Oh, dear. I feel like Tegan at the end of Resurrection of the Daleks. You know: "It stopped being fun."
I picked up City of Bones last year because I was late to the game, there were lots of books in the series to read if I liked it, and I had never really dove into YA and I felt like it for some reason. I can't really say the book had the angst I was looking for (seriously, this is the worst series to pick up looking for something about life) but it was fun and the world was interesting. So I bought the next two books (technically the rest of the original trilogy) to test out my Kindle and because I was going on vacation. City of Ashes didn't hold my attention and took me a while to finish because I didn't focus on solely it, but it was fun in a soap opera and plot twist way. So I finally got to City of Glass this summer because I was running out of things to read and I was interested in it again because I've been watching "BookTube" and some of those personalities are really enthusiastic about this series, and this book in particular.
I want to love it. I like Cassandra Clare's gigantic (as planned) Shadowhunter chronicle in theory. It's a world that can spawn lots of stories! I love stories! But, well...no. Not this one. I pushed through it the way I did so I could write this review...and because it was fun typing in sarcastic notes on my Kindle and to read negative reviews on Goodreads. I admit it did pick up by the end, but the first half left such a bad taste in my mouth, especially in regards to the characters, that I didn't care that much.
A lot has been made out of how these books owe so much to pre-established stories, particularly Harry Potter, but I'm not even going to bother with the parallels. Nor do I want to talk about the writing style, because others have documented the obnoxious similes and I can't say I wanted to take the luxury to linger on the prose to mark them down. These things weren't what bothered me.
[Okay, actually, this line bothered me: "Simon said nothing. There seemed to be nothing to say." As did "his hair was perfect." But anyway...]
Mostly, I just don't feel like this is a story about people. It's about plot twists. And it abuses and criminally underuses its characters for shock and thrills. I'm fine with characters being flawed and abused by the narrative (I'm cynical like that), but the novel avoids allowing them to change or really deal with these problems. The whole Mortal Instruments series raises issues as plot twists, not as things to actually be dealt with. I was never into Clary and Jace to begin with, but I've never simply despised them until now. But let's back up.
First, it was a minor annoyance that the plot was originating from some mistakes Clary was making--namely, making her own portal to transport to Idris. Okay, that's not really new in these books. But wait a minute, this is Book 3, and we still haven't tried to train up Clary for the world she is supposed to be a part of? Sure, it has only been a month, but no one has tried some basic training on her, especially in this book. Instead, she is mostly just shielded. Clary also often comes off as childish and self-absorbed. She does not change, either; she recognizes these issues, but does not actively try to fix them...and choosing to revive Jace at the end is more out of how she can't live without him than anything. Clary continues to make rash judgement (Jace not caring for Simon) and gets into scrapes (when she tries to fight a demon on her own) and is pointed out, time and time again, that Jace is right. You know, the angelic, muscular Jace. Not only is she a weak protagonist, but we've got to have the guy constantly being superior?
That's all because Jace is actually the hero, the main character. It's much more his story. He's the one who faces off Valentine to avenge him, coming to terms with himself. He even says in the 40-page epilogue that Clary hasn't changed...he admired her "strength" of going after people she loved without thinking about it (but would she have fared well alone in most of those situations?), and that inspired him. Aside from all this being very typical (there is a whiff of her being the Manic Pixie Dream Girl in his life, but I don't like such labels), where does this leave Clary? As a deux ex machina. (And I say this as someone who does not mind deux ex machinas if the plot mechanics are not as important in the story, but this book is all about plot and events.) Okay, it might not be as bad as I originally thought, but she somehow (probably because of her vague powers) remembers something in Latin (possibly?) that Valentine said once about her powers. It's not clear in City of Glass what they mean, though presumably something about Valentine's hidden plan? Regardless, once again her unearned powers save the day. At least she had some innovation this time, by writing it in the sand.
Plenty is convenient in this book, although, again, that's not new of this series. I enjoyed the fact that Samuel was actually Hodge, but he was used to infodump about Valentine's plan before being killed right before he got to the good stuff. And let's not forget that this all wouldn't have happened if Hodge had succeeded in dying of shame, which he was trying to do before Jace insisted on saving him. (Also, it appears that Jace pulled off the bars in Simon's prison by himself...not to mention the time he kicks down the wall later. And Simon couldn't do that with his vampire strength? Not that he would have anywhere to go once he escaped, but did I miss something?)
Then there's the issue of the relationship between Clary and Jace. At the end of Book 1, it was revealed that they are brother and sister; Book 2 reveals they still have feelings for each other and they never quite decide what to do about it; Book 3 continues that and then reveals that they actually aren't related. Aside from things like how they probably could have just gotten a DNA test, it raises so many problems that were never dealt with well. 1) It essentially makes their relationship incest, but they are never disgusted, which is doubly disgusting for the reader. I can understand still seeing the other as an inevitable romantic partner, but eventually they would get over that if they know they can't be together...I have, and I was younger than them and my love interest was not related to me. 2) It thus is obviously not true, which doesn't make for good plot (seriously, I read this book to find out why not, and that was at least satisfying). 3) When Jace thinks he has demon blood and that's why he must be attracted to Clary, she is not disturbed by that fact. She only wants him to say he would love her without demon blood, because so does she.
