4.26 AVERAGE


a new all time favorite book & series that i cannot wait to reread probably once a year for the rest of forever. i loved the mortal instruments so much and i am heartbroken to be leaving it. i am officially a shadowhunter girlie forever.

It's bittersweet but I am so glad it happened. This series will forever be in my heart. Ave Atque Vale, Mortal Instruments :')
adventurous emotional sad 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

the series shouldve stayed as it was in my memories but its fine. i reread it for my inner teen. i hope shes happy
adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad 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: Complicated

I really loved this one, I liked how the end was put together even though I don’t understand why they decided to change it in the show and mostly why did they give us this ending which was really horrible compared to the books. 
I also really liked how we got to see Tessa and Jem because I really loved the infernal devices trilogy 

3.75 stars feels more accurate. I feel like the first 300 pages of this book didn't need to exist.. they didn't really do anything.

I think it would have been a better story to combine them necessary parts from book five and add them to this one. Overall, not the worst ending for the series.

The Infernal Devices series was much better.
adventurous emotional 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
adventurous challenging dark emotional tense

So, it's finally over.

Anyone who reads my reviews knows that I was...less than thrilled with the last two installments of the Mortal Instruments series. I felt that some characters had become indistinguishable from one another, while others did a complete 180. I felt like there were too many plot threads going at any given time for me to care about any of them. I felt like the fun of the series, so instrumental to enjoying the first three books, had been sapped somehow.

Cassie Clare is either very self-aware, or she's listened and learned. I went into this book with low expectations, but it had everything I'd been missing from books #4 and #5.

The main characters were back--really back, back in a way that was enjoyable to read. I cared about them again. I was invested. Clary is once more an interesting, well rounded character (I appreciated that her love for art was addressed again). Simon and Jace's brands of snark were distinguishable again. Clary and Jace acted like a healthy, loving couple on equal ground rather than the objects of mutual crazed obsession, which was lovely (sidenote: THEY FINALLY HAD SEX THANK YOU GOD THE UST FEST HAS ENDED). The author remembered that Alec and Jace were parabatai and that the two of them and Izzy have a long familial history! Speaking of Alec, he was once again the sensible, long-suffering, thoughtful big brother that I missed So Much in the last few books. It was wonderful to see him acting like himself again.

The plot felt better thought out as well. There were only a few major plot threads going on, most of them drawing on seeds planted in earlier books, and they all received appropriate focus. Best of all, they came together in the end. Everything was connected instead of a mishmash. It was a whirlwind read, one I couldn't put down.

Sebastian as a villain really shone here. There's still the batshit insane "I want to burn everything down" apathy that makes him so unpredictable, but it's more tempered with his "love" for Clary and for Jace. (On the latter topic, do I have a new ship? Why yes, I think I do.) His endgame was something I did not see coming, and I did feel terrible for Jonathan at the end.

Special kudos on the ending, for two reasons. One: I like that the author showed the aftermath of war, and what too frequently passes for diplomacy in it. I was reminded of the Treaty of Versailles and what that resentment eventually wrought, which is something I assume Clare is going to delve into with her next series. I like that the Clave continues to be portrayed as both good and bad, neither in entirety. We're predisposed to root for them, but they are not perfect; Clare doesn't forget it, and neither do we.

Two: This is going to sound horrible, but I appreciate that the characters suffered. They suffered uncertainty and loss and real difficult choices sans magical Insta-Fix. One of my biggest issues with Breaking Dawn was that everything ended perfectly, none of the characters having had to sacrifice anything to earn their happy ending. I was legitimately scared for several characters near the end, Magnus especially for obvious reasons, and Simon stepping in was as unexpected as it was heartbreaking. You pulled a Donna Noble on us, Clare! Anyway, as much as that hurt, it felt right that there should be something given up. And we still have hope in the end, which made me want to bawl my eyes out considerably less, so a win-win.

I am flabbergasted that my opinion on these books has changed so drastically from #5 to #6. Maybe I'll go back later and start poking holes in this last volume, but you know what? It's one in the morning. I've stayed up until one in the morning reading this damned book that I haven't quit reading for two days. I can't remember the last time I did that. So, TMI--Thanks for the ride. It's been a good one.

(Totally undignified fangirl postscript: MAGNUS AND ALEC, MAGNUS AND ALEC, MY BABIES ARE GONNA BE OKAAAAYYYY ;~~;)
adventurous dark lighthearted sad tense 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

I'm re reading and I can't believe they journeyed to hell and Jace brought condoms