Hey all! I’m back with a series review. The Mortal Instruments Series has been SUPER popular ever since it came out back in 2007, and I finally got around to reading it! One of the main reasons that I started reading it was so I could have some background info for The Clockwork Angels, another popular series by Cassandra Clare. I’ve heard LOTS of things about The Mortal Instruments series (good and bad), and for the interest of time (your’s and mine)-(hey wait that kind of rhymed)- I’ll start off with the same template that I do my bite-sized reviews with and just add on a couple elements!
*Disclaimer – I try as hard as I can in my reviews to leave out spoilers, but since this is a series review, I try to give as comprehensive a review as I can, so continue at your own risk.
Book description (for first book) :
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know…
Pros:
- I liked the pacing of this series, I think it had a good rhythm to it
- I liked that even though Simon was a “side character” it didn’t feel like he was that much less important than Clary, and the other side characters were well created
- I like that she humanized the downworlders, and don’t just do a straight Twilight ripoff for the vampires (though there was still quite a bit of twilight-esque stuff going on with the vampires))
Cons:
- Clary was quite an annoying main character and she was pretty whiny. I think at some point she was supposed to transform into a “warrior” but she kind of stayed whiny and liked to pretend she was amazing throughout the entire series
- Jace was such a pick-me boy and he acted like he was the only person in the world that could do stuff and that bothered me alot, but oh well.
- Another con for me was the continuation of the series when she could have very much ended it, like she definitely did not have to continue on with sebastian, she could have ended it after the kids killed valentine.
- I feel like they killed Valentine too easily, I mean he is supposed to be a huge villain in the story and he started a giant war but he was killed by a bunch of teenager and ameautr shadowhunters
- It was pretty predictable too, and everyone gets a happy ending
- Another thing that I noticed was that she tried to include a bunch of cultures but kind of failed at it, like the Shadowhunters mentioned in the book that they don’t just believe in one God, they believe in all of them, but I only ever saw references to the Bible, and one cringey part in the text where Kyle tattooed “Om Shantih Om Shantih Om Shantih” on his arm and acted like it was the meaning of his life. I think that if you are going to commit to representing all cultures, you should completely commit and do all your research
- I also wish we as the audience were given more parameters for what the stele or magic could do
- The biggest con of all was the INCEST. WHYYYY I will never understand did Mrs. Cassie Clare feel the need to create an incest plot with Jace first and then Sebastian?? It was completely unnecessary and only added to repulse me from the story
Three words:
angsty, ridiculous, predictable
Would I recommend this series?
I would recommend this series because I did get invested in Simon and Isabella and I definitely would have enjoyed it more if it weren’t for the incest, even if all the other cons were still there, but other than that, it definitely isn’t a series that I would push onto others.
Star Rating:
Other books that were similar to this series:
This book was pretty similar to other 2010 YA novels (unsurprising because it is a 2010 YA novel) and the vibes from the main character kind of reminded me of The Hunger Games, Divergent, Harry Potter, Twilight etc.
