The Mortal Instruments Discussion
MY MIND HAS BEEN FRAZZLED EVER SINCE I FINISHED THIS SERIES AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.
Now that I've let my utmost raw self come out, I think I can revert back to my slightly more normal self and continue this discussion.
I've never really seen the appeal (until now) of the Mortal Instruments Series, I watched the movie (which I thought was great) and I had heard there were books but I had never actually bothered to do any research them mainly because I am not a big fantasy reader. I'm not a big fantasy reader not because I don't LOVE fantasy novels but because they're usually really big book series that I will for sure invest all my time in and then after reading, will become OBSESSED with and then scout the internet for fanfiction, pieces of fan art, conventions in which the author has talked at, etc, etc (see also: Harry Potter). And let's be honest, most times a major character dies and sometimes I'm just not mentally prepared for that. So like I've said in previous blog post, I only really started reading this series because one of my good friends Jade was obsessed with it (and I actually out read her and she was a good three books ahead of me) and because there was a $1 copy of City of Bones at my local thrift store. So I read and I read all down to City of Heavenly Fire which I finished on a Monday night (let's be honest, more like Tuesday morning) and it left me in tears and many feelings of sadness yet happiness at the same time. I couldn't start reading anything else for a good week because I just had to recover from the emotions this series left me in.
If you are not sure what this series is about, it is about Clary Fray who is just an ordinary fifteen year old until her mother is kidnapped and she realises that she's not so ordinary after all. She discovers that she is actually a shadowhunter, part angel and part human, on Earth to fight off the demons. My critical summary of this is: a bunch of angel wannabees (some slightly crazy) ruin Clary's life but she meets a hot blonde boy so it's kind of okay (which it is, because he's a hot sarcastic asshole and we girls love an asshole).
There are many things about this book series I like but the one that stands out to me is Cassandra Clare's writing style. Although it's written from third person, I still felt really connected to the characters. One of my favourite things that I usually unconsciously search for in a novel is lightweight normal conversation dialogue between characters. And Cassandra Clare has definitely produced this. More times than I can count I'd be cracking up because of something funny that a character has said. The dialogue is also really relatable and casual, which really appeals to readers as it hits close to home. The ideas in the books itself are quite complicated but it balances out with the casual, easy writing style.
Cassandra Clare also perfects the amount of humour and romance in the series that it makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry a little. I love how there is always an element of humour in the books because it draws you in. No matter what is happening, someone's always cracking some sort of stupid joke. The romance between the characters is really cool because they all have such different relationships. I mean Clary and Jace are the main romance and everyone can tell that they are so in love, it is almost sickening. Simon and Izzy make me laugh because half the time Simon has no idea what the hell is going on anyways. And well Magnus and Alec are kind of a hot mess at the beginning of the last book but I think we're all hoping they fixed that.
SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS
The last two books I felt were a little dragged on. The characters were just waiting around for someone to try and kill them and it really just consisted of the Clave fighting (what's new). There was a portion of City of Lost Souls where I was reading, waiting for something to happen. I was like "where is it? What is going on?". Because they were all sitting in a room reading books because they had no idea what to do. In defense however, all the characters are pretty young so it's almost a given they've got no idea what they're meant to be doing. (Would like to point out that the Clave should probably get on the fact that a sixteen year old girl is handling said issues much better than them) So in that sense I slightly felt that the last two books were slightly too long but I love the series too much to actually care THAT much. My favourite book was definitely City of Glass. All the characters were just getting along and the ending was perfect.
My favourite character of the series has to be Jace. My goodness it's no wonder that every girl is in love with this stupid fictional character. He's perfect. The first thing I liked about him was the fact that he is a sarcastic asshole. And I'M a sarcastic asshole so Jace's humour definitely pulled me in and made me fall in love with him as a character. I love how even in the toughest of times, the characters still all have their own witty dialogue and have something funny to say to lighten the mood. I think Jace is perfect. I admire that he loves Clary so much that he just rather die than hurt her with his heavenly fire. Pretty much all throughout City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire, I just wanted to hold Jace and tell him it was all going to be okay. But I was pretty much losing it laughing when him and Clary are in the cave near the water and are getting friskayyy and he pulls out a condom! I mean at least they're practicing safe sex even in a demon dimension right?
The ending of City of Heavenly Fire killed me like three times over. I was just sitting in bed at like 3 AM crying because this book killed me. I was already crying like 100 pages in because Jordan died and he died in Maia's arms which just made it all the more sadder (anyone else thought she was pregnant and not going to dump him?), but the end was ten times sadder for me. I did actually feel sad for Sebastian because he was finally who he truly was meant to be but the sad part was that he just wouldn't survive to get the chance to live. Especially when Clary noticed his eyes were green, I cried a lone tear just for Sebastian. And then, when you finally think 'yes they can go home, they can rest and they can be happy!', Magnus' demon father ruins everything for them. When Simon gives up everything, I was crying ugly tears by then. I was so pissed off because he deserved his happy ending too. When Clary goes to find him and he just looks at her blankly, my heart burst for her. I was happy that he got some of his memories back though in the end because I would've never been able to read any spin-off's if he didn't get SOMETHING. I've already read Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy now so I know that Simon is okay (not that THAT didn't screw me up too). That's how you know an author is a good author, because the ending made me so upset but I still loved everything about the series. It's like someone breaking your heart but you still love them anyways. That's what you've done to me Cassandra Clare, that is what you've done!
