Mundie Moms

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

City of Fallen Angels Not So Mundane Moments, Day 3, Jace & Clary Moments


I am so excited about this week! Our friends Novel Novice & I have had a lot of fun working on this feature. Not only will be talking about our favorite scenes from COFA, we'll also have giveaways! Thank you to Simon & Schuster at the end of the week we'll each be giving away a SIGNED copy of COFA! Each of our site's will also have some swag and a little treat from Cassie we'll be sharing through out the week. To enter our giveaways, you'll need to include the code word found at the bottom of each post and enter the giveaway form out, also found in each post.

Before you read any further, please know this week's feature will be full of SPOILERS! If you've not read COFA yet and don't want to be spoiled, please do not read any further.

The picture was found here.

Today's scene is a collection of Jace & Clary moments. From the training center scene at the beginning of the book (one of my favorites), to the dress shop, to when Jace tell's her what's wrong, to the DSAS scene. I savored each of their scenes, knowing it was going to be too good to be true if everything worked out perfectly for them, and we know it's far from perfect.

I loved that the two of them could finally enjoy being TOGETHER. I felt that Jace and Clary were finally able to open up more to each other. We all know communication is key in real life relationships, and I think it's equally important for fictional relationships to have that as well. I think one of the key moments for Jace and Clary is when Jace tells her about the knife. It's heartbreaking, but also freeing for them. We already know Jace is broken, but having him admit that to Clary I felt was pivotal for him and their relationship. You can read the scene on pages 254-258. I like that they've both become each other's saving grace. I'm a little worried with the ending of COFA and where it leaves Jace....

What are some of your favorite scenes with Jace and Clary?

Today's Code Word: ANGEL

Contest Guidelines:

* Fill out the contest entry form here, using today's code word.

* You may enter once PER DAY (no more) for a chance to win. (Please note: if you submit more than one entry per codeword, you will automatically be disqualified. You may enter once per day -- that means one entry for every different code word.)

* Check back every day to see a new spoiler, and get a new code word.

* Be sure to head over to Novel Novice for their code words, too, for even more chances to win!

* Prizes can only be mailed to the U.S.

Questions? Leave 'em in the comments & we'll reply!

Compulsions Blog Tour- Review & Live Author Chat


By Heidi Ayarbe
Published by Balzer + Bray
Released on May 1st, 2011
Source- ARC received from publisher from blog tour

Today has to be perfect.
Magic.
I look at the clock.
10:14 am.
Ten fourteen. One plus one is two plus four is six plus ten is sixteen minus one is fifteen minus two is thirteen. OK.
I turn from the clock and walk into the hallway. "Ready.”

Saturday will be the third state soccer championship in a row for Jake Martin. Three. A good number. Prime. With Jake on the field, Carson City High can’t lose, because Jake has the magic: a self-created protection generated by his obsession with prime numbers. It’s the magic that has every top soccer university recruiting Jake, the magic that keeps his family safe, and the magic that suppresses his anxiety attacks. But the magic is Jake’s prison, because getting it means his compulsions take over nearly every aspect of his life.

Jake’s convinced the magic will be permanent after Saturday, the perfect day, when every prime has converged. Once the game is over, he won’t have to rely on his sister, Kasey, to concoct excuses for his odd rituals. His dad will stop treating him like he is some freak. Maybe he’ll even make a friend other than Luc.

But what if it doesn’t work?

What if the numbers never go away?

Acclaimed author Heidi Ayarbe has created an honest and riveting portrait of a teen struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder in this courageous and breathtaking novel (quoted from Goodreads).

Compulsion takes reading about characters who suffer from OCD to a whole new level. I felt that I was able to really get a glimpse into the mindset of someone's life who is ruled by their compulsion with numbers. Jake's world is ruled by prime numbers and he's constantly counting. He tries to hide his compulsion, but having a broken family and only one friend it's not hard to do. Keeping his compulsion a secret starts to wear him down, and his biggest focus is helping his team win their upcoming soccer game.

It wasn't hard for me to sympathize with Jake's compulsion. He's a prisoner in his own mind. His life is ruled by numbers and he's addicted to looking at clocks. Things were good if time was on a prime number like 7:31, if it didn't end on a prime number he couldn't look away from the clock until it turned. It's like everything stops until the clock changes. Jake's not the only character who's having to deal with a lot. His mom suffers from OCD, his dad through out much of the book isn't sure how to help her and is unaware of what his son suffers from and his younger sister is often times forced to step into the rule of playing mother. Heidi does a compelling job with bringing to light how OCD can really effect a person and their family.

While Heidi does a fascinating job at really taking the reader into the mind of a character who suffers from a severe case of OCD, I had an extremely hard time getting into the book due to all the language. I don't mind a few words here and there, or a couple mentions of the f-word, but Compulsion has numerous mentions of the word that made it hard for me to really understand the character. I felt it was a little extreme to have the f-word used so much, and it made the character seem unrealistic with how often and how much he uses that word. While I felt Heidi did an amazing job at really making me feel I was able to get into Jake's mindset, I couldn't look past all the language and enjoy the book as much as I was hoping to.
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Tonight, we hosting a live author chat with Heidi to talk about Compulsions. There isn't any spoilers to not discuss, so even if you haven't read the book, please join us as we talk about Jake and what Heidi did to research Jake's compulsions.


*Our chat will start at 8 pm CST/ 9 pm EST. To join, hit join and enter a screen name.

*We do our best to make sure all comments are published, but not all the questions may be answered in the hour time frame of the chat.

*In respect to our guest's time, we will only publish comments that pertain to their current writings, and book.

*We will not post any personal questions or comments.

* Any rude, disrespectful, or spam like comments will not be published.

*Thank you and we look forward to chatting with everyone tonight!

**No part of this chat is allowed to be used with out our permission**

Twitter Tuesday - Malec Alternate POV Scene

Magnus & Alec by chelsea-bee

I'm hoping a few of you missed Cassie's tweet yesterday and that this will be a total surprise to you. I finally read it last night, after the kids were tucked in, and I had THE biggest grin on my face as I drifted off to sleep. The story behind this scene is that Cassie promised her fans that when she reached 30-thousand twitter followers, she'd write an alternate POV Magnus and Alec scene.

Well Cassie is, as usual, true to her word. Here's the opening:



It was printed on thin paper, nearly parchment, in a thin, elegant, spidery hand. It announced a gathering at the humble home of Magnus the Magnificent Warlock, and promised attendees “a rapturous evening of delights beyond your wildest imaginings.” —City of Bones


Standing in the stairwell of Magnus’ home, Alec stared at the name written under the buzzer on the wall. BANE. The name didn’t really seem to suit Magnus, he thought, not now that he knew him. If you could really be said to know someone when you’d attended one of their parties, once, and then they’d saved your life later but hadn’t really hung around to be thanked. But the name Magnus Bane made him think of a towering sort of figure, with huge shoulders and formal purple warlock’s robes, calling down fire and lightning. Not Magnus himself, who was more of a cross between a panther and a demented elf.

Alec took a deep breath and let it out. Well, he’d come this far; he might as well go on. The bare lightbulb hanging overhead cast sweeping shadows as he reached forward and pressed the buzzer.

A moment later a voice echoed through the stairwell. “WHO CALLS UPON THE HIGH WARLOCK?”

“Er,” Alec said. “It’s me. I mean, Alec. Alec Lightwood.”

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