A review by maya_b
The Mortal Instruments, the Complete Collection: City of Bones; City of Ashes; City of Glass; City of Fallen Angels; City of Lost Souls; City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

3.0

I’ve not read the book set of the mortal instruments, but rather every book on it’s own, but it’s been years, and I’m not able to rate every book on it’s own or give a detailed review, so … here I am.

I read the first few books about ten years ago, and I know that I enjoyed them. The incest plot line was stupid and very much unneeded, and at some point I could have shot Jace or Clary because I found them so annoying (you have no idea how annoying, just every time one of them appeared I wanted them gone so badly), but apart from that I quite liked it. I actually liked the banter Clare wrote, and could laugh at a lot of the jokes, and I did like Jace’s cocky attitude, at least in the beginning.
I think the romanticizing and sexualization of the incest was horrible (and there’s A LOT of it

Spoiler

(seriously, Jace/Clary, Jace/Alec, and when that wasn’t enough we get even more real incest with Sebastian/Cllary, wtf?!)

), but the villain I thought was decent and his motivation actually made sense to me, and the story in itself also felt alright, I guess?

But then in the later books something happened, and … I’m not exaggerating, when I tell you, that I complained to a friend for TWO STRAIGHT MONTHS, because I hated it so much. That was about seven or eight years ago.

Spoiler

It was because of how Alec tried to essentially kill Magnus, which I didn’t think was handled very well and I don’t remember a lot, but I do remember that I thought it was very out of character for him at the time.

I managed to read further after a break of a few months, and … I’ll be quite honest, Clare kind of managed to save the situation? I forgave her for the thing I hated so much, because I actually liked where it went.

Spoiler

I am talking here about the breakup, that, in my opinion, was the best thing she could have done. Alec is my favorite character in the book, but I thought he absolutely did not deserve Magnus after what he did, and the fact that Magnus didn’t forgive Alec but straight up told him “I love you, but that does not change anything”? Great. Absolutely amazing. Loved that. Set boundaries, it’s the only right thing to do.

Only then it did not stick, and everything went horrible again, and I … I seriously started reading the last book of the series about 2016, I think, right after finishing the fifth, and at some point I just couldn’t take it anymore. I tried, I really did, but every time I thought about picking up the book and continue reading, I just couldn’t. And then finally after almost six years I managed to read the book, purely by the fact that I did not take it seriously anymore.

I actually had a lot of fun doing that in the end, because the epilogue first recapitulated the events of the first few books (which I found alright), then the events of the last book (which I found a little bit ridiculous), then the events of the epilogue (at which point I just lost it), and after I concentrated on that it was actually alright. But I did not enjoy the journey towards this, and I did not like how in the end everything suddenly had to be perfect and there had to be an explanation for everything and suddenly everyone was nice

Spoiler

(I’m talking here about how Robert suddenly seemed to have a reason to be homophobic that made no sense, and also if it did, it would not excuse his behavior at all.)

, and … I just didn’t like it.

In the end:
I thought the story was alright.
I thought the villains were decent.
I think Clare writes decent dialogue.
I actually liked how sometimes Clare foreshadowed things.

Spoiler

For example Magnus’s father was kind of obvious even before she pointed it out explicitly, and I quite liked that.

I disliked almost all (if not all) relationships, because I thought those were very unhealthy.
I very much disliked the incest.
I felt like at the end of the story a lot of characters hadn’t really grown.

Spoiler

Especially Alec, which is what in the end absolutely destroyed the book for me, because I felt like him and Magnus had not changed enough to try again. I love them as a couple, I really do, but the fact that Alec got Magnus back and it didn’t feel like he had learned anything? Hated that. I do want to see them together, they were my favorite couple in the beginning and still kind of are, but I thought they needed about at least a few years in which Alec could grow on his own, and then after that if they tried again, they would make a great couple, because Magnus would not hold all the power by being more experienced in everything anymore, and Alec wouldn’t feel so insecure about everything anymore. I really think they could be great for each other, but the way it was in the books? I don’t feel like they really learned anything, and I still think they’re really unhealthy for each other and should first learn how to be decent people without one another, before they started dating again.

The Mortal Instruments as a series has been with me a long time, and for that alone it holds a place in my heart and I can’t just get rid of it or hate everything about it, it’s too important to me personally, but I can and will absolutely still talk hours about how much I hated it at the end, whenever it comes up.
Wouldn’t recommend reading it, not ever, but also know some people who loved it, so … make of it what you will, I guess.