The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

*This review contains spoilers.*

It's time for another book review! You should expect a lot of classics from me, since I recently purchased a fairly abundant stack from a place called Half-Price Books, which I absolutely love, because they have such old, careworn copies of things - the Great Expectations I purchased even has someone's handwritten notes in it! I just love stuff like that!Anyway, I'm not reviewing this book for it's literary merit or syntactical elegance, so if you're looking for some kind of SparkNote like thing, go there, not here, this is just what I thought of the book.

Surprise, surprise, it's set in New England and centers around the eponymous House of the Seven Gables and its resident Hepzibah and Clifford Pyncheon, the new addition of Pheobe Pyncheon and the daguerreotypist, Mr. Holgrave. Long story short, the first American Pyncheon accused Mathew Maule of witchcraft, resulting in his death and Pyncheon receiving the land, so Maule cursed the house and the whole Pyncheon family for eternity.

My Thoughts

1. Some people might be put off by the vocabulary of this book, but it's something I love. Once you read lots of older novels, it just comes naturally for you to read and even think (and occasionally speak, to the dismay of my friends) in language like this. I absolutely revel in additions to my vernacular, and I found two wonderful ones: obstreperous and eleemosynary, meaning noisy; difficult to control and relating to charity, respectively. Now, don't you just want to incorporate that into your quotidian conversations?
2. Also, I like the overall premise of the book; I'm very interested in mystical stuff, and the book's window into the mid-19th century perspective on "Mesmerism" was quite fascinating. And, I mean, who doesn't love a good family curse/haunted house?
3. I really felt for Clifford. I wouldn't have spent fifty pages describing his many idiosyncrasies, but this is Hawthorne after all, so I don't know what I expected. Wasted potential is something that always gets me, mainly because I hate how I'm eighteen years old and have no discernible way of achieving my purpose in life. 
4. I absolutely adored Phoebe. She's the kind of person I strive to be, you know? Pleasant, kind, cheerful, that sort of thing. She struck me as very genuine, I suppose. 
5. Clifford's speech to the random old gentleman during his and Hepzibah's train excursion was completely fascinating. He discussed how the entire course of human history was basically an upward spiral; we were nomadic before, so shall we be again. 
6. Phoebe/Holgrave. I loved them, truly. They're no Darcy and Elizabeth or Heathcliff and Cathy, but they're up there. I like that they complete each other: Phoebe soothes Holgrave's oddities, and he awakens Phoebe to a different world. I also swooned when Holgrave realized he had hypnotized Phoebe but chose not to irrevocably complete that action. Their declaration of love scene was precious. It was heartfelt and genuine, and the way that they did it as Judge Pyncheon's body sat in the parlor reminded me of Robin's proposal to Marian in the BBC version of Robin Hood (2006), which was my absolute favorite proposal scene in the history of literature, cinema and television. 

Who Should Read It: 

• Fans of supernatural/paranormal mysteries.
• Fans of mid-19th century American literature
• Fans of Hawthorne, or even if you're indifferent, I suggest you give this one a try. 
• Romance lovers!

Overall Rating: I give this an 8.5/10. At no point did I actually weep or feel my heart swell, and I'm generally fairly emotional while reading, but I certainly believe reading this book to be time well spent. 

The next book I will be reviewing is Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. 

You may be wondering what kind of teenager spends the last summer before college in this manner. This kind is all I can say, though I say it with assurances that I do leave the house and visit friends occasionally. 

Thank you for reading. 

Feel free to comment. 

The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan

The third and apparently final book in The Kane Chronicles. To be totally honest, as I only am with you, dear blog readers, I had no idea this came out until I saw it at the store and bought it. I loved it, like I do all Rick Riordan's books, and here's a little bit about why.

