Part One:
Book Discussion
"Once you've spent a bit more time in our world, you won't ask me that again." -Jace Wayland, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
This following discussion contains spoilers. You've been warned.
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The first season of Shadowhunters is officially over! To commemorate its success in television, I'd like to stroll down memory lane and talk about everything that you may need to know about The Mortal Instruments. By doing that, I am going to spend three days discussing about the book, movie, and of course the TV series. These are not really reviews, but more of thoughtful detailed discussions on what I liked and disliked about this fandom. If you've been following my blog for quite some time, then I am sure you are aware that I am part of the Shadowhunter fandom. I love the stories of the Shadowhunter, mostly because they are compelling, suspenseful, romantic (???), and thrilling. It's all you can ask for in a typical Young Adult series. For part one, I am going to talk about the thing that started it all; the book itself. But I will only be discussing the first book of the Mortal Instruments, which is The City of Bones, since the TV series and movie based their storylines here. This week, I took some time rereading it and studying it. So let's get started.
The Story: Clary Fray is just your average teenager until she started to feel insane. Well, this is because she began to see things that are out of the ordinary. She would see people with wings or fangs, or even cat-like eyes. She even witnesses a murder committed by a bunch of teenagers that only she could see. The confusion and hysterics continue until Clary's overprotective mother goes missing, leaving their house trashed and attacked with no explanation. Clary had no choice but to seek the help of the murderers she saw earlier, only to learn that everything that she had in her life was a lie. Turns out, she was a Shadowhunter, a part-human and part-angel that serves to protect the humans from demons. She inherited this from her mother, who was assumed to be kidnapped by Valentine; a megalomaniac whose mission is to grab the Mortal Cup and to use it for his dark purposes. Clary and her newfound Shadowhunter friends attempt to find the Mortal Cup before it reaches to the evil clutches of Valentine.
After reading this book for the first time back in 2011, I immediately googled everything I needed to know about Cassandra Clare's dark fantasy novels. It was also the time when I learned that they were planning to make a movie out of it, which made me feel excited for a bit but I will discuss that for another day. Anyway, I learned that this was Clare's first original novel and that she took two years writing City of Bones. And I have to say, it shows a lot in this book. The writing in this book is good. If not, it is almost excellent. Clare's writing style is very straight to the point, but there is still a tone of elegance attached to it. She takes time explaining and describing things, trying very hard to give you the reader an exact image of what the story is like. And I think that is very important when you write a fantasy story, because you're trying to create a world that may be beyond anyone's imagination and your words as a writer is supposed to help the reader understand this world. Since City of Bones is not your typical YA Fantasy, the tone can get really eerie, and sometimes it can get very mature and violent. This is what separates The Mortal Instruments from the rest of the existing YAs, its tone. Maybe for some it's not that morbid at all because readers have probably read something worse, but for me it is because this book is being directly marketed to teenagers and it does not build up to the dark stuff. It just happens right in your face.
The world of the Shadowhunters--amazing. I wouldn't say it's a very unique concept, but the culture that Clare establishes in City of Bones is very interesting. The moment the characters explain what a Shadowhunter is and reveal that there is a world behind it, I became even more invested in the story. If I had to explain what the book is about to a friend who has no idea what it is about, I would say that it is about a world where vampires, werewolves, faeries, and warlocks--you know, the mystical creatures that can make any fangirl drop their panties--coexist with demons and humans; and the Shadowhunters serves as the angelic police force, maintaining a balance between the mystical and human world and protecting them from wretched demons at the same time. I don't know with you guys, but that would make an interesting story. It's like CSI meets Supernatural. In the City of Bones, however, you don't get a full-blown history about the Shadowhunter world. The characters tease technical terms such as, "The Clave" (the main council of the Shadowhunters), "The Accords" (a truce or treaty between Shadowhunters and the Downworlders (the mystical creatures that I've mentioned earlier). You don't get a very clear definition of what these words mean, but it eventually becomes self-explanatory as you continue reading. However, that's not the most interesting part about this set-up. The teases that I've mentioned involved controversy and things that the Clave could actually do. For instance, in the book we get to know what the Clave and honorable code of Shadowhunters through their motto, which "The law is hard, but it is the law." Also, the characters here express their own views about the standards of the Clave. Jocelyn eventually lost her respect for the Shadowhunters and the Clave, which explains why she was so adamant about running away and living a very secluded mundane life with Clary. Valentine abhors the Clave because he thinks they're being naive about letting the humans live with downworlders, who have a smidge of demon blood coursing through their veins. However, out of all the characters that expressed their opinions on the Clave, Jocelyn's motivation was the most interesting because it was very intriguing. You wonder what made her lose her respect for the Shadowhunters, exactly? Was Valentine really the only reason why she left? I mean, think about it. If Jocelyn's reason was only Valentine, then she would have just returned the Mortal Cup to the Clave and trust that they can protect it with the best of their abilities. But she decided to keep it to herself. What made her distrust the Clave? Remember, Madame Dorothea warned Clary that Jocelyn was not just running away from Valentine, but from Shadowhunters in general. This is something the readers are left to ponder on, even after City of Bones.