It is so painfully clear by this point that they just must be together in some way that hopefully doesn't involve incest. The predictability isn't the problem...rather, my disappointment is that this book has nothing to say about human relationships, despite the dilemma it raised. It's just typical romantic fantasy. For example, it plays into crazy notion of THE ONE TRUE SOULMATE, which I'm just not going to rant about here, but isn't it funny how she is still attracted to Jace but "feels wrong" about Sebastian, who is actually her real brother? (Also, isn't it funny how Clary doesn't think about these things until AFTER she kisses them for a while?) Let's not forget that, from the information we're given, Sebastian was aware that he was aggressively flirting with his sister, even claiming that she wants him.
I could forgive fantasy (though I am seriously sick of "perfect" men like Jace), but incest can't just be used as a plot twist without being dealt with like the issue that it is. And I'll just leave it at that so I won't rant further.
Even after all that...they've only known each other a month, and Jace confesses how he can't be without her. Already? Plus, they can't say much besides they love each other, mostly to falling for the presence and attractiveness of each other at the beginning. Jace does say things later about how he admired her ability to jump into danger for people she loved, and I suppose we could assume that Clary admires Jace's bravery or something...but really, these things are secondary and hardly considered (another reason why Clary comes across as shallow and limp), though you think they would be if they're making such a commitment. I'm not going to fault Cassandra Clare for this problematic representation of a relationship because it's way too prevalent in YA, but at the very least it prevents readers from feeling the depth of their apparent love. We only have their chemistry, which, admittedly, is there. The interesting thing is that Clary's life parallels her mother--falling in love young, best friend with unrequited feelings who then gets turned into a Downworlder--and her mother's early marriage turned out to be a big mistake. A cautionary tale? No, Clary never realizes the parallel...it doesn't mean she would have to abandon Jace, but it could lead her to really think about what she likes about him. But no, Jace is unquestionably a Good Guy (which fits in with him being the real hero), even though he's prone to angsting and yelling at his sister/girlfriend for doing something stupid. Presumably the reveal of his true identity erases all of that, since he was just holding back how much he loved her.
City of Glass lacks urgency at the beginning, too. It takes nearly half of the book to really begin. I don't mind slow starts, but I just did not enjoy exploring the world this time around, and this is the finale. In the beginning, Clary's trying to save her mother, but the narrative gets so sidetracked that it just seems like she doesn't care. Seeing Ragnor Fell (aka Magnus) is secondhand in her mind to how Sebastian is making her feel. The trip to retrieve the Book of White is more concerned with the (false) reveal that Jace is part demon and the subsequent kissing. And then it turns out her mother is actually fine and what does Clary do to this woman--her own mother--who she has been caring for and trying to heal? She backs away from the offered hug and demands to know why her mother tried to protect her by not telling her about her Shadowhunter heritage. Even if you buy into her later rationalization that she didn't realize what was built up in side of her, which at least was better than not dealing with it, it still seems strange that would be her first reaction. And then it's her mother who later comes to her and apologizes.
The focus issue remains into the second half: when Jace goes missing on a suicide mission, everyone gives up looking for him right away, although somehow Isabelle finds him later to save him, and then have him save her. It does make sense to focus on Clary's convenient Marking since that would be more important (not so much Jocelyn's long story), but I feel that Clary's point of view overall lacks a clear direction and voice. Fortunately, the pace picked up during the sections.
Oh, and Max dies, to further show how terrible Sebastian is. It's hinted at that his parents are upset, and Isabelle certainly is (she believes it is her fault), but Clary gives it about two sentences and Jace doesn't seem to be affected too much. The lack of effect on the main characters makes them seem callous and the event seems like yet again another cheap plot twist that tastes bitter when you think about what actually happened. Isabelle tries to get rid of her guilt by having sex with Simon; he later tells Clary they didn't and he wouldn't have taken advantage of her, of course, but it's implied that they did for a chapter or so. The scene cut off with that cliffhanger for suspense, because apparently that is more important than the following discussion in which Simon explains why this is not a way to deal with grief.
All right. It did get more exciting and interesting by the end, and I did enjoy hearing Clary's mother's story. But ultimately it was hard to root for the characters or feel like this book had something to say. Will I continue with this series? I really, really don't think so, at least Mortal Instruments. It's not worth slogging through these long books and being angry at them (for at least the first half) just to write these reviews...even though this was fun to write. I'm on the fence about The Infernal Devices--I heard it's better, but I've also read about it being a love triangle in which you're supposed to want the Jace-like character to win...so I don't think I'll be checking that out anytime soon. However, I am intrigued by the upcoming Dark Artifices trilogy, as it seems like the main female character will be more experienced (actually the protagonist!), and there may be more foundation on the (unfortunately still forbidden) love and no triangle...but I'm not sure I could really trust Cassandra Clare to spend time exploring it.
No comments:
Post a Comment