My Thoughts

1. I started this book today at about 6:00 PM and read it straight through in five hours. Like all of Riordan's books, it's a very engaging read. Some people think quick books indicate a low level of literature, but I strongly disagree: it's so good, you just plow right through three or four hundred pages, completely unaware of even turning them you're so absorbed. His writing is accessible or relatable or something...I don't know, but I highly recommend his works.
2. I am, of course, fascinated by mythology. I'm particularly partial to the Greco-Roman  pantheon, but I'm still quite interested in the Ancient Egyptian deities as well, so that was very interesting to me. 
3. As always, there's a fair bit of light humor, which never ceases to make me giggle. 
4. I'm not gonna lie: at the end, as Carter was waxing poetic (and I love poetry, so I use that phrase without a hint of sarcasm) about civilization before they took on Apophis, I teared up. I know, realistically, that in no book/film/TV show is the world ever really going to dissolve away into nothingness/chaos/hellfire - that just doesn't happen - but I still got emotional..and I love a book that can make me cry.  
5. I'm not going to lie about this either: I have totally had a thing for Anubis in these books. Their relationship, and the Walt element, a Sadie's mother's line about them being awkward in the mortal world just made my heart melt. You have to admit, it's probably the world's only unique ending to a love triangle. Ever. In the history of love triangles. 
6. I love everyone's premonitions about the "other gods" at the end of the book. :)

Final Score: 10/10

It's a fun read, with great characters and engaging plot and adorable romance...I recommend this, as well as all of Rick Riordan's other books like it, i.e. the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Heroes of Olympus series, and of course, the first two books in this series. 

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

*This review contains spoilers*

Of course, this book was absolutely phenomenal because it's from the Mortal Instruments, other reviews of which you can check out in the archives, so I won't show you my synonym finding skills by telling you that again.

My Thoughts:

1. I absolutely adored Jordan and Maia. The scenes that they spend together in Jordan's bedroom and the just the way they act is adorable. It's like they're getting to know each other all over again, but with the undercurrent of an eternal passion, as they've previously been together. That, and I just loved Jordan's mix of cockiness and vulnerability. 
2. Likewise, I find Isabelle and Simon to be an amazing couple as well. They're cute, but they've got an edge. They're too imperfect people who have found themselves fitting together perfectly, and it makes my heart ache, genuinely. 
3. The scene with Simon and his sister, Becky, aka the first fictional Becky who is not a freak or a loser, is just the most endearing, adorable wonderful scene for Simon. 
4. The verbal sparring in this book between Sebastian, Jace and Clary is just deliciously funny. 
5. I'm going to lay all bare and tell you that, in the middle of the novel, when Sebastian was telling Clary he just wanted to abolish the Clave and he wanted Clary by his side and he'd only tried to kill Jocelyn because he was hurt and lonely and such...I was so gone; he had me hook, line and sinker. ...Then, of course, we find his real designs are destroying humanity/hooking up with his sister....yeah, I'm a poor judge of character, okay? Though, to be fair, in fiction the bad guy really does just need someone to love him to make it all better...Props to Cassandra Clare for going a different way. 
6. This book has all the awesome of the previous books by Cassandra Clare, i.e. epic writing, engaging characters, amazing plot twists, heart-wrenching romance, but there's also new things like The Iron Sisters and a more in depth interaction with Raziel. 
7. Jace's scene with Clary when Magdalena cut Lilith's mark,....I'm not gonna lie, that was hot :)
8. This, and the rest of the Mortal Instruments/Infernal Devices books by Cassandra Clare, is what a book should be. It's why I read, and I would recommend it to anyone!
9. I have a prediction, since Clockwork Princess hasn't been released yet: William Herondale and Brother Zachariah are one and the same. Okay, bear with me. We saw Tessa in City of Glass, and the last time we saw her in Infernal Devices, she'd agreed to marry Jem. So, Will, distraught and unable to reconcile his love for Jem with his love for Tessa runs away. Eventually, Jem dies. Tessa is immortal, but Will will die...unless he becomes a Silent Brother. On page 517, Brother Zachariah tells Clary he would have died for two people....Jem and Tessa! Okay, that's far-fetched and a little ridiculous, I know, but it just struck me. 

Final Score: Infinity and beyond/10 Amazing book, as are the rest. Read them all!