Rating:
“When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray arrives in England during the reign of Queen Victoria, something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Friendless and hunted, Tessa seeks refuge with the Shadowhunters, a band of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons. Drawn ever deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated by – and torn between – two best friends and quickly realizes that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.”
The first thing you should know about these books is that you should probably buy the three of them in one go. I found myself asking my favourite bookstore every day for a month and a half whether the final book, Clockwork Princess had finally arrived.
Now, about the books. The story starts with Tessa being kidnapped by two sisters who are really mean and torture her. Tessa has no idea why this is happening to her, as she had left New York because her brother had sent her a letter asking her to begin a new life in London. She tries escaping a few times with no success.
One day a guy storms into her bedroom and she hits him on the head… with a jug. Really funny scene. They escape from the house and she sees other people also fighting to free her. These people are Shadowhunters, they basically fight demons and other evil creatures so we mundanes (i.e. humans whose blood isn’t mixed with that of angels) don’t get killed by them (there’s also a nasty thing called demon pox.)
The guy that had barged into Tessa’s room is called William ‘Will’ Herondale. Black hair, blue eyes, bad-boy-who’s-actually-softer-on-the-inside kind of character. He is one of those characters who is really mean, but then is really caring but tries to hide it. He has his reasons, that’s all I’m saying. He’s really witty and he speaks fluent sarcasm.
Will’s best friend is James ‘Jem’ Carstairs. He’s a kind-hearted guy who will always think of others before himself. He suffers from a disease I will not tell you the reasons for because that’d be spoiling your book, and I won’t do that ;) .
Tessa finds herself being the key element in a battle where she kind of has no say. At first everyone tells her she should do this or that, and she mostly follows because she has no idea what’s going on. Until she finds her voice and that’s when things get ineresting. She shows how strong she can be and doesn’t let herself be controlled by anything or anyone.
Vampires, demons, werewolves and warlocks (Magnus, oh Magnus :) My favourite character) make an appearance in the story, and all of them are justified. All the different creatures have a purpose and add to the story, they’re not simply thrown in the mix for the sake of fantasy.
What’s really interesting about these books is that they are closely connected to The Mortal Instruments series. Many of the characters we see in these books appear on the Mortal Instruments books. There are also things that are explained in these books which refer to things that were taken for granted in the other books.
Why four stars? Well… I felt like the ending was intended to keep everyone happy, which felt a bit too perfect for me. However, I still loved the books and would definitely read them again.
Disclaimer: the only things that belong to me are my own opinions, the books and images are owned by their respective authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment