City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra ClareMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I did not enjoy reading this book, not only because it wasn't good. I think its release came with so many expectations, with such a hype, it kind of jinxed itself. Well, most of us readers actually expected something better, seeing as we all liked The Mortal Instruments.
Basically, this book should never have seen the light. With City of Glass I was happy; we left Clary Fray/Morgenstern/Fairlchild and Jace Wayland/Morgenstern/Herondale/Lightwood (WTF?) in their happily ever after and that's where they should have stayed. There, in honeymoon, having carrot-haired runed Shadowhunter babies. At least, that's where I pictured them, with whatever surname they chose.
But no, I pick up CoFA and I am catapulted into a world where Clary and Jace are STILL MAKING OUT.... like, he doesn't even get to unclasp her bra. Nooooooo! It totally felt like a step back in the story, not forward. In fact, for this reason, this book left me so indifferent I kind of feel like I have been reading nothing for the past 3 days.
So plot-wise, it was totally boring. Maybe it would have made a nice short story or a graphic novel (because that's what it was meant to be) but, by making a whole new novel (not to talk about a whole new trilogy, I'm horrified to read two more books where Clary and Jace are still only making out) the plot stretched so thin it snapped like an elastic band and it was PAINFUL. There were so many loose ends, scenes left there hanging without apparent reason that it just didn't make sense... well, it does if you need to fill up two more books and have no clue what you're going to talk about.
Nothing really happens in this book and, apart from the final scene which had a bit of action, I can't even get myself to give you a synopsis, because... er.. I don't remember. I have little recollection of what happened, apart from... yes, the make out scenes.
I liked the previous books mostly because of Jace: aloof and snarky, he was a nice character, he appealed to me. In this book, there's no Jace. He is like a shadow of himself, a passive and rather unreasonable spectator watching his doom slowly approaching. His punch lines are not even funny. What happened to him?? Maybe he's sexually frustrated, and with good reasons, I'd say.
Halfway through the book, I had the sudden epiphany that Clare had changed her editor. But no, I checked in the acknowledgements. So what's with the stupid mistakes and awful sentences?
Simon stared down at the phone as the full horror of the situation buzzed around his brain like a ghoul buzzing around the outside of a house, begging to bel let in. AWFUL
" What kind of guardian are you? Shouldn't you have gone to the bathroom with him?" Isabelle demanded.
Jordan looked horrified. "Dudes," he said, "do not follow other dudes to the bathroom". STUPID
...the Coca-Cola sign flashing blood-red and navy-blue down onto the black water... That's PEPSI, Clare.
And so on. They're pretty endless, especially when we get to the grey warmup suits and grey sneakers men...
Not to talk about the huge fat laugh I had when I read that Clary, when Jace was fighting with Lilith, was hiding the whole time behind a hedge... quite the Shadowhunter, huh?
I was quite appalled, also considering that fact that Holly Black must have read this stuff for sure. And I like Holly Black's writing. What a dilemma. What happened here, exactly?
I don't really know what to expect from the following books and I don't know whether I will be reading them or not. I've got time to ponder till next year. But no wait. Clockwork Prince is coming out soon. Oh my.
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4 comments:
"...the Coca-Cola sign flashing blood-red and navy-blue down onto the black water... That's PEPSI, Clare." Oh god. I haven't laughed this hard because of a review in a long time. My friends are totally side-eying me. Oops.
Also, I agree with pretty much everything you said. It's like CoG never happened. And the ending? Ugh. Can you say contrived angst?
I'd really like to know how much the person that does the editing of this book gets paid. Cause hey, I'd like to apply and I am not even a native speaker.
We're talking about two of the most worldwide known soft drinks EVER here and you mix them up? Whatever. I'm sure people who do the marketing at Pepsi would not be pleased by this.
The ending? I didn't even mention it in the review because I didn't even know what to say, we had it coming for 50 pages after all. The worst cliffhanger ever.
To be honest? I didn't notice, because I basically skimmed half of the book. I kept thinking "come on CC, you are not going there, right? Surely you're not going to make the relationship between the two main characters go back and forth like a bad CW tv show." And she did.
This book should have been a novella instead, without the whole Lilith thing. And more Magnus/Alec. And less Simon/Maia because come on, where's the spark?
I actually have a draft of the review I was supposed to write for this book, but I never got around to finish writing it because I couldn't be objective about the whole thing and I kept dissolving in a ball of frustration. Maybe with a little perspective, I'll be able to do it.
You're right, there is no spark. The only thing that remotely interested me plot-wise is the Mark of Cain. I'd like to see that developed better. But then, this whole new series should have been about Simon, rather than Clary/Jace (ClarJay? JaClary?)
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