I have already purchased the next
books in the series.
Fiction – YA - Urban Fantasy
Reading Level: Ages 14-up Grade 8
Up
485 pages
Publication Date: 2007
The Mortal Instruments #1
Literary Awards: South Carolina Book Award Nominee for Young Adult Book
Award (2010), ALA Teens' Top Ten (2008), Georgia Peach Honor Book Award (2009),
Abraham Lincoln Award (2010)
Clary Fray and her friend Simon are out on a typical night in New York City
when Clary observers a bizarre trio of tattooed teenagers carrying unusual
weapons. Following them while Simon gets
some help Clary witnesses a murder, but when the body disappears and no one
else, including Simon, can even see the tattooed teenagers right in front of
them who would ever believe her.
Soon Clary wishes that her biggest problem was being crazy. The tattooed teenagers are warriors known as
Shadowhunters and she soon learns way more about their world than she ever
wanted. With the disappearance of her
mother and an attack against her by a real live demon, Clary has no choice but
to delve into the mysteries that are supposed to be held secret from “mundanes”
like her in order to locate her mother and find out why she can see what is
supposed to be hidden.
I read and finished this book on a rare day of complete freedom with no
kids, no responsibilities, no need to do anything or be anywhere – it’s been a
long time since I could indulge in that sort of luxury so trust when I say it
was blissful. Beyond the day off I
treated myself to a brand new virgin addition of this book. Gently opening the book so as to not put undue
stress on the spine I breathed in the smell of new book and turned the fresh,
crisp unsoiled pages of clear not yet blurred text. With the lovely anticipation of a new world
to discover, I felt excited and yet at peace as I made myself comfortable and
dove in. Like I said bliss! So, as you can see, my state of mind was very
bent toward savoring and appreciating this book even before I started.
The title has always been very intriguing to me and with all of the hype
of the movie coming out I decided it was time try it out- though I have to say
the title only applied to a small portion of the book. The premise of a race of superhumans
protecting the rest of us from a demon incursion was very interesting with a
lot of potential for the future. The
mythology was creative, though, doled out to the reader in long bits of
explanation, but if you are used to the genre you won’t think twice about
it. The execution, however, did leave a
bit to be desire. I found the beginning
really awkward and a bit off putting.
Some of the writing really could have been smoothed out a little more
with some help from the editors. The
action did make up for shortcomings some.
But again, like with her Infernal Devices Series, I felt the character
development and action weren’t very well balanced. Eventually, I got past the
rough beginning and then the story trotted along at a very nice pace with only
few other places of awkwardness to slow it down.
The characters were a rather mixed bag.
I liked Simon and found him very lovely; his feelings for Clary seemed
very natural and I also got why she had never really considered him before. At the beginning I wasn’t particularly
thrilled with Clary; it took a while for her to grow on me and to be honest I
can’t quite pinpoint when I started to like her. Jace was arrogant and not very likable and I really
couldn’t connect to his feelings when he encountered Valentine which really
injured the climax. I did like the
interplay between Jace and Clary and found their chemistry compelling and was
dismayed at the obstacles thrown in their way even at the cost of Simon’s
happiness. Luke was the character I
found the most comfortable, in the sense he seemed very fleshed out and well-constructed,
his back story was provocative and his actions reasonable.
Like I said before the climax was a little disappointing and there was a
very little resolution to the story. I
am okay with how little resolution there was only because the next four are
already out and in my possession as a result of book-buying-fever.
Not a master piece, but overall I did like reading it enough to purchase
the rest. Hopefully the flaws will be
ironed out some in the next one.
ISBN-10:
9781416955078
