janissarie
Since: Oct, 2010
06/10/2011 00:00:00
I assumed CC couldn't think of a way to create enough drama without giving all of the characters a personality transplant, since Co G had wrapped up everything nicely - except for Simon coming down with an incurable case of vampire, which originally WAS going to be the focus of this book... thus, I practice Discontinuity and pretend Co FA didn't happen. :)
Windsong12
Since: Apr, 2010
06/11/2011 00:00:00
^ This. I want to, but I still want to read the next two books. :)
OH SHI-Leave a Comment:
City of Fallen Angels: Quite the disappointment [mild spoilers]
"City of Glass" was quite the satisfying end to The Mortal Instruments "trilogy." - tied up loose plot ends nicely and ended with a nice Nakama shot. That said, I was excited for this installment. However, I must say it did not live up to my expectations (granted, they were quite high) for a number of reasons.
One. Characterization. Jace and Clary were painfully out of character and bland. Gone were their witty Snark To Snark Combat and well-rounded personalities, replaced by Clary whining "WHY ISN'T HE RETURNING MY CALLS" and Jace going "I AM A MONSTER." I had thought the angsting-over-your-not-really-dad-Valentine was done by the last book. His endearing arrogance was gone and he was replaced by this Bad Dreams-plagued, distant stranger. You know what I mean.And Alec being all Crazy Jealous Guy on Magnus felt kind of silly and forced. You'd think he'd know how long Magnus had lived, being the "bookish" sibling, and why was he so surprised as to Magnus's string of ex-lovers?
Two. The Wangst. Why can't Jace and Clary have a nice, happy relationship that does not have demonic mothers and dead brothers tied into it? I know it was to move the plot, but it was annoying and tiring by the sixth chapter.
Three. The way the plot played out. To be fair, the twist at the end is meant to set up the next book but it still came off as rather forced and kind of weird. The style lacked none of the driving force behind the first three books and the prequel. And the Seelie Queen appearing out of nowhere just felt kind of...out of place.
There were enjoyable things, though. The scenes with Isabelle were surprisingly enjoyable, and I liked how Jordan was brought in via Chekhov MIA. Simon's journey with accepting the Mark of Cain is interesting (I had previously found him to be quite dull as a character until this book), and Maureen seems to be shaping up to be quite the intriguing character, given how little screentime she seems to have given. Luke and Jocelyn's Sickeningly Sweethearts interaction was cute as well, but even all of these pros weren't enough to make up for the cons.
All in all, it wasn't up to par with the previous books at all. I'll keep reading, but if only to see if the fifth and six books live up to the expectations set by the first three.