Signing off now to go and drown my sorrows
Much Love
- E
If you are not sure what this series is about, it is about Clary Fray who is just an ordinary fifteen year old until her mother is kidnapped and she realises that she's not so ordinary after all. She discovers that she is actually a shadowhunter, part angel and part human, on Earth to fight off the demons. My critical summary of this is: a bunch of angel wannabees (some slightly crazy) ruin Clary's life but she meets a hot blonde boy so it's kind of okay (which it is, because he's a hot sarcastic asshole and we girls love an asshole).
There are many things about this book series I like but the one that stands out to me is Cassandra Clare's writing style. Although it's written from third person, I still felt really connected to the characters. One of my favourite things that I usually unconsciously search for in a novel is lightweight normal conversation dialogue between characters. And Cassandra Clare has definitely produced this. More times than I can count I'd be cracking up because of something funny that a character has said. The dialogue is also really relatable and casual, which really appeals to readers as it hits close to home. The ideas in the books itself are quite complicated but it balances out with the casual, easy writing style.
Cassandra Clare also perfects the amount of humour and romance in the series that it makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry a little. I love how there is always an element of humour in the books because it draws you in. No matter what is happening, someone's always cracking some sort of stupid joke. The romance between the characters is really cool because they all have such different relationships. I mean Clary and Jace are the main romance and everyone can tell that they are so in love, it is almost sickening. Simon and Izzy make me laugh because half the time Simon has no idea what the hell is going on anyways. And well Magnus and Alec are kind of a hot mess at the beginning of the last book but I think we're all hoping they fixed that.
SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS
The last two books I felt were a little dragged on. The characters were just waiting around for someone to try and kill them and it really just consisted of the Clave fighting (what's new). There was a portion of City of Lost Souls where I was reading, waiting for something to happen. I was like "where is it? What is going on?". Because they were all sitting in a room reading books because they had no idea what to do. In defense however, all the characters are pretty young so it's almost a given they've got no idea what they're meant to be doing. (Would like to point out that the Clave should probably get on the fact that a sixteen year old girl is handling said issues much better than them) So in that sense I slightly felt that the last two books were slightly too long but I love the series too much to actually care THAT much. My favourite book was definitely City of Glass. All the characters were just getting along and the ending was perfect.
My favourite character of the series has to be Jace. My goodness it's no wonder that every girl is in love with this stupid fictional character. He's perfect. The first thing I liked about him was the fact that he is a sarcastic asshole. And I'M a sarcastic asshole so Jace's humour definitely pulled me in and made me fall in love with him as a character. I love how even in the toughest of times, the characters still all have their own witty dialogue and have something funny to say to lighten the mood. I think Jace is perfect. I admire that he loves Clary so much that he just rather die than hurt her with his heavenly fire. Pretty much all throughout City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire, I just wanted to hold Jace and tell him it was all going to be okay. But I was pretty much losing it laughing when him and Clary are in the cave near the water and are getting friskayyy and he pulls out a condom! I mean at least they're practicing safe sex even in a demon dimension right?
The ending of City of Heavenly Fire killed me like three times over. I was just sitting in bed at like 3 AM crying because this book killed me. I was already crying like 100 pages in because Jordan died and he died in Maia's arms which just made it all the more sadder (anyone else thought she was pregnant and not going to dump him?), but the end was ten times sadder for me. I did actually feel sad for Sebastian because he was finally who he truly was meant to be but the sad part was that he just wouldn't survive to get the chance to live. Especially when Clary noticed his eyes were green, I cried a lone tear just for Sebastian. And then, when you finally think 'yes they can go home, they can rest and they can be happy!', Magnus' demon father ruins everything for them. When Simon gives up everything, I was crying ugly tears by then. I was so pissed off because he deserved his happy ending too. When Clary goes to find him and he just looks at her blankly, my heart burst for her. I was happy that he got some of his memories back though in the end because I would've never been able to read any spin-off's if he didn't get SOMETHING. I've already read Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy now so I know that Simon is okay (not that THAT didn't screw me up too). That's how you know an author is a good author, because the ending made me so upset but I still loved everything about the series. It's like someone breaking your heart but you still love them anyways. That's what you've done to me Cassandra Clare, that is what you've done!
Signing off now to go and drown my sorrows
Much Love
- E
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