My Time with the Shadowhunters: A Spoiler-Free Review

Last month, I posted about my commitment-phobia towards book series. I am proud to say that I overcame this phobia (well, kinda) and finished the (currently published) Shadowhunters Chronicles! Pop the champagne! This is a big deal for me.

A large part of this blog is to review books. I want to give my spoiler-free POV on the books I read and let you know if I think something is worth checking out. This is hard to do when you read a series because once you start reviewing the sequels, you run the risk of ruining everything for everyone. I HATE spoilers and think it's rude to ruin things for people, so I just couldn't do reviews for each individual book and feel good about it. If you do want spoilery reviews of each book, you can find them on my Goodreads page (the spoilers are hidden, of course, so you choose if you want to see them or not!). To still review the books but do it without feeling like I'm ruining all of the things, I'm going to do a complete overview focusing on what I enjoyed about the story without actually addressing the story more than what you'd see in a description for the book. Make sense? Okay, let's do this.

A Synopsis

For those who don't know, I will briefly explain the Shadowhunters series. (You might already know the gist considering the books have been out for a while and there's now a series on FreeForm.) The Shadowhunters books are currently separated into two series: The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices. 

TMI was the first to be published and takes place in 2007-2008 NYC. 16 YO Clary Fray goes to a nightclub with her best friend Simon and sees a murder that no one else seems to be aware of. This starts a chain of events that lead her to learn about the Shadowhunter world, the existence of warriors who protect the "mundane" world from demons. As is common in books like these, Clary learns that Shadowhunter blood runs in her veins. The books focus on her and her friends learning about this whole new world, fighting the good fight, and falling in love. 

TID is considered a prequel trilogy, as the books take place in 1878. The Shadowhunter world is broad, so there are many ancestors within the book. The book focuses on a young woman named Tessa Gray, who has come to London from the States to live with her brother. Unfortunately, she is kidnapped and finds out she has an ability she wasn't aware of. This ability has made her a target for the mysterious and dangerous Magister. She is rescued by the Shadowhunters and sheltered in their Institute. Much like Clary, she learns about the SH world, falls in love, and fights for good. 

The Reading Process

Because there are nine books (and a new series coming, with the first book being released next week!), I wanted to know the best way to read these books. I followed what one of my favorite BookTubers recommended: reading the books in publication order. This means that I switched back and forth between TMI and TID in the following order:


TMI: City of Bones
TMI: City of Ashes
TMI: City of Glass
TID: Clockwork Angel
TMI: City of Fallen Angels
TID: Clockwork Prince
TMI: City of Lost Souls

TID: Clockwork Princess

TMI: City of Heavenly Fire

I am very glad I did it this way and I would recommend it to anyone else who is interested in reading these books. If I had read the books as they were coming out, this is how I would've read them anyway, and I think going back and forth really expands on both worlds and makes them a lot more enjoyable. 

I started the series on January 7th and finished on March 3rd, meaning I spent nearly two months with these characters. I did not read anything besides these books. They are larger than most of the books I read (the majority of them surpass the 500 page mark). I have also always preferred bingeing on a series, reading all of them in order and staying in line with the characters. This was really hard for me as I have always pretty much stuck to trilogies, and this was 3x that. Towards the last half of my experience, I really started to miss other books and felt myself wanting to stray. Honestly, I probably could've read something else in between all of this, but I was dedicated to the cause and really worried that, if I stopped, I wouldn't pick them back up. Again, that's not to say I didn't enjoy them while I read them, it's just that I am not personally used to such a commitment (just another reminder that I wrote about that over here!). 

The Writing

The most important part of any book is the writing. I mean, how else do you fall into the story? Cassandra Clare is a very descriptive writer, which is good when you're building a fantasy world. All of the books are written in third-person and I think that was the best plan of attack here, especially with how many characters were are introduced to and how much happens to each of them throughout the books. That being said, I found myself slogging through the parts of the first couple of books in TMI because it was very history and action heavy, and I like when my books focus a bit more on character development and relationships. Now, when the characters DID get their say, I would devour those parts. The characters are witty and passionate and it's kind of hard not to fall in love with them. TID was definitely an easier book series to fall into, perhaps because I already knew the world and I didn't have to consistently wonder WTF was going on. Conclusion? The writing, though a bit repetitive and boring at times, was really well-done for this fantasy series. CC took great care in constructing the world, intertwining everything, and making the reader laugh and love.

*I am aware of the legal issues Cassandra Clare recently/currently (?) facing. I have also heard stories of Clare participating in cyber-bullying. Instead of getting all wrapped up in this, I took the books at face value. I'd rather not get involved in the personal lives of these authors.*

The Characters

As I mentioned above, I love character-driven stories. CC definitely paid a lot of attention to giving equal time to all of the characters she created, giving her awesome side characters a chance in the spotlight. I don't know if I've ever read a book or series where I loved the supporting cast as much as/more than the leads, but that was the case here. I loved every character in TID, but I did often find myself getting annoyed with Clary and Jace in TMI, and they are arguably the main characters of the story (even if it's told in third-person). Still, each character had enough focus to make us truly care about them.

The Storyline

I found out after reading a good chunk of the books that TMI was supposed to be a trilogy and that Clare had decided to expand on that world. When I thought about that, I couldn't help but feel that it would've been a very weak trilogy. The TMI books get better as they go, in my opinion, and I can't imagine enjoying them if it were just City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass (especially since the first two books are kind of hard to get through in the first place). I'm really glad she didn't stop there. As for TID, the storyline was strong. In most fantasy/supernatural books, the main plot is the fight between good and evil. For me, TID had a lot more to do with the relationships between the characters and the journey of self-discovery than it did with the fight. Yes, there was still a clear villain and battles to be won, but they felt secondary to me in the grand scheme. This ended up being the case for the final books of TMI, as well. Maybe that's a minus for some people, but I liked it. Still, if anyone has some disappointments with events in the final TID book, Clockwork Princess, or with City of Heavenly Fire, I completely understand.

Overall Rating

The Mortal Instruments - 3.75/5 stars

I adored these books. They are funny and action-packed. I did, however, have a hard time in the beginning and occasionally found myself stuck in some boring parts. It's not perfect, but 3.75 is a great average rating for the series as a whole, with the books undoubtedly getting better from book 3 on.

The Infernal Devices - 4/5 stars

This trilogy had me caring about the characters from the first page. I was engaged, excited, and emotional throughout the entire series. It's hard not to read these and see some flaws in TMI in comparison, but knowing that they are both in the same world makes it easier to appreciate all of the books as one story.

Bonus Points!

Aside from just reading these books for entertainment, I also took away some lessons. The first thing I learned was that it is a truly wonderful experience to immerse yourself in a world for more than just one book. I love standalones, but I am definitely more open to reading series now. I also learned something completely surprising: I just might actually enjoy historical fiction! Granted, I think it might have to be a bit supernatural or action-packed, but I actually made it through a book that took place a century+ before I was born and that's awesome for me. I'm excited to have expanded my horizons, and I can thank Cassandra Clare's world for that.

Conclusion

I would recommend this series to anyone who wants to be immersed in a world of supernatural action, humor, and romance. I found myself comparing the books to Buffy or True Blood on occasion. Much like those shows, TMI and TID have a large amount of supernatural creatures in them, the characters face a variety of complications (not necessarily one long complication, like in The Hunger Games or Twilight), and they have a lot of fun doing it. The characters are smart, but they are still teens who can laugh and love and make a mess like anyone else. 

  

 If you guys happen to pick these books up, or have already read them,
I'd love to know your thoughts!