City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 5/5 stars.

Sometimes it’s hard to describe your love for a book without sounding sycophantic. I can tell you that I’m the biggest Alec and Magnus shipper out there (because I am) and that eight out of my past 11 tweets have been about City of Lost Souls, but I don’t think I can properly convey my love for this series unless I talk about its characters.

I’ve never really understood how someone could love, or even like someone who makes many stupid mistakes. Perhaps I understood, but I never felt like I could do the same, until I read this book. This book taught me that sometimes, when you possess enough empathy and caring for someone – in this case, a fictional character – it’s possible to forgive them and love them all the same.

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Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Belongs to me. Not the book, which belongs to Cassandra Clare, or the cover image, which belongs to Goodreads, but Jem. Jem belongs to me.

Rating: 5/5 stars.

Before I begin writing about the book, let me make one thing crystal clear: Jem is mine.

“‘Just some dust in my throat,’ Jem reassured them. He looked not ill but very tired, though his exhaustion only served to point up the delicacy of his features. His beauty did not blaze like Will’s did in fierce colors and repressed fire, but it had its own muted perfection, the loveliness of snow falling against a silver-gray sky.”

I love Cassandra Clare and yet I dislike her. I thought Alec from TMI was perfection, but Jem… I am so confused. My heart is torn. All I know now is that falling in unrequited love with fictional characters beats having romantic relationships in real life. There’s no contest.

As for the book itself, Cassandra Clare does it again. Before reading Clockwork Prince The Infernal Devices had always been behind The Mortal Instruments in my mind, but now this series is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Consistent characters that are each believable and easy to connect with, a tight plot full of twists that will have your heart pounding, and a beautiful setting in the backdrop of Victorian London. Besides being utterly perfect, there are two more things that took this book above and beyond for me.

I loved the various literary allusions within Clockwork Prince. When Tessa compared herself to Jane Eyre I almost wanted to squeal like I do for Jem. Even though there were some references to books I haven’t I read I still thoroughly enjoyed Clare’s mentionings of other novels in her book.

Finally, the love triangle. It’s an actual triangle. Like she stated in her interview at Entertainment Weekly, this isn’t a V, it’s a triangle. Not only are there deepening bonds between Tessa and Jem and Tessa and Will, but there’s the brotherhood-like connection of being parabatai between Jem and Will! Jem and Will mean as much to each other as Tessa does to Will or Jem does to Tessa, and there’s no way that anyone can avoid heartbreak if the triangle itself is broken. In other words, a love triangle done right.

I’ll end this review by 1) ordering everyone to read this book and this series, and 2) providing everyone with another delicious Jem quote:

“She had clearly caught him in the middle of readying himself for bed; his shoes and jacket were off, his shirt open at the collar, his hair an adorable rumpled mess of silver. She wanted to reach out and smooth it down. He blinked at her.”

I need Clockwork Princess. So, so badly.

So, yeah, I marked awesome Jem moments and descriptions. I missed some, but I'll get them once I reread it...

I Met Cassandra Clare! And My Nonexistent Life

I went to the National Book Festival yesterday! It was my first time. I got this nifty water bottle too...

Before I get into the titillating details of my time with Ms. Cassandra Clare, let me share with you all of the exciting things I’ve done since my last post!

…

… never mind. If you’re a fellow teenager suffering from the stress of school, please contact me so I can rant to you about how miserable my life is and cry on your shoulder offer you advice and discuss motivational techniques to keep us sane!

Anyway, yesterday I went to the National Book Festival in DC to see Cassandra Clare talk about her writing and to get some of my books signed. For those of you who are unaware, Cassandra Clare is the amazing author of one of my favorite series, The Mortal Instruments, and the creator of my fictional boyfriend, Alec. Sorry ladies, he’s mine.

On that somewhat awkward note, do you remember your first time meeting a celebrity or someone famous? I know it’s sad, but meeting Cassandra Clare yesterday was my first encounter with an especially well-known person. After standing in line for over an hour to get my books signed, my inner introvert got the better of me when I actually approached her – I meekly said “hi”, and then “thank you so much”, and proceeded to scramble away with my friends.

I hope posting authors' signatures isn't illegal... I mean, it's not that impressive to be honest. I still love you Cassandra Clare!

