The Blogging of a Book Addict

In an effort to keep this as spoiler free as all my other reviews of these books, I'll stick to the format I've been using...I apologize in advance for this being vague.

Plot: I...am really torn on the plot, and not at all sold on it. I don't like Simon as a main character, I don't like the constant switching between points of view, and I don't like the whole "eh we have nothing better to do, so this sounds exciting" air that this plot has on the whole. Problems get created just for the sake of having drama (at least that's how it feels), and the ending is an OMGWUT cliffhanger, which frustrates me...on the one hand, cliffhangers are exciting and fun, and I use them myself in my writing...on the other hand, they leave the reader on edge, they're often not fulfilled to the reader's expectations, and, to be perfectly honest, I like happy endings. I enjoy when everything works out well and is peaceful for at least a short amount of time...and for this particular series I'm so invested in the characters and couples that it really makes me sad when anything messes with them. I'm also not at all happy with the way the plot seems to be heading for the next book, but alas, we'll see.

Characters: Clary is still awesome. Isabelle and Alec and Magnus are all generally awesome, Maia and all the new characters I will leave unnamed for the sake of no spoilers are pretty awesome. Jocelyn and Luke, while not at all involved enough to be considered AWESOME, are solid and dependable and exactly what parent characters should be. My biggest problem with this whole thing is Simon and Jace. Firstly, Simon: he is NOT A MAIN CHARACTER. I got annoyed EVERY TIME I had to read something from his POV because all he did was whine and complain and fret about his life and be annoyed and then whine and uuuuuugh. And also this plot set him up as a player with two girlfriends (not a spoiler when it's clearly in the synopsis), and that is SO NOT SIMON. It goes against everything great Clare set up about Simon's character in the first three books, and it bugs me. Yes, he is still a great friend (although he's far too caught up in his own world to be as supportive as he should be, and really he and Clary hardly talk or act like best friends, which is annoying), but his character is just annoying for most of this book. Secondly...Jace. I could rant for freaking ever about how just generally WRONG the Jace in this novel is. I understand he's tortured, I understand he's upset, but COME ON REALLY? If Simon was supposed to be the big deal in this book, then why do we spend so much time RUINING JACE???? We wait three novels to get....well, people who read the first three books will know what I mean, no one else will unless I spoil it, but, lets say we wait three novels for ice cream. Then, just as we're ready to enjoy some ice cream before the ice cream explodes and hits the fan, OUR ICE CREAM GETS STOLEN. >.< And I'm so annoyed by that. Jace also just acts like an ass a lot during this book, so there's that, too.

Setting/World: Still freaking awesome.

All said and done...read this series, people, it's too good not to experience.