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So, I am way and far behind on the reviews that I was doing as part of this year's 50 book challenge. I just finished book 32, Cassandra Clare's City of Glass. It was a mediocre ending to what was otherwise an entertaining series, obvious and unnecessarily long.
The Mortal Instruments trilogy (City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass) is very easy reading. I think that Amazon categorizes it for 8 - 11 year olds. Reading the trilogy was like reading the Buffyverse dressed in different clothes. BtVS fans will probably recognize similarities (from Clary's last name to some of the general characteristics among the people inhabiting this universe). I still get a kick out of reading the word asshat in a book from the library.
The first two books were interesting enough to keep me reading, snappy and angsty. I loved Alec Lightwood and Mangus Bane. Despite the stereotype, Magnus Bane was probably my favorite character with Luke running a very close second. Unfortunately the third book was a product of the first two books and that means inevitable and obvious confrontations and big reveals. It also kinda felt like the author was running out of steam.
I felt every single one of City of Glass's 500+ pages. The story really could have been told in about half the pages. I skimmed quite a bit in this book as opposed to the others. It felt like everything but the kitchen sink had been tossed in and it didn't really take you anywhere. I'd already figured out the big reveal in the second book. The connection between Clary and Jace was too heavy handed, and the book is marketed for teens, so there was no way they were going to actually be siblings. I was just waiting to find out who Jace actually belonged to. Sebastian's sudden appearance cinched it as to who the "Real" brother was, so I was totally unsurprised and called it at the point where Clary and Sebastian meet. I liked that he was creepy and slightly out of step, although I wish he had been more nuanced and more present in the story. His death was surprising for how uninteresting it was, although admittedly by that point I had checked out on the story due to plot exhaustion. The disappearance of Sebastian/Jonathan's body at the end of the book would hint that there's going to be another book or that he'll pop up in Clare's Infernal Devices trilogy.
Max's death was surprising and very unnecessary. It felt like one of those deaths for effect. Oh, look how serious this is, someone just died. It would have had a greater impact if it had been Alec or Isabelle, someone we actually had a real connection to. Max turned out to be a throw away character who was thrown away.
The resolution to the Jocelyn/Luke relationship was nice to see. Alec and Magnus will always be my favorite characters. I really enjoyed the angel mythology created and weaved throughout the story. It was the most real and solid portions of the story. Ithurial and Raziel were pretty neat. Valentine's death was on the anti-climatic side.
So, easy and entertaining up until the last book. Clare is no Holly Black, but the Mortal Instruments trilogy was a pleasant way to increase my book total for the year.
The Mortal Instruments trilogy (City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass) is very easy reading. I think that Amazon categorizes it for 8 - 11 year olds. Reading the trilogy was like reading the Buffyverse dressed in different clothes. BtVS fans will probably recognize similarities (from Clary's last name to some of the general characteristics among the people inhabiting this universe). I still get a kick out of reading the word asshat in a book from the library.
The first two books were interesting enough to keep me reading, snappy and angsty. I loved Alec Lightwood and Mangus Bane. Despite the stereotype, Magnus Bane was probably my favorite character with Luke running a very close second. Unfortunately the third book was a product of the first two books and that means inevitable and obvious confrontations and big reveals. It also kinda felt like the author was running out of steam.
I felt every single one of City of Glass's 500+ pages. The story really could have been told in about half the pages. I skimmed quite a bit in this book as opposed to the others. It felt like everything but the kitchen sink had been tossed in and it didn't really take you anywhere. I'd already figured out the big reveal in the second book. The connection between Clary and Jace was too heavy handed, and the book is marketed for teens, so there was no way they were going to actually be siblings. I was just waiting to find out who Jace actually belonged to. Sebastian's sudden appearance cinched it as to who the "Real" brother was, so I was totally unsurprised and called it at the point where Clary and Sebastian meet. I liked that he was creepy and slightly out of step, although I wish he had been more nuanced and more present in the story. His death was surprising for how uninteresting it was, although admittedly by that point I had checked out on the story due to plot exhaustion. The disappearance of Sebastian/Jonathan's body at the end of the book would hint that there's going to be another book or that he'll pop up in Clare's Infernal Devices trilogy.
Max's death was surprising and very unnecessary. It felt like one of those deaths for effect. Oh, look how serious this is, someone just died. It would have had a greater impact if it had been Alec or Isabelle, someone we actually had a real connection to. Max turned out to be a throw away character who was thrown away.
The resolution to the Jocelyn/Luke relationship was nice to see. Alec and Magnus will always be my favorite characters. I really enjoyed the angel mythology created and weaved throughout the story. It was the most real and solid portions of the story. Ithurial and Raziel were pretty neat. Valentine's death was on the anti-climatic side.
So, easy and entertaining up until the last book. Clare is no Holly Black, but the Mortal Instruments trilogy was a pleasant way to increase my book total for the year.