If I could redo the moment, I would’ve informed her that the orange tabs in my copy of City of Fallen Angels were Alec and Magnus moments when she commented on them. I was just so starstruck – I suppose this wasn’t Lady Gaga, but seriously, I was standing three feet away from the lady who wrote the series I’ve spent hours reading, reviewing, and fanboying. The good news is that I didn’t faint.

About an hour later my friends and I went to see her book talk. She was pretty funny and offered some good advice about writing. Seeing her inspired me to do some more writing of my own, when I manage to gather the time, at least.

So, that’s pretty much what I’ve been up to lately, excluding the tear-inducing precalculus assignments I’ve been completing. I should write a post about the misconception that all Asians are good at math…

I apologize for not blogging more about books and pop. I have so much to write about but so little time! How are you guys doing? Have you ever been starstruck in the presence of a celebrity before? If not, please make up a scenario in which you did so I’ll feel better about myself… just kidding!

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Cover via Goodreads

Rating: 5/5 stars.

I stayed up until midnight reading this, and proceeded to finish it the next morning. I was in a state of shock – my friends might have called it an Alec and Magnus induced fan boy craze. More on that later.

In an attempt to organize my thoughts as opposed to letting my fingers run rampant across the keyboard, I’ll split this review up into two sections: why you shouldn’t hate this book, and why you should love it.

Why You Shouldn’t Hate City of Fallen Angels:

This part of my review is unnecessary – however, I feel obliged to write it, as I’ve read criticisms of this book and Cassandra Clare that make no sense to me whatsoever.

1) Cassandra Clare only wrote another book to make money: Wrong. I’m a bit offended when people say things like “yeah she intended it to be a trilogy and now she’s adding more books so it’s obviously for more money” – nope. One, I doubt any of the people assuming that money was the motivation for this installment actually know Clare personally. Two, she states directly why she wanted to write more for the Mortal Instruments series on her website. Nothing money related. I’d post an excerpt, but it would use up too many words.

2) There’s too much drama! Too much pointless conflict! Too much etc.!: Uh, sure. The point of Cassandra Clare writing another addition to the series is to further develop the conflicts/loose ends of City of Glass. Obviously, new villains and obstacles are going to arise – how else would the story be kept interesting? I feel like if Cassandra Clare originally said that The Mortal Instruments was going to be a six book series, no one would be complaining. It’s not like the books four, five, and six are going to lack the amazing aspects of the first three books – in fact, they should augment them…

Why You Should Love City of Fallen Angels:

1) New characters and story lines: Well, I can’t say too much about this one without spoiling the book, so… some spoiler-free plot tidbits include Simon’s struggle as a vampire, Jace and Clary growing apart for some unknown reason, and Shadowhunters being murdered. What’s not to like? (well, besides the actual struggling, growing apart, and murdering) Readers meet Kyle, a certain character Simon meets (can’t divulge more without spoiling) and Camille, who isn’t exactly new, which brings me to my next point…

2) Old characters and story lines: Probably the most prevalent reason why readers are returning to this series – they want to see what happens to Jace, Clary, Alec, Magnus, Isabelle, etc. The best part is that these characters do develop internally as well as externally as they face new trials and tribulations. My point with Camille is that Clare includes some references to Clockwork Angel into this book, mentioning specific characters like Camille and Will.

3) Romance (aka, Alec and Magnus): I’m kidding. Jace and Clary and Simon and Isabelle/Maia are cute too. Kidding again – Jace and Clary are scorching, especially with the way Clare describes them. And the descriptions of Jace’s hotness are far from over, just to let his fangirls you know.

Ultimately, my one favorite thing about this book is Alec and Magnus. Yeah, I mean it when I say I feel as if these two could be one character – in a good way, of course. If you didn’t notice my status update proclaiming my love for Alec, well, I’m telling you now – I love him, and I love them. Alec and Magnus as a couple are perfect, I’m not sure if there are any other gay pairings in the young-adult genre that could compete with them. Alec individually is definitely in my top five characters of all time, and he’s only a side character. Though it doesn’t feel that way, due to Clare’s splendid characterization.

Thus comes an end to my crazy review/rant/commentary on City of Fallen Angels. I liked this more than City of Bones, but not at the level of City of Ashes or City of Glass. As you can safely assume, I am already anticipating City of Lost Souls, the fifth book in the Mortal Instruments series.

My compilation of Alec and Magnus moments via sticky note.