Wednesday, June 30, 2010

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare


THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS SERIES BOOK 03

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published in 2009
ISBN 9781416914303
541 Pages


CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

4 out of 5



Clary Fray is very close to waking her mother up from her magically induced coma, all she has to do is travel to the Glass City and find the missing key to waking her up. However, traveling to the Glass City is easier said than done since going to the city without permission against the Law and is punishable by death. Not to mention, Jace doesn't even want Clary to go to the ancient Shadowhunter home. So, when an incident happens, Simon is taken to the Glass City along with Jace and the Lightwoods, but he is imprisoned later for being a vampire who can walk in sunlight. However, when Clary arrives in the Glass City, she finds out more about her family's past. While she is in the Glass City, she finds an ally in Sebastian, a Shadowhunter, after Jace abandons her. Then Valentine makes his presence known in the Glass City, and he gives all of the Shadowhunters a choice: surrender and serve him or be killed. Time is running out for Shadowhunters and Downworlders, will they all be able to work together to save themselves? Will Clary's powers be enough to help save them all?

Okay, another supernatural book, but this one that I don't really like that much. For the genre, this book has pretty much every kind known to me, so I just picked "Supernatural" and picked the subcategories that the book mentioned.

Like City of Bones and City of Ashes, this book is extremely slow-moving, which is good in the way of details of events, but bad if you want to read in a day. As I mentioned just now, the details in this book are well-written and there are a lot. The author of this books seems to value that the reader needs to know details of events, as well as what the characters look like. Most books I have read do not leave enough of an impression of how the characters look like. Though, I don't like how the page number jumped by about 100 pages. Zzzzz...

Although the descriptions of the characters are more well-written than other books, the character's personalities are kind of stereotypical. Though, having stereotypes for characters are frequent in most books, not just this one. However, I still found Clary's personality extremely annoying. She is very weak and spoiled, which kind of reminds me of most people who I know. :| Though, I'm kind of happy with Simon's development in both this book and City of Ashes. :) Also, I'm happy with the development between Magnas and Alec. :D

In this book, the plot of the series becomes a little bit better and more detailed. So, it is not as boring as the first one, but you have to have patience to read the extra 100 pages. Also, you start seeing more of a relationship between Magnas and Alec. To those of you who don't approve of boy x boy relationships, I don't care. ^^ Oh, spoiler, my favorite part is when Magnas and Alec kiss, and Maia goes, "Do we have to do that, too?"

And, I have noticed people accusing this author of plagiarism, but what book doesn't do a little bit of plagiarizing? Most books I read have so similar plots with similar characters that I forget which book is which. >.> So, please, do not comment or rant about this on my blog. It's mine, not yours. :(

I liked the ending of this book and series (?). However, when I looked on her website, there is another book to this series called City of Fallen Angels. Also, there is a prequel series called The Infernal Devices, though they are not published yet. I just hope that City of Fallen Angels won't ruin the ending of this book.

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Cassandra Clare
Goodreads: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
Library Thing: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
After Twilight: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
A Trillian Books: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare


THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS SERIES BOOK 02

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published in 2008
ISBN 9781416914297
453 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:


CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

4 out of 5



Clary Fray is suddenly thrown into the world of the Shadowhunters and Downworlders, and no matter how much she wishes, she can never go back to her normal life. With her mother still in a magically induced coma, Clary is left trying to find a way to wake her up. Though, the only way she can think of is the track down her father, a rogue Shadowhunter. However, new problems arise when someone is murdering Downwordler. Who is behind the killings? Is it her father, Valentine? If he is, what is he trying to do with the blood of those children? Also, what will happen to Jace when the Inquisitor zeros in on him and accuses him of helping his father, Valentine?

Okay, another supernatural book, but this one that I don't really like that much. For the genre, this book has pretty much every kind known to me, so I just picked "Supernatural" and picked the subcategories that the book mentioned.

Like City of Bones, this book is extremely slow-moving, which is good in the way of details of events, but bad if you want to read in a day. As I mentioned just now, the details in this book are well-written and there are a lot. The author of this books seems to value that the reader needs to know details of events, as well as what the characters look like. Most books I have read do not leave enough of an impression of how the characters look like.

Although the descriptions of the characters are more well-written than other books, the character's personalities are kind of stereotypical. Though, having stereotypes for characters are frequent in most books, not just this one. However, I still found Clary's personality extremely annoying. She is very weak and spoiled, which kind of reminds me of most people who I know. :| Though, I'm kind of happy with Simon's development towards the end of the book, instead of just waiting for the stupid girl, Clary. :)

In this book, the plot of the series becomes a little bit better. So, it is not as boring as the first one. Also, you start seeing more of a relationship between Magnas and Alec. To those of you who don't approve of boy x boy relationships, I don't care. ^^

And, I have noticed people accusing this author of plagiarism, but what book doesn't do a little bit of plagiarizing? Most books I read have so similar plots with similar characters that I forget which book is which. >.> So, please, do not comment or rant about this on my blog. It's mine, not yours. :(

Anyways, the ending is kind of unexpected, but I read the other books in this series already. So, don't freak at the ending parts --- the author kind of switches it in the other books. ;)

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Cassandra Clare
Goodreads: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Library Thing: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
After Twilight: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Finding the Magic in Books: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Book Love: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
A Trillian Books: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare