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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Book review: The Clockwork Prince


A long time ago I put this book on my waiting list. I loved the first one The Clockwork Angel, and couldn't wait to continue the story. It came out on December 6th. I couldn't read it until January 4th. Grrrr....

But! It was so worth the wait. I posted a review of it on goodreads so if you really want to know about how I feel, you can read it there. This post is a little more about comparing.

After reading the greatness that is Clockwork Prince I decided to finally read a book I won several months ago from the website imareadernotawriter. I'm not going to say the name of the book on here because honestly I don't have a whole lot to say that's positive. I know the author put a lot of time and effort into her book and judging by the reviews it received I guess it's just me who didn't like it.

So how are these two books alike? Not at all. The comparison is all about the detail. I've been told time and again that I don't give enough detail in my books. People want to know more about the surroundings and the characters themselves. I guess I'm kind of stingy that way and it's in large part to books like the one which shall not be named. I felt like that was the entire book. What every person was wearing. Every detail of the house, the yard, the dog. Okay, there wasn't a dog, but do you get what I mean? I got 100 pages in and all I knew about the story was what everyone looked like–the hot guy especially because I think there was a sonnet to his gorgiousness on every page–but not a whole lot about the story line. I got too frustrated and put the book down. (Actually I clicked exit)

The thing is, I wonder if I had read it at a different time I would have felt differently about it. But Cassandra Clare has this way of giving just enough description that you feel like you're a part of the world without making you feel like you're drowning in it. How does she do that? No seriously, how? Cuz I want to be like that.

I'm working on it. This isn't something that comes naturally to me. I wish there was some secret formula as to how to get the right amount of detail. I guess for now I'll settle for reading people who got it right.

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