If you think hard enough, you would suddenly think what the Shadowhunter world is actually like. You start to question if entering this world is cool or not, because these people are bound to a strict code of conduct, and you also wonder why these people think this way of the culture and standards imposed. The biggest concern is that, what that code is exactly. But as usual, we do not get to fully understand that until we read the next few books. City of Bones basically set up the facade of this world.
As for the other story elements, I liked reading the history of the Mortal Cup and the other Mortal Instruments. It felt like reading a really good history book, that's not completely factual. As for the violence depicted...I think the movie and the series weren't able to fully encapsulate it. Yes, there is death in this book, but only one little werewolf girl dies. I think this was supposed to be a heavy part that needs to be talked about, because it emphasizes an important theme. And that theme involves the equality between Shadowhunters and the rest of the races. Here, the Shadowhunters are seen as supreme beings who get to make the rules. The Downworlders only get to comply, otherwise their lives will be terminated. The demons well...they have to go because they were never really good to begin with. The death of this little werewolf girl named Gretel, says a lot about the differences between Shadowhunters and Downworlders. Because it is suggested in the very beginning of this series that the Downworlders are just a necessary evil; they're not really good guys but they've proven to be useful hence the creation of The Accords. The Downworlders only get this some sort of perception until Clary's point of view gives us another angle to look at. Apparently, downworlders can die but nobody cares...and that does not seem okay. Again, this book introduces us to what kind of series we're going to have; bloody politics, downworlder rights, and some hint of corruption.
Basically, the writing, the setting, tone introductory themes, and storytelling...all good. They were the reason why I got immediately hooked to the series. I guess my only gripe in terms of the writing is the humor. The book is very heavy with dry and sarcastic humor. It was very overdone, so the jokes eventually got old. But I think the major issue I had with the first book were the characters. Now this is where it gets nitty gritty.
The characterizations were a bit problematic. I couldn't help but notice that everyone was sorta mean. I know, I found it strange because I was not able to notice the hostility in these characters until I reread it. Like everyone was super mean, it kind of became annoying. Jace was mean, Clary was mean, even Izzy and Alec. The motivations were either unclear or unspoken. The only mean character I understood was Alec. He was being stingy because was deeply in love with Jace. But his dear parabatai or partner-in-crime was being an asshole and unreasonable. He couldn't help but be pissed. Izzy didn't make sense to me at the start, but eventually she shoehorned in the reasons for her actions till the end of the book. Jace and Clary...oh my god. Here we go. Jace is just your typical Narcissus stereotype. He only cares about himself, because he is taught that showing affection towards others would weaken him. Now that part, I understood. This side of him made perfect sense. I just wasn't convinced with his actions after Valentine tells him that he is his son. He goes into a mini-identity crisis phase, immediately accepting that he belongs to the dark side and then backing out in the last minute. This is what I've noticed the first time I read this as well; his arc wasn't very cohesive. It wouldn't make sense that he would easily accept that his father was not a good person. He grew up living by a code and that is the Shadowhunter code. I find it hard to believe that he would throw all of that off Renwick's window after learning who his father and mother really is (even though we know that his parents are not really Jocelyn and Valentine). Another reason why I wasn't convinced is because Jace never really showed signs of being an evil person. He's just a selfish bully, most of the time and I don't think that would equate to being evil. If the book showed signs that he would kill anyone with no remorse, then yeah I would be able to see the potentiality of him being a villain. His reaction to the sudden changes of his life was not very strong, it felt a bit rushed and I know that he had more time contemplating about it in the next books, but this book had more than enough time to give Jace a page to explain how he honestly felt about the situation.
Then we have Clary. I can't help but notice that most YA heroines have these common traits; boring, selfish, and annoying. Clary is selfish and annoying. I will give her this though... she is an interesting character. The story starts with everyone speculating who she actually was. She was a very peculiar case because she could see the true form of the downworlders and can see the Shadowhunters lurking about even though they were using glamour. The mystery emanating from her makes you want to know who she exactly was and what the truth is, so you can't help but keep on reading. But apart from that, her character is awfully distasteful. I am honestly not sure if she was being hateful on purpose, because it is possible to have a main character that you are meant to hate. Sure, she grew up as a mundane teenager, so it was natural for her to have the certain traits that you would expect from someone of the adolescent stage; being naive and downright selfish. Because of that, I had a really hard time giving a damn about her. Clary does not have that much likeable characteristics, and if she had any, they weren't very present in the story. Her supposed strength would be her ability to love, since her view of love opposes to that of Jace's. But again, I wasn't convinced that she was loving person. But Tama, she cared about her mother. The last time they spoke, they were arguing. Well, she ran all the way to Hotel Dumort to save Simon. That maybe so, but she was mostly mean and ignorant of Simon in almost every page. What I am trying to say is that she barely showed signs of loving strongly. She made out with Jace, isn't that a sign of loving strongly? Now, that's the thing. The only person she cared about in this entire series, was Jace. She only cares about her love interest. And yes, that's going to be the case for the next five books. I honestly thought that wasn't enough to convince me that she has this ability to love deeply for others, because she only showed so much love to one person.
This leads me to one of the most annoying parts of the book...the love triangle. The love triangle felt very unnecessary, because its the most cliched ploy that you can insert in a YA novel. And by the time I read The Mortal Instruments, I've been exposed to many reading materials, shows, and movies that had their own variations of a love triangle. I don't even have to count to prove that love triangles are overrated. This book managed to combine two major cliches; first is Simon, who is Clary's best friend, being immensely in love with main lady and she is very oblivious about it. The second is the love triangle in itself. The whole subplot felt like a sore thumb, it didn't feel necessary or essential to the plot. Remove it, and the book would still be a great read. One thing that aggravated me most was Simon, and he happens to be my favorite in the entire series. His story began with a bumpy start, because he was a mundane following Clary all the time. When Simon confronted Clary about what he felt, I thought he was finally going to tell her that what she was doing was ridiculous and dangerous. He could've told her that seeking help from people that she barely knew is not the best idea and that she was being reckless. That could've made the plot a bit more realistic, but instead he professes his love to Clary. Suddenly, you're not reading a dark fantasy and you're reading a Twilight novel. This scene made Simon kind of whiney and that irritated me a little, because it further jerked the story from the main plot. Luckily, we only get to deal with this for only one chapter. But I still think the story would still be strong, even without the romantic part. They can still insert the incest plot twist and we would be like, "So...they're not going to be a thing?"
If I had a favorite character in this particular book, then it would have to be either Valentine or Luke. The way Valentine was being talked about, made him look like an interesting villain. He had a motive, his actions corresponded to that motives, and they were extremely brutal. But the story showed that he was not all that bad in the beginning, he was seen as an idealist but his very ideals and aspirations gradually drove him mad. It made me wish that Clare wrote a prequel story of the Circle, because Luke's chapter, "A Werewolf's Tale" made the entire Shadowhunter world ten times more compelling. I guess it's why I like Luke. His facade tells you that he has an interesting backstory, which he actually does. The tension with Valentine and Luke in the end was very phenomenal, because at this point you know what they've been through so you can't help but feel the edge the second they laid eyes on each other. Their fight is one of my favorite fights in the series. The dialogue was poisonous and the intensity was raised to the highest level.
The following summarizes all my thoughts on the book. This concludes the first part of the Shadowhunter Discussions. Stay tuned for tomorrow, because I will be talking about the movie next. You know, the one produced by Screen Gem. Starring Lily Collins...and Cersei Lannister. The one everyone forgot. Yeah, I will be discussing that next. Since the plot remains almost the same, I will be talking about it as a movie adaptation and I will not be addressing whether it gives justice to the book or not. Till the next post~
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