Review: The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

Hey everyone, coming out of lurkdom here to review the first two books in The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare: City of Bones and City of Ashes.

City of Bones (3 1/2 out of 5 stars):

So, I started City of Bones last fall, got about halfway through it, and stopped reading. Now, I have to say, it is very odd for me to stop reading a book completely like that, and there isn't anything in particular that I can pinpoint to say why I stopped reading. I was extremely impressed with the beginning and Clare's amazing use of imagery and it hooked me so much that I was reading the first chapter while cooking. My husband looked at me like I was crazy. I couldn't put it down that night. But at some point the pace began to slow, which is reasonable, especially since she started with such a high note. You can't sustain a high note throughout a book like that because you need to give backstory, and I completely get that. But then it just kept getting slower for me, which was really hard. I loved the characters, loved Clare's ingenious use of language, but it just didn't hold my attention long enough to keep me reading.

I put the book down and didn't pick it up again for almost two months. Actually, the reason I picked it up again was because I was out of books and couldn't make it to the bookstore that day. As soon as I picked it back up and got through about another twenty pages of slower-than-I-like pacing, the book picked right back up again. I finished it several days later and went right out to buy City of Ashes because I just had to know what happened! I was hooked. I honestly can't say that Clare did anything really wrong to make me put the book down like I did. I guess I was just in the mood for a really fast read at the time.

My recommendation: Buy it. Read it. See what all the buzz is about. It's worth it, and if you get stuck with pacing issues like I did, just trust me that it picks right back up again. Plus, there's a really great M. Night Shyamalan type of twist at the end.

City of Ashes (4 out of 5 stars):

The second book in the series did not have any pacing issues in my opinion, although the beginning did start slightly slower than the beginning of the first book. I devoured this book in a week (which is pretty good considering I spend the vast majority of my time writing, taking Dee out, cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and, lately, watching The Office--more on that later). I only have two complaints, which dropped this book in my opinion from 5 to 4 stars. The first complaint is that the fight scene at the end was kind of long for me. I started skimming a little bit just to get to the action. I started thinking to myself, I get it, they're fighting the demons, the demons are winning, let's keep it moving. The second complaint is that, while I do LOVE Clare's imagery, there was one word she used over and over again throughout the book to describe a multitude of things. I won't tell you what the word is because I don't want to spoil it for you in case you don't notice it, but by the middle of the book I kept thinking, there's that word again, and by the end of the book I wished I had actually kept tally of the amount of times she used this word. I'm pretty sure it would be in the hundreds. No, this is not an exaggeration.

Recommendation: Read the first book first (duh). If you love it, you're probably going to run to the bookstore asap to get the second book, and you should. Clare doesn't disappoint, and she leaves the reader on a cliffhanger plus a lot of foreshadowing. I have two more books in my queue that I want to read next, but right after those I'm going to run out and get the third book. At least by waiting to read the third I won't have to wait as long to read the fourth. Jury's still out on whether or not I'll read Clare's other series, The Infernal Devices, right away or hold off for a bit.

Side Note pertaining to The Office: My hubby and I just started watching the TV show "The Office" on Netflix (I know, right? Have we been hiding under a rock?). We're hooked. One lazy, snowy Saturday we actually watched if for about six hours straight. It's hilarious. And, thanks to Michael Scott, we have gotten into the habit of saying, "That's what she said," more often than we should. It can be really embarrassing in public places, actually.