This book started out iffy for me, where it would have been lucky to get three stars, but it won four from me int he end.
The first issue I had was point-of-view switching. I prefer stories to stay in one POV throughout, or to stick with alternating POV chapters, but POV switching several times in one chapter sets me off. This is how the first chapter starts, with several POV changes that I got pissed off. But a friend urged me to keep reading. The POV switching did diminish a lot (and in one instance of storytelling by a character I actually liked the change), but it still lost a little something for me.
And then, my first mistake with this book was reading a negative review that highlighted similarities with several fandoms, the most obvious being Harry Potter. I can entirely see how this story spawned from Harry Potter fanfiction. I'm sure I would have eventually noticed these similarities on my own through reading, but they were all laid out for me in one shiny place. Here's the thing, for me there is a line to be crossed when it comes to being influenced by another story and flat out using elements from those stories. For example, in working on a vampire story I suddenly realized I was setting in Texas, I quickly had to rethink my choice of states because I didn't want to be compared to Morganville.
On to the good stuff. This story had one thing that guarantees a good book for me specifically: the arrogant, snarky bad boy who is secretly broken and trying to be good. Oh, how I love those bad boys! And Jace was just the guy for me! I really liked the characters, and loved them even more from how they differed from their influenced counterparts. For example, it became obvious that Clary was based off Ginny from Harry Potter, but I really loved that Clary's red hair was curly. That detail set her apart for me. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions with each other. And there was one thing I totally called from the beginning that had my friend rolling because I guessed it so soon and she couldn't confirm or deny my suspicion. That's another thing that makes a good book for me, when I figure something out before the main character of the book, and not because it's blatantly obvious, but because the writer left good clues for me to decipher.
In the end, I'm glad I gave this series a shot and I do intend to keep reading it, even though the heavy influences of other stories was a little too much for me. And I can't wait to see what happens next. The surprise ending (though not a surprise thanks to reading that bad review too soon) did not bother me at all, even though I know it upset a lot of people, but I have faith in where everything goes from here. I want to see these characters grow even further! Glad there is a movie in the works :)
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