By Cassandra Clare, published by Walker Books.

**SPOILER ALERT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T READ CITY OF BONES! (And spoilers about City of Ashes, in the review)**
After the events that took place in the first novel in The Mortal Instruments, City of Bones, Clary just wishes that her life would go ack to normal, and that her mother would wake up from her life-threatening coma. But she can’t keep Jace out of her head… even though she discovered that he is her long lost brother. Can Clary try and forget about her old love for him as she builds a new relationship with Simon? And what will happen to Clary and Simon’s relationship when Simon becomes a monster?

I enjoyed this so much- just as much as the first book in the TMI series! Cassandra Clare’s writing has blown me away… again. I think that the style this book is written in was complex and clever- I loved how, within chapters, the scenes switched every few paragraphs to another major character. That was really well executed, and gave me a three-sixty degree view on what was happening. The plot was great, with some clever and unexpected twists. I really wasn’t expecting Simon to turn into a Vampire! That was very unexpected and I loved how that developed from the minor event of Simon biting a vampire in defense, in the first book. The only thing that confused me was that at the end of City of Bones, Clary and Jace rode off into the New York sunset on the back of a flying motorbike, in love, and at the beginning of City of Ashes, they were totally avoiding her. I would’ve like to have known what happened to make them grow apart so quickly!

Clary was a strong, fun protagonist, and was just as great as she was in the first book. Also, I feel that in City Of Ashes I got a much better insight into her feelings Simon. Her emotions about being torn between two boys were conveyed really well in the book. I think I got to know Simon a lot better as well; because he turned into quite a major character in this sequel, and he was really cool.

In all, City of Ashes was a brilliant sequel and definitely worth reading. I can’t wait to read the third!

By Josephine Angelini, published by Macmillan.

When sixteen year old Helen sees the new boy, Lucas Delos, for the first time, the first thing she feels is that she wants to kill him with her bare hands. The second thing; is that she is in love with him. Helen discovers that an ancient Greek curse set by the Greek Gods is forcing her to hate him, but as she finds out that he is descended from the fabled Greek Gods as well as herself, they find themselves drawn to each other.  But they were never meant to be able to love one another, because of the war between the Gods thousands of years ago, which split the supernatural scions into four separate houses. As Helen begins an exciting adventure to find out what house she descended from, can she escape the clutches of the scions that want her dead? And can Helen control her feelings for Lucas, who the Gods have decided cannot be hers?

I received this book ages ago, and had already gotten halfway through, before I got distracted by some other reads. I rediscovered this the other day, and began from the beginning again. I was so annoyed I had left it- it was so brilliant! Josephine’s writing was great, and I couldn’t stop reading. The plot was epic and with lots of great shocks. I enjoyed how there was a small mention of a mother who had left home that Helen couldn’t remember, and then how the mother made an entry towards the ending and played a big part in the way the concluding events played out. The novel, as a whole, was terrifically structured with some great cliff-hangers at the end of the chapters. The ending was satisfying, but I would have preferred it to end on a climatic cliff-hanger, which would be resolved in the next book (‘Dreamless’ is the sequel, and yep, I’ll be reading that soon as I have a copy)!

Helen was a really effective protagonist. She was three dimensional, with some realistic emotions and a determined, adventurous personality. As I found out which Greek Gods she descended from, I looked back in the book and realised that the God’s traits (Aphrodite’s traits, among others) really reflected in Helens actions- which I thought was very clever. Helen had some great visible relationships with the other characters, too, especially her best friend Claire and Lucas (the love interest). Claire herself was a funny supporting character, and really made me laugh at points. It was fun to see how she played a big part in the ending, just like Helen’s mother.  Lucas, on the other hand, was serious, strong, and an overall very likeable character. He made a great crush for Helen, and his ancestors reflected well in him too.

In all, Starcrossed is an absolutely amazing book that I couldn’t put down. I really loved it, as the plot was complex and kept me guessing at the ending. I can’t wait to read Dreamless, now, to see how Helen and Lucas’s story plays out!