absolutely nothing which sadly meant turning on the tv to watch the History Channel and Connan. Yep, not the greatest use of my time so I finally decided it was time to start working out again and reading. To get back in the mood I decided I needed to read something with a little more literary value since Blake has really been pushing that instead of the young adult and romance books. He is actually very against the clean romance books I've read. So I looked through his shelves of what he deems good literature and chose something I had never read, was a short story, and something I felt I should probably be familiar with since it is a book you hear many people talk about. Sadly, I have never read Animal Farm. There are many classic books out there that I feel I should read since they seem to be basic books everyone else read in high school yet somehow I missed all of them. Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, just to name a few. I honestly do not look forward to reading these since it takes time and is something I have to really concentrate on and think about. I have not yet moved past reading simple, easy-going books for ones that require some thought. Blake only enjoys reading when he feels he is learning something from it and finding himself evaluating himself and society. I wish I was to that point, but I find when I read these books I get irritated with the injustice going on. I have really found that I do not like anything (movies or books) that cause me to be scared or irritated. I read books and watch movies to relax, feel good, and laugh. So onto Animal Farm. It is a very easy read and a short story. It is about animals taking over their farm and driving away the humans. The pigs take over and at first life is much better for all of them, but like many societies, there is that one person that desires to be in complete control and get a lot while doing nothing. This happens when Nepolean, one of the pigs, drives away the other main pig that seemed to work towards the greater good for everyone and keeping to their 7 Commandments. Nepolean makes the other animals work harder with less food while the pigs live in the farm house and in the end start walking on two legs and wearing clothes. It is interesting that the last page the other animals realize that there is no longer any difference between the pigs or humans. So Geroge Orwell wrote this book to show how revolutions in the beginning are for a just cause, but in the end they can become worse than what they had before. I hit to the Soviet Union and other governments that were supporting the Soviets during WWII. I really felt that it was portraying the ignorance and lack of education that the common citizen has which causes governments to become corrupt and take away your rights. Most of the animals just went along with whatever the pigs said because they did not understand, could not read/write, and would not take the time to really learn. The pigs where able to play on each species weaknesses to keep control of the whole farm, making it impossible for anyone to question or even think about another revolution. Even today, I would say a majority of the public has no idea what is going on with the government and have no desire to educate themselves and become involved. They just expect others to do that for them and keep their lives going good. I am one of those that does not keep myself informed or vote in county elections. This could be very damaging since things could be passed that are not in my best interest, but I, along with many others, do not get involved or seem to care. Our ignorance and lack of education in the end could cause us to loose our basic rights if someone like Nepolean where to ever get in control.

Janitors by Tyler Whitesides

Blake picked up this book a long time ago and suggested that I read it at some point.  Well, honestly a year later I finally decided to read it since it seemed really short and easy to read.  Something I could finish before we leave for a couple of days.  Well, it was short and easy to read and kind of fun to read.  I did not have high hopes for it since the back cover talks about how mothers and other people who clean a lot will appreciate this book.  That does not really get me interested, however, I am glad I read it.  It is not a series I am 'needing' to go out and get, but I would eventually like to get the rest of the series.  It is a fun book that is definately geared more for elementary/early middle school age.  Well, our main characters are in 6th grade.

Spencer finds himself being bullied by Dez and one day ends up with an Algebra equation written across his face in permanent marker.  In hopes to get it off he finds this soap in the bathroom, however, once he washes his face with it he starts to see magical creatures around the school and no one else can see them.   He teams up with gullible Daisy and has her wash her face with the soap so she can help him.  The BEM, a government janitor section, shows up and has Spencer help them to retrieve a magical hammer and nail from the wizard that has set up his domain in the school.  Unfortunately Spencer finds out later that the BEM are the bad guys and the janitors of the school are in fact the good guys.

The janitors use their magical "glop' powers to kill these creatures that suck up brain waves from children.  The three creatures suck up brain waves from children making the children dumb.  Some make the kids fall asleep while others distract them.  Each creature has it's own territory it prefers.  Like Grime prefers bathrooms and drinking fountains that build up slimy residue.  It really grosses you out and makes you want to never go in a public area.  See, when kids get older they use less brain waves because they tend to be less eager to learn, that is why the creatures like elementary schools and all the janitors in the country are meant to keep the schools clear of them.

