I have only read The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, and Iām not planning to read The Dark Artifices or the companion books, so this review will focus on those two series in the Shadowhunter world.Ā
The Shadowhunter world created by Cassandra Clare has become extremely popular since its release in 2007, particularly in YA and across Booktube. In fact, I never heard anything bad about the series until I actively searched for criticisms after I read it. But the series that made Clare popularāThe Mortal Instrumentsāis incredibly problematic, which gives a slightly alarming twinge to its popularity.
This is the basis of my opinions: The Mortal Instruments went quickly from interesting to a bit creepy in the space of one book, and then got progressively worse. The Infernal Devices tore at my heartstrings, and were everything that The Mortal Instruments were not. Let me tell you why.
Table of Contents:
The Mortal InstrumentsāBarely more than angsty lust
Clareās Writing:
First of all, Cassandra Clareās writing style is not distinct or anything special. I read mostly literary fiction, but that does not mean I am particularly pretentious about writing style. I definitely appreciate a distinctive voice, but I can also forgive mediocre writing if thereās a good plot or compelling characters. And that is how I feel about The Infernal Devices. However, I am incredibly surprised that The Mortal Instruments got past an editor. There are so many contradictions and an astounding number of instances where Clare repeated either full lines of dialogue almost verbatim or just the generals of a conversation as if the conversation hadnāt happened before. Either Clare forgot what she had already written or she thinks her readers are stupid and need constant reminders of what they already know. She also has a random obsession with the way people smell and with gold.Ā
I think the saving grace of Clareās writing is her humor, which I really enjoyed. I found myself laughing at either the banter or the ridiculousness of Clareās writing or plot, which I will delve into below.
The Mortal InstrumentsāBarely more than angsty lust:
This series is set in a fantasy world of mundanes (regular humans), Downworlders (warlocks, werewolves, vampires, and faeries), demons, and Shadowhunters (glorified humans that protect the world from demons). There has been some discussion about whether the series is a rip-off of the Harry Potter series, but Iām not going into that here.Ā
Disregarding the conceivable plagiarism, the worldbuilding is decent for a fantasy series. However, the world takes a backseat, and the entire series revolves around obsessive romances. I like character-driven novels, but this is something else entirely. It has barely anything to do with characterization, and everything to do with teenage romantic angst that is excessively drawn out.Ā
None of the characters are distinctive; they are all fairly cliche. Clary (the main character?) doesnāt have a lot of character agency, although Cassandra Clare insists she is the driver of the plot. Characterization and any other type of relationship other than romantic are severely sacrificed for angsty, dramatic romantic relationships that build up over a course of two weeks. Familial relationships and friendships are flimsy and unbelievable. Cassandra Clareānote that Iām annoyingly using her full name because Clare and Clary are too similar and Iām trying to avoid confusionāclaims that Jocelyn is super overprotective over Clary, and yet she allows her daughter to go to nightclubs and anywhere else with Simon? Clary and Luke have a deep father-daughter relationship, and yet they barely touch and never hug after the first book? Jocelyn loves Clary more than anything, but she surpasses her daughter to get comfort from her boyfriend every time? Jace and Alec are super close friends, and yet there are barely hints of their connection outside of the parabatai rune on their chests that gleam every once in a while? It seems like Cassandra Clare cannot write convincing relationships unless they are lustfulā¦ and even then it is all about physicality and attractiveness. Clary talked about Jaceās golden eyes, skin, and hair constantly, but she rarely talked about his personal attributes. Their attraction was nearly entirely physical, and that was the case for all of the relationships.Ā
Speaking of characters and relationships, is it just me or is Alec the worst? He never had distinctive character traits, much less any good ones. I have no idea what Magnus sees in him, and then Cassandra Clare tried to minimize what Alec did to Magnus and tried to place the blame on Magnus for an atrocious act of Alecās. That is kind of beside the point, but I had to mention it because Alec is beyond annoying.Ā
Back to the point. Every book after the first part of The Mortal Instruments (or perhaps even after the first book) didnāt really have a plot other than angst and lust. There were so many character switches as an attempt to pretend there was an actual plot to these books, but they were random and not very well done. The entire series could have been three or four books, but Cassandra Clare drew it out as a money-making device, which is irritating.Ā
Also, it never felt like anything was at stake. We pretty much knew that by the end, every āimportantā character was still going to be alive and well, and the good guys would win. All of the good characters who actually did die were relatively minor characters and were only included to add shock value. And instead of being devastated, the characters remaining would move on entirely too quickly, with the exception of sparse one-liners to remind the reader thatāoh, yeah!ātheyāre grieving and in so much pain and you should feel for them! Connection to characters simply does not work like that. And to be truly invested in a series, I have to feel like something is at stake. Cassandra Clare tried to do that in the last book of the series, but she turned around and fixed it at the end, as if no sacrifice had taken place.
Is Cassandra Clare obsessed with incest?:
This is the part where I have to be careful about spoilers. In fact, if you donāt want to read spoilers, go ahead and skip this section. Although, to be honest, if I wasnāt aware of a spoiler mentioned here prior to reading, I donāt think I would have ever finished the series. So if you havenāt read the series and are planning on doing so, you may want to acquaint yourself with the next paragraph before moving on to the next section.
The most obvious incestuous relationship is between Jace and Clary. I already knew before reading it that they werenāt actually related, and that is supposed to make it okay. It is the only reason I kept reading past the first book, but it was still icky. They thought they were siblings, and yet they still pursued romantic feelings towards each other. And Cassandra Clare carried this plotline for three books! And in all that time, no one even thought about taking a DNA test? It should have been resolved a lot quicker if it had to be included at all.Ā
The other more obvious incestuous relationship is between Sebastian and Clary, who are in fact siblings. Granted, this relationship is (almost) entirely one-sided, and Sebastian is mostly demon, but itās still such an icky plot point. And Cassandra Clare romanticized it with the way she wrote Sebastian. She only wrote about how hot Sebastian was, even from Claryās point of view, and was oversexualized, even from Claryās point of view. Everything about it is creepy.
Those are the obvious ones, but Cassandra Clare doesnāt stop there. Alec has romantic feelings for Jace, who is supposed to be his adoptive brother, but no one is supposed to think this is strange. Clary also asks Jace if he had ever dated Izzy (Alecās sister), and this is accepted as a totally appropriate question to ask, even though in the next book Izzy refers to Jace as her brother and Jace is considered a Lightwood. And no, you do not suddenly become so close within the space of two weeks to close the gap between available and āew no, heās my brother.ā Not unless the adoption papers were signed in those two weeks, but Jace has been a part of the Lightwood family for maybe 6 years at this point? Sorry, but itās gross.Ā
A Freudian psychologist would have a field day with Cassandra Clare.
This isnāt directly related to incest, but was anyone else weirded out by Maiaās and Jordanās relationship? He had physically abused Maia, but then she accepted him back into her life and started to date him. Cassandra Clare wrote their relationship as if it were canon, but then Maia started to withdraw out of nowhere, just for Clare to lessen the damage of killing off Jordan. I actually liked Jordan as a character, and I understand that his Turning into a werewolf made him overly aggressive, which he had no control over, but what does their relationship tell the younger readers? Thatās itās okay to return to an abusive partner because heās āonly angry when heās drunkā? Because that is the way their relationship translates in a more realistic world where there are no werewolves, but there are abusive relationships.Ā
Cassandra Clare just failed in the relationship arena, particularly when writing for a younger crowd who might not know what a healthy relationship looks like.
The Infernal Devices:
It got to the point I only continued reading Part 2 of The Mortal Instruments for bare snippets of Tessa, Jem, and Willācharacters from The Infernal Devices.Ā
I read The Infernal Devices in middle school, and I was no less enthralled reading it the second time around. Unlike The Mortal Instruments, the characters are compelling, the relationships beautiful, there were fewer writing and plot errors, and the entire plot wasnāt based on sexual frustration.Ā
Iām not sure if Tessa was always totally honest with Jem, but I still rooted for their relationship, perhaps slightly less than I rooted for Tessa and Willās. They are three amazing characters rooted in love, friendship, and connection. I canāt stress how beautiful I find their characters.Ā
However, the series isnāt perfect. As mentioned before, the writing isnāt top-quality. Which I said was forgivable if the plot was compelling, but I found the plot forgettable. I definitely did not remember the majority of the plot from middle school, and Iām not sure if I will remember the plot a year from now, but the characters are unforgettable. Iām not sure how the same author could write both The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments. I know that Cassandra Clare supposedly drew heavily from the characters of Harry Potter for The Mortal Instruments, but I do not know about The Infernal Devices. Perhaps it is better because it is more original? I donāt know.
If you delve into the Shadowhunter series, I recommend skipping over The Mortal Instruments, and reading The Infernal Devices instead. Iām not saying TMI wasnāt fun at times, but I canāt help feeling that reading the entire series was a waste of my time. Not that it took a lot of time, perhaps two weeks in all. Itās short and not very thought provoking, so itās an easy read, but The Mortal Instruments are so problematic that I canāt get behind them. But if youāre in the mood for YA and want an easy read that wonāt take too much of your time with characters that will break your heart, go ahead and dive into The Infernal Devices.
