City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments #4) by Cassandra Clare ☆☆☆☆☆

I can't believe I put this book off for so long! I had read the first two chapters before my Spring semester started and because of school I put it down. I should have found a way to squeeze it in. I forgot just how much I missed Jace.

Jace is so turmoiled in this book that it can't help but break your heart. Simon has his own problems, but he really steps up and grows into himself despite his romantic struggles. And there was no way not to be happy for Joclyn and Luke!

It was nice seeing how her Infernal Devices series inspired her to add three more books to the Mortal Instruments series rather than end it at three. Magnus Bane already had his role in Infernal Devices, but Camille finally had her own role in Mortal Instruments and we're able to see her in unexpected predicaments as well.

This novel seemed mostly set within romantic strain. Clary and Jace. Simon and Isabelle. Simon and Maia. Maia and [spoiler]. Magnus and Alec. And even in a way Maryse and her husband. Despite the theme, the stories were connected very well and really set the story overall.

I can't wait to read the next one. But I'll have to. I have a big TBR list to get through and a couple other books are before it.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel (Infernal Devices #1) by Cassandra Clare ☆☆☆☆☆

This is the first steampunk novel I have ever read and I have to say I love it! London is enough to love on its own (it's one of my destination dreams), but that time period is romantic and classic. Sometimes I wish I lived in that era, but I don't think I could live without electricity and indoor plumbing.

What I loved most about Tessa is her passion for reading. It definitely isn't a trait that many women of the time have, or admit to, when they feel their purpose is to serve their future husbands and children. She learns a lot about herself in this book and what it means to be who she is, inside and out. The contradictions she finds in herself and carefully balanced between the stark contrasts of the other characters of the novel. It's a lost of "lost boys" set up, with all the orphan children, and they look to each other for support, whether consciously or unconsciously. And the differences between them, and the dark secrets them keep, are what set them apart from each other while also tying them all together.

I am extremely excited that I decided to read this series! I wasn't sure I was going to. But after finishing City of Glass, I noted that her website said she started Clockwork Angel before moving onto the originally unplanned fourth book in the Mortal Instruments series. On her website, she encouraged new readers to read in the order of publication, which is what I decided to do. So I'll be flipping back to Mortal Instruments next before I approach Clockwork Prince. Can't wait for more steampunk and Shadowhunters!

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

City of Glass (Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare ☆☆☆☆☆ 

This series is just getting even better for me. I really liked this book for the ways in which the characters surprised me. I especially loved how the characters revealed themselves in no holds barred scenarios. There were things that everyone seemed to be holding back, and amidst those things were what held them up.

One interesting thing I found myself realizing after reading is that I credited Valentine with a lot more depravity than he was guilty for, but at the same time, he was guilty of a lot more depravity than I anticipated as well. And despite those depravities, I'm still not sure how I feel about him. In some ways I feel sorry for him. And I know it's the best way he could have been written, because it's easy to hate the bad guy, it's harder to doubt your hate.

My only possible complaint after reading is that things seemed a little too neat and tidy at the end. And while that's never necessarily a good way to end a story, I do appreciate snippets of what I expect will unravel those tidy endings in the next book. I love those subtle details. There were just enough of them throughout the book to let me in on what was going on before the characters figured it out, while still allowing me to enjoy it as the characters figured things out. And sometimes I did get surprised by things. But it was good to see those subtle details in the end that make me question things still.

The only other thing I can really say about this particular book is that I had to break out the Google Translate on my phone for the Romanian. It was the one time in this series that there was not a direct translation contained, or any context clues to figure out what was said (such as there were with Latin quotes often repeated by the characters and roughly explaining the meanings rather than translating). Though looking it up was fun and gave a great new element to the story. I can definitely say I was better off knowing what was said and I kind of wish that translation would have been included in some way.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare ☆☆☆☆☆

This book was aggravating...in a good way!

And gratefully, it was a lot better than the first one! There were several things corrected with this book that changed my mind about the series.

First of all, it finally veered away from the other notable storylines it was borrowing from (i.e. Harry Potter, Star Wars, and others). Valentine began to differ a lot from Voldemort/Vader. The storyline of this book became more original and much more interesting. I didn't want to put it down!

One of my other big complaints about the first one was the switching of point-of-view throughout the book. It was aggravating for me to switch back and forth, especially when most books stick with one character throughout, or they alternate chapters with characters rather than small sections. This time the POV switching didn't bother me. I want to say it's because I got used to it since the first one, but honestly, I think it was just a lot more fluid. The purpose was clear for the POV switches this time and it moved more like a movie than a book.

Speaking of which...can't wait for the movie! I love the casting for Hodge and Brother Jeremiah, and I'm sure I'll come to enjoy the rest with time. I'm so engrossed in this series now I think I'll move on to the next book now instead of what I intended to read.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare ☆☆☆☆

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 :)