The Time Will Fly When You Read This!

The Mortal Instruments series, by Cassandra Clare, is growing more and more popular every day. I really wanted to check it out, but someone else beat me to my local library. I was left staring at the empty spot where the book had been, feeling disappointed, when something caught my eye.

The book was called Clockwork Angel. It was by the author of the Mortal Instruments series.

I read the back cover, my curiosity peaked. I found out that it was the prequel series to Mortal Instruments. It sounded really, really good too. I figured it couldn't hurt to read a prequel series first right? So I checked it out.

I couldn't put it down.

The book was amazing. It tells the story of Tessa Gray, who goes to England to live with her brother but is kidnapped by two women who are demons. They work for the Magister, who wants to use Tessa's incredible gift of shapeshifting for his own evil purposes. When Tessa is rescued by the Shadowhunters, she realizes what she is: a Downworlder. But what type of Downworlder, they don't know.

Tessa finds herself caught in a love triangle between best friends Will and Jem. The third book in this series hasn't come out yet, but I can't stop wondering who she's going to choose. Will has a dark past that isn't revealed until the second book, so for a while I was most definetely Team Jem. But when I learned what Will had gone through and the reason he acted like he did, I switched to Team Will. If you love romance combined with intrigue and action, this series is perfect for you! I loved it.

As soon as I finished the sequel, I decided to buy City of Bones, the first Mortal Instruments book, on my Kindle. I am sorry to say that I was deeply disappointed. I had extremely high expectations for that book, but I was let down. Clary, the main character in City of Bones, was great. Her, I loved. The other characters... not so much. Plus, I noticed that the book was pretty much just borrowed ideas from other books and movies squished together to create the Mortal Instruments. I didn't like the romance between Clary and Jace. It seemed to happen instantly and was almost unreal. The ending was a surprise, but I didn't like it. Also, it was borrowed from a popular movie (Star Wars) that I love, so I didn't like it very much. The worldbuilding wasn't as good in City of Bones as it was in Clockwork Angel. But I was really glad that I had read the prequel first; she explains the concept of Downworlders and gives you details in that series that Mortal Instruments lacked. I would have been lost and confused without that information.

But that's just my opinion. Maybe you'll love it though, so here's the books in each series.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, and City of Heavenly Fire. *The final book to come out in September, 2014.
The Infernal Devices: Clockwork angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess. *The final book to come out in March, 2013.

The world of the Shadowhunters is unique and incredible. Check it out!