A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
A world of witches, Daemons and Vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it. When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript of the Bodleian library at oxford university, it a unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fears are more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of the powerful witches, the creative, destructive daemons and long lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire geneticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to him and in a shadow world of half truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...
My favourite character was Diana Bishop because she is a witch and an historian. She is such a great character because she's an adult who knows her place in the world and wants to get away from that and change her world so that she can lead a normal human life instead of live in the constant danger of her supernatural life.
The characters felt very real when I was reading the book and I enjoyed finding out how the characters developed and become stronger as a result of the events in the book. The supernatural beings grew into their parts and they really became an excellent part of the book. They seemed like such an extraordinary group of people and it was really interesting to find out their back stories and why they were what they were like.
The story kept me guessing the whole way through, there were twists and turns and I never saw them coming, the story wasn't predictable apart from Diana's and Matthews relationship but the story line was very unpredictable.
The story was gripping and kept me turning the pages, I always wanted to find out what happens next however I was very disappointed with the the sequel because it was very boring and not as fast paced as A Discovery of Witches.
I think that A Discovery of Witches is a great book to show the fear that supernatural beings have of the human world because they always had to hide and there is even an ancient rule that the supernatural beings could not get to close to each other in case of attracting human attention. Which is why Diana's and Matthews relationship proves to be more than dangerous. This book is always from the supernatural beings view of other supernatural being or of humans, it's very interesting to see how they feel about humans rather than the usual a human falling in love with a supernatural being and trying to learn to accept every aspect of their lives that is so different from ours. It has helped me to gain a further understanding of the way that witches are accepted in today's society because in this book they are seen as myth only to the humans and to the daemons and vampires they are seen as very powerful and influential creatures who deserve respect. Diana Bishops character is very interesting because since the death of her parents when she was young, she has wanted to live a normal human life and get as far away from magic as possible, this is obviously because she blames the power of magic and the attention it attracts on the death of her parents. This is a different outlook of magic from other books I have read and it has helped my investigation because it has shown me that magic can cause psychological damage within the witch herself, which would cause her to want to live a 'normal' human life, and actually leads to the witch being intolerant and disregarding of witchcraft in society because she knows better than anyone else what it can do and how it can destroy a persons life.
I give A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkeness a 4.7/5.
Here is a link to buy A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness on www.amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=discovery+of+witches&sprefix=discovery+of+wit%2Caps%2C127&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Adiscovery+of+witches
Sunday 30 March 2014
Wednesday 26 March 2014
The Mortal Instruments Book Review
The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
When 15 year old clary fray heads out to the pandemonium club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder - much less a murder committed but three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. The the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there's nothing - not even a smear of blood - to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is clary frays first meeting with the shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a shadowhunter who looks like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within 24 hours clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like clary and her mother? And how did clary suddenly get the sight? The shadowhunters would like to know...
My favourite character was Simon because he went through so much within this series of books just to keep clary as his best friend because he loved her so much. He is such a true friend and also very human and tries to cling on to his humanity through all the supernatural and unexplainable things that happen thought out the mortal instruments.
The characters felt real and quite relatable, well the human ones did anyway, there are many different species in this series. From shadowhunters, warlocks, fairies, fair folk, and many more, there was always a new twist and turn and I could never guess what was coming next.
At the end of the first book, the City of Bones, there was a huge twist which changed the tone of the entire series and this twist was carried on throughout the rest of the series, which I found to be a very clever thing to do from Cassandra Clare's point of view as it kept me reading the book and wanting to find out if the twist would be resolved and what would happen next.
My favourite book of the series was probably the first book, the City of Bones because it was really well written and it was a great introduction into the series and I just really enjoyed every moment of the book. It is probably one of the best supernatural series I have read apart from Harry Potter.
There were moments in this series that made me laugh, cry and I was genuinely scared at some points too. It was written so well and anyone aged 15+ should read it, even adults can read this series because it is so thrilling, there's never a dull moment in the first 3 books, the last 2 drag on for a bit and there really is no need for series to carry on after the third book but they are still all worth a read and it is a great series to get your teeth into.
I think this series shows a different perspective on the acceptance of witches in society because the supernatural being in this book do not accept mundanes (humans) at all. They think they are slow, stupid creatures who need to be over ruled by the shadow hunters because they are half human, half angel so they are naturally better than the boring mundanes. The warlocks in the series are half human and half demon, which meant that they have one strange characteristic about them, like cat eyes, or horns, or a goats beard. So it was difficult for them to be accepted into human society so they used glamours (a spell to make them look like normal humans) so that they could be subtle and inconspicuous within society. This demonstrates that within the society in the mortal instruments series warlocks and other supernatural beings are not accepted within the secular society.
I give The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare a 5/5.
Here is a link to buy The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare on www.amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_7?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+mortal+instruments&sprefix=the+mor%2Caps%2C127&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Athe+mortal+instruments
When 15 year old clary fray heads out to the pandemonium club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder - much less a murder committed but three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. The the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there's nothing - not even a smear of blood - to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is clary frays first meeting with the shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a shadowhunter who looks like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within 24 hours clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like clary and her mother? And how did clary suddenly get the sight? The shadowhunters would like to know...
My favourite character was Simon because he went through so much within this series of books just to keep clary as his best friend because he loved her so much. He is such a true friend and also very human and tries to cling on to his humanity through all the supernatural and unexplainable things that happen thought out the mortal instruments.
The characters felt real and quite relatable, well the human ones did anyway, there are many different species in this series. From shadowhunters, warlocks, fairies, fair folk, and many more, there was always a new twist and turn and I could never guess what was coming next.
At the end of the first book, the City of Bones, there was a huge twist which changed the tone of the entire series and this twist was carried on throughout the rest of the series, which I found to be a very clever thing to do from Cassandra Clare's point of view as it kept me reading the book and wanting to find out if the twist would be resolved and what would happen next.
My favourite book of the series was probably the first book, the City of Bones because it was really well written and it was a great introduction into the series and I just really enjoyed every moment of the book. It is probably one of the best supernatural series I have read apart from Harry Potter.
There were moments in this series that made me laugh, cry and I was genuinely scared at some points too. It was written so well and anyone aged 15+ should read it, even adults can read this series because it is so thrilling, there's never a dull moment in the first 3 books, the last 2 drag on for a bit and there really is no need for series to carry on after the third book but they are still all worth a read and it is a great series to get your teeth into.
I think this series shows a different perspective on the acceptance of witches in society because the supernatural being in this book do not accept mundanes (humans) at all. They think they are slow, stupid creatures who need to be over ruled by the shadow hunters because they are half human, half angel so they are naturally better than the boring mundanes. The warlocks in the series are half human and half demon, which meant that they have one strange characteristic about them, like cat eyes, or horns, or a goats beard. So it was difficult for them to be accepted into human society so they used glamours (a spell to make them look like normal humans) so that they could be subtle and inconspicuous within society. This demonstrates that within the society in the mortal instruments series warlocks and other supernatural beings are not accepted within the secular society.
I give The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare a 5/5.
Here is a link to buy The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare on www.amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_7?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+mortal+instruments&sprefix=the+mor%2Caps%2C127&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Athe+mortal+instruments
Beautiful Creatures Book Review
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
In Ethan Wate's hometown there lies the darkest of secrets. There is a girl. "Slowly, she pulled the hood from her head. Green eyes, black hair. Lena Duchannes." There is a curse. "On the sixteenth year, the book will take what's promised. And no one can stop it. In the end, there is a grave." Lena and Ethan become bound together by a deep, powerful love. But Lena is cursed and on her sixteenth birthday, her fate will be decided. Ethan never saw it coming.
My favourite character is Lena's uncle, Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood. He is strouded in mystery throughout the whole book and he is a very intriguing character who I always wanted to know more about but the reader only gets a little bit of information on.
The characters were difficult to relate to because they came from a very different upbringing and therefore had different traditions and a different way of life really.
I struggled to keep interested in the book because there were times when the story got a bit boring but there were events that happened that kept me reading the book and kept me wanting to get to the end to find out what happens.
I think that beautiful creatures shows the obvious fear of supernatural powers that comes from a society like in the south of the USA. It shows that individuals may gain a interest in the supernatural and the powers that the Ravenwood family possess but it will never be truly accepted in society because of the fear and mystery surrounding it. Magic has never been openly spoken about and during the civil war, the oldest families in this book attacked the Ravenwood family because they needed someone to blame for everything that had gone wrong. So naturally they blame the people that they don't know much about and I think this could be translated into our real society today because if there is something that we cannot explain why it happens we either discount that it ever happened or we try to blame people that are the most unaccepted within society, this is true of all situations not just supernatural events.
I give beautiful creatures by Kami Garcia a 3/5.
Here is a link to buy beautiful creatures by Kami Garcia on www.amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+beautiful+creatures+complete+paperback+collection&sprefix=the+beautiful+cr%2Caps%2C127&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Athe+beautiful+creatures+complete+paperback+collection
In Ethan Wate's hometown there lies the darkest of secrets. There is a girl. "Slowly, she pulled the hood from her head. Green eyes, black hair. Lena Duchannes." There is a curse. "On the sixteenth year, the book will take what's promised. And no one can stop it. In the end, there is a grave." Lena and Ethan become bound together by a deep, powerful love. But Lena is cursed and on her sixteenth birthday, her fate will be decided. Ethan never saw it coming.
My favourite character is Lena's uncle, Macon Melchizedek Ravenwood. He is strouded in mystery throughout the whole book and he is a very intriguing character who I always wanted to know more about but the reader only gets a little bit of information on.
The characters were difficult to relate to because they came from a very different upbringing and therefore had different traditions and a different way of life really.
I struggled to keep interested in the book because there were times when the story got a bit boring but there were events that happened that kept me reading the book and kept me wanting to get to the end to find out what happens.
I think that beautiful creatures shows the obvious fear of supernatural powers that comes from a society like in the south of the USA. It shows that individuals may gain a interest in the supernatural and the powers that the Ravenwood family possess but it will never be truly accepted in society because of the fear and mystery surrounding it. Magic has never been openly spoken about and during the civil war, the oldest families in this book attacked the Ravenwood family because they needed someone to blame for everything that had gone wrong. So naturally they blame the people that they don't know much about and I think this could be translated into our real society today because if there is something that we cannot explain why it happens we either discount that it ever happened or we try to blame people that are the most unaccepted within society, this is true of all situations not just supernatural events.
I give beautiful creatures by Kami Garcia a 3/5.
Here is a link to buy beautiful creatures by Kami Garcia on www.amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+beautiful+creatures+complete+paperback+collection&sprefix=the+beautiful+cr%2Caps%2C127&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Athe+beautiful+creatures+complete+paperback+collection
Autumn Rose Book Review
Autumn Rose by Abigail Gibbs
This book is the second in the dark heroine series. Autumn rose lives in a sleepy seaside town in the south west of England but buried deep under the surface of her quiet life are dark secrets. Swirling marks on her skin mark her out as having extraordinary power, but at school she is shunned and condemned by the very people she is sworn to protect.
The appearance of a handsome young man at her school sends her world into turmoil. Plus, there is the fact that autumn keeps dreaming of a human girl who is about to be seduced by a very dark vampire prince... And autumn must figure out how to save her before it is too late.
My favourite character was prince Fallon because his character was very vulnerable at the start and he develops into a brave man who wants to protect autumn from the evil extermino that are threatening the world.
The characters, even though they are from a different dimension to ours, were quite relatable because of the fear that came from unknown power and I found the development of autumns character to be very relatable because she is seen as an outsider to the human race and she slowly gets accepted.
The story was quite predicable at points but it was still a very good story and I liked that information was revealed to the reader even though the main character didn't know.
This book made me laugh out loud, cry like a baby and had me on the edge of my seat all in the space of a few chapters. It was such a gripping book and it kept me interested the whole way through.
