Elves, faeries, vampires, warlocks, werewolves, angels, demons and the nephilim...

Wow. What a busy week I've had, without even a single chance to share my thoughts with you. But do not fear, you'd definitely be updated by the end of this post!

Let's start off with some information on great opportunities to get hold of some great books and win awesome prizes.

The first is the Exclusivebooks.com pre-order campaign for The Gathering Storm, the new book in the Wheel of Time series. See it here.

The next promotion is the Midnight Feast promotion. Choose from various Twilightesque types of Young Adult fiction and stand a chance to win great prizes. See the details on their here.

I had the opportunity to finish 4 books this week, catching up on much needed reading time. The first three books actually form part of the abovementioned Midnight Feast campaign. So, for those of you who would like to know more...

The Mortal Instrument Series - Cassandra Clare

"A thousand years ago, the Angel Raziel mixed his blood with the blood of men and created the race of the Nephilim. Human-angel hybrids, they walk among us, unseen but ever-present, our invisible protectors.


They call themselves Shadowhunters."

This is by far one of the more entertaining Young Adult reads that I've read this year. Cassandra Clare created a believable, enchanting world with a storyline that grips you from start to finish. Clare developed a rich, well researched mythology incorporating many classic and contemporary myths and legends into a storyline that refuses to let you go.

Into this she introduces characters that are so human, each and every person can identify with them. In this story (all three books) I recognised so many aspects of my own life, I sometimes wondered whether these books were based on my diaries. From unrequited love between best friends, forbidden love between soul mates, anger, hurt, betrayal, true friendship, jealousy and lies, there is bound to be a situation a lot of us can identify with.

The icing on the cake for this series is the witty, sarcastic humour. I often found myself laughing out loud at some of the retorts in the book.

This series is definitely a must read for young and old. A relaxing, gripping tale that definitely leaves you wanting for more.

As for the elves, I'll be back later this week with the next book review for A Darkness Forged in Fire, Chris Evans' debut fantasy novel. An if you're lucky, I'd have finished book 2 in the  Iron Elves trilogy as well.

Keep it real!