(Mortal Instruments Book 4)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Other books by Author: CITY OF BONES
Publication Date: 04/05/2011
My Rating: 3/5--Mixed feelings.
Plot in One Word: Angels and demons
Good if...you're already a Cassandra Clare fan
As mysterious murders threaten the new peace between Shadowhunters and Downworlders, only Simon, the Daylighter vampire, can help bring both groups together.
My Thoughts...Three's a charm; four's just pushing it.
Where I devoured the first three Mortal Instruments novels in a matter of days; it took me weeks to finish this one! Weeks! By the end I was basically forcing myself to finish and reading should not be forced. I wanted so badly to love it, since I've loved all Cassandra Clare's other novels, but the simple truth is...I didn't.
Here were some of the problems: The new issues in Jace and Clary's relationship were annoying. Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. Jace wasn't witty and charming and sarcastic like he used to be. He was just depressed. And the story, in general, was jumping around like a jack-rabbit. Every other page it was a different narrator. It drove me insane. Clare usually writes in this style, 3rd person, and switching between narrators. But, to my recollection, she never wrote likes this: Magnus, Jace, Clary, Simon, back to Clary, Isabelle, back to Jace---AHHH! The narration in her first novels stuck mostly with Clary, occationally switching to Jace or Simon. I couldn't take all the switches in this one and all the side-plots between characters. My head felt like it was going to explode.
Now, it wasn't all bad. There were some moments of greatness, glimpses of why I fell in love with Cassandra Clare's writing to begin with, but overall it left me thinking: She should have stopped at three. And on that note, I'm not sure if I will read novels 5 and 6. Reading shouldn't be forced. I will, however, be reading the CLOCKWORK PRINCE (the 2nd novel in her other, new series The Infernal Devices) when it comes out because I'm liking that series much more these days.
2 comments:
I'm glad you at least sort of liked it! I didn't at all. I actually liked the previous books, but this one I did not like at all.
Spoilers for those who haven't read it, of course, but I really didn't like how Jace all of a sudden turned into a "weaker" character. Like you said, he was just depressed - there was nothing to like about him here. And then Clary was all of a sudden so whiny, almost very similar to Bella Swan from Twilight. I don't remember their characters like this at all.
I totally agree. Me either. It was a let down and it goes to show that you probably shouldn't try to release three over 400 page novels in one year.
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