Autumn rose is a sagean girl, this means that she has the ability to harness the power from nature and use the energy as magic. In her school she is shunned by her peers for being a 'freak' that is able to have this power, even though there is a government law that makes her the protector of the school. This illustrates that within the secular society she is not accepted because she is seen as different and people are scared of the power that she is able to harness from nature.
However from the amount of 'positive' fiction that has been published about witches and witchcraft shows that it is seen as a supernatural thing that intrigues a lot of teenagers and creates a lot of curiosity within a lot of people which therefore could be seen as acceptance of the unknown and the power of witchcraft within the young people of today's society.
I give Autumn Rose by Abigail Gibbs a 4.5/5
Here is a link to buy Autumn Rose by Abigail Gibbs on www.amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=autumn+rose&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aautumn+rose
This book is the second in the dark heroine series. Autumn rose lives in a sleepy seaside town in the south west of England but buried deep under the surface of her quiet life are dark secrets. Swirling marks on her skin mark her out as having extraordinary power, but at school she is shunned and condemned by the very people she is sworn to protect.
The appearance of a handsome young man at her school sends her world into turmoil. Plus, there is the fact that autumn keeps dreaming of a human girl who is about to be seduced by a very dark vampire prince... And autumn must figure out how to save her before it is too late.
My favourite character was prince Fallon because his character was very vulnerable at the start and he develops into a brave man who wants to protect autumn from the evil extermino that are threatening the world.
The characters, even though they are from a different dimension to ours, were quite relatable because of the fear that came from unknown power and I found the development of autumns character to be very relatable because she is seen as an outsider to the human race and she slowly gets accepted.
The story was quite predicable at points but it was still a very good story and I liked that information was revealed to the reader even though the main character didn't know.
This book made me laugh out loud, cry like a baby and had me on the edge of my seat all in the space of a few chapters. It was such a gripping book and it kept me interested the whole way through.
Autumn rose is a sagean girl, this means that she has the ability to harness the power from nature and use the energy as magic. In her school she is shunned by her peers for being a 'freak' that is able to have this power, even though there is a government law that makes her the protector of the school. This illustrates that within the secular society she is not accepted because she is seen as different and people are scared of the power that she is able to harness from nature.
However from the amount of 'positive' fiction that has been published about witches and witchcraft shows that it is seen as a supernatural thing that intrigues a lot of teenagers and creates a lot of curiosity within a lot of people which therefore could be seen as acceptance of the unknown and the power of witchcraft within the young people of today's society.
I give Autumn Rose by Abigail Gibbs a 4.5/5
Here is a link to buy Autumn Rose by Abigail Gibbs on www.amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=autumn+rose&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aautumn+rose
Tuesday 25 March 2014
Harry potter book review
Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling
A boy named harry potter is a wizard. His parents were murdered when he was about one years old, by a evil grand master of wizardry called lord Voldemort. On his 11th birthday he gets a letter from Hogwarts, a school of witchcraft and wizardry to tell him he has got a place there. Once he gets to the school he becomes friends with Ron Weasley, a boy who comes from a long line of Griffydors (one of the 4 houses at Hogwarts). After a mishap with a mountain troll on Halloween they become friends with Hermione Grainger, a witch born from muggles (non magic folk). Over 7 years they go through many trials and adventures to rid the world of the threat of lord Voldemort returning and during which they face many magical and dangerous creatures.
My favourite character was Luna Lovegood because she was a bit of a minor character and she supported Harry and was loyal to him at a time when everyone had turned their backs on him so to me she seems like a true virtuous friend.
The characters felt very real and relatable to me because they are all my age when I read the books so I grew up with them and it was a very relatable story to follow.
The story kept me guessing the whole way through because there were so many unexpected twists and turns in the plots of each book, a lot of the shocking things that did happen I never expected them to.
My favourite book of the series was probably Harry Potter and the goblet of fire because of the ending where Voldemort actually returns. It changes the whole mood of the books and this mood change is reflected from the 4th book all the way to the end of the 7th.
The series made me laugh out loud and also cry like a baby at points. It was written so well and any age person could read it and still get the same enjoyment out of the story as I have because it is timeless.
The story was a very gripping and it kept me turning the pages, I really wanted to find out what happens next, the whole way through it and it was never boring.
I think the Harry Potter series was the first massive series to make a huge impact about friendly witches and wizards and started the craze with the supernatural that is still a massive genre today. I think that Harry Potter has made it more acceptable to be a witch in today's society because it has brought magic away from just being dark and has made it heroic, humorous and brave. There are not many people who have read the series and thought that magic is all bad. The true acceptance is proven by the sheer amount of success the series has had and so many people dream about getting that letter of acceptance to Hogwarts delivered to their door with owl post.
I give the Harry Potter series by J.K.Rowling a 5/5.
Here is a link to buy Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling on www.amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_p_n_feature_browse-b_mrr_0?rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Aharry+potter%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A400530011&keywords=harry+potter&ie=UTF8&qid=1397066785&rnid=400529011
A boy named harry potter is a wizard. His parents were murdered when he was about one years old, by a evil grand master of wizardry called lord Voldemort. On his 11th birthday he gets a letter from Hogwarts, a school of witchcraft and wizardry to tell him he has got a place there. Once he gets to the school he becomes friends with Ron Weasley, a boy who comes from a long line of Griffydors (one of the 4 houses at Hogwarts). After a mishap with a mountain troll on Halloween they become friends with Hermione Grainger, a witch born from muggles (non magic folk). Over 7 years they go through many trials and adventures to rid the world of the threat of lord Voldemort returning and during which they face many magical and dangerous creatures.
My favourite character was Luna Lovegood because she was a bit of a minor character and she supported Harry and was loyal to him at a time when everyone had turned their backs on him so to me she seems like a true virtuous friend.
The characters felt very real and relatable to me because they are all my age when I read the books so I grew up with them and it was a very relatable story to follow.
The story kept me guessing the whole way through because there were so many unexpected twists and turns in the plots of each book, a lot of the shocking things that did happen I never expected them to.
My favourite book of the series was probably Harry Potter and the goblet of fire because of the ending where Voldemort actually returns. It changes the whole mood of the books and this mood change is reflected from the 4th book all the way to the end of the 7th.
The series made me laugh out loud and also cry like a baby at points. It was written so well and any age person could read it and still get the same enjoyment out of the story as I have because it is timeless.
The story was a very gripping and it kept me turning the pages, I really wanted to find out what happens next, the whole way through it and it was never boring.
I think the Harry Potter series was the first massive series to make a huge impact about friendly witches and wizards and started the craze with the supernatural that is still a massive genre today. I think that Harry Potter has made it more acceptable to be a witch in today's society because it has brought magic away from just being dark and has made it heroic, humorous and brave. There are not many people who have read the series and thought that magic is all bad. The true acceptance is proven by the sheer amount of success the series has had and so many people dream about getting that letter of acceptance to Hogwarts delivered to their door with owl post.
I give the Harry Potter series by J.K.Rowling a 5/5.
Here is a link to buy Harry Potter by J.K.Rowling on www.amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_p_n_feature_browse-b_mrr_0?rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Aharry+potter%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A400530011&keywords=harry+potter&ie=UTF8&qid=1397066785&rnid=400529011
Are witches accepted within today's society?
Question 11 on my survey was 'Do you think it is acceptable to be a witch in today's society? Why?'
80% of people thought it is acceptable to be witch in today's society because people have the freedom of choice in life, it is a lifestyle choice and people can choose to do with their lives as they wish to.
The 20% of people who thought it wast acceptable to be a witch on today's society though so because
1) they thought witches were deluded people.
OR
2) magic is not understood so people become scared of the power.
The keywords and phrases were:
- as long as no one gets hurt
- freedom of choice
Many people who responded to this question thought that everyone had the right to be or do anything they wanted as long as it didn't hurt people or break any laws, a lot of people were interested in witchcraft and wanted to know more about it. I got the feeling that some people found witchcraft to be fake or attention seeking if they were very cynically in their other answers.
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