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I liked it. Sure it's not the most inspired YA fare but it was entertaining. But, with one exception the plot twists are so obvious you have to wonder if the characters have mild mental disorders. But there's one that is so left field and pointless and upsetting that I can't figure out why she even did it. And it continues, in an intensified creepy way, into book 2.
Book 2 expands the world while making the threats more personal. This book does what many YA books do where it sets things in motion without ever really saying anything, aiming for the big payoff. While the twists of this book are fine, especially in regards to Simon- the most “real” of all the characters in this series- the...repurcussions of some of the events of book 1 still leave a bad taste. There are hints that the damage as it were may be undone in the future but that just begs the question of why it was done in the first place?
I just have to get this out: This series has a rather contraversial twist thrown at the reader in book 1. Here, in book 3 that twist is rectified. But the question reamains, and I will ask this is the least spoilery way I can, why was this done at all? Was Cassandra Clare trying to make some sort of point and if so what was it? Was forbidden love is all of it's previous forms too played out to be interesting? I cannot fathom what went through the author's head while creating this odd plot contrivance (nor can I imagine how this will be portrayed in the film version that the author insists is in the works) but it's rectification is for the best.
This is the longest of the Mortal Instuments books and in my opinion the best so far. It's well paced, and well plotted. Besdies what's mentioned above, every character shows growth and makes positive changes.
My biggest complaint, and as it's a YA book I can forgive it, is that it's all too easy. The resolutions flow freely in this book and while the stakes of this story have never been higher, you know it will all work out in the end. The antagonist is defeated with almost cartoonish ease and that's well after the real drama of the story has peaked. While I fully recommend this book as I devoured it, having to slog through the first 2 books to get to this point is something I find difficult to endorse. Overall, I enjoyed the series, but that twist is so left field and so mindbogglingly overplayed that even knowing how it works doesn't help you when looking back at the story. It just raises the question of WHY???
I really enjoyed this one, despite it's problems. Not entertaining but interesting enough to keep my attention. And a small intimate story set against a large backdrop.
