by Cassandra Clare
I had been debating whether or not to pick these books up, after reading glowing reviews of them from YA fiction fans.... and seeing them featured in any and every store that sells books. Then a couple of weeks ago, one of my avid reader friends at work just happened to finish the last one in the original trilogy (books 4 & 5 were not originally planned) and recommended them. And so one day after work, I raced myself to the nearest Target and picked up a little light reading (three books worth).
Our story begins by following the heroine Clary Fray, as she discovers there is an invisible world interacting with her own - a world where demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves & angels exist. In fact, it turns out (don't worry, no major spoiler here), that Clary is actually a Shadowhunter. They are the descendants of angels, created to battle the evil forces in the world. When her mom goes missing, Clary, her best friend Simon, and her new found gang of Shadowhunters begin a journey to fight the "big bad" AKA Valentine. In the midst of all this, Clary also finds an instant attraction to the arrogant and talented Jace Wayland.
One of the things that I admire in this series, is Clary's transformation. She does not come into this world as an instant demon killer who has clearly been meant to do this her entire life. At times in the beginning, she seems defenseless, thrown into an unfamiliar territory. But as the books progress, Clary begins to come into her own - with the help of special training, and her own exceptional gifts. All the characters show character progression, and are believable, although they exist in an unbelievable world. To be a successful YA fiction novel, there always has to a be a forbidden romance... and this series has plenty of that! In fact, it has several love triangles (including hetero and homosexual dynamics), secret relationships, betrayals, and true love.
These books are definitely entertaining, although I would recommend spacing them out a bit.... and not devouring all of them in the space of one week like I did. They can seem a little formulaic, and it led to me skipping over a few scenes that I found tedious. Also, I started having nightmares about demons. Maybe don't read them before bedtime. I'm just saying. On the whole, they make up a unique young adult fiction series that genre fans will enjoy... and as soon as book six finally comes out, I will read the second half of the trilogy.
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