I’m being harsh? Perhaps. But I’m tired of crap being
pedaled off as Young Adult literature. It seems all authors have to do these
days is come up with a paranormal romance plot, add a mysterious boy and a girl
who discovers an alternate world she never knew existed, and BOOM! You got
yourself a best seller. Why are they selling and so popular then if they’re
crap, you ask? Well it’s because they’re compelling. You want to know what’s
going to happen. They’re world building and that creates a mystery of what
these other people, this other world, is like. So even though I found myself
rolling my eyes while reading this book, I kept going because I had to hear the
ending.
Clary is a fifteen year old whose world has just flipped on
its side. She sees a murder of something not human by three teens who no one
else can see except herself. Then a day later, her mother is kidnapped and
Clary is attacked by a demon. Suddenly, her eyes are opened to a world that was
hidden to her from birth: the world of the Clave, Shadowhunters who are
descended from angels to protect humans from demons. She meets Jace, a
mysterious Shadowhunter with golden locks, who brings her into his world and
helps her find her mother, who has been stolen by Valentine, a Nazi-esque
ex-Shadowhunter.
Ok I’ll start with the good, so you don’t think I’m a one
sided bitch. The plot is a rich one, kind of Constantine-esque (the
movie with Keanu Reeves). I wanted to read the book when I found out it is
being made into a movie. There’s a lot to build on in this plot: God versus
Satan, the ultimate good versus evil, creepy and frightening creatures, and a
world that encompasses so many aspects of the supernatural. This is a plot that
keeps moving and keeps you interested. I completely understand why the book is
popular.
Now the bad!! Goody goody, there’s so much to say. First I
need to go with the characters. I didn’t feel attracted or sympathetic with any
of them. They were so 2D. There was nothing that felt real about them. As in a lot of YA novels, their emotions were
so overly dramatic and their characteristics were stereotypical. The
mysterious, hot guy who tries to shut out the world until the main character
comes around. O wait he’s sarcastic. Who would have guessed!? The girl who’s
artistic and doesn’t feel like she really belongs…because she doesn’t! Wow.
Revolutionary! The main guy, Jace, is
the mysterious warrior man, but upon meeting Clary, our main character, he just
starts telling her about this secret world. REALLY!!?? If he’s so secretive why
is he doling out this information to a complete stranger? It feels like it’s
going against the character’s personality and against the underworld society.
The plot. Warning, I’m going to spoil the plot here so STOP
reading if you do not want to hear it. Clare, the author, stole from Star Wars!
She took that whole Luke and Leia plot line and put it in her book along with
the whole evil father part. First, dude, you can’t just steal stuff from Star
Wars and then crap on it. Not Cool. Second, what is up with incest as a plot
line these days? Creepy. O and Clare completely cops out on the religion aspect
of the story. Obviously if there are demons, there is a demon leader, i.e. Satan,
and if there is a Hell and a Satan, then there is a Heaven and angels (Newton’s
Law). I mean the Shadowhunters are supposedly descended from angels, but Clare
denies the existence of one God. Instead, Jace doesn’t know if he believes in
God and no one actually knows if angels exist. Come on Clare! If you’re going
to write a book that’s essentially about angels and demons, you got to adopt
some sort of overarching belief. I don’t care if it’s the Flying Spaghetti
Monster and his beer volcano, but there needs to be a heaven and a hell, thus
rulers of both.
The writing. The story is narrated from Clary’s perspective.
She is the main character, and as the reader, you’re discovering everything at
the same time she is. That makes sense. I got angry when out of the blue, one
chapter was partially written from Jace’s perspective. Then back to Clary’s.
You can’t just throw that in out of nowhere! Come on! The writing was juvenile.
He said, she said. Discovering characters' names, personalities, and plot points
in the most obvious of ways. There was no artistry here.
I’ll give Clare props for putting out a bestselling first
novel, but that’s about it. My coworker tells me Clare’s “Infernal Devices”
series is much better, and after giving myself some time away from this genre,
I think I’ll give her other series a read. I know many people love this series.
People also enjoy bathroom humor. It has its audience, but it’s certainly not
polished or thoughtful.
This was a very long review. Sorry, I just needed to get
that venom out of my system and onto the internet. You’re welcome world!
