Once Upon A Series: Series I Plan To Finish In 2015

I have so many book series that I've started reading in the last few years, that I haven't gotten around to actually finishing yet and I thought I would take this year and finish up a few of those series. If you're anything like me, then you probably do too. I started off reading all of these series with the best of intentions, but something else either came up or I was in the mood for a different book at the time and wasn't interested in reading the next book in the series I was currently reading.  

So, one thing sort of led to another, and I got into the habit of putting off reading the next book or catching up. Three of those series that I need to play catch up with are finished now and it's the perfect time for me to try and get them all read. I decided that it might be fun to sort of track my progress and figured I would share it with you guys too and if it turns out to be something that you're also interested in doing, that's awesome. 

The Mortal Instruments Series 

by Cassandra Clare

This is a series that I started reading when it first came out and I really enjoyed it, most especially the first three books in it. I gobbled them up like crazy, I was even excited that she was extending the trilogy by three books. I picked up the fourth book on the day it was released from my local bookstore and started reading it, but for some reason I just couldn't seem to get into it. It wasn't that I didn't like it or that it was bad, it was just odd for some reason I didn't seem to be feeling it. So, I've pretty much been in a "currently reading" this book state since it first came out. I'm determined this year to finish this series!

• City of Bones - Read
• City of Ashes - Read
• City of Glass - Read
• City of Fallen Angels - Currently Reading
• City of Lost Souls - Need To Read
• City of Heavenly Fire - Need To Read

The Vampire Academy Series

by Richelle Mead

With this series, I binged read the first two books and then read Shadow Kiss and Blood Promise immediately after release. I bought both Spirit Bound and The Last Sacrifice the day they were released, but didn't read them immediately. I finally got around to reading Spirit Bound last year and this year is definitely going to be the year that I finish this series. I've been putting it off, because I was sort of spoiled for how it ends and I was a little grumpy about that. I love this series and I want to finish it, so that I can tackle the spin-off series, Bloodlines.

• The Vampire Academy - Read
• Frostbite - Read
• Shadow Kiss - Read
• Blood Promise - Read
• Spirit Bound - Read
• The Last Sacrifice - Need To Read

A Touch Trilogy

by Leah Clifford

I honestly love this trilogy so much, I don't know why I haven't managed to read the last book in it yet. Probably, because I wasn't ready for it to be over and it was just sort of my way of prolonging the inevitable. lol. The writing style is dark, poetic, and beautiful. I love all of the characters and each of their stories, I definitely want to finish this one up this year at some point.

• A Touch Mortal - Read
• A Touch Morbid - Read
• A Touch Menacing - Need To Read

Wicked Lovely Series

by Melissa Marr

I have two books left in this series to read and I am so determined to finish them up this year! It's crazy, that it almost took me a year to finish reading Wicked Lovely. For some reason I couldn't get into it until about 70 pages or so before it ended and I was so incredibly hooked that I gobbled up the next few novella's and books in the series then stopped for whatever reason. 

• Wicked Lovely - Read
• Ink Exchange - Read
• Stopping Time (Novella #2.5) - Read
• Old Habits (Novella #2.6) - Read
• Fragile Eternity - Read
• Radiant Shadows - Need To Read
• Darkest Mercy - Need To Read

Pushing The Limits Companion Series

by Katie McGarry

I can't even tell you how I got so behind in this companion series, but it's one of my favorites and I'm definitely going to be setting aside some time to finish it up or at least get as caught up with it currently as I can. 

• Pushing The Limits - Read
• Crossing The Lines (Novella #1.1) - Read
• Breaking The Rules (Novella #1.5) - Currently Reading
• Dare You To - Need To Re-Read
• Crash Into You - Need To Read
• Take Me On - Need To Read

So, those are some of my series that I plan on finishing up or catching up with this year. If you guys have any that you've fallen behind on or any that you are planning on getting or keeping current with let me know in the comments below. 

I plan to keep updating this post whenever I finish one of the books in these series/trilogy. I may even decide to do a little wrap-up series end post once I've finished one or gotten caught up currently with it every other month or so. I don't know if I'll be writing full book reviews for them, but I might start writing mini-series or book reviews we'll see how that goes. 

Book Review: The Iron Trial (Magesterium #1) by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black

The Iron Trail
Cassandra Clare & Holly Black

The Iron Trial

Magesterium #1

Cassandra Clare & Holly Black

Published: September 9, 2014

Publisher: Double Day Children's Book

Age Demographic: Middle Grade

Pages: 295

From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a riveting new series that defies what you think you know about the world of magic.

From two bestselling superstars, a dazzling and magical middle-grade collaboration centering on the students of the Magisterium, an academy for those with a propensity toward magic. In this first book, a new student comes to the Magisterium against his will -- is it because he is destined to be a powerful magician, or is the truth more twisted than that? It's a journey that will thrill you, surprise you, and make you wonder about the clear-cut distinction usually made between good and evil.

To PreOrder The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and 

Holly Black please visit: Amazon & B&N

(Note: I received an ARC of this book through ATW ARC Tours, in exchange for an honest review which I have posted here on the blog and on Goodreads.)

The fantasy world of magic has been around for ages within the history of fiction and it's no surprise that both Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, have managed to written about it so wonderfully in their first collaboration together, The Iron Trial . The moment when I first discovered they were teaming up to write a novel together, I was immediately excited and intrigued. These are two of my favorite author's who are always on my auto-buy list and even though I don't usually read much Middle Grade fiction at all, I was definitely excited to get my hands on a copy of this for sure. I knew without a doubt that it would be an amazing story full of twists, turns, magic, and fantasy lore that I would fall in love with. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint in the least little bit. 

I love how they took this magical world that they created, which did have Harry Potter-esque similarities, and created their own wonderfully unique and original spin on things. The idea of a magical school being recognized for the good the magic does in the world, as simply turned on its head and spun in a different direction, as the idea that maybe that isn't the case after all was highlighted as well. I loved this book for so many reasons, that it's completely unreal. Questions were raised, twists and turns happened, an ending that you weren't expecting happened, and so much more. One of the things that appealed to me the most, was the fact that the characters in this book were written in such a realistic way. They were described one way in the synopsis and you get the sense that they are going to be that and much much more, but when you start getting lost within the pages of The Iron Trial , you start to see that they are just regular twelve year old's dealing with normal things and then they have magic school on top of that. Their actions, the way they handle things, the insecurities, everything about them was like any twelve year old would be and that was definitely a breath of fresh air. 

Callum was ever bit as mischievous and insecure, as any twelve year old boy his age would be. He lacked the tact that an older boy would have and he was more rash in his anger than I would have imagined him to be. Still, though, it worked so wonderfully well for his character, in the fact that he was able to come off looking and acting his age. You can look at this book in the sense that it's a story about a kid who was told all of his life that mages are dangerous and will do dangerous things to you if they get a hold of you, and that if you end having to take the test to get into the magic school that you potentially might have to attend, you better fail the test. At least this is the way that Cassandra Clare has described this character to be and I can see why she would, because that's exactly how I ended up feeling about him and his story this book had to tell. So the next question that naturally follows, is what happens when failing doesn't help to save him after all?

For me, that's such an interesting concept, that I couldn't help but jump on board with it and gobble it up, to see what would happen next. 

All of the characters, including Call's friends Tamra and Aaron were so full of intriguing depth, that lent themselves very well to the story at hand. Charming and full of charisma, these characters were so much fun to get to know and the world of magic they found themselves in, the missions they took, were so amazing to experience with them. Watching them grow and evolve into a more mature twelve year old, was fantastic and I loved every single minute of it.

The world building was just as enjoyable as the characters and the plot of the book, though there were questions that were raised that I would have liked to have been answered, I'm hoping that the second book in this four book series is going to help to explain that. The handpicked groups of children from the different masters, helped to make the concept of magic school a little more original and unique. It definitely worked in Cassandra and Holly's favor, which made me love this book even more. Wonderfully developed and executed well, the plot of this novel was something else to read about. I had so many questions, very minor frustrations, and I never really saw the ending coming at all. This is something that definitely makes me want to pick up the next book in this series.

While there are things that I didn't quite understand about the ending, I am hoping the second book will explain that as well and help me to better understand it. This is just a first book in a series that I feel I am sure to fall in love with and will definitely end up on my auto-buy list, because the twists and swerves this book takes you are just as surprising as what you thought was going to happen next, was the exact opposite and sometimes you missed the mark completely. This is what I call a fantastic read with a lot of action, suspense, lots of surprises, and wonderful characters in store for you. I would definitely recommend this book to you, if you're the type of readers who enjoy fantasy books with endearing characters, interesting missions, and a little bit of mischief. The characters are real, the plot is a lot of fun, and the magic definitely makes the book worth reading.

Cassandra Clare

Website Twitter Facebook

Cassandra Clare was born overseas and spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of fantasy books. Cassandra worked for several years as an entertainment journalist for the Hollywood Reporter before turning her attention to fiction. She is the author of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy and a New York Times bestseller. Cassandra lives with her fiance and their two cats in Massachusetts.

Don't forget to check out her blog and her tumblr too! 

Holly Black

Website Twitter Facebook

Holly Black is a best-selling author of contemporary fantasy novels for kids, teens, and adults. She is the author of the Modern Faerie Tale series (Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside), The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), and The Good Neighbors graphic novels (with Ted Naifeh) The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, a collection of short fiction, and The Curse Worker series (White Cat, Red Glove, and Black Heart). She is also the co-editor of three anthologies, Geektastic (with Cecil Castellucci), Zombies vs. Unicorns (with Justine Larbalestier), and Welcome to Bordertown (with Ellen Kushner). Her most recent works are the middle grade novel, Doll Bones, and the dark fantasy stand-alone, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.

She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Theo, in a house with a secret library.

Cover Reveal for City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare

You guys, Cassandra Clare has revealed the gorgeous cover for the sixth and FINAL book in The Mortal Instruments series. I don't even know how to put into words what this series means to me, so I'll just go with this...

What Cassandra Clare does for The Mortal Instruments series is phenomenal. There is love, lies, betrayal, heartbreak, mystery, a whole seedy wonderful world of mythological beings, magic, legend and history, loyalty, family, and so much more that comes along with these books that keep me anticipating and holding my breath for the next one that will be coming out. Literally, like my fingertips actually itch to get hold of these books the second they are on shelves. I honestly don't know what I'm doing to do when it's all over with. Probably re-read them again, lol.

So, I want to show off my love for this series and the final installment, by showing off the gorgeous cover!

City of Heavenly Fire
The Mortal Instruments
Cassandra Clare
Coming May 27, 2014

ΕRCHOMAI, SEBASTIAN HAD SAID.

I am coming.

Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in the world can defeat him — must they journey to another world to find the chance? Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last installment of the Mortal Instruments series!

To Pre-Order a copy of 

City of Heavenly Fire 

by Cassandra Clare visit:

Amazon & B&N

Website Twitter Goodreads

Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Mortal Instruments series, The Infernal Devices trilogy, and The Bane Chronicles. Her books have more than 30 million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts.