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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a reread, I still enjoyed it but not as much as the first time. I still rated it a 4.5⭐️ but felt it was closer to a four than a five ⭐️ read.
I love the shadow Hunter world but particularly these historical ones set in London. I’m not a massive romantasy fan but I like how Clare combines fantasy and romance, with not too much spice. I also find her books have a lot of angst and yearning and you have to wait for the pay off. I’m not a fan of instalove, so this suits me.
I also enjoyed the appearances of characters from The Infernal Devices in this book, although weird seeing them as adults. It was fun to see Will and Tessa being the parents to kids as rebellious as them.
I thought there were some pacing issues in this book, with a lot happening after what felt like the climax. Stuff just kept happening, I know it was important, it just did not feel like end of the book stuff. Still, I really enjoyed this.
I love the shadow Hunter world but particularly these historical ones set in London. I’m not a massive romantasy fan but I like how Clare combines fantasy and romance, with not too much spice. I also find her books have a lot of angst and yearning and you have to wait for the pay off. I’m not a fan of instalove, so this suits me.
I also enjoyed the appearances of characters from The Infernal Devices in this book, although weird seeing them as adults. It was fun to see Will and Tessa being the parents to kids as rebellious as them.
I thought there were some pacing issues in this book, with a lot happening after what felt like the climax. Stuff just kept happening, I know it was important, it just did not feel like end of the book stuff. Still, I really enjoyed this.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This one was a little slow for me to get into, just because there were so many characters and it's been so long since I've read from the Shadowhunter world. But, once I was in, I was IN! I fell in love with James, and Cordelia, and Lucy, and Jesse, and Alistair, and everyone! The ending was crazy and I can't wait to continue with this series!
This was a tough book to get through, and thus a tough book to rate. I probably considered putting this on the DNF pile at least two or three times. The first one hundred pages or so are pretty tedious, and the interesting bits are sprinkled in until maybe the last third. It took a long time for me to like any of the characters. I am still going to read the sequel because I want to see where this is going, but I hope that the plot picks up quicker.
I think the biggest issue with this book is that there are so many characters thrown at the reader all at once. I think there had to be maybe ten different characters dumped onto the page, and the narrative unfortunately focuses on all of them. Don't get me wrong, the previous series all had huge casts of characters as well, but I feel like they were introduced more gradually or the main ones were highlighted much more clearly. Although James, Lucie, and Cordelia were the narrative voices, they didn't feel any more or less the main characters as anyone else. Though I think another problem with all these characters is that they had similar names and I quickly lost track of who was related to whom or what connection person A had with person B. I never forgot about the parabatai duos, though, because the narrative and the characters themselves felt the need to repeat it constantly.
I can't really judge on the LGBTQ+ rep in this book. To me it felt a little anachronistic and also inconsistent with how things were portrayed in Mortal Instruments. Nobody seems to bat an eye over Anna's female lovers and in fact there's a section of the story where they need her to seduce a woman and they act like this is just a normal thing in 1900. Yeah, okay. Charles wanting to marry for his career and using Grace as a beard feels a little more accurate, but then Matthew comes out to Cordelia-- which in itself feels super out-of-character-- and Cordelia is immediately supportive. I don't know, it was weird.
A part of me feels like I need to read this book again already and take notes, because somehow a lot happened in a short time and yet nothing happened for pages and pages. There was this scene where a mermaid tried to poison someone that went by so quickly, I didn't really grasp what was happening until it was already over. But then Clare spends pages on them going to parties and balls or the always grating "pretend to kiss to distract someone" trope. I'm still not 100% clear on what happened in the end. I know James burned down a house but by then so much other stuff was being thrown at me I was losing the plot. Though I will say that people were pretty quick to be cool with James compromising Cordelia. I realize she's lying, but they don't know that. Maybe that issue will come up more in the sequel.
It honestly felt like I was reading a much longer version of "Midsummer Night's Dream" with all the love angst and one person loving another but they can't be together for X reason. I think I would've liked it fine if that's all the book was about, or if it was more focused on the hybrid demons Benedict Lightwood left behind and Tatiana's revenge on the Shadowhunters, or if there weren't so many characters to keep track of. I don't know, it just felt really cluttered.
I think the biggest issue with this book is that there are so many characters thrown at the reader all at once. I think there had to be maybe ten different characters dumped onto the page, and the narrative unfortunately focuses on all of them. Don't get me wrong, the previous series all had huge casts of characters as well, but I feel like they were introduced more gradually or the main ones were highlighted much more clearly. Although James, Lucie, and Cordelia were the narrative voices, they didn't feel any more or less the main characters as anyone else. Though I think another problem with all these characters is that they had similar names and I quickly lost track of who was related to whom or what connection person A had with person B. I never forgot about the parabatai duos, though, because the narrative and the characters themselves felt the need to repeat it constantly.
I can't really judge on the LGBTQ+ rep in this book. To me it felt a little anachronistic and also inconsistent with how things were portrayed in Mortal Instruments. Nobody seems to bat an eye over Anna's female lovers and in fact there's a section of the story where they need her to seduce a woman and they act like this is just a normal thing in 1900. Yeah, okay. Charles wanting to marry for his career and using Grace as a beard feels a little more accurate, but then Matthew comes out to Cordelia-- which in itself feels super out-of-character-- and Cordelia is immediately supportive. I don't know, it was weird.
A part of me feels like I need to read this book again already and take notes, because somehow a lot happened in a short time and yet nothing happened for pages and pages. There was this scene where a mermaid tried to poison someone that went by so quickly, I didn't really grasp what was happening until it was already over. But then Clare spends pages on them going to parties and balls or the always grating "pretend to kiss to distract someone" trope. I'm still not 100% clear on what happened in the end. I know James burned down a house but by then so much other stuff was being thrown at me I was losing the plot. Though I will say that people were pretty quick to be cool with James compromising Cordelia. I realize she's lying, but they don't know that. Maybe that issue will come up more in the sequel.
It honestly felt like I was reading a much longer version of "Midsummer Night's Dream" with all the love angst and one person loving another but they can't be together for X reason. I think I would've liked it fine if that's all the book was about, or if it was more focused on the hybrid demons Benedict Lightwood left behind and Tatiana's revenge on the Shadowhunters, or if there weren't so many characters to keep track of. I don't know, it just felt really cluttered.
I have no words to describe what I'm feeling right now. It was amazing, it had romance, adventure, good fighting... Cordelia was incredible, another mc that's not annoying! I'm in love with every character in this book, everytime Will, Jem, Tessa or anyone from tid is mentioned or appears (and that's a lot) I cry, I can't help it. Anyway, as I said, I truly don't know what to say, I'm stunned. I loved it, definitely one of my favourite books.
O M G! La verdad es que no se por donde empezar , por que me encanto todo! Cassandra nunca decepciona , este libro tiene de todo
Did I enjoy seeing Will, Tessa, and Jem… yes. Did I enjoy the melodramatics of their generations offspring, not so much. Also the constantly having to look back at a family tree to understand who is related to who is tiring.
BUT will I be continuing the series thanks to the epilogue and Magnus Bane in the end, also yes even though it may take me a while to finish while plotting family trees.
BUT will I be continuing the series thanks to the epilogue and Magnus Bane in the end, also yes even though it may take me a while to finish while plotting family trees.