Daily Archives: December 2, 2009

Every time the name of this book came up, I would wrinkle my nose and shake my head “no” in response to the question “Have you read it?”. It’s amazing how false perceptions about things can keep something that really is good out of your life.

A few months ago I decided to finally start opening up and reading some of the books that have always been touted as “required reading” for schools. Being homeschooled, I was never required to read any particular books – and as I read quite voraciously, it was never really an issue. A few months ago I read The Catcher in the Rye and did not see what the big issue was. It was okay, but not the best thing I’d ever read and I was far from astounded by it.

With that further prejudice in mind I approached To Kill a Mockingbird with not a little bit of hesitation. I was sucked in almost immediately though. I could picture the town, the setting. I could see Scout clearly and found myself catching my breath and blinking back tears more than a few times. I fell in love with Atticus – what an incredible man he was in this story. I loved the quirks and the twists, the “spooky” nature of Boo, I cried at the story of Tom Robinson and I cheered at the dismal ending to Bob Ewell.

But most of all, I felt ashamed of myself. Shame that I had let something silly like enjoying the shock people had when I told them I hadn’t read this book – keep me from reading this book. Truth be told, I denied myself something pretty special and I plan to make up for it by reading this one again and again.

This review covers City of Bones, City of Ashes and City of Glass.

I’ll put my individual book reviews after this initial impression of the series as a whole.    City of Bones started out interesting, but not really that compelling.  The story was interesting, the characters were okay and it was easy enough to read.  I had to wait a few weeks before the library got in City of Ashes and City of Glass, but I was actually okay with that, because I wasn’t as compelled to continue the series as I was with Harry Potter or The Hunger Games.

But then.. things started changing in City of Ashes.  Twists started happening and although the books pace was still somewhat slow, it feels like in the latter half of the book Clare started to realize what it was she was doing and the story started to seriously progress.

City of Glass was when the trilogy finally made that step up to something I actually want to own.  The last book, well… it made everything worth while to me.  Highly entertaining.  The trilogy as a whole gets a solid 4 stars from me.

City of Bones:

I made the mistake of reading some of the reviews before reading this book – which meant that I kept putting reading this off. Don’t make that same mistake.

I know very little about the author, and frankly don’t care to go find out about her all that much. This book is a fun, exciting read and Cassandra Clare created an interesting and unique world. I was fascinated by the runes, the silent men and the darkness of the creatures surrounding Clary.

The only thing I did not get about this book was the cover. What’s with the half naked guy? How does that fit in? I don’t get it – but it does make for some cool looking cover art, I guess!

City of Ashes:

I think I may have enjoyed City of Ashes more than I did City of Bones. It isn’t often that a book sucks me in so fast and completely that I’m astonished when I near the end of it. Clare’s characters are interesting, complex and diverse and I never know which direction things are going to head.

My only complaint thus far is the villain. Valentine is not that scary – the Clave however.. and Inquisitors. Those are some scary folk. Valentine, as a result, seems like more of an afterthought.

I’d write more but.. I have City of Glass sitting next to me and I’m anxious to start it. I’m such a sucker for these kinds of books.

City of Glass:

So, I wasn’t really sold on this trilogy until this book. Then .. wow, it was like someone hit Clare upside the head and made her realize what she needed to do.

Fast-paced, full of interesting twists and turns (predictable, yes..but still good, all the same), answers given at a great pace (not all at once, but spaced nicely apart), great character development for the main characters.. really fun, interesting, absorbing reading.

This last book convinced me to actually purchase the set. Fun, fun book and good ending* to the series.

*Although I’ve heard now she has a new Mortal Instruments book coming out in 2011. Argh. So far away.