The Mortal Instruments: My Experience

The Mortal Instruments - Cassandra Clare 2007 - 2014
Photo - Me

At this point in the world of YA Fantasy, most readers  (unless you're new to the young adult novel party; if so welcome) has heard of The Mortal Instruments created and written by the fantastical, wonderful Cassandra Clare. 

I've been in a reading slump that has lasted far too long for my liking (just over two years and in that time I probably read about one book every like 4 months, which for me sucked because in school all I ever used to do was read). So as a fantasy lover and as someone who had friends pushing me to start reading again (that would be you Becca), in august of last year I finally sat down and read the Mortal Instruments series. 

It's odd when I think about how much these books affected me, because I actually knew of the mortal instruments series back in 2013 when the City of Bones movie came out. Old friends from school wanted to go and I hadn't read the book at the time but my inexperienced self went to see the movie without having read the book (which is totally fine, you don't have to read a book to see a movie by all means but I personally do). 
Anyways, so I saw the movie and I fell in love with the concept and the world; but I wasn't overly crazy about the characters - there was one in particular that I hated; Mr. Alexander Gideon Lightwood. (I hear you gasping and sharpening your knives but please hold your fire). After seeing the movie, I picked up City of Bones to read but then me being me forgot about it in favor of Percy Jackson because what can I say - I'm Riordan trash. 

Flash forward to January 2017, I had made new friends and gained new opinions and I discovered the first season of Shadowhunters on Netflix, I had seen gifs on tumblr of The Wedding - (if you're a fan of the show you know exactly what episode I am referring to)

Malec Kiss - Season 1, Episode 12 Shadowhunters - Netflix/Freeform

and my closeted gay ass needed to watch that shit. So one season later, with a change of heart, opinion and actor, I had broken Netflix and had fallen in love with Alec Lightwood; I know this is a review of the series but for me, Alec plays a massive role in why I love these books so much. Anyone who knows me knows how much this boy has taken over my life, to the point where I have a tattoo of him on my inner left leg/just above my ankle.

After watching the show, I went back and picked up City of Bones for the second time and flew straight through it.
The world was like nothing I had read before, the way Cassie has combined all things angelic and demonic, supernatural and nature was enough to keep me well and truly hooked and the books have made my love for the world and the characters even more intense than my 13 year old self ever could have imagined.

My favourite books in the series were by far City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels and City of Heavenly Fire. Don't get me wrong, I love all the books but these three have stuck with me the most; all for reasons of their own. 

City of Glass: The third book in the series and the conclusion of the Mortal War.

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare - UK Paperback 2009
Photo - Mine

I think one of the reasons I love City of Glass so much is because once I got into the midst of the story, I felt something spark again; after 2 years of struggling, I had finally found a book/series that gave me that rush again. The feeling of being at the edge of my seat and wanting to read as fast as possible to find out what happens but also wanting to go as slow as possible to savor the world and all that it has to offer. After not feeling any of this for my two years at college, it was like swimming to the surface and taking that first lungful of fresh air. To some that may seem a little dramatic and in hindsight it probably is, but to me that's how it felt. From the age of 7/8, reading had always been a huge part of my life and it got me through some tough times in school - providing me with an escape that movies and shows just didn't. I read throughout primary school and all through secondary, but unfortunately when I started college and began my A-levels, with all the essays and reading I had to do for class; I didn't have time to read for pleasure. Having to reread the same four books all year for 2 years straight just took the fun out of one of my favourite hobbies and so my 2 year reading slump began. Looking back it was probably more of an all around life-slump rather than just a reading slump as my college/sixth form years were probably some of the most difficult years for my life for a plethora of reasons that I will not list or delve into right now.

Luckily flash forward to through those years, through my exams and we arrive in August 2017, I had watched season one of Shadowhunters, I had read City of Bones and City of Ashes and now I had picked up City of Glass.

Right from the beginning, the writing of this book was my favourite so far, the way Idris and Alicante were written made me feel as if I had been injected into the world, the battle scenes were atmospheric to the point where I was mentally screaming the entire time because there were so many different fights going on that I didn't know which ones to be more concerned about. The atmosphere in City of Glass is so perfectly portrayed that it kept me on the edge of my seat and kept me sat in the corner of my room under 4 blankets for almost 8 hours.
One of my favourite passages/scenes in City of Glass is when Alec is stood on the rooftop looking over the dismay and disruption running through the streets of Alicante.

"Turning onto a wider boulevard, one of the streets that led down to the Accords hall, he saw a pack of Belial demons ducking through an archway, hissing and howling. They dragged something behind them--something that twitched and spasmed as it slid over the cobbled street. He darted down the street, but the demons were already gone. Crumpled against the base of a pillar was a limp shape leaking a spidery trail of blood. Broken glass crunched like pebbles under Alec's boots as he knelt to turn the body over. After a single glance at the purple, distorted face, he shuddered and drew away, grateful that it was no one he knew.  

A noise made him scramble to his feet. He smelled the stench before he saw it: the shadow of something humped and huge slithering toward him from the far end of the street. A Greater Demon? Alec didn't wait to find out. He darted across the street towards one of the taller houses, leaping up onto a sill whose window glass had been smashed in. A few minutes later he was pulling himself onto the roof, his hands aching, his knees scraped. He got to his feet, brushing grit from his hands, and looked out over Alicante.  

The ruined demon towers cast their dull, dead light down onto the moving streets of the city, where things loped and crawled and slunk into the shadows between buildings, like roaches skittering through a dark apartment. The air carried cries and shouts, the sound of screaming, names called on to the wind--and there were the cries of demons as well, howls of mayhem and delight, shrieks that pierced the human like pain. Smoke rose above the honey-colored stone houses in a haze, wreathing the spires of the Halls of Accords. Glancing up towards the Gard, Alec saw a flood of Shadowhunters racing down the path from the hill, illuminated by witchlights they carried. The Clave were coming down to battle.  

He moved to the edge of the roof. The buildings here were very close together, their eaves almost touching. It was easy to jump from this roof to the next, and then to the one after that. He found himself running lightly along the rooftops, jumping the slight distances between the houses. It was good to have the cold wind in his face, overpowering the stench of demons."  Pages 220-221, Chapter 10 - Fire and Sword, City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

The imagery in this scene has stuck with me to this day, although the scene around Alec is not one of beauty, the way Cassandra Clare has written this scene is a thing of beauty. There is an odd sense of beauty things that are supposed to be grotesque, I think I love this passage because of how vivid and how visual it is; when I read this scene I could see it so clearly in my head that I felt like I was stood on the roof with Alec. Additionally, to me the imagery of Alec stood on the rooftops with his bow and arrow, leaping from roof to roof observing the city that is such a big part of his life, burning to ashes is one of sorrow and desperation but also bravery and courage. I'm probably (most definitely) bias toward Alec, so any scene with him I love, but this action scene of him is one of my favourite things because it gives the idea that he can see everything but at the same time is so high up that he is hidden from the rest of the battle. Alec is stood in an odd sense of calm whilst playing witness to all the destruction and chaos that it is going on around him and that is why I love this scene; why it has stuck with me ever since.

City of Fallen Angels: The fourth book and the beginning of the Dark War.

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare - UK Paperback 2011
Photo - Mine

I really wish I had read city of bones before watching the movie because my first impression of all the characters was just completely thrown off course; I didn't like Alec and I did not like Simon. Thankfully, once I got further into the book series, my feelings and opinions were amended and I'm a better person because of it. I remember in the movie and in the book - despite Simon being the protective best friend and the mundane eyes in the shadow world - I just found him incredibly annoying and every scene with him I struggled to enjoy. Fortunately, the more I kept reading and the more I watched him develop, I found myself loving Simon more and more, pages by pages and once I hit City of Fallen Angels; I fell completely in love with his character and everything he stands for. In the fourth book, the development and the character arc that Simon goes through was one of the best in the series because I personally feel that it's the book were Simon finally found part of his purpose and he finally fit in with the group of friends that I had come to love. Through continuing with books, I am so so glad that I was able to break away from the impressions that the movie had given me of these characters, Simon especially, because now I can't imagine not loving these books at all. 

After the events of City of Glass, it was clear that Simon was going to play a much bigger, vital role in the rest of the series and in the rest of the shadowhunter chronicles as a whole; which he did. Not only does he play a vital role for the shadowhunters in helping them with fight against Sebastian and Lilith but also and almost more importantly; Simon is the first to really challenge the relationship between the shadowhunters and the downworld. Along with Alec, Magnus, Luke, Maia and Jordan (let's not even start with that right now because I will cry), Simon really comes into his own and begins (and continues to) stand up for the equality for downworlders alike; not just the vampires but for warlocks, werewolves and seelies. City of Fallen Angels is one of my favourite books in the series because it's the book in which I came to know and love Simon Lewis. 

(Though I don't think I will ever love anyone as much as I do Alec, but Simon is definitely a close second along with Magnus but I mean it's Magnus so do I really need to explain myself? No, no I don't)

City of Heavenly Fire: The sixth book in the series and the conclusion to the Dark War.

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare - UK Paperback 2014
Photo - Mine

I mean where do I even begin with this book man. This book was a wild ride from start to finish, I laughed, I cried, I yelled, I fell in love, I cried some more. The ending. Do not even get me started on that ending. City of Heavenly Fire just played with my emotions the entire time and honestly i loved it. 

As the final book in the original series of the Shadowhunter Chronicles, this book had a lot riding on it, it had to wrap up the main stories of the main characters in this timeline, it had to detail battles and defeat enemies, friendships and relationships had to come together and all the loose ends had to be tided together. However, things also had to be left open enough that it would lead the way for the new and upcoming stories with in the shadowhunter Chronicles (The Dark Artifices, The Last Hour, The Elder Curses and The Wicked Powers). Personally, I feel Cassie and the book handled this really well. Characters and locations were introduced that we now know are and will be key for the future of the Chronicles, such as Emma Carstairs, Julian Blackthorn and the Los Angeles Institute. Characters that we have come to know and love were brought back and are seemingly going to play an important role in the rest of the series; Tessa and Jem.
        And of course, the story of main cast of characters from the original 6 books has come to an end and Clary, Jace, Izzy, Simon, Alec and Magnus' initial character arcs have come to a close. Now by no mean have their stories ended anyway, as we are going to see further development of all these characters in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy (review to come), The Bane Chronicles (currently reading) and all the trilogies that are yet to come; but the Mortal Instruments era of the story has now finished.

City of Heavenly Fire did a really excellent job of introducing Emma Carstairs, Julian Blackthorn, The Blackthorn Family and Malcolm Fade; who will all play huge roles in The Dark Artifices which is the latest trilogy with in the Shadowhunter Chronicles (Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows are already out, the conclusive Queen of Air and Darkness is to be released on December 4th). We got to see hints of where the Dark Artifices series with continue on from and what story lines will be played on from CoHF; such as Mark Blackthorn and his involvement in the Seelie realm. 

We also got to see the culmination of everything that our main cast of characters have been working and fighting for from the beginning in City of Bones (can you believe it's been 11 years since CoB like what even). Clary, Jace, Alec, Izzy and Simon are put through their toughest trial yet in order to defeat Sebastian and the Endarkened as well as save everyone and everything they love and care for. This story really confused my feelings, both warming and breaking my heart, one minute I was laughing and the next I would be clutching my heart and trying to stop myself from crying too loudly. I ended up crying over someone who I never thought I would ever even want to cry over and cursing the book because taking the main villain and making him human right at the last second is something that my heart was not prepared for; I sat crying for a good hour after I turned the last page. Not only because of Sebastian but also (not to give too much away) for self-sacrificing Simon; which was something I was not expecting at all. By the end of this book, I was a mess and I didn't know what to do with myself; so naturally I tried to calm myself and went straight on the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy (My review is to follow). 

Overall, I think that City of Heavenly Fire did a really good, heart-wrenching job of playing with emotions, tying up loose ends and setting things in motion for the next series in the story and I will forever be grateful to Cassandra Clare.

What Cassie has managed to do with these books, these characters and this world; is to create something that is so breathtakingly timeless that it honestly astounds me. As an aspiring author myself, seeing how invested Cassandra is in her own characters and world and stories is inspiring and I only hope that one day I am able to work on something that I love with all of my heart and soul; the way Cassie does in all of her works.
Thank you to Cassandra for creating such a enormous universe of endless places, lovable characters and a story that continues to live in our hearts and mines. I look forward to continuing this journey with her, her books, her characters and the wonderful, wonderful world of The Shadowhunter Chronicles.

Thank you for reading and I'll read you next week :)