The Mortal Instruments 1-4

Titles: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1), City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments #2), City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3), City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4)
Author: Cassandra Clare

Initial Thoughts: I loved this series, and then the fourth book happened.

So, I absolutely love the first three books. There's a reason I'm doing them all together in one post and that reason is that I couldn't be bothered to stop long enough between the books to write anything down. That love of the series led me to read the fourth one right away as well, but then I just had to pause. And now I'm here.

Some Characters:
Alec: I'm definitely not a fan in the first three books. He is just so angsty and angry and dude either fess up to your feelings or stop mooning after people you'll never allow yourself to have and get on with your life. If you're not going to admit that you're gay, then I'm sorry but stop taking it out on other people. If you really love someone enough that you want to be with them, then you're going to have to tell your parents. Deal with it. Thank you for finally kissing Magnus in front of them. That took way too long. I'm happy. Alec and Magnus make a cute couple. Alec is definitely better in the fourth book. Less angsty (though Camille does set him back a bit), more sure of himself, more kind and generous and we can see what Magnus fell in love with. High hopes for him for the next couple books.

Simon: Poor Simon. He loved Clary and that wasn't going to happen. He gets dissed for being a mundane, then he gets turned into a vampire and he gets dissed for being a downworlder. I liked him with Maia and I also liked him with Isabelle (though please, not both together, I can't believe you did that, dude). Maia was sweet and appreciated him for him. Izzy...it would be good for Simon to be accepted by the Shadowhunters, but I'm not sure there's much else Simon gets out of that relationship. On the other hand, I think Simon would be good for Izzy, would help show her how to love, that she can be loved, that love isn't a joke or a curse but something great and I think Simon could make her better. Maybe she can help Simon accept who he is and not feel like a worthless downworlder amongst Shadowhunters, but I'm not totally sure yet. She is rather selfish (Slytherin primary - looks our for herself and her own (her family) above all else). I like Simon in the third book where he's gaining confidence as a vampire and is becoming at least a little accepted by Jace and Izzy, maybe even Alec. The fourth book, though, he starts getting all angsty and feeling alone and misunderstood and it gets a bit whiny and annoying. He needs to start figuring out who he is/wants to be and just embrace the love of the people who care about him rather than worrying about the people who don't. I know, harder said than done and we all struggle with these things but I just want him to get it together already.

So, something I noticed. Throughout the books, Cassandra Clare makes it obvious that, in her opinion, same sex relationships are fine as we watch the kids accepting Alec's preferences, but she admits that it's hard for them and there are challenges, such as the older generation. We get cross-species relationships with Simon and Maia getting close (after she gets over the prejudice of werewolves vs vampires) and with Luke and Jocelyn because we totally want those two to be together. Then we get to the potential incest of Clary and Jace (thank you that that didn't end up being a thing because I was getting seriously annoyed) where it's like, no, this is not right, not at all, not acceptable, but we almost want it to be so that Jace and Clary can be together because they are sickeningly in love with each other but that is the one line we do not cross. I just thought it was interesting. "This is acceptable, and even this is acceptable, but this just isn't ever going to be acceptable. People need to learn to accept that everything else is okay, up to this line. This is where we draw the line and do not cross. As long as it doesn't cross this line, get over it."

The fourth book is definitely starting to annoy me. The third one ended so well, and now the fourth one is just introducing so many problems. Ugh! I just hope the series gets better because the first three were great and I couldn't put them down and now the fourth one is just ruining it all.

Rating: 5/5 (because 1, 2, and 3, weighed against 4 make it great. 4 itself would have just been a 4/5)