I will warn you that this book is not necessarily the most entertaining thing you will read, but it is just a fun book that puts a twist on schools and janitors.  Most of the story seems almost believable by the way Whitesides incorporates the magical creatures, kids, and janitors in the story.  It really brings you back to Elementary school and how annoying some kids can be.

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

This is the fifth book of The Mortal Instruments series.  I was very disappointed when I found out Clare was continueing this series instead of just ending it at book three.  I am one that believes most series should never go past three books.  You tend to forget the previous books and lose interest by the time the last book comes out, but you must read it since you read the others.  Well, the fourth book left me believing this, however, this book made me glad she continued with the series.  I found it very enjoyable to read especially since it was not incredibly sappy and "all about Jace with his shirt off" as Blake would say.

Sabastian still has a link with Jace and therefore has control over him.  The two of them disappear in the fourth book and so everyone is out looking for him.  Clary, Alec, Magnus, Isabelle, and Simon go out on their own to find Jace and save him from Sabastian.  Unfortunately, they find out the bond between them affects the other.  When one gets hurt the other does.  So, they can't kill Sabastian without killing Jace.  Clary goes off with Jace and Sabastian while Simon and the others try to find a weapon that will kill Sabastian, but not Jace.

I liked that during the book I began to second guess the true intent of Sabastian and wonder if he really is not that bad of a guy and really cares about Jace and especially Clary.  I liked that Clare was able to do this.  I also enjoyed, although sad, that Alec struggles with trying to keep Magnus close to him to the point that Magnus leaves.  They have a cute relationship and you hate to see them separate.  It will be interesting to see what happens to Alec in the next book since it leaves you hanging as to whether or not he will get killed by Maureen, the vampire that Simon formed.

I will admit that reading this book so close to The Infernal Devices gets me a little confused with trying to keep the stories straight.  I also do not know how much I enjoy reading about Will in The Mortal Instruments.  Clare mentions him a couple times and talks a lot about Parabatoi.  It makes me wonder if she gets stuck on an idea for one book and ends up incorporating it into the other.  I felt like I was reading the same book twice because of the similarities.  Yes, they are both about Shadowhunters so there will be similarities, but maybe she should have waited to come out with The Infernal Devices until all of The Mortal Instruments were out.

I think this is a fun series to read, especially girls who are not very interested in reading.  My husband was talking in his English class about how he tried to read the first book, but could not get past reading about Jace with his shirt off all the time.  Well, shortly after that discussion a young lady in his class, who had never enjoyed reading before, came up to him and said she loved the book and was getting the rest of the series.  Her parents even came to Blake and could not believe she was actually reading.  So, I guess what I am trying to say, if you are not much of a reader, one book may not work for you but I guarantee there is something out there you would enjoy so keep picking up books until you find a genre you enjoy.

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

 This is the second book of The Infernal Devices series set approximately 100 years before Jace and Clary.  I have enjoyed these books, although I may have to go back to the first book and reread it since I do not remember much of Tessa's beginning story so I was lost at some points not remembering the first book.  As many second books, this one did not seem to ever get incredibly suspenseful or anything.  You just read along with very little emotional change, but it is very important to set us up for the third book and what Mortmain might try to do.

We still do not know who exactly Tessa is or where she came from, but her involvement in this book is needed.  She uses her power to transform in order to try to find out where Mortmain is.  She, along with the others in the Institute have two weeks to find Mortmain or lose the Institute to the Lightwood family.

We do find out why Will is negative and honestly just crazy.  He believes he has had a curse placed on him where all who love him will die.  It is not until the end of the book that he and Magnus Bane are able to summon the demon who put the curse on him.  He finds out at this point that the demon never put the curse on him, but just killed his sister.  Unfortunately for Will, by the time he finds this out, he is so excited to love Tessa, but Jem has proposed to Tessa and she has agreed to marry her.  I can honestly say that one part of me believes Cassandra will somehow make it work out for Will and Tessa to be together, but is she going to kill Jem to do so or find another girl for Jem.  I find it hard to believe she will actually keep Tessa and Jem together unless she kills Will.  I guess we will just have to wait and find out.

Mortmain is never found, but we find out he has drugged werewolves and killed them in order to build a clockwork army.  He has blackmailed the Lightwood father to help in his cause and Tessa's brother is involved as well, however, Tessa is involed with his death when he tries to kill all of them at the Institute. And little Jessamine surprises us by being a spy and marrying Tessa's brother.  She ends up in the Silent City prison to think about how she was decieved and used.  Quite a sad ending for her.