by Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments #1
Pages: 485
Release Date: February 15, 2008
by Margaret K. McElderry Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster)
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When Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly
expects to witness a murder. Much less a murder commited by three teenagers
covered with odd markings. This is Clary's first meeting with the
Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons--and keeping
the odd werewolves and vampires in line. It's also her first meeting with
gorgeous, golden-haired Jace. 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 an ordinary mundane
like Clary? And how did she suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would
like to know...
This book isn’t the best I’ve ever read, but it also has
some very good qualities that I don’t always see in YA books. For one, the world building is amazing. The world that Cassandra Clare created is so
complex and interesting and well explained, it allowed her to manipulate the
events and history to make one heck of an interesting book. The writing was really great, and the staging
was really great, and the story line was really great, but sometimes I felt
like it was a bit too easy. [SPOILER: Like when the gang had just
figured out that Magnus Bane could unblock Clary’s memory and Isabelle just
happened to have an initiation to a party that Magnus was hosting that
night. And when Jace and Clary are
trying to get into the hotel that the vampires are living in to rescue
currently-a-rat Simon there just happened
to be a guy there named Raphael who knew how to get in. And then, when it turns out Raphael is really
a vampire and the leader of the group that is currently hiding out in the hotel
Jace and Clary use him as a hostage so the other vamps don’t kill them. He’s the clan leader and the rest of the
vamps have to listen to him. And then
when the gang has figured out where the Mortal Cup is and Alec chooses to bring
a bow and then when the gang gets to where the Cup is he decides to use a staff
instead and leaves the bow with Simon, who just happens to have taken 6 years
of lessons in bow shooting. So Simon
goes in and shoots the demon and he’s a hero.
] Those things were really annoying, but other than that the book was
very well done. AND THAT ENDING! OH MY GOD!
I couldn’t believe it. Like I said
earlier, the world that Clare created was so well done and explained that she
was able to manipulate the history, and she dumped a whole shit-load of history
on us in the end. Wow! I was yelling the entire time. [SPOILER:
I couldn’t believe that Jace and Clary were both Valentine’s kids! I SHIPPED THEM SO MUCH! Ugh. ]
I loved the big info-dumps of the history between all the different
characters and wow, the ending was just amazing.
The cast for this book is one of my favorites ever. There is so much personality! Jace is freaking hilarious! I was laughing my head off at the things he
said. HE IS A BLOND, KICK-ASS, SEXY
GOD! With snark. Perfect.
I loved his big mouth, snarky comments, inability to shut up, and just
all-around bad-ass-ness. Plus I can’t
shut up either, so I think we’d make a great pair (by the way Jace, I’m totally
single!). He was such a well-developed,
entertaining character, I loved him.
Isabelle was really great too.
She had her own reputation going on, a reputation for being a
bad-ass. She was a really strong,
confident character, and I loved seeing that in a girl character. Alec and Simon were also really cool characters
that really spiced up the book. I’ve
been thinking really hard about this, and I’ve decided that Clary wasn’t
supposed to be the main character in this book.
First off, the book is told in 3rd person, so it follows all
the characters. Clary is a pretty good
character, but I think she really gets overshadowed by all the other characters
that have so much more personality than her.
I felt like she wasn’t as developed as the others characters, but at the
same time she was a pretty strong, interesting character.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable book. I really loved the world and the characters,
and I really can’t wait to see what happens in book two. After that ending, I have a feeling that a
lot is going to happen in the next book.
3 pink flowers
Quotes:
“Jesus!” Luke exclaimed.
“Actually, it’s just me,” said Simon. “Although I’ve been told the resemblance is
startling.”
Clary turned instant traitor against her gender. “Those girls on the others side of the car
are staring at you.”
Jace assumed an air of mellow gratification. “Of course they are,” he said. “I am stunningly attractive.”
Jace cleared the top of the fence and sprang down the other
side, ladning in the bushes to the accompaniment of an earsplitting yowl. For a moment Clary thought he must have
landed on a stray cat. She heard Jace
shout in surprise as he fall backward. A
dark shadow— much too big to be a feline— exploded out of the shrubbery and
streaked across the yard, keeping low.
Rolling to his feet, Jace darted after it, looking murderous.
“Oh, he’s rude to everyone,” said Isabelle airily. “It’s what makes him so damn sexy. That, and he’s killed more demons than anyone
else his age.”” (talking about Jace, of
course)
“And my hair is naturally blond,” said Jace. “Just for the record.”
“If you knew how to cook, maybe I would eat,” Jace muttered.
Isabelle froze, her spoon poised dangerously. “What
did you say?”
Jace edged toward the fridge. “I said I’m going to look for a snack to
eat.”
“I figured you’d be less cranky if you had something nice to
look at.”
“Meaning you?”
“What else?”
(Jace, of course)
“If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have
just asked.” (Please Jace, rip your
clothes off)
