Book Review: City of Ashes

Hello readers!

Today's post is a book review on a well loved series, The Mortal Instruments.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

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Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Year Published: 2008

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Distopian

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Synopsis:

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

Review*:

  I listened to this book rather than read a physical copy like I did with the first book and I think it was a lot easier to get through. I didn't quite care for the narrator's "faerie" accent, I understand that she was trying to use different ways of talking to add variety to the characters and technically faeries can be 100% Irish but that doesn't mean I have to like it. 

   There was a little cheating and I looked at spoiler-y reviews from Goodreads, such as this masterpiece. I had gotten to the part where Clary & crew went to Faerie-land and I didn't know what had been going on up to that point. I started to second guess if I was actually reading the second book or not. Knowing bullet-points of the events in a book that I'm struggling with make it easier for me to follow along,which may be counter-intuitive when it comes to reading. I don't do it often, and typically I don't read all of the facts about the book at once but up until a familiar point so I can make sure I'm on the same page and have understood what has happened so far.
   Something about the series over all that I don't quite agree with is the amount of people stating that the entire series is just a blatant rip off of other popular books or movies. Even in the review I linked to previously, they use a bunch of Harry Potter characters and other reviews state that it's just a recycled or even plagiarized piece of literature. Outside of the incestuous relationship between Clary and Jace being compared to Luke and Leia, I don't see any recycled information. Even the similarities people reference between Jace just being Draco, Clary being either Hermione or Ginny, I don't see a connection. For me it seemed more like people were purposefully comparing the novels because Harry Potter was so popular when the Mortal Instruments were coming out. How that affected Clare's writing could have been for the better, I haven't made it that far yet. 
   Over-all, I'll probably list my pro's and con's for this book just because there is nothing that really stands out or I'm overly excited about.

       Cons

• I hate the term mundane. 
• I understand that they aren't actually siblings, however the incest pieces are super gross and don't add much to the story.
• Simon in general. The way he's treated by Clary. The fact that he becomes a vampire just because he doesn't deserve that negativity. 
• The way that Clare writes. She adds in details in such a weird way. For example, instead of writing that Clary put the hood to her jacket/sweater/cloak on it was "The jacket/sweater/cloak has a hood. Clary pulled it over her head."
• Faerieland- I totally don't have anything against fae in books, however in this story it felt like the fae were just included to expand on the creatures of the world and that they weren't actually necessary to the larger picture in the story. If they are important in the rest of the series, to me it would make more sense to introduce them when they are crucial to the plot.
• Valentine: I now picture Johnny Depp as Grindlewald as Valentine and although it seems so much more fitting than what I imagined Grindlewald to look like, that white hair Marilyn Manson moment isn't adding to the story.

       Pros

• The annoyingly oblivious aspects of Clary are better in this book. Rather than sounding like a naive idiot, she uses her unfamiliarity to add information into the book for us as the reader.
• Alec & Magnus. One, having a gay couple in YA literature in 2008. Two, I find so many things appealing about Magnus, from his aloofness yet intense nature to the dude they have on the cover of the Magnus chronicles. Ya girl is interested. Not really keen on Alec trying to keep it undercover though.
• Complicated relationships. Specifically Clary & Simons. The best-friends to lovers and love-triangle trope is heavy in this book, but I think the layers that are added aren't terrible. Simon asks for the truth from Clary once and for all and you have to be true to your heart.
• I really like the idea of Clary being able to utilize the ruins. I don't know why, but it makes me like Clary even more as a character. 
• The religious text woven into this book is something I have mixed feelings about. The positive, and why I ultimately placed it as a pro, is that it is a creative means to add to the book and story. Despite all of the other mythology woven into the book, Clare was very inclusive on including pieces from the bible. What I don't like about the religious inserts is the way they are written, which refers back to me not being the biggest fan of Clare's writing so far. They very much felt just thrown in and as if I should already be aware of what these stories are.

  I tried to keep the cons to a minimum, despite me not liking the book. For this series in particular I understand it has a rocky start, but I also don't want to use that as an excuse for continuing such a large series. Hopefully the next book is a bit better with writing and story line.

*There may be spoilers in this section of the review. If you do not wish to be spoiled, please stop reading.