By Cassandra Clare
For Fun
Source I own it
First Sentence The cold snap of the previous week was over; the sun was shining brightly as Clary hurried across Luke's dusty front yard, the hood of her jacket up to keep her hair from blowing across her face.
Synopsis
With Valentine planning his final attack on the Clave and Clary's mom still in a magic induced coma, the third book in the Mortal Instruments series has our characters traveling to Idris.
General thoughts
Well, I enjoyed the adventure in theses books and in this one too but I was ripping my hair out in frusteration at the obvious, staring you straight in the face, predictability in this one. Come on, I wanted more of a surprise but either I'm just THAT good at figuring things out, or the style of writing was just not clever enough, and I'm not that great at figuring out things so I'm afraid it was the latter. ***Spoilers ahead***I knew from the get go that Clary and Jace were not really brother and sister. I knew that Sebastian was her real brother the minute he was introduced. I knew Simon was a "daylighter" because he drank Jace's blood, though, I'm not sure that was really all that secret. I knew that Jace and Clary had angel blood in them. I knew that Jocelyn was going to admit she loved Luke. And I knew that Sebastian\Jonathan was going to get away in the end. I did not know exactly what Valentine had planned but obviously it was to kill everyone off. I did not know that Simon would get the mark of Cain and that was disturbing. And I did not know that Jace was Stephen's son. So I guess there were a few surprises amidst all the obviousness.***End of Spoilers*** Despite the bad writing and the predictability and the lack of fondness for anyone but two of the characters I still thought this one was OK but I thought it wrapped up nicely enough that I have no desire to read anymore of the series. I'm calling it good.
Characters
Clary: In the end I just couldn't stand her!
Jace: I'm sorry but I just don't see what was so freaking special about him, talk about martyr complex! Can you say issues? Oh the therapy this kid will need.
Simon: By far, my favorite character in the books.
Alec and Isabelle: I ended up liking both of them better in this one and that sort of surprised me.
Luke: Still like him.
Jocelyn: Did she actually apologize to Clary when what she should have done was slap her across the face?!
Maia: She cracked me up but I still wanted a little more depth to her.
Sebastian: *spoilery* Not as good a villain as Valentine.
Would I recommend it?
Yeah, I guess but the bottom line is: I did not LOVE this series, it was OK at best.
Your review made me laugh, but I am sad you didn't like this as I love this series a lot! I do think clockwork angel is better though, so i'd definitely give that a go =]
ReplyDeleteThe Cait Files
Simon is my favorite character too. :) He's the funniest. I did, however, love these books. I mean, I loved parts of these books and that was enough to make me love them as a whole. (Does that make sense?) I really really liked Cassandra Clare's newest series. The one set in London...I forget the name right now. I'd be curious to see what you thought of that one.
ReplyDeleteClockwork Angel...that's it
ReplyDeleteI definitely recommend not reading the next book in the series. I thought it was such a waste.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I had some of the big "reveals" figured out too, though a few surprised me. Eh, these are what they are.
Cait, I've considered reading the Infernal Devices but I'll take a break before I do.
ReplyDeleteSarah, Yeah, I've heard good things about that series so I might try it.
Melissa, Well, you've convinced me. You'll have to tell me what happened with Simon, though, that's the only thing I wondered about.
"Despite the bad writing and the predictability and the lack of fondness for anyone but two of the characters I still thought this one was OK" LOL - you are so fun!
ReplyDeleteI think I was so excited by the plot that I ignored the writing for the most part. :) I needed a YA fantasy series that captured my imagination. I'll have to re-read it in a more objective fashion at some point.
ReplyDeleteDana, Yeah, I try. ;) It really was OK.
ReplyDeleteTrisha, Believe me this was a "good" review. If I'd hated it I would have been soooo mean. The plot was exciting and it kept me very entertained.
My youngest son loved this series (which means we own them all) but we're not always in agreement, so I guess I'll just have to give them a try, someday. No rush, though, eh? LOL Love your review. :)
ReplyDeleteBookfool, Yeah, I wouldn't rush to get to them but they're not terrible just not amazing either.
ReplyDeleteI admire the authors world building but it's the characters in this one that stop me from really enjoying the books. I think Jace is meant to be so kind of bad boy angsty type guy but he just sort of came off as annoying for me. And Clary wasn't my fav either so the whole series was a bit dull for me.
ReplyDeleteYou are flying through these books! I read a couple of the spoilers and although I kind of know what will happen now I'm more tempted to read these books then I was before....that is if I find the time in my reading list!
ReplyDeleteLan, Yeah I struggled with the characters if it hadn't have been for Simon I would have given up.
ReplyDeleteNatalie, I was trying to hurry and catch up on a few series and this was one of them. I might have taken breaks between them, otherwise.